Visit a dystopian society to see what an alternate 1984 could have looked like. The variety of engaging activities can easily be broken up for students over several weeks to coordinate with assigned reading. Use what you know about Winston’s memory of his mother to describe what family relationships are like in Oceania. Predict what will happen to Winston based on what you know of the world he lives in and the consequences of his actions. Identify statements about Winston and Julia’s first meeting as true or false. Use what you have already read about room 101 and predict how Winston will react to his experiences there. Describe what the word “betrayal” means to you, and how it relates to the events in the novel. List events from the book that connect to the plot’s major themes. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Nineteen Eighty-Four is the year of an alternate dystopian era in which there are three ruling nations: Oceania, Eastasia and Eurasia. The former are partnered together in a war against the latter, and that’s how it’s always been. Or has it? Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth office. His job is to alter the history books so they line up with whatever the Party wants its citizens to believe. Everything is controlled by the Party, including language. Those that dare to have free thought are dealt with severely. Winston begins to question the Party and how things are run. He starts to rebel by purchasing a diary to write his thoughts in, beginning a relationship with a mysterious dark-haired woman, and seek out the Brotherhood who would like to see the Party taken down. But with the unseen eye of the Party leader Big Brother always watching, it’s only a matter of time before Winston is caught.

Experience the corruption of power and downfall of rebellion with this allegorical story of the Russian Revolution. This resource is great to use as a stand-alone resource, as well as a starting point for bigger activities. Predict whether old Major’s words will inspire any action from the animals. Explain how life for the animals changed immediately following the rebellion. Answer multiple choice questions that reference life on the farm under the leadership of the pigs. Get into the minds of the animals who continue to confess in the face of executions to determine their motivations. Research the concepts of propaganda and historical revisionism and how they connect to Napoleon’s actions in the novel. Discuss some of the instances of foreshadowing that can be found within the novel and how they influenced perceptions going forward. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, our worksheets incorporate a variety of scaffolding strategies along with additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key. About the Novel: Animal Farm is an allegorical satire that recalls the Russian Revolution, in which the unhappy animals of Manor Farm rise up against humanity. In Willingdon, England, Mr Jones runs the neglected Manor Farm. His animals are not happy with their living conditions. One night, old Major calls on the other animals to overthrow the humans. He teaches them a revolutionary song called ‘Beasts of England’. When he dies, conditions on the farm continue to deteriorate, to the point where the animals decide to rise up. They chase the humans off the farm and rename it Animal Farm. Two pigs, named Snowball and Napoleon take control and immediately adopt a set of seven commandments they call Animalism. The farm runs smoothly until bit by bit these commandments are broken by the pigs. Through propaganda, the pigs continue to keep control over the farm, even when the other animals start to question their actions. The story continues down a rabbit hole that inevitably shows the pigs are no different than the humans.

Run off to Grand Rapids on a humorous adventure filled with interesting characters, all leading to a place to call home. Pose questions that will initiate great conversation and discussion in any classroom. Discuss the concept of perseverance, and determine why it is an important quality to have. Match characters to their statements. Determine the purpose of the author's intentional use of spelling mistakes in the novel. Match vocabulary words to their definitions before using them in a sentence. Students create their own family tree to compare with Bud's. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: A touching and humorous story about a ten-year-old boy on the run. Foster child Bud Caldwell leaves Flint, Michigan during the height of the Great Depression in 1936. When Bud eventually arrives in Grand Rapids, he meets Herman Calloway and all the members of the band who welcome him into their lives. As the story comes to a close, we learn that Calloway is Bud’s grandfather, and Bud at last has a place to call “home”. A captivating story told in Bud’s point of view, this novel is an excellent read aloud. The historical setting, intriguing cast of characters and themes of racial and societal prejudice, all provide excellent opportunities for teaching, learning and discussion.

Explore the ultimate first-person narrative through the eyes of a young boy and his tale of self-discovery. Our resource is developmentally appropriate for students with special needs who read at a lower grade level. Students predict who Mr. Henshaw might be, and why he would be receiving a letter. Find antonyms to the vocabulary words found in the novel. Answer multiple choice questions about Leigh. Students become Leigh and write their own list of questions for Mr. Henshaw. Solve the mystery of the lunch thief. Create a to-do list for writing based on what Mrs. Badger suggests to Leigh. Imagine how Leigh and Mr. Henshaw's relationship would progress through the years and write a new letter from Leigh as an adult. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: This Newbery Medal-winning classic story is about Leigh Botts, a young boy who lives with his divorced mother and misses his father. The book is a collection of letters written from Leigh to Mr. Henshaw, his favorite author. The letters show increasing emotional and literary complexity as Leigh grows. They also reflect his desire to become a writer. Through his journal, Leigh learns a great deal about writing and about himself. The diary reveals Leigh's loneliness at school and details his troubles with an unknown schoolmate. When Leigh is in sixth grade, Mr. Henshaw writes back to answer the ten questions Leigh sent to him for the Author Report assignment. Through his journal, Leigh learns a great deal about writing and about himself.

Understand the importance of freedom and what lengths people will go to achieve it. Our comprehensive resource saves time with useful and detailed activities in a range of styles, from vocabulary, multiple choice and short answer questions. Imagine what the story would be like if it was set today, and better understand the issues that would cause two girls to run away. Become familiar with Julilly and her family with true or false questions. Identify which character said the provided statements. Rewrite the story with a third child taken on the journey. Draw Julilly and Liza's journey on a map. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: A sensitive and dramatic story about a young girl's escape from slavery. Julilly is taken away from her mammy by a ruthless slave trader and is sold to the Riley Plantation. Sims oversees all the slaves and is very abusive toward them. If the slaves don’t produce, obey rules or try to run away, he will whip them as punishment. She longs for the day when her and her friend Liza are free and can live in peace. Julilly meets a young Canadian ornithologist named Alexander Ross who helps four slaves escape through the Underground Railroad north to Canada. Julilly, her friend Liza, Lester and Adam travel following the North Star to freedom.

Gain a sense of responsibility and knowing what it's like to have someone's fate in their hands. Our resource is great for quizzes, vocabulary and writing prompts. Predict what will happen between Tree-ear and Min, and whether Tree-ear will become a potter. Match characters to their actions in the story. Use words in a sentence to show its meaning. Describe how Tree-ear prepares the clay for Min, and how different the process would be today. Write the step-by-step instructions on Kang's new technique for making pottery. Compare Min and Kang's work in a Venn Diagram. Design a poster advertising Min's pottery. Find the cities from the novel on a setting map of Korea. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Set in 12th Century Korea, Tree-ear—an orphaned little boy—lives under a bridge with a disabled older friend and caretaker named Crane-man. Tree-ear is fascinated with a local potter named Min and dreams of creating his own ceramics. The trade of potter is unfortunately passed down from father to son, therefore Min can’t teach Tree-ear the trade. The Royal Emissary tours the village in search for a new potter for the palace. Min and Kang—another pottery-maker—compete for the honor. The emissary chooses Kang but tells Min that if he can create more work and bring it to Puyo, he will reconsider his choice. Now, Min’s fate rests in the hands of Tree-ear, who must deliver the pottery to the palace.

Students are taken out of their comfort zone to experience a year in the country. Additional writing tasks offer great options for extra work. List things that are different between Mary Alice's world and the present. Translate two different expressions Mary Alice uses to describe her grandmother. Put events from the story in order as they happened with Mary Alice and Grandma on Halloween. Write a letter to Mary Alice's mother in her own words in an attempt to change her opinion of the grandmother. Students identify who the antagonist of the story is and defend their opinion. Create a travel brochure for Chicago, Illinois. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: A Year Down Yonder is a Newbery Medal-winning story about a young girl who must spend a year living with her grandmother in the country. Mary Alice spent her childhood summers staying with her grandmother in a small country-town in Illinois. These summers were packed with enough surprises and drama to fill the double bill of any picture show. Now, Mary Alice is fifteen and must spend a whole year with her grandmother, away from her Chicago home. Over the course of the year, Mary Alice experiences a hurricane, fox-hunting by night, a late-night raid of a pecan tree and pumpkin patch, a huge snake in the attic, and a community rife with hardship and social pretenses. A Year Down Yonder is a hilariously funny and heart-warming novel.