I hope you’re having a wonderful start to March. If you’re like me, you’re having crazy winter weather. Between the snow and rain, I’m finding a lot of time to read and get some writing in. If you have children or home school, I’m sure you’re looking for activities during this indoor times.
Fear not! To help celebrate “Read an Ebook Week”, I’ve put on sale my first children’s fantasy adventure on Smashwords for this week. It’s been a tradition now for over 10 years that Smashwords helps to promote ebooks and reading during the first full week of March. So, I’m offering “The Lost Secret of Fairies” free for this week only during the promotion. Also, I have provided online, since during the lockdowns for the pandemic, a FREE novel study that goes along with the book. So, for all you parents and home schoolers looking for a great reading activity during the indoor hours, here’s your chance to grab it. For teachers, I taught and developed it while I was teaching in the classroom. It’s a novel study that I used during reading time and will fulfill a lot of Common Core Reading and Language Arts standards.
Here are the links for you to get started:
Button for Smashwords Free Ebook Download
(This is a safe download. Not a pirated copy. Please be careful and only download books from official retailers supported by the author.)
There’s also a lot of free books to choose from for parents and teachers. Here’s the link to the general promo page for you to look over. Hopefully you’ll find a good read.
Greetings everyone! It has been a challenging couple of weeks, but I hope you and your child have enjoyed reading my book, The Lost Secret of Fairies. Today, on Day 8, I’ll be helping to wrap up the story and novel study. I’ll be including some downloadable worksheets to be used in response to finishing the book, and tomorrow, will include an essay test that your child should be able to complete on their own from doing the activities. The activities can be done over the next few days with the essay test given at the end of the week.
Let’s start today with the final journal response questions:
Chapter 13 & End of the Book Questions:
Summarize in a paragraph the book The Lost Secret of Fairies. Use a topic sentence, list the events, and use a closing sentence.
How did you like the Lost Secret of Fairies? What was your opinion of the book? Describe your opinion with supporting details and examples from the book.
What is the theme or message from the author of The Lost Secret of Fairies? Name examples from the text that are clues.
Bonus: Do you want to read the next book? Why or why not?
Now, for the end of book activities. These can be done over the next few days, with one a day, as a lead up to the final essay test. I’d suggest the summary first, followed by the Character trait essay answer, and then going through the journal response questions to get an idea of what the book was about in their minds. Then, in a few days, have them do the essay test. I will post the test tomorrow. They will be able to use their journal response pages to take the essay test. Of course, they should use the book to find examples and details.
I hope that helps set the rest of the week for reading response and writing for your child. I’ll post the final test tomorrow that can be the wrap up for this novel study. The other activities included above are great follow ups for the book and extension activities.
Thank you for following along with this novel study. I hope it has helped bring reading and learning to your little ones during these strange times. I’ll be posting the last day of the novel study tomorrow, and I welcome all of your feedback and comments below. It will help me plan for future instruction to help out during the pandemic.
Until then, keep reading and writing,
-Mrs. Turner
***Tiffany Turner is the author of the children’s fantasy series, the Crystal Keeper Chronicles. She has had 18 years experience teaching in California as a public elementary teacher. She is currently tutoring in the private sector and continuing to write full time.
UPDATED March 31, 2020:
The essay test will be posted on Wednesday, April 1 now. I’ve added a lesson on theme and message, and posted it today. It is on the essay test, so I wanted to make sure I included a lesson on themes. Thanks for following along with the novel study. Please let me know how I’m doing in the comments below.
Study Guide Questions for Chapters 11 & 12 for Online Novel Study
Welcome to Day 7 of the online novel study for my novel The Lost Secret of Fairies. We’re nearing the end of the story now, and I hope you have been enjoying the journey with Wanda into the World of Fairy. I also hope you are being safe, locking down with your family, and washing your hands often. It can be hard when something like this pandemic is going on and being inside is the safest thing, but it’s important to stay inside. I know spring is happening outside, but you can go on a daily walk for exercise with your family for many of the lockdowns going on around the United States.
Spring bee pollinating cherry blossom on my daily walk for exercise today.
Hopefully, your family is able to take exercise walks from time to time. Like PE, it’s important to get some fresh air and exercise daily which is allowed for most of the lockdowns, as long as you keep 6 feet distance from those you don’t live with.
Zeta & Teddy look out my front window for kids to spot during a bear hunt neighborhood walk.
I had a chance to take some pictures of cherry blossoms along my daily exercise walk today. I have leash trained my cat, CATherine Zeta Jones, and she enjoys walks around my condo complex too. We always keep 6 ft. from my neighbors, especially the dog walkers. But we smile and wave at each other. That is still allowed too. Kindness and friendship is important still, but at a distance.
Plus, maybe people have started putting teddy bears in the windows so you can go on a bear hunt with your family. I’ve placed my childhood teddy bear in my window. He’s over 50 years old, and my cat has a new buddy to sit next to while she watches the world through the window. Remember, just like in PE, it’s important to stretch your legs, walk and keep your body in shape. There are even online free dance classes or video games that can get you moving. Here are some links to some free online homeschooling PE activities:
Note: Star Jumps are called Jumping Jacks in the US.
And now for today’s:
Study Questions for Chapters 11 & 12
Who do you think is the mysterious voice? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
What kind of magic powers do you think you would have as a Keeper?
Name some obstacles that Wanda had to overcome in the book so far. How do you think they have changed her?
How do you predict the story is going to end?
Bonus: What would you do if you were a Keeper like Wanda?
We’re nearing the end of the novel study, but I’ll continue to post parent distance learning and home schooling support to the blog. Plus, if there are any areas you are interested in seeing, please let me know.
I also am considering posting my Young Author’s Fair Writing Unit that I developed over the years. I was also the coordinator at my school for several years, and would love to support a Young Authors Fair online if people were interested. Kids can write stories through the online unit, and as part of the fair, they can read their stories on YouTube, and I’ll link them on the site. At the end, I can post a downloadable certificate of completion.
What do people think? Would your child like to participate? Would they like to write a story and then read it in a YouTube video to share with others? Of course, the reading would be voluntary just like it was in my classroom, and of course, only with parent permission.
Just a thought I wanted to put out there to see what you think.
Until next time, keep reading and writing!
-Mrs. Turner
**Tiffany Turner is the author of the children’s fantasy series, The Crystal Keeper Chronicles. She is a credentialed teacher in California and has had 18 years of public classroom experience. She currently is semi-retired from teaching and spends her day writing. Of course, her cat still gets lots of attention and the daily walks on her leash.
The Indie Children's Authors Connection 