Introduce children to different novels by copying segments of different novels and offering them on tables (like food on a table) without any information about authors, titles, or context. Give children time to read different texts before they use the templates included in this pack to decide which “tasting” is the most delicious (best fit). In my own classroom, I choose different novels with similar themes and then use this to differentiate the reading that the children will read concurrently based on their preferences during the tasting. An editable and digital copy is provided with download.

This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. About the Novel: A perennial favorite, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which has sold more than one million copies and is the only novel to win both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal. Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place—he’s the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians’ time as well as their ghostly teachings—such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? The Graveyard Book is the winner of the Newbery Medal, the Carnegie Medal, the Hugo Award for best novel, the Locus Award for Young Adult novel, the American Bookseller Association’s “Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book,” a Horn Book Honor, and Audio Book of the Year. About the Resource: The pack has been designed in alignment with Common Core Reading Standards for Grade 7. The pack has been designed to cover five weeks, with assigned pages for reading, comprehension tasks and quotation and structure analysis. A link to an editable digital copy of the file on Google Slides for completing without printing is available with download.

This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley. About the Novel: Since she was a baby, Aza Ray Boyle has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name. Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found by another. Magonia. Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—but as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war between Magonia and Earth is coming. In Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie? About the Resource: The pack has been designed in alignment with the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s Reading Standards for Year 6. Chapter summaries are provided, along with comprehension questions, and opportunities to analyse the setting, characters, point of view, and theme. Creative writing prompts and non-fiction research opportunities related to the text are also provided. A link to an editable digital copy of the file on Google Slides for completing without printing is available with download.

This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. About the Novel: Popular fantasy about Peter, the boy who won’t grow up, and his companion Tinker Bell, transports young readers to Never-Never Land where together with Wendy and the other Darling children they meet Princess Tiger Lily, the Lost Boys, and the nasty Captain Hook. About the Resource: The pack has been designed in alignment with the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s Reading Standards for Year 6. A link to an editable digital copy of the file on Google Slides for completing without printing is available with download.

About the Novel: Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill. But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons. Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be. Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn’t always free. About the Resource: This pack includes Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities (includes character studies and plot studies), Creative Writing Tasks, and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (Star Wars, Black Panther, Malcolm X, Obamas, Civil Disobedience). Resource is provided as a PDF but a digital copy of the pack is available for editing and sharing on Google Classroom and Seesaw available with download.

Students will evaluate different myths about monsters. They will then listen to different examples of Public Service Announcements to evaluate what makes them effective before designing and recording their own P.S.A. about a monster. Resources for researching different monsters are provided. This unit follows the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s Design Technology objectives. A digital copy for editing and sharing on Google Classroom and Seesaw is available with download.

About the Novel: Rebellions are built on hope. Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens. With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp’s Director and his guards. Heart-racing and emotional, Internment challenges readers to fight complicit silence that exists in our society today. About the Resource: This pack includes** Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities** (includes character analysis, setting analysis, and plot studies), Creative Tasks (includes writing and cooking), and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (Korematsu v. United States, banned books, Milgram experiment, shooting at Chapel Hill, Charlottesville riot, Japanese internment camps, White Rose, Red Cross visit to Theresienstadt, 442nd Infantry Regiment). Resource is provided as a PDF but a digital copy of the pack is available for editing and sharing on Google Classroom and Seesaw available with download.

Students choose an endangered organism facing extinction before researching its significance to its ecosystem and the consequences of its decreasing population. Students then draft correspondence to a chosen audience (letter or e-mail) before sending it in the last session. The pack includes different graphic organizers, resources for lower ability pupils, as well as lesson plans and rubrics. In the past, this resource has been used alongside Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman, but can be used independently of the novel, as well. A link to access an editable file for use on Google Drive is available at download.

Students choose an organism to research before writing an explanation text about how it has made adaptations based on Darwin’s theory of natural selection to thrive. The pack includes different graphic organizers, resources for lower ability pupils, as well as lesson plans and rubrics. In the past, this resource has been used alongside Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman, but can be used independently of the novel, as well. A link to access an editable file for use on Google Drive is available at download.

Students use the stops made by Charles Darwin on the H.M.S. Beagle to write a travel blog about their discoveries and challenges. The pack includes different graphic organizers, resources for lower ability pupils, as well as lesson plans and rubrics. In the past, this resource has been used alongside Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman, but can be used independently of the novel, as well. A link to access an editable file for use on Google Drive is available at download.

This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and can be used alongside any novel with a theme of survival. In the past, I have used this alongside novels such as Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (STEAM pack with this add-on available), and The Skeleton Tree by Iain Lawrence (STEAM pack with this add-on available). The pack has been designed in alignment with the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s reading objectives for Year 6. Product includes: research, design, prototyping, evaluation. A link to a digital file is provided for completing activities in a paperless environment.