How I Met My Monster Rooted in Reading | 1st & 2nd Grade Reading Comprehension Unit

Bring reading, vocabulary, grammar, and writing together with this Rooted in Reading Special Edition for How I Met My Monster by Amanda Noll! This comprehensive, week-long ELA unit includes 5 days of reading lesson plans, comprehension activities, vocabulary practice, grammar lessons, nonfiction reading, and creative writing activities designed for 1st and 2nd grade classrooms.

How I Met My Monster is the prequel to I Need My Monster. Students discover how Gabe became Ethan's monster as a group of monsters participates in tryouts to find the perfect match! The story provides opportunities to explore character traits, describing characters, and how characters respond to major events.

While this book is a great choice for October or the Halloween season, the activities are not Halloween-specific and can be used throughout the school year.

Several activities include differentiated options to support learners in both 1st and 2nd grade classrooms.

What's Included in This Rooted in Reading Unit?

5 Days of Reading Lesson Plans

Everything you need to plan a week of engaging ELA instruction centered around How I Met My Monster.

• 5 days of lesson plans for reading comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar
• Comprehension teaching tips
• Reading comprehension question stems
• Thinking About Reading journal and writing prompts
• Picture examples of activities
• Digital instructional posters for character traits, responding to major events, and describing characters

Reading Comprehension Activities

Students analyze characters, examine their actions and responses, and use evidence from the story to describe their thinking.

• Physical and personality traits sorting activity
• Identifying physical and personality traits
• Describing Characters flap-ups
• Describing Characters printable
• Responding to Major Events printable (2 options)
• How I Met My Monster comprehension check with answer key (2 differentiated options)
• Fiction reading passage with 2 differentiated options
• Nonfiction reading passage, Slime Time, with 2 differentiated options

Interactive Anchor Charts & Reading Response Activities

Bring comprehension lessons to life with collaborative anchor charts and creative responses that allow students to demonstrate their understanding.

• How I Met My Monster Responding to Events anchor chart
• Describing the Monsters anchor chart
• Monster directed drawing and writing activities with differentiated options

Nonfiction Reading: Nocturnal Animals

Extend the fictional story into nonfiction reading with What Creeps in the Night: A Book About Nocturnal Animals. Students explore real animals that are active at night while practicing informational reading and writing skills.

• Nonfiction reader about nocturnal animals
• Nocturnal Animals collaborative anchor chart
• Skunk reading response craft
• Differentiated writing pages for the skunk craft

This nonfiction connection gives students an opportunity to build background knowledge, learn interesting animal facts, and practice responding to informational text.

Vocabulary Activities

Help students develop vocabulary through meaningful practice with words from the story.

• Vocabulary word cards
• Vocabulary picture cards
• Vocabulary discussion and writing prompts
• Vocabulary Match It Up! activity
• Vocabulary assessments (2 differentiated options)

Students practice understanding and applying vocabulary words such as peer, scold, mesmerize, snicker, and loom.

Grammar Focus: Adjectives

Students learn how adjectives describe nouns and practice using descriptive language in their own writing.

• Adjectives instructional poster
• Adjective picture and word cards
• Adjective Monster printable
• Adjective and Noun sorting activity
• Adjective flap-book
• My Mesmerizing Monster activity
• Adjective assessment (2 differentiated options)

My Mesmerizing Monster is a creative grammar and writing activity in which students roll to create their own monster and then use adjectives to describe it.

Daily Deep Dive: Mentor Sentence

The Daily Deep Dive uses a mentor sentence from How I Met My Monster to help students examine language and strengthen their grammar and writing skills.

Throughout the week, students work with the sentence to:

• Identify parts of speech
• Explore vocabulary and word meanings
• Examine sentence structure
• Correct sentence errors
• Apply grammar skills to their own writing

Two differentiated options are included to support different learning needs.

Reading and ELA Skills Covered

• Character analysis and character traits
• Physical and personality traits
• How characters respond to major events
• Describing characters using text evidence
• Reading comprehension
• Fiction and nonfiction reading
• Vocabulary development
• Adjectives and descriptive language
• Mentor sentence analysis
• Written reading responses
• Informational writing

Why Teachers Love Rooted in Reading

One resource for a full week of ELA instruction. Reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and writing are connected through a meaningful picture book.

Differentiated for 1st and 2nd grade. Multiple activities, passages, assessments, and writing pages include options to help you meet the needs of your students.

A balance of instruction and hands-on learning. Students participate in meaningful discussions, interactive notebook activities, collaborative anchor charts, crafts, and writing responses.

Use it beyond Halloween. Although the monster theme makes this an excellent October read-aloud, the literacy skills and activities work throughout the school year.

Please Note: How I Met My Monster by Amanda Noll is not included with this resource and must be purchased separately. This purchase includes the accompanying Rooted in Reading lesson plans and activities.

Be sure to view the preview for a closer look at the reading comprehension activities, vocabulary lessons, grammar practice, differentiated options, and student work examples included in this special edition of Rooted in Reading.