Family & Community
A curated collection of 14 books exploring family & community, each with discussion questions, activities, and printable lesson plans.
Targeted Learning Goal
Students will analyze how families and communities support one another, and connect these themes to their own lives.
Standards Connections
- ELA: RL.K-7.3
- ELA: RL.K-7.6
- ELA: SL.K-7.1
- SEL
Books in This Unit
14 titles — each with a full lesson plan.
Family & Acceptance
Bad Badger
by Maryrose Wood
3 learning goals · 45 minutes
Family & Home
Sisters
by Raina Telgemeier
4 learning goals · 45 minutes
Family & Home
Ghosts
by Raina Telgemeier
4 learning goals · 45-60 minutes
Family & Belonging
The Crossover
by Kwame Alexander
4 learning goals · 50 minutes
Family & Acceptance
Wolfie the Bunny
by Ame Dyckman
3 learning goals · 40 minutes
Community & Gratitude
Thank a Farmer
by Maria Gianferrari
4 learning goals · 40 minutes
Service & Compassion
Mogie: The Heart of the House
by Kathi Appelt
3 learning goals · 45 minutes
Family Traditions
A Season for Fishin'
by Pamela Courtney
3 learning goals · 45 minutes
Generosity & Community
Giving Good
by Aaron Boyd
4 learning goals · 40 minutes, plus a 5-minute follow-up later in the week
Teamwork & Community
Help Wanted: One Rooster
by Julie Falatko, illustrated by Andrea Stegmaier
4 learning goals · 40 minutes
Community & Growth
Growing Together
by Ruth Spiro, pictures by Paola Escobar
4 learning goals · 40 minutes
Appreciation & Community
A Teacher Like You
by Frank Murphy and Barbara Dan
3 learning goals · 30 minutes
Family & Belonging
Our Lake
by Angie Kang
4 learning goals · 40 minutes
Community & Interconnection
Be a Tree!
by Maria Gianferrari
4 learning goals · 45 minutes
Pacing Tools in This Unit
2 tools from the Pace-Write-Read handbook.
Point of View
Who is telling the story, who is narrating it — create options that will make a huge difference. Memorable choices have included death itself, so how do you decide? The narrator you choose quietly rewrites every scene.
Details
Serve double duty and point to what a reader must not miss and help to build out your story in extraordinary ways. One well-chosen detail does the work of a paragraph of explanation.