Dear Teacher:

You know how important a child's friends are. Friends help children move toward independence and define themselves in the world beyond their families. You see friendships at work in your classroom every day. Kids love to talk about them, be a part of them, and read about them.

Friendship is at the center of the Ivy and Bean chapterbook series by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall. Your students will love watching Ivy and Bean get to know each other and profit from the other's strengths and skills, interests and abilities. They'll love reading about their plots and plans—the successes and the failures—and they'll enjoy measuring themselves and their friends against the two characters.

Beyond using these entertaining transitional books for various language arts activities, you'll find many other ways to extend them in your classroom. We've provided some ideas here.


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Building a Writer's Workshop with Ivy and Bean:
Using Ivy and Bean in the Classroom

Hello Elementary School Teachers!

Reading Ivy and Bean with your students can provide hours of fun, creative learning. The books are wonderful prompts for inspired writing. By making text-to-self connections in writing, children can creatively interact with literature. We hope the following workshop ideas provide this opportunity!

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Ivy and Bean Teachers Guide

This teachers guide contains:

Classroom Ideas

  1. Word Wall
  2. Character traits graphic organizer
  3. The Great Class Records Book
  4. Book sharing project
  5. Secret languages-written and spoken

    6. + Reproducible Activities

download the guide





Author Annie Barrows visits a
classroom in San Francisco

Teacher-Created Worksheets

Design Your Own "Ivy Room"

Ivy + Bean Book Order Problems

Ivy + Bean Fraction Problems

Ivy + Bean Snacks

Nancy's Trip to the Mall


Here are some fun Ivy and Bean activities—great for rainy days and celebrations of finishing an Ivy & Bean book. Each is shown in color, but can be printed and used in black and white.

Toss a Worm at Nancy Game
Played like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" or with gummy worms!

Double-Dare Cootie Catcher
The classic origami fortune teller reveals 8 not-too-daring dares like "Stick out your tongue and wiggle your behind and Nancy" and "Try to think of a nice thought about the crummiest person you know"

Trivia Quiz
11 questions (plus a bonus!) about books 1-6 in the Ivy and Bean series. Answers are upside-down at the bottom of the sheet.

Be Ivy or Bean in Your Own Play!
This 5-minute script has parts for 3 children and can be performed with no props or costumes.

Have Fun like Ivy and Bean
More ways to have fun like Ivy & Bean with just a few easy and inexpensive supplies.

Decorate Ivy's Room!
Help Ivy decorate her room in this online activity.


Honors and Praise for Ivy and Bean