🖼️ Picture Talk & Preview Activities

Before Reading

Have children look at the pictures first and talk about them. Discuss what they see, predict what words might be used, and build excitement for the reading activity.

Scaffolded Reading Support

You might even read the eBook first together, and then have children attempt to read independently. This builds confidence and provides a model for successful reading.

🎵 Rhyming & Word Play Activities

Create Rhyming Word Families

Have children brainstorm additional words that rhyme with the ones in the eBook. The words can be real or nonsense! This helps develop phonemic awareness and creativity.

Example: If the eBook has "cat," children might add: bat, hat, sat, mat, rat, fat, vat, splat, or even fun nonsense words like "zat" or "blat!"

💬 Questions to Ask Before, During & After Reading

About Sentence Structure

• How many words are there in the sentence?
• What does a sentence start with? (Capital letter)
• What does a sentence end with? (Punctuation mark)

About Content & Comprehension

• What was your favorite picture? Why?
• What were your favorite words? Why?
• Can you find all the words that start with the letter(s) ___?
• Can you find all the words that end with the letter(s) ___?

✍️ Interactive Writing & Drawing Activities

Letter & Word Practice

• Printing Practice: Have children trace the letters with a computer pen or their finger to develop fine motor skills.
• Rhyming Words: Have children write words that rhyme with one of the words on the page.
• Circle Letter Patterns: Ask children to circle certain initial letters or word endings. They can also circle capital letters or periods.
• Fill in Missing Letters: White out a portion of a word. See if the children can fill in the missing letter(s).

Creative Writing Activities

• Write New Sentences: In "single page mode," scroll backwards so that the picture is revealed first. Ask children to try and write a sentence using similar sentence structure about the picture. This can be done independently as children will be able to self-correct.
• Create New Endings: Have children brainstorm and write or draw new endings to the sentences in the eBook. What do they see around them? Who do they see around them?
• Illustrate Words: In "single page mode," you can show the word without revealing the picture. Ask children to illustrate what they think the word means.

Structured Word Inquiry

If you are using Structured Word Inquiry as a teaching method, you can choose a word in an eBook as a base. Vocabulary webs can be drawn directly on the eBook itself using annotation tools.

Example: Start with the word "play" and build out related words like: playing, played, player, replay, display, playground, etc.

👥 Share & Build Confidence

Reading Buddies

Have children read the eBooks to siblings, friends, or other students at school during reading buddies time. By sharing their abilities with others, it builds confidence and gives them a sense of pride!