December 16 reading ideas
Finding reading ideas for this date…
Finding reading ideas for this date…
On December 16, connect the Boston Tea Party with illustrated storytelling for Quentin Blake’s birthday. An informal chocolate observance adds a fictional kitchen problem-solving story.
Special date
Use a timeline of the American Revolution to place the Boston Tea Party in the growing conflict between Britain and its North American colonies.
7 reading resources
Use History Reading Passages as related background or for comparison.
Open collectionExplore this topic through The Sons and Daughters of Liberty: Fueling Revolution.
Read passageExplore this topic through Liberty's Heroes: Sons and Daughters in the Revolution.
Read passageUse The Road to Liberty: The Story of the American Revolution as related background or for comparison.
Read passageThe public timeline places the protest in the Revolution’s sequence and gives useful context; it is not a focused retelling of the event.
Read passageSpecial date
Mark the illustrator’s birthday with a practical drawing activity. Children can sketch a short sequence of scenes and change a character’s pose or expression to show movement and feeling.
5 reading resources
Use Maurice Sendak: Telling Stories with Pictures as related background or for comparison.
Read passageUse The Graphic Novel Debate: Visual Art or Valuable Reading? as related background or for comparison.
Read passageThe instructions ask children to plan an illustrated sequence and sign as author and illustrator, making a direct story-art activity for the birthday framing.
Read passageUse a paper-puppet procedure as a storytelling activity: sequence the instructions, create a character, and plan a short scene.
Read passageSpecial date
Chocolate-Covered Anything Day is an informal December 16 observance. Use a fictional chocolate-making mishap to trace cause and effect and discuss how the characters solve a problem together.
6 reading resources
Use Cooking & Recipes Reading Passages as related background or for comparison.
Open collectionExplore this topic through The Sweet History of National Fudge Day.
Read passageExplore this topic through The Sweet Story of S'mores: Campfire History and Creative Twists.
Read passageRead a fictional kitchen mishap and explain how the characters respond when their chocolate recipe goes wrong.
Read passageTake a geography detour to Bohol’s Chocolate Hills and explain their chocolate-colored grass. Compare a food-inspired place name with real chocolate; this reading is about landscape and seasons.
Read passageMore reading for this time of year, alongside today’s special dates.
6 reading resources
Christmas reading for the December 1–25 teaching window, alongside the day’s own date-specific topics.
Explore themeChristmas reading for the December 1–25 teaching window, alongside the day’s own date-specific topics.
Open collectionChristmas reading for the December 1–25 teaching window, alongside the day’s own date-specific topics.
Open collectionChristmas reading for the December 1–25 teaching window, alongside the day’s own date-specific topics.
Open collectionChristmas reading for the December 1–25 teaching window, alongside the day’s own date-specific topics.
Open collectionChristmas reading for the December 1–25 teaching window, alongside the day’s own date-specific topics.
Open collectionYour topic. Your level.
Have another idea for today’s lesson? Let Pico create an AI-assisted passage with questions and an illustration. Choose the topic and reading level in the creator.
Use the Revolution timeline to place the Boston Tea Party among surrounding events. Identify the sequence and explain how a timeline differs from a continuous narrative.
For Quentin Blake’s birthday, try the accordion story strip or the gingerbread puppet. These are story-making activities, rather than biographies of the illustrator: follow the directions, create a character, and plan how pictures and words work together.
For the informal Chocolate-Covered Anything Day, read The Great Fudge Fiasco. Trace the fictional kitchen problem, the characters’ responses, and the outcome; explain how teamwork changes the situation.
