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Book Tasting Activity for Introducing Novel Studies
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.
Coraline Novel Study
This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with Coraline by Neil Gaiman.
About the Novel: When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.
But there’s another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.
Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.
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.
Frankenstein Graphic Novel Study
This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with Frankenstein by Gris Grimly.
About the Graphic Novel: Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein is a twisted, fresh, and utterly original** full-length, full-color graphic-novel adaptation of Mary Shelley’s original text, brought to life by acclaimed illustrator Gris Grimly**. The first fully illustrated version to use the original 1818 text, this handsome volume is destined to capture the imagination of those new to the story as well as those who know it well.
New York Times bestselling illustrator Gris Grimly has long considered Frankenstein to be one of his chief inspirations. From the bones and flesh of the original, he has cut and stitched Mary Shelley’s text to his own artwork, creating something entirely new: a stunningly original remix, both classic and contemporary, sinister and seductive, heart-stopping and heartbreaking.
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.
Magonia Novel Study
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.
Peter Pan Novel Study
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.
The Wreckers Novel Study
This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence.
About the Novel: There was once a village bred by evil. On the barren coast of Cornwall, England, lived a community who prayed for shipwrecks, a community who lured storm-tossed ships to crash upon the sharp rocks of their shore. They fed and clothed themselves with the loot salvaged from the wreckage; dead sailors’ tools and trinkets became decorations for their homes. Most never questioned their murderous way of life.
Then, upon that pirates’ shore crashed the ship The Isle of Skye. And the youngest of its crew members, 14-year-old John Spencer, survived the wreck. But would he escape the wreckers? This is his harrowing tale.
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.
Explanation Texts - Features and Templates
In this resource, children will use cohesive devices to develop their explanations before using an editing checklist to support their writing of an explanation of a topic.
A digital and editable file is available with download.
On the Come Up Novel Study
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.
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Explaining Changes in Video Game Characters
Students analyse the changes in different popular video game characters before designing their own. Students then write an explanation text about a video game character.
Halloween STEAM: Design a Monster Public Service Announcement
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.
Internment Novel Study
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.
Flush Novel Study
About the Novel: Take a romp in the swamp with this New York Times bestselling mystery adventure set in the Florida Keys from Newbery Honoree Carl Hiaasen!
Noah’s dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor—which has made taking a dip at the local beach like swimming in a toilet. He can’t prove it though, and so he decides that sinking the boat will make an effective statement. Right. The boat is pumped out and back in business within days and Noah’s dad is in the local lock-up.
Now Noah is determined to succeed where his dad failed. He will prove that the Coral Queen is dumping illegally . . . somehow.
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 (water pollution, Florida Keys, green flash, loggerhead turtle).
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.
Darwin's Delights Argumentative Writing: Protecting Organisms from Extinction
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.
Darwin's Delights Explanation Writing: Changes in an Organism Over Time
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.
Write a Travel Blog from the HMS Beagle
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.
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Mission to Mars Unit Plan
This resource has been designed as a study of the history of space travel and the robotics used.
Children will consider what needs to be accomplished to make like on Mars sustainable. There are also opportunities for narrative and non-fiction writing.
Included learning outcomes:
Design a mission badge (e-textiles)
Timeline of the space program/space shuttles
Evaluation of primary and secondary sources related to space missions
Study of ecosystems to bring to Mars
Design a Mars rover (littleBits)
Narrative writing related to a Mission to Mars
Children of Blood and Bone Novel Study
**About the Novel: **They killed my mother. They took our magic. They tried to bury us. Now we rise.
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.
**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 (Floating Markets, Lagos, Kingdom of Benin).
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.
Survival Invention Add-on for Novel Study
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.