Are you looking for some fun and interesting Stuart Little teaching activities? You’ve come to the right place. Read the brief description. Grab a book unit sample. Finally, check out the activities.
Stuart Little Summary
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Little of New York City have a son they name Stuart. He is normal in every way except he is very small and looks and acts like a mouse. Because of his small size, Stuart is able to help his family. He dives down the drain to retrieve Mrs. Little’s lost ring. Stuart goes inside the piano to pull up the stuck key as George plays. He races after ping pong balls that roll off the table.
Stuart’s life is one exciting adventure after another. Read the book to find out how he figures out how to get himself out of several frightening situations due to his small size. Learn how he wins a boat race in Central Park, winds up sailing out to the deep sea on a barge, and takes off in a mouse-sized car.
Stuart Little Teaching Activities
Book Unit Samples
You will find the following in this novel study sample:
- Vocabulary Practice
- Comprehension Questions for Chapters 1-2
- Constructed Response Question for Chapters 1-2
Teaching Idea #1 – Specific Chapter Activities
In Chapter 7 “The Sailboat Race,” Stuart takes part in a great ship race across the pond in Central Park. Try making your own ship. Here are directions for making a ship from a milk carton.
In Chapter 10 “Springtime,” Margalo leaves. Make a missing poster for Margalo. Be sure to write a description of what Margalo looks like. Will there be a reward for information that helps Stuart find her? If so, include this on your poster.
In Chapter 13 “Ames’ Crossing,” Stuart buys a birch bark canoe. He plans on taking Harriet for a romantic ride, but his plans fall apart. After reading what happens to Stuart, build your own birch bark canoe.
Teaching Idea #2 – Brainstorming Activity
Stuart learns to live in the “big” world. He figures out how to do a number of things that we take for granted such as
- turning on the light
- brushing his teeth without the help of turning on the faucet
How could he cope with these problems?
fixing breakfast
taking a bath
traveling to school
writing
turning on the television
Think of some others. How could Stuart solve these problems?
Stuart Little Teaching Activities #3 – Comparing and Contrasting Ideas
Stuart Little versus Other Characters in Classic Literature
Have students compare and contrast Stuart Little with other classic children’s characters such as Winnie-the-Pooh or Alice in Wonderland.
Here are a few details to get you started.
Stuart Little
- Stuart Little is depicted as an intelligent and determined character while Winnie-the-Pooh is often portrayed as innocent, joyful, and carefree.
- Both Stuart Little and Winnie-the-Pooh go on adventures. Stuart Little’s adventures are more “human-like” such as sailing a sailboat in Central Park. Most of Winnie-the-Pooh’s adventures are simple and lighthearted. Winnie-the-Pooh simply wants honey.
Alice in Wonderland
- Alice falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in a fantastical world filled with talking animals and peculiar creatures. In “Stuart Little,” Stuart is a mouse who is born to human parents and goes on adventures in New York City.
The Book to the Movie
This short video summarizes the movie. After watching the video, have students compare how the book compares to the movie.
Another compare-and-contrast option is to compare just one scene from the book to the same scene in the movie. This 9-minute video clip shows Stuart racing the Wasp. Have students compare the race scene from the movie to the events in Chapter 7.
McGraw-Hill Book Company created a video of Stuart Little in 1968. The abridged version of the book is narrated by Johnny Carson while the video shows a series of still images and video clips. Showing parts of this version of the story is a great way to differentiate instruction or a fun alternative to reading the text for a chapter or two.
You can find the video in the Internet Archive. The film can be downloaded for easy classroom use.
See the product that inspired this post.
Stuart Little Novel Study includes vocabulary practice, comprehension questions, constructed response writing, and skill practice.
6 comments
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I’m glad you joined in on the hop, Gay! Clever idea to create a turn around upside down book. Thanks for sharing, Gay! 😉
Excellent original resource I will really be able to use – have left feedback on TpT as well. Thank you so much for creating & sharing 🙂
Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace
I left you some feedback on TPT. The two books in one is super cool!
~Heather
The Meek Moose
WHat a really creative idea for a product! Thanks for sharing it! Reading and Writing Redhead
I love your website and ideas!
I recently moved back to the elementary school to teach 5th grade and all subject areas. This is a jump from teaching math at the middle school for over 10 years. I am super excited and I am having a blast, however having to review concepts and making sure I am covering all common core has added a workload I really did not think about. (I am in my “official” 24th year of teaching and still love it!)
Your anchor charts and creative activities are inspiring; I cannot wait to put these lessons into action. Thank you for your time and effort, it definitely does not go unnoticed!
Jill
Author
Thank you, Jill
Your kind words mean a lot!!