Book excerpt: Travel to an imaginary land to discover the true power of friendship and the heartache of loss. Provide open-ended application and journal prompts to excite students about the reading. Make a prediction on what the story will be about based solely on the front cover of the novel. Put events in order that led to the creation of Terabithia. Find the meaning of vocabulary words, then use each word in a sentence. Students describe how they would respond to someone bullying them. Then, students create their own imaginary place like Terabithia. Keep track of events as they happen month by month in the novel with an Events Calendar graphic organizer. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: A dramatic and fascinating story of friendship! Jesse Aarons is a fourth grader who loves to run. Once the fastest and best runner at Lark Creek Elementary School in Virginia, until he was challenged by a girl—Leslie Burke. Leslie and her parents were new to this community, and they soon became best friends; their relationship was a strong one. Then, Leslie gets a great idea to create Terabithia, a secret place in the woods only for themselves. One day, while Jesse is not there, Leslie tries to cross the bridge to Terebithia, but falls in and drowns. When Jesse finds out, he is devastated. Soon after, the Burke family moves away, but Jesse believes that she has taught him something.