Seasonal and Holiday
Showing 1–20 of 38 results
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April (2)
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Back-to-School/September (7)
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December (8)
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February (4)
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January (3)
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March (2)
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May (2)
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November (5)
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October (5)
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February Figuratively Speaking
$7.00Add to cartFebruary Figuratively Speaking is a 13 page activity organized in three parts with 25 items each.
February’s jam-packed list of special occasions forms the basis for the original sentences, famous people quotes, and literature passages that illustrate the use of similes, metaphors, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. Multiple choice questions challenge students to identify and interpret the featured figures of speech. Great test practice as well as seasonal fun.
Full answer keys are included.
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September in Figurative Language
$6.50Add to cartThe month of September with its Labor Day festivities and a host of other fun events is the focus of this figurative language activity pack. The original study sentences are organized into three lessons with 25 items each. Students are challenged to identify and interpret similes, metaphors, hyperboles, idioms, and personification.
An introductory reference page with definitions and examples of the five featured figures of speech can be used as a wall poster or a student handout.
This download is sixteen total pages including full answer keys, a cover page, the reference page, and a section of links to companion products.
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A Thanksgiving Feast of Figurative Language
$7.00Add to cartThis figure-of-speech study is constructed around the loosely woven story of a family’s Thanksgiving get together. Organized in three sections (Appetizers, Main Course, After Dinner Activities) of twenty-five items each, the original sentences feature a menu of six figures of speech: similes, metaphors, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.
Full answer keys are included.
Fifteen total pages counting cover.
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Celebrating March with Figurative Language
$7.00Add to cartMarch in Figurative Language is a study of 7 figures of speech–idiom, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and idiom–illustrated in original sentences or quotations from real people. This 13-page package is presented in three separate lessons of 25 items each.
Our third month’s calendar position as the transition point from winter to spring, or from summer to autumn if you live in the Southern hemisphere, provides the inspiration for some of the original sentences. Others are based on March’s role as host to St. Patrick’s Day, Women’s History Month, National Cheerleading Week, and the likes of Save a Spider Day on the 14th and Weed Appreciation Day on the 28th. Teachers have the option of adding an extra thinking skill by asking students to connect each sentence to one of the 13 featured celebrations and events.
Full answer keys are included.
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January in Figurative Language
$7.00Add to cartJanuary in Figurative Language is a nine-page activity set in two parts (25 items each).
The month of January–its weather and special designations–is the inspiration for the original sentences, famous people quotes, and literature passages that illustrate the use of similes, metaphors, hyperbole, personification, and idioms. Multiple choice questions challenge students to identify and interpret the featured figures of speech.
Full answer keys are included.
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October in Figurative Language
$7.00Add to cartThe month of October is the focus of this figurative language activity pack. Organized into three different lessons with 25 items each, students are asked to identify and interpret similes, metaphors, hyperboles, idioms, and personification. An introductory reference page with definitions and examples of the five featured figures of speech can be used as part of the student handout. Full answer keys are included.
Twelve pages including cover page.
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Informational Texts for October: A Monster Story and Strange Weather
$8.00Add to cartWhat could be more appropriate for the month of October than an Informational Text duo that begins with an article about Frankenstein’s monster? Not only is he one of Halloween’s most versatile characters, he is also a star of stage, screen, and TV. The strange thing is—he has never had a name and he owes everything to his strikingly ugly looks.
The second text takes students back to 1816, known as the Year Without a Summer when people in New England and a few states father south were shoveling out from under a foot of snow in June! It wasn’t until the 1980s that science understood exactly what happened.
Youngsters will be surprised by the connection between the Year Without a Summer and Frankenstein’s monster.Each article is three pages of script accompanied by 15 CCSS aligned questions.
Full answer keys are included.
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Informational Texts for March: Umbrellas and Barbie
$8.00Add to cartIn honor of March’s U.S. designation as National Umbrella Month, the first portion of this text pack is about this very necessary item.
Barbie, the first teen fashion doll, made her debut on March 9, 1959, at the New York Toy Fair. Since then, she has reigned at the world’s most popular doll. To commemorate her 50+ years of extreme fame, controversy, and legal entanglements, the second article tells the story of Barbie Millicent Roberts.
Each article is three pages of script with 15 CCSS aligned questions. The target skills are listed in the answer keys, and not with the questions.
This file is 17 total pages, including 12 pages of script, 2 pages of answer keys, a table of content, a cover page, and an e-bibliography with clipart art credits.
Full answer keys are included.
View Sample Pages HERE.
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Deck the Halls with Figurative Language
$7.00Add to cartThis holiday-themed study of figurative language is composed of a series of original sentences, popular song lyrics, and a verse from a familiar Christmas poem. Organized into three parts with twenty-five items each, students are challenged to identify and interpret the six featured figures of speech–simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.
A total of 16 pages–including full answer keys, a list of the targeted figures of speech with definitions and examples, and the cover page.
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Informational Texts for April: Frogs and Kites
$8.00Add to cartIn the U.S., April is both National Frog Month and National Kite Month. Thus, the unlikely duo of frogs and kites is the subject of this Informational Text Pack.
“Frog Background Check” takes students into the world of frogs and highlights some of their most unusual talents and habits, such as shedding and eating their own skins. Though written to appeal to a student’s sense of humor, this text’s goal of instilling an appreciation for these little critters is 100% serious.
Generally thought of as no more than a toy, kites take center stage in “Go Fly a Kite.” This article features a brief history of kites and how they have been a vital factor in several important human accomplishments.
Each text is accompanied with a variety of 15 CCSS aligned questions.
Full answer keys included. (CCSS skills are listed here, not in the questions.)
View Sample Pages HERE:
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Informational Text for November: Pumpkins and a Thanksgiving Parade
$8.00Add to cartIn America, nothing says Thanksgiving and Halloween like pumpkins, and they are the first featured article in this November Informational Text Pack. Surprisingly, this common fruit (or is it a vegetable?) has some interesting facts in its history and in its present.
The giant balloons of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade are the focus of the second article. Since their beginning in 1926, the balloons have exploded, floated away, banged into lampposts, and poured water on spectators. The balloons have been naughty at times, but the parade wouldn’t be the same without them!
Pumpkin Surprises has 14 CCSS-aligned questions and Parade in the Sky has 15.
For teacher convenience, targeted CCSS skills are located in the answer keys rather than on the question page.
Full answer keys are provided.View sample pages HERE.
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Informational Texts: A Christmas Duo
$8.00Add to cartPoinsettias and mistletoe—two familiar Christmas plants—take center stage in this duo of original Informational Texts.
“The Red Flower from Mexico,” traces the poinsettia’s journey from a wild shrub growing in Mexico to the most popular potted plant in the United States and Canada.
“Kissing under the Hemiparasite” takes a look at mistletoe’s ancient reputation as a magical plant and its perceived mystical qualities that somehow managed to jell into our modern kissing-under-the mistletoe tradition.
Each article is accompanied by a variety of 15 CCSS aligned question. Full answer keys, including short answer questions, are provided.
Both articles are written for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, although some high school classrooms and gifted 4th and 5th graders will also enjoy the contents.
Great seasonal resource for teaching Informational Text reading skills or for skills assessment.
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Five Things You Didn’t Know about Thanksgiving
$7.00Add to cartThe five informational texts in this pack present unusual, but true facts about Thanksgiving—things you won’t find in the history books. Use them as a count-down to the Thanksgiving holidays or as part of a holiday literacy center.
Each one-page article is accompanied by 5 CCSS-aligned questions and 1 to 3 bonus questions that can turn into a writing or research assignment. Full answer keys are provided. Targeted CCSS skills are listed in the answer keys.
These texts are designed appeal to 6th-8th graders and address particular RI CCSS skills in these grade levels. However, 4th graders, 5th graders, and some high school students might also benefit from the material.View Sample Pages HERE.
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Five Things You Didn’t Know about Christmas Songs Informational Texts
$8.00Add to cart“5 Things You Didn’t Know about Christmas Songs” is a set of five different informational texts. Each one features a little-known fact about a particular song.In many cases, events from American history were involved in shaping the song, and sometimes, the song shaped history. Think of this product as a history/music/reading resource.
The articles, each two-pages of text with 10 CCSS-aligned questions, are written for sixth, seventh, and eighth graders although some younger and older students will also enjoy the material.
Songs features in this set are:
“White Christmas”
“Jingle Bells”
“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
“The Chipmunk SongAnswer Keys are included.
25 total pages of text counting Answer Keys.
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Informational Texts for September: Coffee with Punctuation
$8.00Add to cartThis informational text pack—Coffee with Punctuation—highlights National Punctuation Day on September 24th and International Coffee Day celebrated on September 29th.
The first article, “Punctuation Rules!,” begins with a trick sentence that illustrates how punctuation can change meaning. Next is a list of 5 punctuation vocabulary words with Greek and Latin backgrounds. A brief history of the development of English punctuation from ancient Greece to the present gives student a look at punctuation through the centuries. A final trick sentence offers them something a little different to do on National Punctuation Day.
The second article,”Let’s Go for Coffee,” chronicles the dual histories of coffee drinking and coffeehouses from the 14th Century to Colonial America (Students will be surprised to learn that the Boston Tea Party was plotted in a coffeehouse!) to the founding of that famous chain of coffeehouses in Seattle, Washington, in 1971.
“Punctuation Rules!” has 15 CCSS aligned questions. “Let’s Go for Coffee has 12.” Full answer keys (with targeted CCSS alignments) are included.
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Informational Text for January: Drinking Straw Day
$7.00Add to cartThis Informational Text Pack celebrates Drinking Straw Day. Yes! No kidding!
Though not an official Congressionally sanctioned national celebration, January 3 is set aside as Drinking Straw Day—a time to acknowledge the importance of this little necessity. It also commemorates Marvin Stone’s patent for the world’s first paper drinking straw, which was granted by the U. S. Patent Office on January 3, 1888.
Get your students in the Drinking-Straw celebration mode with the three articles in this file:
(1) “Drinking Straw Day” chronicles the rather surprising history of the drinking straw with a focus on the two inventions that brought it to its modern form. This article has 15 CCSS Aligned questions.(2) “Addendum 1: Patent No. 375,962” presents the original diagram drawing and specifications included in Marvin Stone’s paper straw patent from 1888. The 10 companion CCSS aligned questions require students to study both the diagram and the specifications. Several questions refer to information in “Drinking Straw Day.”
(3) “Patent No. 2,094,286” includes the original diagram drawing and specifications from Joseph Friedman’s flexible straw patent in 1937. The 10 CCSS aligned questions for this document refer to the diagram, the specifications, and information from the other two documents.
A set of “Drinking Straw Facts” and another group of “Facts about Patents” are included as a little something extra that teachers and students can use as they see fit.18 pages of script. 20 total pages including cover and Credits.
Full Answer Keys are included. (Specific CCSS are listed here, and not in the questions themselves)
Download the preview pages HERE. (Use the back arrow to return to this page.)
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Celebrating April with Figurative Language
$7.00Add to cartCelebrating April with Figurative Language is a 12-page activity organized in three parts with 25 items each.
April’s festive, fun list of special occasions forms the basis for the original sentences, famous people quotes, and poetry excerpts that illustrate the use of similes, metaphors, hyperboles, personification, and alliteration. Multiple choice questions with four possible answers challenge students to identify and interpret the featured figures of speech. Great test practice as well as seasonal fun.
Full answer keys are included.
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Informational Texts for February: Hearts and Ferris Wheels
$8.00Add to cartTreat your students to a new view of February 14th with “Hearts and Ferris Wheels.”
This Informational Text’s first article, “Getting to the Heart of the Matter,” starts in ancient Egypt for the beginnings of the mix-ups and misconceptions about the human heart that were finally unscrambled less than 500 years ago. Still, they keep hanging around in our language as idioms, which we dust off and wear out each Valentine’s day—bless our hearts!
Bet you didn’t know that February 14th is also Ferris Wheel Day! “The Engineer with Wheels in His Head” tells the story of the world’s first Ferris Wheel, built by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. (born on February 14th) for the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 (aka The Chicago’s World Fair.)
Each text is accompanied by 15 CCSS aligned questions. Full answer keys are included. CCSS alignments are listed in the answer keys, not the questions.
Download the sample pages HERE.
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Informational Texts for January: Peanuts and Peanut Butter
$8.00Add to cartThis Informational Text Pack begins with “January 24th: National Peanut Butter Day in the U.S.”. The article focuses on one of our favorite foods and traces its development from its South American roots, through its growth in popularity, to its debut as a homogenized smooth or crunchy commercial product. It also introduces students to “arachibutyrophobia,” the terrible, awful, debilitating fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of one’s mouth.
The second article “How the Peanuts Gang Got Its Name” takes a look at how Charles Schulz was forced to give up the original name he attached to his famous cast of characters and accept one he never warmed up to—“Peanuts!”
Each text is two pages long and comes with a set of 15 CCSS aligned questions.
Full answer keys, with specific CCSS alignments listed for each question, are included.As a bonus, I have added a two-page list of left-over peanut and peanut butter facts that students can use to write their own informational texts. Or, teachers can easily transform them into task cards.
Download the sample pages HERE. (Use back arrow to return to this page.)
