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English language arts

The Book of Dust (Vol. 1) Novel Study
This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman.
ABOUT THE NOVEL: Malcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything but is not much noticed himself. And so perhaps it was inevitable that he would become a spy…
Malcolm’s parents run an inn called the Trout, on the banks of the river Thames, and all of Oxford passes through its doors. Malcolm and his daemon, Asta, routinely overhear news and gossip, and the occasional scandal, but during a winter of unceasing rain, Malcolm catches wind of something new: intrigue.
He finds a secret message inquiring about a dangerous substance called Dust - and the spy it was intended for finds him.
When she asks Malcolm to keep his eyes open, he sees suspicious characters everywhere: the explorer Lord Asriel, clearly on the run; enforcement agents from the Magisterium; a gyptian named Coram with warnings just for Malcolm; and a beautiful woman with an evil monkey for a daemon. All are asking about the same thing: a girl - just a baby - named Lyra.
Lyra is the kind of person who draws people in like magnets. And Malcolm will brave any danger, and make shocking sacrifices, to bring her safely through the storm.
ABOUT THE RESOURCE: Designed in alignment with the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s reading objectives for Year 6, the pack includes: Background information on the novel (about the setting, about daemons), 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 (daemons, spies, Aurora, priory).
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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<a title=“The Book of Dust (Vol. 1) Novel Study + STEAM BUNDLE” href=“/teaching-resource/the-book-of-dust-vol-1-novel-study-steam-bundle-11855090”>The Book of Dust (Vol. 1) Novel Study + STEAM BUNDLE</a>

Once Upon a Dream: A Twisted Tale Novel Study
**This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with Once Upon a Time: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell. The pack has been designed in alignment with the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s reading objectives for Year 6.
**
ABOUT THE NOVEL: What if the sleeping beauty never woke up?Once Upon a Dream marks the second book in a new YA line that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways.
It should be simple–a dragon defeated, a slumbering princess in a castle, a prince poised to wake her. But when the prince falls asleep as his lips touch the fair maiden’s, it is clear that this fairy tale is far from over.
With a desperate fairy’s last curse controlling her mind, Princess Aurora must escape from a different castle of thorns and navigate a dangerously magical landscape–created from her very own dreams. Aurora isn’t alone–a charming prince is eager to join her quest, and old friends offer their help. But as Maleficent’s agents follow her every move, Aurora struggles to discover who her true allies are and, moreover, who she truly is. Time is running out. Will the sleeping beauty be able to wake herself up?
**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 (mud dauber wasp, feathers, dungeons, bluebird, medieval armour, foxes).
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.

Francis Hardinge Novel Study BUNDLE (The Lie Tree & A Skinful of Shadows)
This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with two novels written by Francis Hardinge: <a title=“The Lie Tree Novel Study” href=“/teaching-resource/the-lie-tree-novel-study-11821573”>The Lie Tree Novel Study</a> and <a title=“A Skinful of Shadows Novel Study” href=“/teaching-resource/a-skinful-of-shadows-novel-study-11833536”>A Skinful of Shadows Novel Study</a>. The pack has been designed in alignment with the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s reading objectives for Year 6.
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.
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.

Halloween STEAM: Create a Monster Catcher
Students will evaluate different myths about monsters as well as different trapping devices before designing their own. In the past, I have given students access to littleBits prototyping boards for this STEAM project, but they’re not required.
Resources for researching different monsters and traps 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.

Assessment Using Socratic Seminar
Students show off what they’ve learned by participating in a discussion.
In the past, I have used this resource both in Middle School ELA for Novel Study to ensure everyone is caught up on the week’s reading, and also in Middle School Social Studies to synthesize the independent reading and lectures from the week.
This resource includes:
Introducing Socratic Seminar
Preparing for Socratic Seminar
Participating in Socratic Seminar
Evaluating Socratic Seminar
Reflecting on Socratic Seminar
There are differentiated rubrics included, as well as a template for creating your own.
A link is available for editing and sharing the resource on digital platforms with download.

Dune Novel Study
About the Novel: NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chang Chen,Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem.
Frank Herbert’s classic masterpiece—a triumph of the imagination and one of the bestselling science fiction novels of all time.
Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for…
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.
About the Resource: This pack includes Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities (includes character, setting and plot studies, point of view), Creative Writing Tasks, and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (signet rings, water conservation, powerful houses, desert predators, space travel, dehydration, desert travel, ecology).
**Novel study is colour-coded for Book 1: Dune, Book 2: Muad’Dib, and Book 3: The Prophet to allow finding summaries and comprehension questions easier.
Resource is provided as a PDF but a digital copy of the pack is available for editing and sharing on Google Classroom and Seesaw with download.

Six of Crows Novel Study
About the Novel: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price-and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’'t pull it off alone. . . .
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can’'t walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction-if they don’t kill each other first.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo returns to the breathtaking world of the Grishaverse in this unforgettable tale about the opportunity-and the adventure-of a lifetime.
About the Resource: This 240-page pack includes Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities (includes character, setting and plot studies, point of view), Creative Writing Tasks, and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (civil war, fighting pit, battle tank, revolver).
Resource is provided as a PDF but a digital copy of the pack is available for editing and sharing on Google Classroom and Seesaw with download.
Bundle

Mission to Mars Thematic Unit Plan
This 197-page bundle includes six different resources where students will:
Design a mission badge (e-textiles)
Study of the U.S. space program’s chronology (explanation text)
Learn about ecosystems while considering what they would need to survive on Mars (persuasive text)
Study previous rover designs before designing and evaluating one using littleBits
Research significant people and events to the U.S. space program (primary and secondary sources)
Write a short story about a mission to Mars and/or space travel using shifts in formality with flashbacks (narrative writing)
The pack includes different graphic organizers, as well as resources for lower ability pupils.
In the past, I’ve used these resources during a unit on Mars, but they could be used as a stand alone learning outcomes, as well.

The Marrow Thieves Novel Study
**This 143-page resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop with The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline.
**
About the Novel: Just when you think you have nothing left to lose, they come for your dreams.
Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The Indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden - but what they don’t know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.
About the Resource: This pack includes Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities (includes character, setting and plot studies, point of view), Creative Writing Tasks, and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (residential schools, round dance, jingle dress, smudging, dreams, sweat lodge, Band Council, hand drum).
A link to a digital file for editing and use in paperless classrooms is available with download.

Fire Keeper's Daughter Novel Study
**This 304-page resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop with Fire Keeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley.
**
About the Novel: With four starred reviews, Angeline Boulley’s debut novel, Firekeeper’s Daughter, is a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, perfect for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.
Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team.
Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.
Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims.
Now, as the deceptions—and deaths—keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.
About the Resource: This pack includes Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities (includes character, setting and plot studies, point of view), Creative Writing Tasks, and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (Sault Ste. Marie, Lake Superior, Soo Locks, sweetgrass, scars, Fancy Shawl Regalia, Traditional dancers, Jingle Dress Regalia, drum group, Ojibwe Fire Keeper, Sixties Scoop, John Herrington, smoke dance).
A link to a digital file for editing and use in paperless classrooms is available with download.

Yellowface Novel Study
**This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop with Yellowface by R.F. Kuang.
**
About the Novel: Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.
So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.
So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.
But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.
With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.
About the Resource: This pack includes Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities (includes character, setting and plot studies, point of view), Creative Writing Tasks, and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (pandan, Chinese Labour Corps, Marlin Literary Archive, Highlander Syndrome, orientalism, Korean War, Wayback Machine, Kuomintang, KMT and move to Taiwan, One-Child Policy, missing Chinese survivors of Titanic, Jade Squad, Chinese Mafia, sycamore trees).
A link to a digital file for editing and use in paperless classrooms is available with download.

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town Novel Study
This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop with Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock.
About the Novel: A lyrical and heartfelt collection by an award-winning writer that connects the lives of young people from small towns in Alaska and the American west. Each story is unique, yet universal.
In this book, the impact of wildfire, a wayward priest, or a mysterious disappearance ricochet across communities, threading through stories. Here, ordinary actions such as ice skating or going to church reveal hidden truths. One choice threatens a lifelong friendship. Siblings save each other. Rescue and second chances are possible, and so is revenge.
On the surface, it seems that nothing ever happens in these towns. But Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock shows that underneath that surface, teenagers’ lives blaze with fury, with secrets, and with love so strong it burns a path to the future.
About the Resource: This pack includes Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities (includes character, setting and plot studies, point of view), Creative Writing Tasks, and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (bivalve mollusks, wildfire, pika, fireweed).
A link to a digital file for editing and use in paperless classrooms is available with download.

All the Light We Cannot See Novel Study
**This 174-page resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. The pack has been designed in alignment with the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s reading objectives for Year 6.
**
ABOUT THE NOVEL: NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES—from producer and director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) starring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia Loberti
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, the beloved instant New York Timesbestseller and New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris, and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the Resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.
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 (French Resistance, Saint-Malo, radio, stormtroopers, blindness, Braille, State Youth, N.P.E.A., Stuka, Dresden Green, H.M.S. Beagle, Foucault’s Pendulum, Jewish star, Operation Typhoon, Invasion of Normandy, sonderkommandos).
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.

Ancient Benin Study: Design the Head of an Oba
This resource is meant to be used by children in Key Stage 2 (English objectives pitched to Years 5 and 6) to investigate the history and significance of the commemorative heads made to honour the Oba of Ancient Benin.
Children will first read about the heads through differentiated articles, then investigate the symbolism of different commemorative heads. They will then design their own commemorative head before carving it out of a bar of soap and evaluating their design.
Lastly, children will write an explanation text about their commemorative head.
Sequence of Sessions:
Research Ancient Benin
Investigating different examples of art commissioned by Obas of Ancient Benin
Investigating the significance of animals in commemorative heads of Ancient Benin Obas
Design own Oba head
Carve own Oba head
Evaluate own Oba head
Features of an Explanation Text
Write an Explanation Text
There is also a digital file included for editing and sharing on Google Classroom and Seesaw.

Vikings: Monastery Invasion Narrative Writing
Children will learn about Viking raids on monasteries in Northern England before writing a narrative text.
The text can be written from the perspective of a monk or a Viking during the raid of the Holy Island of Lindisfarne in North-East England in 793 CE.
This pack includes lesson plans, rubrics, and editable rubrics to support with the learning process. Lessons and objectives are aligned with objectives from the 2014 National Curriculum of England.
A digital copy for editing and sharing on digital platforms is available with download.

The Hate U Give Novel Study
This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
**ABOUT THE NOVEL: **Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
**ABOUT THE RESOURCE: **This pack includes: Background information on the novel (about police shootings), 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 (Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Tupac Shakur, Basketball, Jordans, Malcolm X, Black Panthers, Huey Newton, Dr Martin Luther King, Emmett Till, Black Lives Matter, Nat Turner).
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.

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.

El Deafo Novel Study FREEBIE
This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with El Deafo  by Cece Bell.
The pack has been designed in alignment with Common Core Reading Standards for Grade 7.
I am trying out a new format and would appreciate feedback! The pack has been designed to cover five weeks, with assigned pages for reading, comprehension tasks and quotation and structure analysis.
A digital copy of the file is available with download.

Write a Eulogy for Blackbeard FREEBIE
Included is a mini writing assignment that I have used for an extra credit opportunity in grades 7 and 8 ELA and Social Studies.
Students will have a background in pirates before being given the assignment, but it is also adaptable for different significant people, as well. When I have assigned it, I have also reviewed features of eulogies and compared them to different styles of writing.

'Pimp my Insect' Explanation Text FREEBIE!
*Updated with new graphics
In this resource, children will study different insects to see how they have adapted to their ecosystems.
Children will then design their own insect and write an explanation text about its adaptations and how they make it successful.
A digital copy of the resource is available to editing and sharing on Google Classroom and Seesaw by following link provided at download.
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