Elementary teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for On Account of the Gum will love this post. It includes tons of helpful information and resources for teachers.
With a theme of problem solving, this On Account of the Gum picture book by Adam Rex is a favorite in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. Your students will really enjoy it!
Engage Your Students with On Account of the Gum Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of On Account of the Gum.
- 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 book companion to make lesson planning simple with On Account of the Gum reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
ON ACCOUNT OF THE GUM SUMMARY
In this book, a boy got gum stuck in his hair and it caused many other problems. At first, the boy’s dad tried to use scissors to get the gum out. Unfortunately, the scissors got stuck in his hair too! The family decided to look at different websites for solutions and read that butter could help. However, the butter got stuck too. Eventually, the boy’s aunt and grandfather came and each had their own idea about how to get the gum out, but each solution only leaves another problem. Soon the boy has grass, a rabbit, a cat, and a vacuum stuck in his hair.
On top of all that, it is the boy’s birthday. The family decides to get serious and invites fire fighters, a beekeeper and the police to the house. There are so many people each with their own idea that the boy is overwhelmed. He shouts and asks everyone to get out. That’s when the wad of gum hops out of the boy’s hair and walks away. He finally found the solution, although the gum thought the boy was rude.
This book is sure to keep students laughing as the boy faces problem after problem caused by the gum.
ON ACCOUNT OF THE GUM LESSON PLAN IDEAS
Each of our 400+ 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 On Account of the Gum, 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 On Account of the Gum reading comprehension questions focus on:
- making predictions
- summarize / retell
- plot | problem – solution
- sequencing
- cause and effect
LITERATURE-BASED SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING LESSONS
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- problem solving
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY & WORD STUDY
- punctuation
- plural nouns
- types of sentences
- contractions
ON ACCOUNT OF THE GUM ACTIVITIES
You’ll receive 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
YOU HAVE 2 OPTIONS! WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK COMPANION?
BOOK INFO FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS
What are the reading levels for On Account of the Gum?
- Lexile® Measure: AD560L
- Guided Reading Level: N
- DRA Level: 28
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 3
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written and illustrated by Adam Rex.
What genre is On Account of the Gum?
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 56 pages long.
