Reading Comprehension Lesson Plan

I've added a new lesson plan on my website to help teachers help their students develop reading comprehension skills and comprehending key ideas and details in stories. Take a look at it and feel free to share it with others

Reading Comprehension Lesson Plan

Dragon Hits Foreign City

Old MacDonald had a Dragon made it's way onto the shelves of a library in Leipzig, Germany where it will be used to help German children learn English. That's pretty awesome I must say.

How to Open Doors to Learning

I love libraries. Before I could read my mom would often take me to our local public library. I would check out my favorite picture books, which usually consisted of various Curious George books. I would take them home, turn the pages, look at the pictures and pretend I could read the words. It established in me a love of books and a desire to read. It also made the library a comfortable place for me to visit.

As I grew older, libraries became a place of learning for me. I wasn't one who would spend hours holed up in the library reading book after book. But if wanted to learn something new, the library was often the first resource I would turn to. I still remember when I was a teenager and first learning how to snow ski. I went to the library to check out a book on skiing and read about the finer points of the snowplow technique, followed by the parallel ski. Anything I wanted to learn about I could find in the library.

Today, the Internet often becomes the first place that people turn to gain new knowledge. That's okay. But we shouldn't let our children grow up thinking that the worldwide web is the only viable resource beyond their textbooks for research and gaining knowledge. Until the day when all the vast physical collections within libraries become digitized, our children need to learn to feel at home within the walls of their local library and practice the valuable skill of cracking open a physical book. Frequent visits to the library with our children will make that happen. Those frequent library visits will also instill within our children a life-long love of reading.

But don't forget that today's libraries aren't just about physical books and references. The ever-growing digital collections that many libraries work to build provide even greater and easier access to extensive reservoirs of knowledge, opening the doors of learning wider than ever before.

Cross-curricular Dragon Activities

Kids love dragons. There's no denying it. Elementary school activities or lesson plans that include dragons often do a great job of holding a students' interest. Kathy Prater, reading specialist and Adjunct Professor at Mississippi University for Women, came up with some wonderful Science, Art, Math, and English cross-curricular activities that not only have a tie to dragons, but have a tie to my picture book, Old MacDonald had a Dragon.

Take a look at her ideas on the International Reading Associations' website at www.reading.org/general/Publications/blog/BlogSinglePost/engage/2013/05/23/putting-books-to-work-ken-bakers-old-macdonald-had-a-dragon.

For other dragon related teaching resources, you can also check out my lesson plan page on my website atwww.kenbakerbooks.com/lessonplans.htm.

Power of Reading

There is real power in reading. When I present at schools, one of the things I talk about to young students is how when we read a book it powers our imagination in a way that we can become anything or do anything while we read that book. But reading lets us do much more than just imagine we can do anything, it literally gives us the power to become and do. Not only does reading open our eyes to new possibilities, it has the power to transform new possibilities into new realities.

A child that masters reading opens the door to an endless array of opportunities for success and happiness. Their choices become virtually unlimited. To paraphrase William Godwin, reading puts everything within our reach.

How to Create Habits of Reading in Kids

Getting books in the hands of children that they will love is so key to helping them form habits of regular reading. That doesn't mean forcing certain types of books on them. It means being open to their personal tastes and helping them find books that they will want to devour. That could mean graphic novels, classics, non-fiction, adventures, historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, fantasy, poetry, contemporary, humor, whatever.

Dragon Fiasco Insights

Exclusive Interview with Old MacDonald on the Dragon Mishap

I had a nice chat the other day with Old MacDonald to get his insight on the dragon fiasco that took place on his farm. Enjoy!

Ken: What prompted you to get a dragon for your farm?
Old MacD: You know, the old song was getting as stale as a year old biscuit. Having a dragon on the farm just seemed to make sense. What kid singing my song wouldn’t want a verse of “With a roar, roar here. And a roar, roar there. Here a roar, there a roar. Everywhere a roar, roar.”  Besides, who doesn’t love dragons?

Ken: What was the best part of having a dragon?
Old MacD: Marshmallows. I never needed a campfire. Just throw him a marshmallow and voila- instant deliciousness. Add some chocolate and graham crackers, and ooh-wee, you’re in S’more heaven.

Ken: When did you first start suspecting a problem?
Old MacD: Well, the animals started to complain. Of course, I thought they were just jealous.  Dragons are cool. Bold. Flashy. And downright awesome. They got the wings. The massive tail. And you can’t beat that breathing fire bit. Dragons can be a bit intimidating when you’re just a pig wallowing in your own goo.

Ken: What does a full-sized, fire breathing winged dragon cost these days?
Old MacD: No matter what those blasted infomercials say, $19.95 won’t get you a decent dragon. Oh, sure they’ll send you a toad or newt with taped on wings, but you won’t get any fire out of those buggers. If you’re careful you can find a good dragon online, but the shipping and handling will burst your billfold.

 (Spoiler Alert!) Ken: What was it like to sing and play your guitar inside a dragon?
Old MacD: I could do without the slime and the intestines jiggling under my boots, but the acoustics were dagnab delightful. I ain't no fancy smancy virtuosos, but inside a dragon I can give that Chesney fella a run for his money.

Ken: After the whole dragon incident, are you still on speaking terms with your animals?
Old MacD: The whole dragon thing was what got the animals talking to begin with. Hecky-darn, now I can’t get the pig and cow to shut up. I kinda miss the days when all I had to worry about was a moo moo here or an oink oink there. Believe me. I’ve learned my lesson. Dragons are a big fat fuss. If you’ve read the book, you know what I’m talking about.

Ken: Any final words?
Old MacD: You know, not many people can say they once had their own dragon. That’s something, ain’t it? But Pappy used to always say, “Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.” For awhile there, having a dragon was quite the fandango, but in the end I think I might just have getted got… Oh, and one last thing. E-I-E-I-O.

For the full story on the great dragon farm fiasco, check out the book Old MacDonald had a Dragon.


In case you want to tweet Old MacD's interview, here are some tweetables

Dragons can be a bit intimidating when you’re just a pig wallowing in your own goo - click to tweet

For $19.95 they’ll send you a toad or newt with taped on wings, but you won’t get any fire out of those buggers - click to tweet

The dragon thing got the animals talking to begin with. Hecky-darn, now I can’t get the pig and cow to shut up - click to tweet

I ain't no fancy smancy virtuosos, but inside a dragon I can give that Chesney fella a run for his money - click to tweet

Add some chocolate and graham crackers, and ooh-wee, you’re in S’more heaven - click to tweet

For awhile having a dragon was quite the fandango, but in the end I think I might just have getted got - click to tweet

Image by Christopher Santoro