Activity
Flashlight Readers
Fun activities that let students go inside nine popular and highly-taught books.
Grades
3–5, 6–8, 9–12
Activity Type
- Interactive Whiteboard Activities
- Book Resources
Flashlight Readers is an interactive literacy experience that lets readers enter the world of books and communicate with their favorite authors. Each activity based on a highly-taught, popular title offers community-building learning activities, author chats, and slideshows, all while encouraging essential reading and writing skills.
Learning Objectives
While participating in Flashlight Readers, students will:
- Offer observations, make connections, react, speculate, interpret, and raise questions in response to text
- Identify and discuss book themes, characters, plots, and settings
- Connect their experiences with those of the author and/or with characters from the books
- Support predictions, interpretations, conclusions, etc. with examples from text
- Practice key reading skills and strategies (cause-and-effect, problem/solution, compare-and-contrast, summarizing, etc.)
- Monitor their own comprehension
- Discuss ideas from the book with you, the author, and/or other students online
Go Directly to the Activities
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Learn More About Each Activity
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Students can create a character scrapbook, navigate a maze using clues from the book, watch an author video, read early drafts of the book, and more.
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
Students can bring the book to life by creating a comic strip, meet the producer of the movie, see a slideshow of spiders, test their skills on verbs and nouns, and more.
A Dog's Life by Ann M. Martin
Readers can choose their own adventure and create a story — both based on the book's plots — browse photos of the author, and listen to an audio recording of the author.
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Students can rewrite scenes from the book, write a journal entry as if they were Esperanza, and read a Q&A with the author.
Holes by Louis Sachar
Students can play the memory match-up and treasure hunt games to test their knowledge of the book, read a Q&A with the author, and more.
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
The author discusses writing and what inspired him to write Hoot. Students can create a personalized letter about a cause they care about.
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Peek into the author’s writing room, take a quiz on the book, write an editorial in a step-by-step workshop, “become” one of the book’s characters, and more.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Students help Hugo grab parts for his automata in a maze, build their own “Mechanical Men,” listen to exclusive audio with the author, and view his sketches.
The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins
The author discusses the book, and students can create an Underland creature, help a character make his way through a labyrinth, and more.
Blue Balliett, Author of Chasing Vermeer
The author answers questions and offers advice to young writers. Plus, students can follow clues to unlock a secret message, play pentominoes, and master two art challenges.
Flashlight Readers Teaching Guide
A guide to the online club that invites beginning through advanced-level readers to enter the world of quality books and communicate with favorite authors.
GRADES
3–5, 6–8
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