My Father’s Dragon tells the story of Elmer Elevator. Elmer runs away to a Wild Island to rescue a baby dragon. There, Elmer encounters fierce wild beasts. He must use items from his backpack to get out of difficult situations. These include two dozen pink lollipops, rubber bands, chewing gum, a fine-toothed comb, and other objects. Students laugh out loud at Elmer’s cleverness. The rescue mission on Wild Island turns into quite an adventure.
Students love reading about Elmer!
My Father’s Dragon Activities
Book Unit Samples
Check out this unit with these samples:
- Vocabulary Practice for Chapter 1 [oblige and furnace] plus Chapter 10 [irate and jackknife]
- Comprehension Questions for Chapter 1
- Constructed Response Question – Point of View
Teaching Idea #1 ~ Story Writing
Students imagine Elmer has another animal encounter. Elmer must use something from his knapsack to tame the wild beast.
The printable contains
- A Story Planner – Guiding questions help students plan a story.
- Writing paper with animals is provided.
- Venn Diagram – Students compare My Father’s Dragon to their story.
- Making Connections with Text – Two organizers are provided to use with the book.
- Nutrition – Discussion questions guide students to evaluate Elmer’s diet during his trip.
Teaching Idea #2 ~ Claymation – My Father’s Dragon in 90 Seconds
This YouTube video highlights only part of the book. It is excellent! Have students evaluate the video.
Questions
- Why did the author skip parts of the story?
- How does the video help students better understand the story?
- How could the video be improved?
- What is the best feature of the video?
Teaching Idea #3 ~ On the Web
Student activities from Storyboard include:
- Character Map Graphic Organizer
- Plot Diagram
- Summary
- Making Predictions
- Themes
Teaching Idea #4 ~ Reading the Book Online
My Father’s Dragon is now in the public domain. This means you can easily find both audio and text versions of the story online.
Online Book
If you are lucky enough to have laptops for your class, you may enjoy using an online version of the book. This one includes the images.
Free Audio Book
LibriVox records books that are in Public Domain. This excellent audiobook is read by a child. You can download the entire story or listen to it online chapter by chapter.
Teaching Idea #5 – Map Making
Have students create a map of the island that the boy travels to in order to rescue the dragon. Encourage them to include landmarks and places that are mentioned in the book.
Include:
The Village of Tangerina – This is where the boy begins his journey and where he meets a cat who tells him about the baby dragon.
The Wild Island – This is the island where the baby dragon is being held captive by a group of animals.
The River – The boy crosses a river on his way to Wild Island.
The Bamboo Forest – The boy travels through a bamboo forest to get to Wild Island.
The Canopy – The boy climbs to the top of the canopy to rescue the dragon.
The Crocodile River – The boy crosses a river full of crocodiles on his way back home.
Teaching Idea #6 – Science Connection
Discuss with students the characteristics of different animals that are mentioned in the book. This can lead to discussions about animal habitats, food chains, and adaptations.
Include:
- tigers
- rhinos
- lions
- gorillas
- monkeys
- wild boars
- crocodiles
Teaching Idea #7 ~ Origami Dragons
I love this video series. It is great to see the projects that can be completed by kids. This episode shows how to make an origami dragon.
See the product that inspired this post.
My Father’s Dragon Novel Study includes vocabulary practice, comprehension questions, constructed response writing, and skill practice.
