Elementary teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for Binny’s Diwali will find this post helpful. It includes resource recommendations, free teaching ideas, and information about the book. You’ll have everything you need to deliver engaging interactive read aloud lessons based on this story.
With themes of individuality, this Binny’s Diwali picture book by Thrity Umrigar is a favorite in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. It will be a big hit in your classroom too! Learn more about this book below!
Engage Your Students with Binny’s Diwali Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of Binny’s Diwali. You can find it in the section below.
- Check out the teaching ideas for reading comprehension strategies, grammar topics and social emotional learning skills that can be taught using this children’s book.
- Download the Binny’s Diwali book companion to make lesson planning simple with Binny’s Diwali reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
Binny’s Diwali Summary
At school, Binny’s class is learning about different holidays. Her teacher, Mr. Boomer, has asked students to teach about their favorite holidays. Binny is excited to be teaching her classmates about Diwali. She woke up that morning feeling excited and nervous.
Binny’s parents helped her prepare by picking out a special Indian outfit and preparing special treats eaten during Diwali. They even packed some of the treats to share with Binny’s classmates! When it came time to share at school, Binny was very nervous. She closed her eyes and thought about Diwali and how it was the celebration of goodness and light. Binny imagined the special oil lamps that were lit to chase away darkness and bring in good luck.
Thinking about this helped Binny to share with her friends. She told them about the fireworks that were lit and had her friends help decorate streamers. Binny even brought in a special toy called in diya and drew pictures with chalk powder. Everyone enjoyed the sweet treats Binny brought to share. At the end of the day, Binny was proud she was able to share about Diwali with her class.
Book Information for Elementary Teachers
What are the reading levels for Binny’s Diwali?
- Lexile® Measure: AD720L
- Guided Reading Level: Q
- DRA Level: 38
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 4.1-4.3
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written by Thrity Umrigar. It was illustrated by Nidhi Chanani.
What genre is Binny’s Diwali?
It is a fiction book. You may want to check out our genre activities or read our blog post, How to Teach Genre to Elementary Students.
How many pages are in the book?
The story is 40 pages long.
Binny’s Diwali Lesson Plan Ideas
Each of our 600+ Starts With a Story book companions come with a teacher’s guide to make lesson planning quick and easy, printable worksheets and digital resources that cover ALL of the standards-based reading comprehension skills.
When it comes to writing lesson plans and finding activities for Binny’s Diwali, we’ve already done all of the heavy lifting for you.
We found this book was especially good at teaching the topics listed below.
Reading Comprehension Questions
The text-based Binny’s Diwali reading comprehension questions focus on:
- analyzing character
- asking and answering questions
- author’s purpose
- point of view
- summarizing/retelling
Literature-Based Social Emotional Learning Lessons
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- individuality
Grammar, Vocabulary & Word Study
- proper nouns
- base words
- verb tense
- antonyms
Get the Binny’s Diwali Book Activities
This Binny’s Diwali Book Companion includes all of the following resources aligned to the story:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
One Last Thing Before You Go… Grab this Free Reading Resource!
If you want to get more book ideas to read aloud to your elementary students, then grab this reading freebie for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom teachers. It includes:
- seasonal read aloud books lists for teachers
- printable reading logs to track students’ reading
- monthly reading challenges to motivate students to read more
It will have you covered for the entire school year, as well as the summer months! Grab this free elementary reading packet now!
