Curated OER
Anticipation Guide Strategy for Gary Paulsen's Canyons (For Teachers)
"Things never change." "It's okay to steal from those who already have a lot." Before reading Canyons, readers respond to an anticipation guide that focuses on issues raised in Gary Paulsen's novel. Groups share their responses, and...
Curated OER
Nightjohn: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Your readers will “get to wanting” and will want to know things about Nightjohn with a DRTA activity based on Gary Paulsen’s novel. Introduce the book by asking class members to examine the cover and to make predictions about the subject...
Curated OER
Call of the Wild: After-reading Response Strategy
Readers select a character from Call of the Wild, record their responses to a series of prompts in a spiral notebook, and use details from the novel to support their thinking. The spirals are then used as source material to support...
Curated OER
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Create an online poster, or Glogster, with your class to promote Ray Bradbury's novel Dandelion Wine. This activity can be done at any time in the novel, although the directions suggest waiting until your readers near the end so...
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: Personality File
Readers of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner assume the voice of one of the characters from the novel and draft eight reflective journal entries and a one-page collage that depicts the character's interests, personal beliefs, etc.
Curated OER
Wuthering Heights: Questioning Strategy
Readers of Wuthering Heights use the DRTA strategy to formulate predictions about the actions of characters in Bronte's novel.
Curated OER
Cold Sassy Tree: Multicultural Strategy
Analyze the characters in Olive Ann Burns's Cold Sassy Tree with this assignment. After reading the majority of the novel, class members choose a character and make a visual representation of the character, including any important...
Curated OER
Fever 1793: Anticipation Guide
Introduce the themes of Fever 1793 and determine your class members’ level of background knowledge with an anticipation guide for Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel about the yellow fever epidemic that swept Philadelphia. For each prompt,...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Bingo: Fever 1793
Prior to reading Fever 1793, class members are introduced to vocabulary drawn from the text of Laurie Halse Anderson's novel with a bingo-style activity. The vocabulary list, a teacher copy with definitions, and the bingo template are...
Curated OER
Flipped: A Before Reading Strategy
Prior to reading Flipped, Wendelin Van Draanen’s young adult novel about teen romance, class members engage in an anticipation guide activity. Individuals post their responses to a series of prompts, and after reading all the responses,...
Curated OER
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: K-W-H-L Strategy
Ah, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer! Before your class reads this classic novel, encourage them to activate prior knowledge and build interest in the book with the KWHL strategy. Directions for walking your class through this strategy are...
Curated OER
Compare Characters in Bud, Not Buddy
After your class finishes reading Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, they use the Venn diagram here to compare two characters from the novel, in this case Bud and his grandfather Herman E. Calloway. Examples of qualities on which...
Curated OER
Bud Not Buddy Pre-Reading Activity
Before you embark on reading Bud Not Buddy with your class, have them imagine they are in Bud's shoes. They must prioritize which of 13 items listed on a printable worksheet they would take with them to survive as a Depression-Era...
Little, Brown and Company
The Catcher in the Rye: Vocabulary Bingo
After finishing The Catcher in the Rye, review new vocabulary with an individualized bingo game. Class members develop a list of new vocabulary drawn from the novel or literary devices studied during the unit. Individuals then place...
Curated OER
Pairing with Picture Books: Chasing Lincoln's Killer
Readers of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, James L Swanson’s young adult novel, use a Venn diagram to compare information about Abraham Lincoln and the events surrounding his assassination, with the images and information presented in picture...
Curated OER
Monster: Guided Imagery
How would you feel if you were on trial for murder—and you were only 16 years old? Put yourself in Steve Harmon's shoes before reading Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Kids listen to music that fits the theme of the book before...
Novelinks
The Dark Is Rising: Guided Imagery
To launch a reading of The Dark is Rising, the second novel in Susan Cooper's award winning contemporary fantasy novel sequence for young adults, class members engage in a guided imagery exercise that asks them to visualize the...
Curated OER
American Frontiers
High schoolers study the settlement of the American frontier through literature. In this literature lesson, students read and discuss works by James Fenimore Cooper, Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Willa Cather, and Hamlin Garland. High...
Curated OER
The Catcher in the Rye: Anticipation Guide
"Mistakes are necessary; therefore, we shouldn't shelter children from the world." Class members agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or disagree with a series of statements related to concepts explored in The Catcher in the Rye....
Curated OER
Freak The Mighty: KWHL Instructions for Generating Student Research
Readers of Freak the Mighty employ a KWHL strategy to explore the topics of bullying and friendship prior to reading Rodman Philbrick’s story that is “like truth serum. . . whether it really happened or not.” Research could be extended...
Novelinks
Maus: Bingo Vacabulary Strategy
The definitions for unfamiliar words drawn from Art Spiegelman graphic novel memoir, Maus, provide the clues for a vocabulary bingo game.
Curated OER
Nothing But the Truth: Anticipation Guide
“What does it mean to be patriotic?” “Should grades factor in to a student’s eligibility for extracurricular activities?” Class members complete an anticipation guide that asks them to respond to a series of statements that highlight...
Novelinks
The Book Thief: Anticipation Guide
Introduce the major themes in Markus Zusak's award-winning novel, The Book Thief, with an anticipation guide that asks readers to agree or disagree with a series of statements.
Curated OER
Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Stone Fox
Learners read and complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the novel, Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner. Included are reading, math, science, writing, social studies, and library connections. A vocabulary/spelling...