Teacher's Pet: Supplemental Guides Get Your Book Chosen

 by Louise M. Aamodt, M.Ed.

Authors love getting their books into classrooms. Teachers love quality materials that make their jobs easier. You can bridge this connection by creating free, downloadable materials to go with your book. 

Supplemental materials give your book an edge by helping teachers justify using your book in class. The materials connect kids more deeply to the concepts. They’re fun! And you, yes YOU, are totally capable of creating them. No need to hire someone, or languish away wishing your publisher would help. You don’t need to be an expert, a teacher, or a graphic designer. You just need to START. 

Think about your book’s content and mood. What do you want kids to learn, discover, or investigate? Which kinds of activities would best support that outcome? Here are some ideas:

• Character analysis

• Classifying

• Family/home connections

• Fiction vs. nonfiction, or genre study

• Jokes and riddles 

• Letter-writing

• Main idea and details

• Making inferences

• Memory game cards

• Music 

• Recipes

• Recommended reading

• Scavenger hunt 

• Sequence of events

• Summarizing

• Vocabulary study

• Websites for kids

• Word scramble

Let’s dive deeper by examining specific examples. 

Poke around the websites below. Look for buttons or pull-downs called ‘Free Downloads,’ ‘Educator Resources,’ ‘Curriculum Guide,’ ‘Activity Guide,’ etc. DO NOT COPY, obviously, but get inspired. Rabbit hole warning: This list is extensive, so start by exploring activities that would best fit your book. For the sake of word count, I’ve omitted subtitles and illustrator names, but illustrators, we see you!

• Art: Eileen R. Meyer’s “Design a Stovepipe Hat” for THE SUPERLATIVE A. LINCOLN

• Board game: Stephanie Gibeault’s THE DOG WHO SAVED THE BEES

• Bookmarks: Carrie Tillotson’s ALPACAS HERE, ALPACAS THERE

• Cause-effect: Jill Esbaum’s IT’S CORN PICKING TIME

• Charades: My “Verb Charades” for A FOREST BEGINS ANEW

• Coloring: Sarah Nelson’s FOLLOW THE FLYWAY  

• Crafts: Kirsten Pendreigh’s “Make Your Own Sea-Flake” for WHAT FISH ARE SAYING

• Crossword puzzle: Sue Heavenrich’s 13 WAYS TO EAT A FLY

• Discussion questions: Patricia Hruby Powell’s LIFT AS YOU CLIMB

• Educational standards: They can be a simple list, like for Sandhya Acharya’s LIVING BRIDGES, or complex like for Leslie Bulion’s LEAF LITTER CRITTERS.

• Experiments: Alisha Gabriel’s “Observing How Yeast Makes Bread Rise” for FUNGI ARE… MORE THAN MUSHROOMS 

• Labeling parts: Lisa Kahn Schnell’s HIGH TIDE FOR HORSESHOE CRABS

• Matching: Tanya Konerman’s MUD TO THE RESCUE

• Math, patterns: Annette Whipple’s WHOOO KNEW? THE TRUTH ABOUT OWLS 

• Math, word problems: Melissa Stewart’s NO MONKEYS, NO CHOCOLATE 

• Movement: Molly Beth Griffin’s yoga and stretching for RINGS OF HEARTWOOD 

• Poetry template: Rebecca Hirsch’s WONDER WINGS

• Predictions: Megan Clendenan’s “Predictions and Surprises” for JUST IN CASE

• Pronunciation videos: Teresa Robeson’s TWO BICYCLES IN BEIJING 

• Science: Laura Purdie Salas’s “Thunderstorm Life Cycle” for ZAP! CLAP! BOOM! 

• Social-emotional learning (SEL): Jessica Stremer’s LIGHTS OUT 

• Social studies, map: Amanda Davis’s “Map the Flag’s Travels” for 30,000 STITCHES

• Social studies, timeline: Vivian Kirkfield’s ONE GIRL’S VOICE 

• STEM: Leslie Barnard Booth’s “Crow’s Nest Design Challenge” for I AM WE

• Word find: Carrie A. Pearson’s VIRGINIA WOULDN’T SLOW DOWN!

Finally, coming from a teacher who selectively chooses which books to use in my classroom, here are some tips to help your book survive the cut: 

• Be handy, not fancy. Make your material easy to print out and use right away. 

• Keep it black and white. Few schools give teachers color printing access. 

• Touch on a variety of disciplines, such as math, art, writing, reading, vocabulary, science, social-emotional, social studies, etc. This helps an over-scheduled teacher find a spot during the day to dive deeper into your book. 

• Vary the brain power required. Offer some easier options such as mazes, word finds, or art. Offer some harder options such as main idea/detail, character analysis, or writing prompts.

• Provide the same activity in various levels of difficulty (see my “Mazes” example). Don’t get bogged down in specifying what age or grade level each is for; teachers will know what works best for their students. 

• I’ll probably take some heat for saying this, but if you’re uncomfortable figuring out the educational standards to go with your materials, skip them. Teachers will know. Don’t let correlating standards stop you from getting started. Let it go. 

• Add a QR code to printables with “Click here to visit the author’s website.” It’s free advertising when kids take the sheets home. 

Remember, you can do hard things. If you can write a book, you can write supplemental materials. Don’t let perfectionism or imposter syndrome paralyze you. 

Give it a try! 

About the Author: Louise M. Aamodt (rhymes with 'comet') has taught English Learners in public schools for over 25 years. As both a writer and a teacher, she loves sparking curiosity and making complicated concepts accessible. You can find her in the kids’ section of the library, or out watching bugs somewhere. Her picture book, A Forest Begins Anew, illustrated by Elly MacKay, debuts in May 2026 from Astra Young Readers. Learn more at http://www.LouiseAamodt.com, or follow on social media (FB @LouiseAamodtAuthor, Bluesky @LouiseMAamodt.bsky.social, or X @LouiseMAamodt).