Best Leonardo the Terrible Monster Activities & Lesson Plans
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Leonardo the Terrible Monster
You may be aware that we enjoy (I mean are obsessed with) combining wonderful children’s books with creative crafts and engaging activities.
I can’t wait to share these Leonardo the Terrible Monster activities with you. This monster-themed book is guaranteed to NOT scare the tuna salad out of you, even if you are the most scaredy-cat kid.
This great book also provides a fantastic opportunity for children to discuss the characteristics of a good friend. That makes this book a perfect addition to your friendship-related activities or when focusing on enhancing social-emotional skills.
Leonard the Terrible Monster Book Summary
Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems is such a fun book! This children’s book follows the journey of a little monster named Leonardo, who aspires to be terrifying but falls short. Despite his best efforts, he can’t seem to scare anyone. Feeling dejected, Leonardo sets out to find the perfect victim to frighten. Still, his plans take an unexpected turn when he encounters a young boy named Sam.
The story beautifully explores the complexities of emotions and the true essence of friendship through humor and empathy. Readers witness how two unlikely friends, the terrible monster and the boy, learn valuable lessons about acceptance, empathy, and the transformative power of connection.
Reading Lesson Ideas for Leonardo the Terrible Monster
We know we had to include Leonardo the Terrible Monster in our interactive read-aloud lesson plans. An interactive read-aloud encourages repeated readings of the book. In this approach, the teacher takes on the role of decoding the text. At the same time, students actively engage with the story through thoughtful discussion questions, enabling them to build a more profound connection with the story.
Here are some reading comprehension strategies that work so well with the story of Leonardo.
Leonardo the Terrible Monster Visualization Lesson
Reading visualization involves making mental images while reading. This helps students envision the characters, settings, and events within the text. Visualizing enhances student engagement with the story and aids in better retention. Here is the prompt we used for this skill.
- Read until you reach page 5, “He didn’t have 1,642 teeth like Tony.”
Students were asked to draw what they were visualizing.
Here are a few student writing samples from a first grade classroom.
Leonardo the Terrible Monster Retelling the Story Events
With almost each book companion set, we include a retelling activity. Using picture cards, students are asked to put the story in sequential order. Retelling is a great way to help develop students’ oral language skills, including vocabulary and storytelling.
Retelling practice also exposes students to more complex sentence structures. When students engage in retelling, they showcase their developing comprehension of the structure that underlies stories while including story elements in their partner chat.
After students have discussed the story events with their partners, they complete their own retelling in their notebooks.
Leonardo the Terrible Monster Character Analysis
Examining characters in reading comprehension is a valuable tool for students to uncover the intricacies of a story. It encourages empathy by allowing them to relate to the characters’ feelings and motivations. This helps to enhance comprehension and nurtures critical thinking skills. Examining the character traits of this adorable monster enriches the reading experience for young learners, adding depth to their engagement with the text.
Check out this fun character trait anchor chart.
Here are a few student writing samples.
Leonardo the Terrible Monster Making Connections with the Text
When students make connections in their reading, it’s like adding a personal touch to the story. They get to relate what they’re reading to their own experiences, other books, or even things happening in the world. This active involvement makes the whole reading experience more meaningful and helps them understand the text better. It’s like making the story a part of their own world!
This is a perfect book for students to use for connection-making. Students can discuss how they have been frustrated. You could also discuss other books where the character felt frustrated. Here are a few blog posts where the characters showed frustration:
Leonardo the Terrible Monster Read Aloud Video
You must have a copy of the book in order to properly do an interactive read-aloud. If you don’t have the book in your classroom library, you can check with your school or public library. But I also like to recommend a video version of the book.
By the time you get to the end of the week, you might be ready to give your voice a break. A video version will also provide another model of reading fluency! This is a great video version of Leonardo the Terrible Monster!
Leonard the Terrible Monster Craft
Students had a lot of fun making their own monster directed drawing of Leonardo! These incredible pictures were sent to me by a teacher who uses our book companion reading comprehension units. These students then used watercolors!
Here is another directed drawing example from Ms. Ipoletta’s class! LOVE!
Leonardo the Terrible Monster Lesson Plans
There are so many different activities you can do with this fantastic book. I hope you found a few you can use!
If you want to take the work out of planning these lessons on your own, we have done the planning for you!
Free Editable Lesson Plan Template
Would you like to download this free lesson plan template? Click on the lesson plan image below to download this file from my Google Drive… EASY! The PDF version of these lesson plans is linked to the resource so you can find it quickly.
If you would like to find more lesson plans like this one, you can find them by clicking:
Other Fun Read-Aloud Lessons for October
Here are a few other blog posts you may enjoy during the Halloween or fall season.
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Deedee Wills
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
Hi, I'm DeedeE.
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
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