Reed Novel Studies
Runaway Ralph: Novel Study
Maybe the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Ralph, a mouse character in Runaway Ralph, thought that summer camp had to be better than dealing with his mother, uncle, and cousins. However, camp has its troubles, too. Worksheet...
Reed Novel Studies
To Kill a Mockingbird: Novel Study
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American fiction writer whose biggest claim to fame was the creation of Tarzan. Using the novel study for Harper Lee's beloved novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, pupils research and list facts about him or another...
Novelinks
Sense and Sensibility: Concept Analysis
If you need an anchor for your unit on Sense and Sensibility, use a concept analysis with key discussion points. It includes literary themes, vocabulary, background information, and suggestions for addressing gender and diversity...
Curated OER
The Old Man and the Sea: The K-W-H-L Strategy
Make note of what readers know, what to know, and have learned during a unit on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. As class members read the book, they jot down their ideas on a KWHL chart, and consider what they have...
EngageNY
Bud, Not Buddy: Launching the Novel and Understanding Its Context
The first lesson plan in a unit that uses Christopher Paul Curtis' award-winning depression-era novel, Bud, Not Buddy, as the anchor text establishes the routines that will be used throughout the unit.
Novelinks
The Little Prince: Response to Art Exercise
Depending on your perspective, solitude can be lovely or very, very lonely. Kids take a look at the simple landscape illustrated in Antoine de Saint Éxupery's The Little Prince, and write a short journal entry about their...
Novelinks
The Little Prince: Concept/Vocab Analysis
Focus on the literary elements of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince with a concept analysis sheet. With suggestions and explanations for many of the book's concepts, vocabulary, and other issues that may arise in...
Prestwick House
Speak
Speaking your mind and standing up for yourself is the message of Laurie Halse Anderson's novel Speak. Readers review key details about characters, setting, and plot points with a crossword puzzle all about Speak.
Curated OER
The Old Man and the Sea: Vocabulary Strategy
Readers read more closely when they think critically about a text. Discuss the words and concepts from Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea with a class activity that asks readers to not only record...
EngageNY
Analyzing the Significance of the Novel’s Title: Connecting the Universal Refugee Experience to Inside Out and Back Again
How might different authors approach the same topic? Scholars read a paragraph from an informational text about Canadian refugees using the resource. Next, they participate in a jigsaw activity to connect real-life refugees' experiences...
EngageNY
Planning the Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs of the End of Unit Assessment Essay
Preparation is the key to success! Using the guiding resource, scholars plan their end-of-unit analytical essays' introductory and concluding paragraphs based on their reading of Inside Out & Back Again. To prepare, they complete a...
EngageNY
Mid Unit 2 Assessment: Text to Film and Perspective Comparison of to Kill a Mockingbird (Chapter 18 and One Scene from Chapter 19)
Have you ever heard someone say the movie is not like the book? Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment to compare scenes from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird to the movie version. The assessment contains short answers, multiple choice,...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 10
Parental relationships have a huge impact on our personalities, for better or for worse. Read about Mike's relationship with his father in H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights and how it informed the novel's central idea.
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 8
What is the source and meaning of beauty? As part of their reading of David Mitchell's Black Swan Green, class members analyze Madame Crommelynck's conversation with Jason to determine how the conversation about beauty develops a central...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 1: Unit 1, Lesson 3
What do words say about a person? Scholars closely examine the words Robert Browning uses to describe the Duchess in My Last Duchess. They work in groups to answer guided questions about how words help develop the Duchess as a character....
EngageNY
Connecting the Universal Refugee Experience of Fleeing and Finding Home to the Title of the Novel Inside Out & Back Again
What does it mean to turn inside out? Using the resource, scholars begin planning their end-of-unit assessment essays. They complete two graphic organizers to form claims about how refugees turn "inside out" and "back again."
Curated OER
The Color Purple: K-W-H-L Strategy
Learners can chart what they know, what they would like to know, how they plan to learn, and what they have learned from Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Using questions about women's rights, kids study the themes of the novel...
Syracuse City School District
Reading Comprehension Unit Plan
A unit plan uses short texts to teach literary elements such as theme and characterization. Included are passages by authors such as Walter Dean Myers and Sandra Cisneros. Activities include quick writes, filling in graphic organizers,...
Santa Ana Unified School District
The Giver
Wouldn't it be great to live an a community without pain, without danger? Such a society is the goal of the community in The Giver. Using Lois Lowry's dystopian novel as the core text, class members read primary source materials...
Curated OER
Exploration of Utopias and Dystopias
If you are considering adding or expanding a unit on utopian and dystopian literature you simply must check out this fabulous resource. Packed with plans, activities, project-based and 21st century learning opportunities, the unit...
Digital Public Library of America
Teaching Guide: Exploring To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, considered by many to be a seminal piece of American literature, contains many complex literary themes that carry through United States history. Use a series of discussion questions and classroom...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment and Discussing Themes in Esperanza Rising: (Chapter 9: "Las Ciruelas/PLums")
Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Genetics and the Master Race
How did the beginnings of genetic research influence the Nazi party? A thorough, engaging unit incorporates the work of Gregor Mendel, the study of inherited traits, and the use of racism and discrimination during the Holocaust.
Simon & Schuster
Les Miserables Classroom Activities
Modern readers apply classic themes to Victor Hugo's masterpiece, Les Miserables. After they discuss tricky vocabulary and plot elements from the novel, class members compare Hugo's written work to a stage or film adaptation of the...