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!
Teaching Ideas for the Book
Free Printable Activities to use with the Book
The printable contains
- A Story Planner – Guiding questions help students plan a story. Students imagine Elmer has another animal encounter. Elmer must use something from his knapsack to tame the wild beast.
- 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.
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?
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.
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.
How to Fold an Origami Dragon
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.
Teaching Ideas from Random House
This three-page printable is from Random House. It includes the following:
- Travel Brochure Instructions
- Make Your Own Dragon
- Character Web Printable
- Outcome Prediction Chart
Storyboard That
Student activities from Storyboard That include:
- Character Map Graphic Organizer
- Plot Diagram
- Summary
- Making Predictions
- Themes
My Father’s Dragon Book Unit
If you would like to try out the My Father’s Dragon Book Unit before you buy it, this download contains free samples. Check out:
- 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
- Photos to Show What the Rest of the Unit Looks Like
My Father’s Dragon Book Unit contains graphic organizers for an interactive notebook and game activities. Vocabulary, comprehension, constructed response writing, and skill practice are all included.
