How to Catch A Monster: Questions and Activity Ideas for this Read Aloud

Here is a quick summary of the story:

• A child feels brave after being chosen to play a ninja master in a school play.
• Feeling confident, the child decides to confront the furry, sharp-toothed monster living in the closet.
• The child creates several traps, including a bag of tricks and a sticky net, but the monster is too strong.
• Eventually, the child notices that the monster looks sad and decides to stop the traps and apologize.
• The monster introduces himself with a silly and unexpected greeting.
• The child visits the monster's home, meets his parents, and enjoys volcano pie.
• At the end of the story, the monster helps the child brush their teeth before bedtime.
• The child realizes that the monster isn't something to fear after all and feels safe and comfortable with their new friend.

Start by having students examine the cover and make predictions.

• What do you notice on the cover?
• What do you think this story might be about?
• Do you think monsters are real? Why or why not?
• Have you ever imagined seeing a monster?
• How do you think you could catch a monster?
• What do you think the monster in this story will be like?

Pause throughout the story to check students' understanding and encourage them to make predictions.

• Why does the child feel so brave at the beginning of the story?
• Where does the monster live?
• What kinds of traps does the child use?
• Why don't the traps work?
• What do you notice about the monster's feelings?
• What kind of food do they eat at the monster's house?
• Do you think the child is beginning to change their mind about the monster? Why?

Once you've finished the story, use these questions to encourage students to think about the characters and the story's message.

• Why did the child decide to stop using the ninja traps?
• Why do you think the monster was sad?
• The child assumed the monster was mean because it had claws, teeth, and a big roar. Have you ever been afraid of something before you really got to know it? Why?
• How did the child's feelings about the monster change from the beginning of the story to the end?
• What did the child learn about the monster?
• What lesson do you think we can learn from this story?
• Do you think the child and monster will remain friends? Why?

In the story, a monster lives inside a child's closet. The child initially tries to catch the monster with different traps but eventually discovers that the monster may be a friend instead of something to fear.

This is a great opportunity to let students use their creativity to build their own monster!

Have students design a monster of their own. They can draw their monster on paper or use craft materials to create a three-dimensional monster.

Encourage students to think about:

• What does your monster look like?
• Where does your monster live?
• What does your monster eat?
• Is your monster scary, silly, friendly, or something else?
• What is your monster's name?
• What does your monster like to do?

To turn this into a more academic activity, have students write a description of their monster after drawing / building it!

Younger students could label different parts of their monster or write a few simple sentences. 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students could write a detailed descriptive paper about their monster. 

This Monster Descriptive Writing Monster Template can be used to help even your struggling students have success writing a 5 paragraph descriptive writing paper.

Have students design a trap to catch a monster!

Students can use craft materials to build a trap or draw their idea on paper. They can then explain how their trap works and whether they think it would actually catch their monster.

This activity can be adapted for almost any grade level by adjusting the writing expectations.

Keep the monster theme going with a few more fun, low-prep ideas! Try reading another monster-themed book, writing a monster-themed haiku, or challenging them to read a passage in their best monster voice.

Want even more ways to bring monsters into your ELA lessons? Check out these 9 monster-themed ELA ideas for reading, writing, and more!

How to Catch a Monster is also a fun book to use when introducing or reviewing character traits.

Character traits help us describe what a character is like based on their actions, words, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

For example, the child in the story could be described as:

• Brave
• Determined
• Curious
• Kind
• Friendly

The monster could initially appear:

• Scary
• Furry
• Strong
• Sharp-toothed

However, as we learn more about the monster, we discover that appearances can be deceiving. The monster may look scary, but his actions show that he is actually friendly and kind.

This creates a great opportunity to talk with students about how character traits can change as we learn more about a character.

You might ask:

Does a character's appearance always tell us what they are like on the inside?

Students can use evidence from the story to support the traits they choose. Consider using one of these free character trait graphic organizers as you read. 

This might be my favorite creative writing activity to pair with How to Catch a Monster!

Throughout the story, we see the monster from the child's perspective. But what if we could hear the monster's side of the story?

Being a monster isn't always easy. Imagine having to hide in a cramped closet and wait for a child to fall asleep before coming out. Maybe the monster doesn't actually want to scare anyone. Maybe he just wants a friend!

This activity gives students the opportunity to look at the story from a different point of view.

Have students pretend that they are the monster and write a narrative from the monster's perspective.

Students can get creative with what their monster wants to share. For example:

• What is it like being a monster?
• Where does the monster live?
• What does the monster do all day?
• What does the monster like?
• What does the monster dislike?
• Why does the monster live in the closet?
• How does the monster feel when the child tries to catch him?
• What does the monster think about the child?
• What would the monster say if he could tell his side of the story?

Students can make their writing silly, serious, scary, or completely imaginative!

This activity works especially well for upper elementary students because it combines creative writing, point of view, and perspective-taking in a fun way.

Sequencing is another great way to help students think back on what they read and identify the order in which events happened.

There are several important events in How to Catch a Monster, making it a natural book for practicing sequencing.

Have students retell the story by identifying what happened:

First → Next → Then → Last

For younger students, students can draw pictures to show the events in the correct order.

For older students, have them write a sentence to describe each event. You could even challenge them to include details from the text in each sentence.

Remind students that there are many sequencing words and phrases they can use to show the order of events, including:

• First
• Next
• Then
• After that
• Finally
• First, second, third...
• Beginning, middle, end

After students complete their sequencing activity, have them retell the story to a partner using their pictures or written responses as a guide.

You could also copy the bulleted list of events in the summary of the story above, cut out each event, and have students put them in order!

One of the things I love about books like How to Catch a Monster is that you can use the same story with different grade levels simply by changing the expectations.

For younger students, focus on:

• Story retelling
• Sequencing
• Basic character traits
• Drawing and labeling
• Simple sentences
• Making predictions

For upper elementary students, you can extend the lessons into:

• Character development
• Point of view
• Narrative writing
• Descriptive writing
• Text evidence
• Making inferences
• Comparing perspectives

The silly monster theme makes these activities approachable and engaging, while the underlying themes of bravery, friendship, kindness, and not judging others by their appearance give you plenty of opportunities for meaningful classroom conversations.

Whether your students are designing their own monsters, creating elaborate monster traps, sequencing the story, or writing from the monster's point of view, How to Catch a Monster provides plenty of opportunities to turn a fun read-aloud into engaging literacy activities!