Last month, I spoke with you all about the new titles that Cardinal Rule Press has released recently or will be released within the last third of the year. You might remember that I briefly mentioned that the best part about Cardinal Rule Press’s titles is that they come with a free reader’s guide that you can download directly off their website. If you’re anything like me, you love free stuff, and you probably especially love free stuff that might make your life easier as you’re teaching either your own kids or other kids in the classroom as the 2022-2023 school year kicks off.
So, you might be asking, “What’s in these mysterious reader’s guides?” It’s important to note that the reader’s guide for every book is different, so the resources and ideas for your classroom are according to the book, not simply general ideas that can be applied to any title. However, they all have similar kinds of content.
Let’s take a look first at the newest member of the Cardinal Rule Press family today, Three Pockets Full by Cindy L. Rodriguez, which officially released at the beginning of the month. Like any of our reading guides, the reader’s guide includes the Common Core standards alignment that the book can assist in covering for the ease of teachers who are using it for their classroom for different grade levels, alongside with comprehension questions for before, during, and after the reading.
From there, the materials included are unique to this book, and any other reader’s guides will have different content suited to their stories. There are multiple different kinds of activities suited for different grade levels. For Three Pockets Full in particular, the activities include sheets for the youngest students to draw their family traditions, what items they would include in their pockets, an opportunity to design a shirt that reflects their own culture, and a diagram to compare and contrast themselves to the main character. There are also sheets that encourage students to recall what happened in the story, the characters, and the setting, and a dice printable to use in group discussions.
Does any of this interest you? Find Three Pockets Full on our website here!
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As for our Bucket Filler titles, which Cardinal Rule Press acquired a few months ago, no title stands out more than Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. Due to its popularity over the years, many teachers have created lesson plans that are available for other people to peruse on their blogs, social media, or Teachers Pay Teachers– check out this free sorting activity by Educating Everyone 4 Life on Teachers Pay Teachers! Bucket Fillers itself has several free resources as well that you can check out. If I may suggest one of my personal favorites, try this activity to pair with one of the Bucket Filler books where students make a chain out of the kind acts they did. You can even hang it in the classroom to serve as a reminder!
The Bucket Filler titles themselves are very versatile in that many lessons for one book can apply to another, so you can pick which book best suits the age group you are working with and use similar activities– so if you’re switching grade levels, don’t fret, anyone can learn about bucket filling! You can peruse the collection of Bucket Books that Cardinal Rule Press sells if you want to learn about the different titles that all teach about kindness and empathy.
The next title Cardinal Rule Press is releasing this year is called What the Bread Says by Vanessa Garcia, which is just weeks away now! That doesn’t mean you can’t still take a look at the reader’s guide for the title or see what people are saying over on Instagram about the book. Like Three Pockets Full’s reader’s guide, it contains the Common Core standards alignment for the book, comprehension questions, maps that show where the countries that are discussed in the books are, sheets to prompt students to draw what community looks like to them, prompts about what makes up a culture, and worksheets to encourage recall. You can pre-order What the Bread Says here.
What do you think? What titles and their resources would you consider adding to your classroom this school year?
Don’t forget your FREE Family Values Printable!
Chloe Kukuk, an upcoming junior majoring in public relations and English at Oakland University, is an editorial and marketing intern at the Cardinal Rule Press. When she’s not studying or working, she loves taking trips to the bookstore and lazing around the house with her three wonderful cats.