Amber Brown is Not a Crayon

Will Amber Brown survive without her best friend?

Amber Brown and Justin Daniels have been best friends since Amber can remember. They are the perfect pair. Justin helps Amber with fractions, while she helps him with spelling. Amber has better handwriting, and Justin is a much neater gluer. The friends have known Justin would be moving eventually, ever since his father moved for a new job. Secretly, Amber has been hoping Justin's family's house would never sell. But then, when it does, their friendship begins to change... What will happen in Paula Danziger's Amber Brown is Not a Crayon?

Reading Level: Guided Reading: N
                        Lexile: 720L


Teachers... here are some resources for you...

Web Resources

• Extension Activities: these are great activities to complete with your class after reading Amber Brown is Not a Crayon. The last activity "Takeoff" goes great with Social Studies, yay for cross-curricular ideas!
• Reading A-Z: If your school has a subscription to Reading A-Z, here is a link that will take you to a lesson and discussion questions for this story.
• Literature Enrichment: These activity ideas create great extensions that you could do as a whole class, in reading groups or book clubs depending on how you choose to use this book in your class.
• FREEBIE from me! Here is a comprehension sheet using T.A.P. (Turn it Around, Answer It, Prove it) It's a google doc and you can easily get rid of the T.A.P. icon if you don't want it  or message me and I can send you a copy without it.

Vocabulary: Here are some words you may want to pre teach, point out, etc. before or during reading.
active imagination, anchovies, applauds, charity, combination, contributed, debate, defend, gory, immature, imitate, obnoxious, promotion, sarcastic, torment (you can find more words through this link)

Activities
Before Reading: Discussion or journal: In this story, Amber Brown's best friend Justin is going to be moving away. Have you ever had a friend move away? How did you feel? How would you feel if your best friend moved away? On the cover art of one edition of this book, it says "fighting with your best friend is no fun" why do you think Amber and Justin might be fighting in this book, based on what you know about someone moving away?

During Reading: Discussion or journal: Amber and Justin stop talking to each other when Justin starts packing. Why does Amber Brown stop talking to Justin? Do you think she is making a good or bad decision by not talking to him? Why? What would you do the same or different?

After Reading: Amber Brown and Justin now live far away from each other. What are some ways Amber Brown and Justin could stay friends? Pretend you are Amber Brown and write a letter to Justin about how things have changed now that he's gone. Pretend you are Justin and write a letter to Amber Brown talking about your new school.

Cross Curricular: Social Studies See the link above for a great Social Studies connection... think, traveling in your classroom just like Amber Brown's class does!

Happy Reading (& Running!)