Elementary teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for Thunderboy Jr. 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 and compassion, this picture book by Sherman Alexie 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 Thunderboy Jr. Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of Thunderboy Jr.. 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 book companion to make lesson planning simple with Thunderboy Jr. reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
THUNDERBOY JR. SUMMARY
Everyone has a normal name around Thunder Boy Jr. His mom and his sister have normal names, but why does he have to be Thunder Boy? We learn that this boy is named after his father, Thunder Boy Sr. Although his dad’s name fits his personality, the boy does not feel a connection to his name.
There are many names Thunder Boy Jr. can think of that are aligned with his personality and experiences. He has touched an orca- so his name could be “Not Afraid of Ten Thousand Teeth”. Or, he has climbed tall mountains, so he could be “Touch the Clouds”.
Reflecting on his relationship with his father, Thunder Boy decides on the name Lightning. Together with his dad, they can light up the night sky!
THUNDERBOY JR. 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 Thunderboy Jr., 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 Thunderboy Jr. reading comprehension questions focus on:
- retelling
- analyzing character
- author’s purpose
LITERATURE-BASED SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING LESSONS
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- compassion
- individuality
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY & WORD STUDY
- contractions
- conjunctions
- commas
THUNDERBOY JR. 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 Thunderboy Jr.?
- Lexile® Measure: AD420L
- Guided Reading Level: K
- DRA Level: 18 – 20
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 2.2 – 2.3
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written by Sherman Alexie. It was illustrated by Yuyi Morales.
What genre is Thunderboy Jr.?
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.
