Literacy Bags by any other name are just as fun!
Book Bags. Home Bags, Book Buddies, Story Bags...
Literacy Bags are a fun way to help children share what they are learning with their families. Children take these literacy bags home, read the stories, do the activities with their families and then write about their experiences in the journal.
Soon you will have your students begging for the opportunity to take their homework home.
Literacy Bags Table of Contents
Each Literacy Bag includes a stuffed animal, a fiction book, a non-fiction book, a few suggested activities, and a journal to record your experiences and suggest other activities. It also includes a list of materials and directions to any games, a journal to record their activities and a letter to the parents.
When children return the bag to school they get to share their experience with the class. This makes homework fun for the whole family.
Literacy Bags
Elements of a great literacy pack:
1. An engaging theme - one that will spark thinking, creativity, and observation skills
2. Three or four theme-based books (fiction and nonfiction), selected at an appropriate reading level
3. Related interactive activities, for example: puzzles, sorting/matching cards, dramatic play props, art supplies
4. Letter to parents explaining the purpose of the literacy bags and a brief list of reading tips
5. Checklist of the contents to make returns to school easy
6. Colorful, inexpensive backpack to store and transport everything. One with a clear plastic sleeve is perfect for slipping in a labeled drawing or photograph that illustrates the theme.
- SAMPLE LETTER TO PARENTS
- Dear First Grade Parents
- Have Journal...Will Travel: Promoting Family Involvement in Literacy
- Students take turns taking home a book bag that includes a stuffed toy, a book to read with their families, art supplies, a topic to discuss, and a journal to complete as a family. The students then return the bag the following day and share their entries with the class. After every student has taken the bag home, the journal is bound into a book for the classroom library. The teacher then selects a new topic and book to start a second rotation. The goal is to invite parents to join their children in these literacy activities.
Suggested Contents for Each Literacy Bag:
Each bag will contain different books and activities but here is a list of the basics:
-Letter to Parents
-stuffed animal
-non-fiction book
-fiction book
-a list of suggested FUN activities
-journal
-list of contents
I Didn't Do My Homework Because...
Why didn't you do your homework? Take Home Literacy Bags can change the excuses into pleas for the opportunity to take home the homework.
I was abducted by green-skinned, three-eyed, pig-snouted space aliens and they incinerated my homework with their death rays.
2 points
Our furnace broke and we had to burn it to keep ourselves from freezing.
0 points
Creating and Organizing Literacy Bags
Here is one teacher's way of creating Story Bags
Collecting books, journals, games, flash cards, and other extension activities can happen anytime and any where. As you plan new themes you can start gathering items for new bags.
Canvas bags work well for literacy bags. If you want them to close, you can sew VELCRO to the insides on the top. It is very easy to do and it works!
Adding labels makes it possible to identify the bags, where they belong, and who has worked with each bag.Large key rings and "name badge holders" work well for labeling and identifying the bags.
A rolling garment rack works well for storing the bags and can be moved around as needed.
Shower curtain hooks work well for hanging the bags.
A "library" card pocket labeled with the bag's number and title works well for a checkout system. Having a class list grid on it makes it possible to keep track of who's had which bag.
When students check out a bag, they take their picture stick (green cup) and put it into the correct pocket.When they return the bag, they hang it on the garment rack. The teacher can then go through the bag and then remove their picture stick and cross their name off of the name grid on the homework bag pocket.
It's in the Bag
A new idea - literacy bags tailored to different themes - turns into a multi-age, interdisciplinary project.
It's in the Bag By Maribelle H. Betterton and Lynne C. Ensworth discusses one way that a group of teachers brought Literacy Bags to their school.
Let Your Thoughts Out of the Bag
Can Literacy Bags replace traditional homework?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byNo! Literacy Bags are not structured enough.
kab says:
No. While I think they are great, if used as a replacement for homework, they can too easily be rushed through.
Posted March 07, 2008
Yes! Homework should be open ended, helping parents to connect with their children.
fotolady49 says:
These are a great way to make learning and homework more fun and when learning is more fun, then children and parents will certainly be able to enjoy more productive and quality time together, a learning experience for both. I feel that being too structured can be counterproductive.
Posted November 17, 2008
Barkely says:
I love the idea, one could only hope... I think I hate homework almost as much as my son. I would love to see some innovative new ideas in the school.
Posted May 26, 2008
clouda9 says:
Great new way to kick show-and-tell up a notch! Interaction with our kids is the added bonus.
Posted March 01, 2008
What are Buddy Bags?
Buddy Bags are are just another name for Take Home Literacy Bags or Story Bags
Buddy Bags are designed to be fun and informative ways for families to share literacy and learning experiences at home. A Book Buddy is a stuffed animal or character that goes home in a special backpack with one student along with books and activities. Look at the pictures in the link below to see the Buddy Bags and activities that your children might be bring home.
Some teachers send a Buddy Bag home on Mondays. Families will read the books, do one or more activities and write in the journal. The Book Buddy is to be returned to school the following Monday.
- Buddy Bags
- Buddy Bags are designed to be fun and informative ways for families to share literacy and learning experiences at home.
Literacy Bags
All activities are designed for the child and parent to enjoy together.
The Literacy activities are designed for the student and parent to enjoy together. Parents are encouraged to read the books with their child, and do the activities. The classroom journal is for the parent and child to reflect on his/her experience with the book and activities. Parents are encouraged to help their child write or draw in these journals.For more Egg and Bird related ideas check out my Bluebird Lens.
Collecting Adjectives Literacy Bag
This is a great idea for Valentine's Day!
Read the story The Boy Who Loved Words to the children in class. Then invite them to take home this literacy bag and fill the pink rubber piggy bank with adjectives that they find when reading the B Book or anywhere else at home. They write the adjectives they find on pink heart shaped papers that fit into the piggy bank. Kids will love the magnet words and blocks which also have adjectives. When back in school we look for new adjectives that and add them to the Adjective Word Wall.
Frog Literacy Bag
This is a great Literacy Bag to introduce to the children during the Frog Unit Study. I have older children come in and teach the children how to play the games in small groups. It makes the older children feel proud to be able to teach younger children and the children in my class love the attention of the older children, especially if it is an older sibling.
Rhyming Literacy Bag
1.Make a deck of rhyming cards to play Go FishCards with pictures and words such as cat/hat, fish/dish, frog/log
2.Write a poem
Use colored pencils to highlight the rhyming words.
3.Ask a Grandparent to tell you a poem or sing a song from their childhood.
Record this poem or song onto a cassette tape to share at the listening center.
4.Fill in the Rhymes
Write a poem or song but leave the rhyming words blank. Put copies of it in a three ring binder. Children make up new rhymes and illustrations for the poem.
For more jumprope rhymes and games involving physical activity check out What Happened to Recess.
Pete Seeger Literacy Bag for Peace
Learn about peace within yourself, amougst your friends and throughout the world. Learn the songs of peace and take that peace with you wherever you go.
Lots more teaching ideas about Peace and be found at Pete Seeger for Nobel Peace Prize.
Tooth Fairy Literacy Bag
I always send a journal home with each Literacy Bag but some times I send home books to be completed that we share as each child brings one in and then place in the classroom library. Scribbles-n-Dots offers a great little journal. Sometimes I make the journals shaped like teeth. I use dental floss to sew the pages together. I often relate teeth to my units on Alligators or Woodchucks
The Skunk Literacy Bag
It's all about the sense of smell...
1.Put on a blindfold. Have someone put something in front of your nose. Guess what it is by smell.
2.Put on a blindfold. Have somesome put objects one at a time into your hands. Guess what it is by touch.
3.Put on a blindfold. In a very quiet room have someone make a noise. Point to where the person using only your ears.
4.Have someone arrange a few objects infront of you. Put on a blindfold. Have the other person remove or move one of the objects. Take off the blindfold and try to see which one was moved.
5.Put on a blindfold. Have someone put different foods on your tongue. Try to guess what that food is using only taste.
6. There are also many was to use the sense of smell to teach math.
For more ideas related to Jimmy Skunk's neighbors check out Creatures of the Woodlands, Winsome Bluebird at Bluebirds: Classroom Meadow Theme, and Little Joe Otter at River Otters: Playful Friends of the Woodlands!.
Skunk Literacy Bags
Lenses with Literacy Bag Ideas for Fall
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Thanksgiving is Turkey Time!
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Wild Turkeys nearly became extinct in the 1930's but times have changed and turkeys have benefited. Now turkeys are often found in fields and on the edge of the woods. In this unit you will learn about Wild Turkeys, read turkey facts and stories, pl...
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Pumpkins and Place Value
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Pick the biggest pumpkin you can find. Cut off the top and smell the fresh pumpkin smell. Carving a Jack O'Lantern leads into a mathematical unit study of place value that incorporates all five senses. Counting pumpkin seeds into groups of 10's, 100...
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Lumpy Bumpy Pumpkin
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There are five little pumpkins in Farmer Joe's Pumpkin Patch. Four of them are round and shiny and look like the perfect pumpkins but the fifth little pumpkin is lumpy and bumpy. Lumpy Bumpy Pumpkin will be on stage in NYC this week at Shadow Box Th...
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Tobias Turkey: A Thanksgiving Tale
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Tobias Turkey is about a determined little turkey who wants to win the prize for being the biggest turkey on Farmer Joe's Farm. This story leads into a unit study of domestic turkeys with poems, crafts, math activities and a book to download onto yo...
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Fall: Learning of Leaves and and the Autumn Harvest
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Listen to the carousel as a young girl reads Chris L. Demarest's poem of the sights and and sounds of a crisp fall day. Leaves are crunching below your feet and geese are flying overhead. It's time to gather in the pumpkins and munch on crisp ripe ap...
The Cat Sat on the Mat Literacy Bag
This is a great way to share all that the children have been learning about CVC words with their parents. The Cat Sat on the Mat is a predictable book that children can quickly read after hearing it one or two times.
The Max Game in a cooperative game for 1-4 people who try to help the bird, chipmunk and mouse get to their homes before Max comes to get them.
Cat Literacy Bag Tote
The Chicken Literacy Bag
These are some ideas for including in the Chicken Literacy Bag. Look for more ideas on the Bluebird and Purple Gallinule Lenses.
Just tuck the books, chicken and egg puppet into the Chicken Bag for the children to share their Oviparous knowledge with their families.
Green Eggs and Ham Literacy Bag
Green Eggs and Ham MathThese kids are serving up eggs and ham. The then take the number tiles to form the math problems such as 2+3=5. Where 2 eggs plus 5 slices of bacon equals 5 things to eat on the plate.
'Yum or Yuk' Graph Children can interview their family and collect data to make a 'Yum or Yuk' graph to show how many people like or dislike eating green eggs and ham. Include a sheet of paper and an oval shape to trace around. The children trace an egg for each member of the family, write the family member's name on the egg. ie: "Brian's Mom", "Brian's Dad" and then color it green if they like it, leave it white if they don't. Provide a ziplock bag to bring the eggs back to school and attach it to the inside of the journal. At school the child gets to add the eggs to the classroom graph. NOTE:The graph can be arranged in tens to help learn to count up to 100.
The Night Before Christmas Literacy Bag
This bag is sent home any time during the month of December. Also check out The Cajun Night Before Christmas on my Alligator Lens.
The Christmas Literacy Bag
A Special Literacy Bag for the Holiday Season
This is a literacy bag requested by my friends at the local Christian Charter School.
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub Literacy Bag
Read about the wonderful time King Bidgood has in the bathtub and then so some experiments. Play a game of connecting the water pipes and then give the king a bath.
Hundreds Literacy Bag
When learning to count to 100 or when learning Skip Counting this Hundreds Literacy Bag is a favorite. The children love reading the stories with their parents and then explaining how to use the Hundreds Board to Skip Count or just to make number patterns more visible.
Literacy Bags Bring Young and Old Together
More L:iteracy Bag Ideas!
The idea of literacy bags has taken off and now there are more and more companies offering premade literacy bags. I have found that sometimes community organizations are willing to donate money to buy some of these bags when presented with the informations about how fun and educational they can be.
NOTE: When visiting the local Nursing Home we take literacy bags along to share with our elderly friends.
Reading the stories together will help to open up communication and possibly be the start of a new friendship.
- Weather Literacy Homework Bag
- Weather Literacy Homework Bag-When you purchase a filled bag you receive: a literature selection on weather 25 thematic stickers and 25 student awards a sample parent letter explaining the homework bag a color journal cover and reproducible student j
Canvas Literacy Bags
Dragonfly & Cattails Tote Bag
Price: 16.95 
GreenLeap Tote
Price: 14.99
A Literacy Bag by any other name...
Literacy Bags in the News!
- Bedtime Stories program
- With the award of a $1,000 grant from Thomaston Savings Bank, Ms. Demers was able buy literacy bags.
Literacy bags are theme based bags intended to encourage reading and learning. The grant made it possible to put a literacy bag in every K-2 classroom at John Trumbull Primary School. There is also an additional plan to incorporate bags into monthly reading events, so the bags will be available for the entire community to use and learn from.
Teaching with Literacy Bags
The book "Teaching with Literacy Bags" has dozens of ideas for organizing thematic mini-units from A-Z.
Each letter of the alphabet is presented as a mini-unit designed to give children practice with fundamental language, math, science, social studies, writing, and thinking skills.
Developmentally appropriate games and activities, as well as books, props, snacks, and other items that relate to the theme, are stored bags or backpacks.
The bags provide an easy way to manage the materials and for children to take home to share with their families.
Discovery Packs
Another name for Literacy Bags
Using Discovery Packs in place of some of your regular homework saves your valuable time and helps eliminate boring worksheets and dittos, replacing them with meaningful, learner-centered activities.
- Discovery Packs
- This page has all the information about my Discovery Packs program, including my $1000 grant application and the handouts from the inservice training I presented at the 1999 Math, Science, and Technology Conference at California State University, Bakersfield.
Literacy Bags on eBay
Literacy Bags make homework fun!
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First Letter to Parents about Literacy Bags
You might use this letter as an example:
Dear Families,Our classroom has put together some "Literacy Bags".
These bags were specially prepared to connect our classroom with our student's families in a meaningful and educational way.
These bags contain two books, some suggested activities and a journal to record you reactions to the stories and activities. These bags were created to extend our classroom unit study. These bags can be kept at home for one week.
Please help your child take care of these bags and return them with everything that was included on the following Monday.
Each bag will include suggestions on how to use the materials with your child.
Also included is a journal where you can read how other families have used these materials.
Please include your thoughts, comments and other suggested activities in this journal.
We know a lot of our parents work and don't have a lot of free time but by providing the whole week we are sure that you will find time.
We are using these activities instead of traditional homework in order to offer a more individualized educational experience.
Please take time to read the book with your child and enjoy the activities.
If any materials are missing or need replacing please attach a note to the outside of the bag.
I, _______ , understand that the Literacy Bags need special care and responsibility.
The Literacy Bags will be returned on the following Monday so that we can share our experiences during morning meeting. New bags will go out each Monday afternoon.
Child's Name _______________________________
Family Member's Signature ______________________
Thanks for all you do!
Mrs. _____________
A Walk in the Woods
There is a new group being formed in Squidooville. It's called A Walk in the Woods. Whitefoot the Wood Mouse is inviting you to join him there. If you are a member of Squidoo and you may join the group. The exposure that your lens gets by joining will boost your lens rank and add to the number of web pages linking back to your lens. If you are not yet a member of Squidoo you can still come over and read about those who are. Come take A Walk in the Woods.
Teacher Community
Forum for Ideas about Teaching
This is a forum exchanging ideas about teaching. We discuss centers, math manipulatives, "Read the Room", "Write the Room", Story Bags or Literacy Bags, Interactive Bulletin Boards, Lapbooking, Creative ways to teach ESL through Lemmi Sticks and lots, lots more. Click here to join in the fun.
Find more lenses with Literacy Bag Ideas
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River Otters: Playful Friends of the Woodlands!
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Learn about River Otters through games and hands-on learning centers. Decorate you classroom with a Woodlands Riverbank Theme. Learn the habits of River Otters, the food they eat and how they raise their young. You will find suggestions for both fic...
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Woodchucks Under the Porch
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Woodchucks chuck wood and Groundhogs determine the coming of spring. They eat your garden, dig holes under the porch but look adorable when they are first born and start to venture out of their dens. Watching the woodchuck babies venturing out from...
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Frog Unit Study: Hopping to Learn
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Take trips to the frog pond, play games and sing songs, gobble up the insect words and swat the fly verbs. Children will remember these lessons that allow them to manipulate objects and preferably get a little dirty in the process. This lens will g...
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Garner Rix and the Royalton Raid
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Garner Rix was just 12 when he moved with his father, pregnant mother, two sisters and three brothers from a farm in Connecticut to a log cabin on the banks of the White River, a place that would one day be called Royalton, Vermont. He helped h...
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Lemmings: Falling into the Sea of Knowledge
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When the winds start to howl and the snow begins to blow you can capture your student's attention with this innovative Arctic Unit Study focusing on lemmings. Your little lemmings will be excited to learn with a theme that includes little furry crea...
Ideas for Literacy Bags
When you are looking for more ideas for your literacy bags check out my newest lenses. They are filled with hands-on ideas that will adapt easily to Literacy Bag activities.-
The Three Bears
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There are the three bears that Goldilocks encountered but in Alaska there are also three types of real bears. (Ok, Four if you count the Kodiak but it fits the tale better to combine the Kodiak with the Brown or Grizzly Bears.) The three best known...
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Skip Count, Skip Count, Count by Two's
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Skip Counting is what you do when you count by 10's, 5's or 2's. All young children learn to Skip Count but did you realize that this is one of the beginning steps to learning multiplication. This lens has rhymes, songs and activities for teaching S...
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King Bidgood's in the Bathtub
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King Bidgood's in the Bathtub is a wonderful story by Audrey and Don Wood about a king who loves baths and playing in the bathtub. It is a great jumping off point for studying Medieval Times, Hygiene, or sorting and categorizing. So Rub a dub, dub,...
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The Three Billy Goats Gruff
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Learn about goats and the classic tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Read both fiction and non-fiction, make graphs, build bridges and play lots of games. Make your own books, present plays and do craft projects. Build a bridge to learning...
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Chester Raccoon and The Kissing Hand
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The first day of school can be very traumatic for both children and their parents. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn is a wonderful tale of a mother raccoon reassuring her baby that he will have a great night at school and that the kiss she leaves on h...
What do you put in your Literacy Bags. Which ideas intriged you?
Please let my know by leaving a comment here. Tell me about your favorite animal or teaching idea. Don't forget the stars at the top and if you lensroll this page or add it to your favorites please send me an email.
fotolady49 wrote...
What a neat idea, a new way to help take some of the drudgery out of homework, and making learning more fun in general. Good for grandparents too, I help my grandson with his homework sometimes. Great lens*****
Posted November 17, 2008
Evelyn_Saenz wrote...
Homework has gotten out of control. Children have so little time after school and weekends that that time should be spent playing, running around in the woods and enjoying time with their parents. Literacy Bags are designed to offer suggestions but not take away from the valuable playtime that children and their families need.
Posted September 19, 2008
lakeerieartists wrote...
This is a new idea for me. We have standard book bags for homework. My biggest issue is getting my daughter to admit that she has homework.
Posted September 18, 2008
funwithtrains wrote...
Nicely done, lots of great info! 5 stars and a Digg!
Posted September 18, 2008
mulberry wrote...
You've been busy, this is another fantastic lens loaded with great ideas!
Posted August 16, 2008
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Look Who's Talking about Literacy Bags
Latest Reading Rockets news- family literacy bags etc http://tinyurl.com/6hhk8f
Adventures in reading with our new Family Literacy Bags: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/27935
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