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Family Literacy Backpacks

Family fun and learning are promoted through take-home, theme-focused backpacks. Ideas for materials and activities which can be included in these great backpacks are provided.

The Great Outdoors

Caution: Before using these materials for student activities and backpacks, check all weblinks to ensure they are active and appropriate for student and family use. Visit our template and help page which explains how to download a template then copy activities from this website to create your own, unique backpack. If you use these materials, please give appropriate credit to the authoring schools. Thank you!

Coesse Elementary

Whitley Co Consolidated Schools
Columbia City, IN

English/Language Arts Academic Standards

Listening & Speaking

Reading Response

Reading Vocabulary

Writing Applications

Family Activities

Have some family fun! Sit down and dig in to as few or many book and activities as you choose. After you've had your fun, please complete the backpack evaluation form.

Family Fun Ideas

• Take funny pictures of your family.
• After reading "Secret of the Andres" write about Cusi's trip.
• Play Rock, Paper , Scissors
• Invent your own mode of transportation
• Make shadow puppets with a flashlight.
• Roast Mashmallows over stove.

The Great Outdoors Video Activities

• Go camping in your living room.
• Roast marshmallows over the stove.
• Make shadow puppets with flashlight.
• Create your own outdoor sound tape.
• Tell stories about past vacations.
• Compare and contrast the two families and decide which one you want to live with.

Secret of the Andes Book Activities

• Find the Andes Mountains on the map. http://andesweb.com
• Draw a family tree or use the computer trace your ancestors at http://www.familytreesearcher.com/
• Get out your photo album and talk about pictures of the past.
• Write or tell about Cusi's trip through the eyes of Misti.
• Take a funny picture of your family and put it in your photo album.

Around the World in Eighty Days Book Activities

• Find Columbia City on a map
• If you had 80 days to plan a trip, where would you go? What supplies would you take?
• Go to www.travelocity.com to map your trip.
• Invent your own mode of transportation and make a drawing of it.

Everybody Needs a Rock Book Activities

• Select any of the following activities to do with your family.
• Paint your Pet Rock and use it as a paper weight
• Use this site to find rocks and identify them.
  http://www.cneill.com
• Play Rock Paper/Scissors and see who wins.
• Weigh rocks on bathroom scale and graph your results on a spreadsheet.

Books to Include

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne - ages: adult Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor - all ages Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark - intermediate readers The Tree (A First Discovery Book) by Gallimard Jeunesse

Web Sites for Fun

Family Tree Searcher http://www.familytreesearcher.com/ Enter your ancestor information just once to search family trees at multiple online genealogy databases. Geology http://www.cneill.com/ Use this site to find rocks and identify them.

List of Additional Resources

Videos

The Great Outdoors rated pg - with Dan Aykroyd

Computer Software

Encyclopedia of Nature by Eyewitness - all ages

Resource Link

If you are thinking of creating a literacy backpack for outdoors, here are suggested resources you can include in your backpack: outdoors resources.