Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources for The Happy Day

Use The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss to strengthen your students' comprehension skills, build their vocabulary, and help them understand how words work.

Ruth Krauss's sweet and joyful story about the coming of Spring is sure to entertain every reader in your room. Black and white illustrations complement the simple story about curious woodland animals who wake from their winter's sleep to a mysterious scent in the air. While reading this award-winning picture book, readers will gather clues to try to solve the intriguing mystery while practicing asking questions, determining importance, synthesizing, understanding text structure, and visualizing.

Explore lesson plans and activities to help you teach with The Happy Day in the drop down below.

Asking Questions with The Happy Day

The first page of Asking Questions with The Happy Day

Asking Questions with The Happy Day

Why would animals wake up, sniff, and run during the winter? Tap into your readers' natural curiosity with Ruth Krauss' The Happy Day paired with this mini lesson focused on asking questions.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Determining Importance with The Happy Day

The first page of Determining Importance with The Happy Day

Determining Importance with The Happy Day

Something important is happening in The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss. Animals awake from their winter's sleep, sniff, and run. What could be causing this behavior? Readers will have fun picking up important clues as they anticipate a surprise ending.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Synthesizing with The Happy Day

The first page of Synthesizing with The Happy Day

Synthesizing with The Happy Day

The limited text and award-winning illustrations in The Happy Day push readers to synthesize what they know about woodland creatures with the information presented in the text and illustrations. This mini lesson focused on synthesizing will help guide student thinking as they read.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Understanding Text Structure with The Happy Day

The first page of Understanding Text Structure with The Happy Day

Understanding Text Structure with The Happy Day

What is causing all of the animals to leave their warm and cozy winter homes and run outside in the snow? Curious readers will wonder as they identify the text structure of cause and effect to reveal the answer.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Visualizing with The Happy Day

The first page of Visualizing with The Happy Day

Visualizing with The Happy Day

What is making the animals sniff and run? Readers are pulled into the story as they visualize different possibilities. Imagining themselves as part of the story will help readers comprehend the storyline and remember the bright ending.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Diphthongs with The Happy Day

The first page of Diphthongs with The Happy Day

Diphthongs with The Happy Day

This word work lesson plan and set of teaching resources use The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss as a springboard for instruction focused on diphthongs.

By anchoring word study to the text, students will benefit from seeing how -ow letter combination is used inside of the text before engaging in both guided and independent practice with diphthongs.

Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Vocabulary Connections with The Happy Day

The first page of Vocabulary Connections with The Happy Day

Vocabulary Connections with The Happy Day

This set of vocabulary development resources for The Happy Day highlights the words that are most important for students to know and understand while reading the book. Through engaging in fun word games, matching words to definitions and pictures, and practicing how to categorize words, students will develop the vocabulary necessary to comprehend this story and many others.

Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Running Record with The Happy Day

Thumbnail for Running Record with The Happy Day

Running Record with The Happy Day

Use this Running Record to assess oral reading fluency with The Happy Day. Track meaning, structure, and visual accuracy using the first 100 words of the text to determine whether or not this book is a good fit for the readers in your classroom.

Cause and Effect Matching with The Happy Day

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Cause and Effect Matching with The Happy Day

Read The Happy Day then have some fun matching cause and effect sentences from the book. By using these cause and effect cards, students will demonstrate both their comprehension of the text and their understanding of cause and effect relationships in hands-on and interactive way.

This resource includes matching/sorting cards and a sorting mat for four cause and effect sentences in The Happy Day. Each cause card is marked with a square and each effect card is marked with a circle, making it easy to support students who struggle with matching cause and effect relationships.

Cause and Effect Sentence Stems with The Happy Day

Thumbnail for Cause and Effect Sentence Stems with The Happy Day

Cause and Effect Sentence Stems with The Happy Day

Understanding cause and effect is a key comprehension and language skill. The text structure of The Happy Day includes several examples of cause and effect relationships, making it easy to use as a springboard for modeling or independent practice.

This simple resource includes four sentence stems. Each sentence stem presents an effect. Students will use what they know about the book to fill in the cause of the effect.

Writing with The Happy Day

Thumbnail for Writing with The Happy Day

Writing with The Happy Day

The BookPagez extension activities are a great way to push student engagement beyond the pages of the text. Try using this activity with early finishers, with students who show a deeper connection with the text, or as a center activity.

Asking Questions with The Happy Day (Spanish)

  • Student Practice Page and Answer Key
  • Reader's Notebook Prompt
  • Graphic Organizer

Determining Importance with The Happy Day (Spanish)

  • Student Practice Page and Answer Key
  • Reader's Notebook Prompt
  • Graphic Organizer

Synthesizing with The Happy Day (Spanish)

  • Student Practice Page and Answer Key
  • Reader's Notebook Prompt
  • Graphic Organizer

Understanding Text Structure with The Happy Day (Spanish)

  • Student Practice Page and Answer Key
  • Reader's Notebook Prompt
  • Graphic Organizer

Visualizing with The Happy Day (Spanish)

  • Student Practice Page and Answer Key
  • Reader's Notebook Prompt
  • Graphic Organizer

Writing with The Happy Day (Spanish)

Worksheet

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About the Book

The cover for the book The Happy Day
Title: The Happy Day
Author: Ruth Krauss
Genre: Fantasy
Themes: Award Winners, Spring
ISBN: 9780060233969
Publisher's Summary:
Snow is falling. All the animals are fast asleep in their animal homes. Slowly they awake. They open their eyes and sniff. They run. And in the middle of the forest they find a bright yellow flower growing in the snow--and they dance and laugh with joy at this first sign of spring.
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