We absolutely love Patricia Polacco, she is such an inspiring author! We are so excited to have a book companion for her book Thank You, Mr. Falker. While it is a long story, we think it is the perfect read aloud for students around third grade. It is a great book to start a conversation about how everyone learns differently and that learning can be challenging at times. Students are going to fall in love with this author’s story of her childhood. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
When Trisha turned five, her grandfather explained that learning to read would give her the gift of knowledge. Trisha loved being read to and couldn’t wait until she learned to read herself. However, when Trisha started school, reading did not come easy to her. Her classmates continued to move forward in reading but Trisha struggled to sound out words. Throughout her years in school, Trisha’s classmates would laugh at her and call her names.
When Trisha started fifth grade, her teacher was Mr. Falker. He was always supportive of Patricia and her gift of drawing. Students continued to call Trisha awful names, and she started to believe them. Soon, Mr. Falker realized how much Trisha was struggling and that she learned differently. He started staying after school with her, determined to teach her how to read. After months of practice, Trisha was excited to be able to read a paragraph. Years later, she saw Mr. Falker again and explained she grew up to be an author.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Thank You, Mr. Falker is a great mentor text for older students. It allows teachers to use a read aloud to help them practice reading strategies, writing skills, and introduce new grammar concepts. We also recommend that when you read this book you set time aside for a discussion around social emotional learning.
- Have students identify the author’s purpose for writing this book.
- Discuss the theme or message that this book sends to readers.
- Have students write about a time they struggled with something in school.
- Ask students to write about their opinions of Mr. Falker.
- Practice adding suffixes to adjectives from the book.
- Put together an activity for students to practice with shades of meaning.
- Teach students about bullying and how to prevent bullying.
- Introduce students to self esteem and the importance of feeling good about yourself.
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
Thank You, Mr. Falker is a book you will want to read to your class year after year. Thankfully, with these activities you can! They are designed to be used across a range of grade levels and student abilities. They are teacher friendly and very comprehensive!
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- Madeline Finn and the Library Dog by Lisa Papp
- Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester
- One Green Apple by Eve Bunting
- A Letter to My Teacher by Deborah Hopkinson
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!
