Fantastic Mr. Fox Book Study

Last year I had an unholy number of boys in my class (17, compared with 6 girls) so I was always on the lookout for silly games, slimy experiments, and disgusting-humored books to keep their attention. (My poor, precious girls, I know!) After seeing this dapper fox tie at www.uncovet.com, I decided to create a book study for Fantastic Mr. Fox.

I had read it to my fourth graders a few years previously, and remembered the gross descriptions of the farmers and the action-packed adventure of Mr. Fox... but knew there was no way my Seconds could do any of the activities already out there. So, Mrs. H., my partner-in-crime, and I went in together and purchased the tie for our awesome principal as an incentive to clear his schedule each day for about 20 minutes over the course of a week to read the novel to our kids in a big group. We weren't sure if our 8-year-olds would listen to our voices for 20 minutes each day, but knew they'd pay attention to the King-of-the-School (as he's affectionately called!)

I then created a full book study with questions for kids to answer each day (in Second Grade language) as well as lots of other activities (character analysis, a prediction piece, a fun cootie-catcher) so the book could take the place of our reading series for the week. There are 26 pages in all (we ended up running out of time some days, and we have a 90-minute reading block!) so you can pick and choose the best activities to fit the needs of your kiddos. You can get to my TPT site by clicking the link above. Here's a sample of some of what's included, and all the printables are black and white for convenience at the copier!

It was a lot of fun, and even my girls enjoyed listening and participating! I plan on doing this again next year, but will have to find another way to bribe someone to read it aloud! The pages include: Read-Aloud Sticky Notes and Foxy Facts Sheets so the book can be read aloud or students can complete written responses for the questions if reading independently (directions included), Book prediction/summary, "Not So Fantastic Farmers" character analysis, "Dig, Dig, Dig" retelling picture, "Burrowing Bandits" graphic organizer, "Rhyme Time" writing activity, "Fantastic Effects" cause and effect map, "Mr. Fox is Fantastic" descriptive writing, and a cootie-catcher style foldable with extension questions. All items were created with 2nd-3rd graders in mind, and each level of Bloom's Taxonomy is covered.

*Update! I revamped the graphics in my Book Study. Details are HERE.