Elementary teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for Tops And Bottoms 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 a theme of teamwork, this Tops And Bottoms picture book by Janet Stevens 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 Tops And Bottoms Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of Tops And Bottoms. 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 Tops And Bottoms reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
TOPS AND BOTTOMS SUMMARY
Hare and Bear are neighbors that live on a farm. The land is owned by Bear because his father left him all of his land and wealth. Hare has a wife and children and they are having a hard time with money. He and his wife come up with a plan to trick Bear and feed their children. Hare asks Bear to be partners with him and explains they will split the profit down the middle. Bear just has to decide if he wants the tops or bottoms.
When the crops are ready to be harvested, Hare gives Bear his choice of the tops. Bear realizes he is tricked when Hare keeps the vegetables and gives him the stems. Bear tells Hare to plant more crops and this time he wants the bottoms. Again, Hare tricks Bear! In the end, Bear gives up and decides to plant his own crops. Hare is able to sell the vegetables he harvested and buy back his own land. Even though the two are still neighbors, they are no longer business partners.
TOPS AND BOTTOMS 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 Tops And Bottoms, 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 Tops And Bottoms reading comprehension questions focus on:
- making predictions
- comparing and contrasting
- analyzing character
- ask and answer questions
- sequencing
- identifying theme | message | moral
LITERATURE-BASED SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING LESSONS
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- teamwork
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY & WORD STUDY
- plural nouns
- pronouns
- contractions
TOPS AND BOTTOMS 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 Tops And Bottoms?
- Lexile® Measure: 580L
- Guided Reading Level: N – O
- DRA Level: 28 – 30
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 3.2 – 3.3
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written and illustrated by Janet Stevens.
What genre is Tops And Bottoms?
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.
