Reed Novel Studies
There's a Boy In The Girls' Bathroom: Novel Study
People travel to Washington, DC from all over the world to take a tour of the White House or catch a glimpse of the Washington Monument. Using the novel study for There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar, scholars research an...
Reed Novel Studies
Surviving the Applewhites: Novel Study
The Bradys, the Flintstones, and the Simpsons are some of pop culture's most memorable families. So how do the Applewhites stack up? Using a novel study for Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan, scholars answer text-based...
Reed Novel Studies
Summer of the Monkeys: Novel Study
There are more than 260 types of monkeys in the world. With the novel study for Wilson Rawls' Summer of the Monkeys, pupils research interesting facts about the banana-loving primates. They also practice exaggeration, write...
Reed Novel Studies
Stella By Starlight: Novel Study
Who were the Ku Klux Klan, and what role did they play in the United States during the Great Depression? Using the Stella by Starlight novel study, scholars research the organization and answer questions relating to Sharon M. Draper's...
Curated OER
Esperanza Rising - Literature Circles and Review (Day 3)
Kids love working with their peers. Get your class into small literature circles and have them complete weekly assignments. Before beginning this week's activity, have each learner write a letter from Esperanza in California to Abuelita...
Curated OER
Maniac Magee: Questions to Foster Discussion
This resource provides 11 short answer questions and a couple of extension ideas related to part one of Jerry Spinelli's novel about a feisty runaway. Not reproducible, but the questions (which address vocabulary, inference, recall,...
Curated OER
Detective Fiction: Focus On Critical Thinking
Turn your 6th graders into detectives while growing their love of reading. Using critical thinking skills, they will be able to describe the five basic elements of detective fiction, read detective novels, make predictions, use the...
Curated OER
Checking Sources For Accuracy
Middle schoolers will paraphrase a resource without plagiarizing. Then rewrite after reading text. They then evaluate the site or reference they are using for accuracy. In the end, they complete a note-taking organizer.
Curated OER
Helping Children Read
Middle schoolers read books with younger children, incorporating context clues and vocabulary aids as reading strategies to help the younger children learn to read. They discuss the concept of community capital and how this activity...
Curated OER
The Newspaper Article
Have your class participate in an interview activity using an informational text about the Amazon. After reading a Cultural Connections story about a person from the Amazon, middle schoolers write interview questions based on the text....
Curated OER
Not Just the Facts
Encourage your learners to explore the differences between hard news and news analysis. They outline a complex news analysis about the upcoming presidential election, then endeavor to write an analysis of the same topic, using local...
Curated OER
Holes Comprehension Companion
Here is a one-stop planning resource for Louis Sachar's Newbery Award-winning book Holes. You'll find 21 links to worksheets and various activities designed to span the entire book. Learners draw to help analyze settings and...
Curated OER
Heartsongs Poetry by Mattie Stepanek
Use Mattie Stepanek’s Heartsongs book of poetry to inspire young poets to write about their own lives, experiences, and feelings. After reading the introduction to Mattie’s book, in which he talks about himself and his reasons for...
Reed Novel Studies
Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library: Novel Study
Comparing yourself to others is a sure way to make you feel worse about yourself. Kyle, a character in Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library, knows this well, as it is difficult for him to compete with his older brothers. Will he finally...
Reed Novel Studies
Johnny Tremain: Novel Study
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Scholars read Johnny Tremain to see how Johnny's terrible accident helped him become a part of history. Learners write two poems, analyze characters by matching descriptions, and create...
Reed Novel Studies
The Underneath: Novel Study
Do you have a place that makes you feel safe and secure? Ranger, a hound in The Underneath, finds his new friend, a calico cat, and her safe place—underneath a porch. Scholars complete sentences using vocabulary from the novel as they...
Curated OER
Kumeyaay Indians
Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this activity about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their...
Reed Novel Studies
The Light in the Forest: Novel Study
"Make new friends but keep the old" is a wise saying. However, True Son, a main character in The Light in the Forest, struggles doing just that. Once living among the white people, he was taken into an Indian tribe for several years....
Reed Novel Studies
Shiloh: Novel Study
Marty is faced with a tough choice in Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Shiloh. Scholars read to find out how Marty deals with his situation before completing worksheet activities to help readers gain a better understanding of the story....
Reed Novel Studies
What Katy Did: Novel Study
What doesn't break you
makes you stronger. Katy, in What Katy Did, learns this lesson the
hard way. After a terrible accident and a long recovery, Katy becomes what she always wanted to be—good and kind. Scholars learn
about Katy's...
Reed Novel Studies
Flora and Ulysses: Novel Study
As Flora from Flora and Ulysses drowns in her misery, she discovers a squirrel with bigger problems than her own. She saves him from the vacuum cleaner and finds out that his brush with death gave him superpowers. Scholars match...
Reed Novel Studies
Jacob Have I Loved: Novel Study
Twins always have double the fun, right? Sara, in Jacob Have I Loved, always is in the shadows of her twin sister. Scholars identify synonyms, answer comprehension questions, foreshadow, and create alliterations as they read about how...
Reed Novel Studies
The Janitor's Boy: Novel Study
The perfect plan can easily backfire. Jack, in The Janitor's Boy, thinks he has the perfect plan to get back at his father. Little did he know he would end up being sentenced to help his father. Scholars read about Jack and his...
Reed Novel Studies
The Library Card: Novel Study
Books open up the world. Four main characters in The Library Card discover the amazing things that happen at a library. Scholars complete sentences with 10 new vocabulary words, create similes and alliterations, and give a prediction for...