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Rooted in Reading: How to Make Friends with a Ghost read aloud activities for analyzing illustrations by Get Your Teach On

About this resource

Teach students to look beyond the words on the page with this engaging Rooted in Reading companion for How to Make Friends with a Ghost by Rebecca Green! This week-long resource focuses on helping students understand how illustrations contribute important information to a story while building comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar skills.

Over the course of 5 days, students will practice analyzing illustrations, looking closely at illustrations within a story, and combining information from the text and illustrations. Students learn that illustrations aren't just decorations—they can provide clues, reveal details, and add meaning that may not be stated directly in the words.

Through interactive discussions, anchor charts, response activities, and printables, students will practice gathering information from multiple parts of a text to strengthen their overall comprehension.

Students will also explore the paired nonfiction topic Halloween Symbols, extending the week's learning and providing additional informational reading opportunities.

Vocabulary instruction is woven throughout the week with the words frightened, befriend, advisable, reluctant, and collect.

Each day includes a Daily Deep Dive where students interact with a mentor sentence from the text to build skills in close reading, editing, grammar, noticing language, and comprehension.

The week also incorporates grammar and writing instruction focused on transitional words with how-to writing, helping students organize steps and communicate ideas in a logical sequence.

This resource includes:

  • 5 days of detailed lesson plans for comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar
  • Comprehension lessons focused on analyzing illustrations
  • Activities for combining information from text and illustrations
  • Comprehension focus posters, anchor chart templates, and discussion questions
  • Reading response activities, printables, and assessments
  • Paired nonfiction learning about Halloween symbols
  • Vocabulary activities featuring the week's targeted words
  • Daily Deep Dive mentor sentence activities
  • Grammar and writing activities focused on transitional words in how-to writing
  • Engaging text-based response activities
Meet the creators
Rooted in Reading

Rooted in Reading

ELA Curriculum
Rooted in Reading is an elementary English Language Arts (ELA) and read-aloud curriculum created by educators Amy Lemons and Katie King.
  • ✓Designed for Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-grade classrooms
  • ✓Centers around a weekly, purposefully-selected picture book.
  • ✓Can be used as a stand-alone curriculum or as a supplement to existing ELA blocks.
See all Rooted in Reading →
Amy Lemons

Amy Lemons

Teacher & Curriculum Author
Amy started teaching in 2006 and spent most of her classroom years in 1st and 2nd grade. She has shared lessons and activities with teachers on her blog since 2011, built around hands-on activities and meaningful books.
  • ✓Co-creator of Rooted in Reading, now serving K–3
  • ✓Co-creator of Magic of Math and Write On! with Hope King
  • ✓Taught 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade
Shop Amy’s resources →
The GYTO Library

Rooted in Reading: How to Make Friends with a Ghost Read Aloud Activities

Reading Comprehension for Analyzing Illustrationsby Rooted in Reading and Amy Lemons
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Resource details

Pages
110
Number of activities
20
Grade levels
2nd Grade
Included file types
PDFZip
Seasonality
Fall
License
One teacher, one classroom
Access
Included with Library membership

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