Cynthia Rylant
Lesson plans for Missing May and other books

|Biography and Background| |"Checkouts"| |Henry and Mudge| |I Had Seen Castles| |The Journey| |The Lighthouse Family| |Missing May| |Mr. Griggs' Work| |Poppleton in Winter| |The Relatives Came| |Waiting to Waltz| |When I was Young in the Mountains|

Biography and Background

Cynthia Rylant
Biography at Wikipedia.

How Cynthia Rylant Discovered The Poetry Of Storytelling
Author interview. Listen to the audio (6:38) or read the excerpts.

"Checkouts"

"Checkouts"
Students note details as they read. Includes text-dependent questions and suggested evidence-based answers, academic vocabulary, a culminating writing task with prompt and model response, and additional learning activities. Word processor required for access.

Henry and Mudge

Henry and Mudge: The First Book
Vocabulary games, writing practice, and a quiz. Access requires Adobe Reader.

Henry and Mudge
How might students use storyboards to demonstrate and to extend their learning? Check the resources here. Includes writing summaries, working with vocabulary, character maps, theme, more. Note: Storyboard That helps sponsor this site.

Word Study with Henry and Mudge: The First Book
This lesson helps second- and third-grade students identify both base words and suffixes.

Henry and Mudge and the Best Day of All
Vocabulary games and writing practice. Requires Adobe Reader for access.

Henry and Mudge in Puddle Trouble
Click on the link for printable handouts.

The Journey: Stories of Migration

The Journey: Stories of Migration
Students note details as they read. Includes text-dependent questions, vocabulary words, a culminating task, and additional learning activities. Word processor required for access.

I Had Seen Castles

I Had Seen Castles. Adobe Reader required for these resources.

The Lighthouse Family

The Lighthouse Family: The Storm
How might students use storyboards to demonstrate and to extend their learning? Check the resources here. Includes character mapping, vocabulary, compare and contrast, more. Note: Storyboard That helps sponsor this site.

Missing May

Missing May
Three activities on dealing with death.

Study Guide for Missing May
Graphic organizers for active reading, vocabulary, background, and more. This document requires Adobe Reader for access.

Mr. Griggs’ Work

Mr. Griggs' Work
The students will learn about the importance of responsibility, dependability, punctuality, honesty, and effort in the workplace. The students will have the opportunity to explore these character traits in their own work setting. This lesson is designed for grades K-5.

Poppleton in Winter

Poppleton in Winter
How might students use storyboards to demonstrate and to extend their learning? Check the resources here. Includes character mapping, vocabulary, character maps, point of view, more. Note: Storyboard That helps sponsor this site.

The Relatives Came

The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
This is a first grade reading comprehension lesson to teach students how to make text-to-self connections while reading.

The Relatives Came — Lesson Ideas
Students add sensory details to help readers visualize. Lesson plan includes printable graphic organizer.

Waiting to Waltz

Lesson Plan for Waiting to Waltz: A Childhood
Designed for 6th graders, this lesson plan encourages students to develop skills in reading and writing poetry.

When I was Young in the Mountains

When I was Young in the Mountains
After reading the book, students compose Mother's Day cards expressing appreciation.