Classroom Resources

Teachers, would you like to introduce Needle to your classroom? Our story can be a great way to validate the curious minds of tomorrow, and it works as a wonderful jumping off point for exploring emotions. We have gone and visited local elementary schools, bringing storytime directly to the kids. The message seemed to resonate the most with first through third graders. Scroll through this page for more resources, and feel free to reach out if you have more ideas for collaboration!

Here is a video of our author introducing and reading the book!

Guided Reading Discussion Questions

  • Why did Needle feel different from everyone else?

  • How did Needle go about building her ship?

  • Why couldn't Needle take the answers with her?

Writing Process Activity

1. Brainstorm:

Sometimes coming up with a story idea can feel like there is a storm in your brain! That’s why we call the first step a Brainstorm. Here, we write down everything that comes to mind. Maybe you have always wondered about how squishy the dirt would be if you were an animal. Maybe you want to write about your friend. Maybe you have an idea about how stop signs are made.

Feel free to write down ideas that are as small as a single word, or you can even draw something out if you don’t know how to describe yet.

2. Connect:

Take a step back and look at all your ideas. You have one pretty smart head! Imagine if all these ideas were places on a map. How would you go from one idea to the next? What does the bridge between them look like?

3. Sketch:

Now, we have to fill in our story parts! Who are the characters? What is the plot? Where is the setting? How does the story flow? Imagine a river flowing down the path. Things have to keep moving! If our story is moving, what comes first? What waits until the end?

4. Edit:

How do we turn our rough sketch into a story? Write the journey of your ideas like you are talking to somebody.