Common Core Guides | TOON Books – Educator Tools

CCSS-aligned Teachers' Guides

Our FREE Common Core Guides have been customized for every TOON Book to provide teachers with easy-to-use tools that support standards-based instruction in the classroom. Guides include Lesson Plans, Student Activity Sheet and topics for the ELA Common Core Standards, with a special emphasis on our core area of expertise: developing students' visual literacy and using comics in the classroom. We hope these tools will be helpful to you and that you'll write to us with feedback, students' achievements, and suggestions: [email protected]

Interest Level	Reading Level	Word Bank	Characteristics of Text	Lexile Level	Guided Reading Level	Reading Recovery Level	DRA Level
Age 3+	Grades K-1	200-300	- Short sentences - Often one character - Single time frame or theme - 1-2 panels per page	BR-100	E-J	7-12	8-18
Age 4+	Grades 1-2	300-600	- Short sentences and repetition - Story arc with few characters in a small world - 1-4 panels per page	BR-240	G-K	11-18	12-20
Age 5+	Grades 2-3	800-1000+	- Broad world as well as shifts in time and place - Long story divided in chapters - Reader needs to make connections and speculate	150-300	K-P	18-20	20-38

First Comics for Brand-New Readers

INTEREST LEVEL: Age 3+
READING LEVEL: Grades K-1

200-300 easy sight words
Short sentences
Often one character
Single time frame or theme
1-2 panels per page

download level 1 ccs guide

TITLE	AUTHOR	F&P	Lexile Level	Guided Reading Level	Word Count	Subject of Lesson Plan	CCSS
Birdsong: A Story in Pictures	James Sturm	WB	N/A	WB	N/A	Wordless Storytelling	✓
Chick and Chickie	Claude Ponti	F	BR	E	109	Drawing Inspiration From a Book	✓
Blip!	Barnaby Richards	H	N/A	E	177	Finding Your Place in the World	✓
A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse	Frank Viva	I	BR	E	239	Research for a Book	✓
Hearts	Thereza Rowe	J	BR	G	70	Description and Interpretation	✓
Jack and the Box	Art Spiegelman	J	GN/100	G	373	Theme of a Book	✓
Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons	Agnes Rosenstiehl	J	BR	E	166	Visualization	✓
Silly Lilly in What Will I Be Today?	Agnes Rosenstiehl	J	BR	E	295	Sequential Order in Stories	✓
Wordplay	Ivan Brunetti	J	BR	TBD	204	Compound Word Wizards	✓
Little Mouse Gets Ready	Jeff Smith	K	GN/160	F	261	Comic Transitions and Story Progression	✓
The Real Poop on Pigeons	Kevin McCloskey	K	430L	K	327	Identifying and Observing Birds	✓
Tippy and the Night Parade	Lilli Carré	K	GN/240L	J	205	Tracking a Sequence of Events	✓
Barry's Best Buddy	Renée French	L	GN/60	J	267	Plot and Subplot	✓
Adele in Sand Land	Claude Ponti	M	410L	TBD	516	Digging into Details	✓
We Dig Worms!	Kevin McCloskey	M	340L	L	249	Fun with Drawing	✓
Something's Fishy	Kevin McCloskey	M	260L	TBD	407	Exceptions to Rules	✓
A Goofy Guide to Penguins	Jean-Luc & Philippe Coudray	N	390L	N	324	Visual and Verbal Narrative Elements	✓

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Easy-to-Read Comics for Beginning Readers

download level 2 ccs guide

INTEREST LEVEL: Age 4+
READING LEVEL: Grades 1-2

300-600 words
Short sentences and repetition
Story arc with few characters in a small world
1-4 panels per page

TITLE	AUTHOR	F&P	Lexile Level	Guided Reading Level	Word Count	Subject of Lesson Plan	CCSS
Benjamin Bear in Brain Storms!	Philippe Coudray	J	190L	N	319	Make Your Own Comic	✓
Benjamin Bear in Bright Ideas	Philippe Coudray	J	BR	M	375	Reader’s Theatre	✓
Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking	Philippe Coudray	J	GN/20	J	454	Humor and Story Sequencing	✓
Benny and Penny in How to Say Goodbye	Geoffrey Hayes	K	TBA	K	473	Letting Go	✓
Benny and Penny in Just Pretend	Geoffrey Hayes	K	GN/90	G	346	Comic Drawing for Visualization	✓
Benny and Penny in Lights Out	Geoffrey Hayes	K	GN/170	H	526	Comic Elements	✓
Benny and Penny in Lost and Found	Geoffrey Hayes	K	GN/190	K	543	Relating to Characters	✓
Benny and Penny in The Big No-No!	Geoffrey Hayes	K	GN/30	H	584	Inference about Characters	✓
Benny And Penny in The Toy Breaker	Geoffrey Hayes	K	BR	H	597	Character Study and Development	✓
Luke on the Loose	Harry Bliss	K	GN/170	J	336	Reader’s Theatre	✓
Stinky	Eleanor Davis	K	GN/170	J	826	Emotions in Dialogue	✓
Maya Makes a Mess	Rutu Modan	L	GN/240	J	435	Panels of Many Sizes	✓
Nina in That Makes Me Mad	Hilary Knight	L	GN/160	J	684	Reading Facial Expressions	✓
The Big Wet Balloon	Liniers	M	GN/190	J	N/A	Character Relationships	✓
The Great Antonio	Elise Gravel	M	510L	M	496	The Making of a Legend	✓
Patrick Eats His Peas and Other Stories	Geoffrey Hayes	M	GN/160	K	N/A	Comparing Stories and Writing Opinion Pieces	✓
Patrick in A Teddy Bear's Picnic	Geoffrey Hayes	M	GN/50	J	682	Directions in Comic Panels	✓

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Chapter Books for Advanced Beginners

DOWNLOAD LEVEL 3 CCS GUIDE

INTEREST LEVEL: Age 5+
READING LEVEL: Grades 2-3

800-1000+ words in long sentences
Long story divided into chapters
Broad world as well as shifts in time and place
Reader needs to make connections and speculate

TITLE	AUTHOR	F&P	Lexile Level	Guided Reading Level	Word Count	Subject of Lesson Plan	CCSS
Flop to the Top!	Eleanor Davis and Drew Weing	M	130L	O	470	Character Development and Analysis	✓
Otto's Backwards Day	Frank Cammuso with Jay Lynch	M	GN/180	M	974	Vocabulary	✓
Otto's Orange Day	Jay Lynch and Frank Cammuso	M	GN/230	K	1030	Retelling a Story	✓
Zig And Wikki in Something Ate My Homework	Nadja Spiegelman and Trade Loeffler	M	GN/230	K	829	Identifying Story Elements	✓
Zig and Wikki in The Cow	Nadja Spiegelman and Trade Loeffler	M	GN/270	P	1003	Story Arcs and Conflict/Resolution	✓
Mo and Jo Fighting Together Forever	Jay Lynch and Dean Haspiel	N	GN/240	L	1055	Heroes, Villains, and Conflict	✓
Written and Drawn by Henrietta	Liniers	N	290L	P	545	Characters, Symbols and Storytelling	✓
Ape and Armadillo Take Over the World	James Sturm	P	TBA	N	1081	Creative Collaboration	✓
The Shark King	R. Kikuo Johnson	R	GN/150	N	570	Setting and Research for a Story	✓

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First Graphic Novels for Independent Readers

INTEREST LEVEL: Age 6+
READING LEVEL: Grade 3+

800–1000+ words
Long stories divided into chapters
Broad worlds with shifts in time and place
Readers need to make connections and speculate

download graphics ccs guide

TOON Graphic Mythologies

TITLE	AUTHOR	Lexile Level	Word Count	Subject of Lesson Plan	CCSS
Theseus and the Minotaur	Yvan Pommaux	870L	3093	Gods and Fate in Myths	✓
Orpheus in the Underworld	Yvan Pommaux	830L	1796	Love and Death	✓
Oedipus: Trapped by Destiny	Yvan Pommaux	730L	2528	Actions and Consequences	✓

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The Philemon Adventures

TITLE	AUTHOR	Lexile Level	Word Count	Subject of Lesson Plan	CCSS
Cast Away on the Letter A: A Philemon Adventure	Fred	GN/240L	2375	Travel Devices	✓
The Wild Piano: A Philemon Adventure	Fred	390L	875	Logic and Absurdism	✓
The Suspended Castle: A Philemon Adventure	Fred	250L	3204	Playing with Size and Color	✓

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The Leah and Alan Adventures

TITLE	AUTHOR	Lexile Level	Word Count	Subject of Lesson Plan	CCSS
The Secret of the Stone Frog	David Nytra	220L		Constructing a Dream World	✓
Windmill Dragons: A Leah and Alan Adventure	David Nytra	430L	2959	Symbols and Morals in Fairy Tales	✓

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Prize-Winning TOON Graphics

TITLE	AUTHOR	Lexile Level	Word Count	Subject of Lesson Plan	CCSS
Little Nemo's Big New Dreams	Edited by Josh O'Neill, Andrew Carl, and Chris Stevens	450L	3233	Reinventing and Reviving Classic Stories	✓
Sea Change	Frank Viva	740L	24833	Social Relationships and Differences	✓
Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure	Nadja Spiegelman and Sergio García Sánchez	820L	2037	Character Development	✓
Hansel and Gretel	Neil Gaiman & Lorenzo Mattotti	1030L	3916	Visual Metaphor	✓

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DOWNLOAD PRIZE-WINNING TOON GRAPHICS