I love when you read a book and it fills you with great memories from your childhood. Now more than ever we need to inspire our children to get outside and use their imagination. The book, Roxaboxen, is a great way to do that. It is a story all about childhood memories from a special, make-believe community. Not only will your students love this book, but teachers will enjoy it too. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Roxaboxen had always been there, but the children in this book made it into a special place. It started out as an empty part of the desert with old boxes, rocks and cactus. The children that came to play in Roxaboxen turned it into a town. They used rocks to line the streets and build houses. There was plenty of money because they used pebbles for money. The children could buy whatever they wanted like ice cream, cars and horses.
This imaginative and heart-warming stories tells the memories of the real children that grew up and played in this make believe community. Even as adults, they look back at Roxaboxen fondly making it an important part of their childhood.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Roxaboxen is a great mentor text for teaching reading strategies and writing skills. This is a book that students will want to refer back to throughout the school year. This book is great for teaching descriptive writing and visualizing skills.
- Use the author’s note at the end of the book to discuss the author’s purpose.
- Make inferences about the book.
- Ask students to write descriptive paragraphs about the setting of this book.
- Integrate letter writing by asking students to write to the characters in this book.
- Teach students about adjectives that are color and size words.
- Introduce students to new examples of homophones.
- Discuss the importance of community.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
If you don’t have Roxaboxen in your classroom library, we highly recommend borrowing it from your school or public library. Once you read it, you will fall in love and be excited to use all of these activities with your students. If you are looking for a great mentor text, this is it!
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- The Gardener by Sarah Stewart
- Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
- Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson
- The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
