Monday, April 06, 2015

James and the Giant Peach Activities and Resources

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Books for pleasure reading? No problem. Books for school reading? Bleh.

I don't know about you, but finding books for "school" that my kids actually enjoy reading on their own can be a bit tricky. My fourth grade daughter's been especially picky lately when it comes to school literature. (She can't get enough of these books - Warriors Box Set: Volumes 1 to 6: The Complete First Series (Warriors: The Prophecies Begin), though, and devours them during her free time!)

Anyway, I recently decided to go with a Roald Dahl book, the classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and she LIKED it. Yay! Since then, she's happily read James and the Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr. Fox. My daughter answered Charlie and the Chocolate Factory questions that I found online, and currently, she's in the middle of writing a book report for Fantastic Mr. Fox. But for James and the Giant Peach, we went all out. :)

What We Did for James and the Giant Peach

Comprehension questions: I found this FREE James and the Giant Peach Reading Comprehension Activity Guide from Teachers Pay Teachers. It's a little over 20 pages and contains a variety of questions, charts, and spaces for creative drawings. My daughter even had to create a word search, and guess who had to find the words? Me. She thought that was fun. :) A great free resource that comes with an answer key!



Activity: I came up with this simple giant peach craft which was inspired by our 3-D Autumn Art.

Supplies Needed:
  • Paper bag (Link for how to make the bag)
  • Construction paper for the base of the project (The tree will be glued down to this.)
  • Styrofoam ball (We chose a size that was about 1/2 as tall as our tree.)
  • Craft paint (We just got the cheap Apple Barrel brand from Wal-Mart in apricot and tropic orange.)
  • Green paper for the leaf
  • Stick for the stem
  • Plastic insects (We found a small bag at Wal-Mart in the Easter section of all places.)
  • Sticker letters or marker for writing the title of the book on the construction paper
Directions:

Paint the Styrofoam ball and let dry. Make the paper bag tree following the above link. Glue the tree to the construction paper. Write the title of the book using sticker letters or a marker. Assemble the rest of the supplies as you wish. My daughter chose not to glue down the peach or the insects because she wanted to be able to move them around.

*Tip: Foam brushes do not work on Styrofoam. ;)


Food Fun: For this, I decided to go with simple: Store bought peach pie, peach cobbler ice cream, and one of my favorite fun drinks, Tazo giant peach tea. We ate our peach food while watching the James and the Giant Peach movie. The boys and I didn't like the movie when we watched it years ago, but my daughter wanted to give it a try. She finally gave up about 1/2 way through. The food was still yummy, though!


Other James and the Giant Peach Resources from the Web

Activities

Coloring Page

Construction Paper Crafts

Mobile

James and the Giant Peach Book Companion: A Mega Resource Pack (Not free)


Peach Recipes That Look Yummy

Easy Peach Fruit Smoothie Recipe

Peach Crisp Cookie Cups

Peach Cobbler

Peach Streusel Muffins

Other Peach Recipes & Peeling and Freezing Tips


Products on Amazon:



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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is great! I love Mr. Dahl's books! I am a retired teacher and children's librarian, now a private tutor in reading and some math. I love to see children love to read, but that is not always easy. Finding those just right books is truly a strong answer in defining those lines. I appreciate your teaching and parenting to cause much enthusiasm! Can I come over and watch the movie and have some of that delicious looking peach pie? : )

Unknown said...

We are going to be seeing James and The Giant Peach at our local theater in the spring. Great timing so I can plan a few of these activities.
Visiting from #LiteracyMusingMonday.

Brandi said...

Oh, good. Have fun!

The Forever Joyful Homeschool said...

Can I have a slice of that pie please? Thanks for sharing at the #LMMLinkup!

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