If your students have ever wondered what it’s like to be a ghost who’s a little too timid for the spooky life, then they are in for a treat! With our carefully curated reading activities for Gustavo the Shy Ghost, your students will get to explore this enchanting book over several days and through a variety of learning experiences.
From reading comprehension to writing, and crafts to quizzes, we have created a range of delightful activities inspired by Gustavo’s gentle spirit for your students to explore. Join us below as we explore all of our Gustavo the Shy Ghost Activities.
Gustavo Lesson plan
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While the title of this book Gustavo the Shy Ghost, our endearing and bashful ghost goes through a series of emotions in this heartwarming book. This provides students with a wonderful opportunity to explore their own different emotions and make personal connections.
Even though students have a chance to explore these emotions with Gustavo during their first read, it is revisiting the text that truly allows them to understand the lessons Gustavo is teaching. Therefore, this read aloud is designed to be taught over the course of several days. Each day provides a new opportunity for students to revisit the story and reconnect with Gustavo.
Each Gustavo lesson plan has been designed to meet several core reading and writing standards. We have even included these standards in the lesson plan so you can easily identify them.
The standards we have listed for each lesson are aligned with the core standards for first and second grade. However, they can easily be applied to kindergarten. Moreover, if you read to the bottom of this post you will see we also have a PreK read aloud for Gustavo the Shy Ghost.
Regardless of what grade you teach, you will find everything you need to teach this book in depth through our read aloud. Are you ready to dive in and see what that includes? Let’s go!
Gustavo the Shy Ghost Read Aloud
Before we share several examples of the activities you will find in this read aloud, here is a brief overview of what is included:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Comprehension questions
- Whole group response to text activities
- Response to text worksheets
- Writing pages
- Vocabulary cards and worksheets
- Quiz
- Retelling puppets
- Craftivity template
Gustavo the Shy Ghost Reading Questions
Included in this read aloud are several comprehension questions and whole group response to text activities. These questions and activities are spread out over the course of three days.
Over the course of these three days, you have the opportunity to engage students in comprehension activities that cover several areas of literacy. This includes pre-reading, story elements, character feelings, craft and structure, and words and illustrations.
Here are some examples of the types of questions you will find for each of these areas.
Pre-Reading Comprehension Questions
- Does the title give us any clues about what the story is about?
- Does the picture (on the cover) give us any clues about what the story is about?
Story Element Questions
- What do we know about Gustavo?
- When is the turning point/climax in the story?
Character Feeling Questions
- How does Gustavo feel in the beginning?
- How does Gustavo feel during the concert?
Craft and Structure Questions
- Look at this page. Notice how the author wrote the words. Why did the author write them on the page like that?
- Who is talking on this page? Who are they talking to? How do you know?
Word and Illustration Questions
- What can you learn about Gustavo and his family from the illustration (page one)?
- What do you notice about the window on this page (the page where the monsters are walking past Gustavor’s house)?
Gustavo the Shy Ghost Writing
In addition to whole class comprehension questions, you will also find opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding of the text through writing.
One writing activity in this Gustavo read aloud asks students to write down the events of the story in order. However, if students are not ready to write there is also an option for drawing a picture that shows the events. This provides students a choice in their learning ad you as the teacher an effective and easy way to differentiate.
Along with sequencing the events, we included another writing activity. This activity provides students with an image of the event and then asks the kids to write about the event.
Gustavo the Shy Ghost Vocabulary
Beyond reading and writing activities you will also find vocabulary because we know that building the students’ vocabulary is essential to their success as readers. Therefore, you will find a set of vocabulary words that students will find in the text. This not only teaches students new words, but new vocabulary in context.
Gustavo the Shy Ghost Quiz
After exploring the text with your students over several days, you have the choice of assessing their understanding through a quiz. This not only provides you with a summative assessment but also an extra day of lesson plans.
Just like all of the activities in this read aloud you can upload it into a digital platform or print it. You choose which format works best for your students.
Here are a few of the quiz questions to help you decide if you would like to include this in your Gustavo the Shy Ghost Lesson Plan.
Who is not a character in the story?
- Gustavo
- Bear
- Alma
- Dad
How does Gustavor feel at the beginning of the story?
- Lonely
- Happy
- Nervous
When does this story take place?
- New Year’s Eve
- Valentine’s Day
- Day of the Dead
Gustavo the Shy Ghost Craft
We think it is important to include a craft in every read aloud for several reasons. One, it provides students another opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the book in a creative way. Two, it provides kids with an engaging item they can take home to share their learning with their families.
Another reason we love a craft? They are fun! And all students deserve to have some fun in school.
For this read aloud, students will create a Day of the Dead Altar. This craft invites students to explore the book and the holiday that is highlighted in the book. A wonderful opportunity to help students explore not only a new book but a new culture! In addition to the Day of the Dead Altar, students also get to engage in creative learning with the retelling puppets. Just like the crat, the retelling puppets can be added at the end of the initial 3 days of reading and writing. This provides you with a fourth (or even fifth day of lesson plans).
Gustavo the Shy Ghost for PreK
While Gustavo the Shy Ghost is commonly taught in grades 1-2 it is a delightful book to read at any age. Therefore, in addition to the read aloud designed for our first and second graders, we also created one for the preschoolers.
This PreK read aloud includes the same variety of learning activities that we explored above. However, it has been aligned to meet the needs of your younger readers. This also includes detailed lesson plans for the preschool classroom to support PreK teachers in effectively implementing these grade level activities. Furthermore, if you are a Kindergarten teacher (or know a kindergarten teacher ) this read aloud can be used in your classroom as well! Regardless of what grade you teach or Gustavo read aloud you choose – it will be easy and fun to engage your students in meeting and learning about Gustavo the Shy Ghost.
