New ways to teach reading, writing and the love of literature.

Looking for ways to add rigor to your students' explorations of rich, complex literature? Students will be engaged as they analyze this book that has won both the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award. M.C. Higgins, the Great: An Instructional Guide for Literature provides engaging activities that incorporate the following research-based literacy skills: close reading tasks; text-based vocabulary practice; cross-curricular activities; text-dependent questions; reader response writing prompts; leveled comprehension questions; story elements comprehension tasks; diverse and relevant assessments. Strengthen your students' literacy skills by implementing this high-interest resource in your classroom!

Follow one boy's struggle as he faces many challenges that threaten the safety and livelihood of his family. Students fully comprehend the language of the novel with vocabulary practice. Explore the idea of phobias while relating it back to the character, M.C. Describe the tragic event that was narrowly averted due to the carelessness of the mining company. Predict how M.C. and the girl will make it to the end of the tunnel. Do some research and write a report on yodeling. Identify what is a fact and what is an opinion in the novel. 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: M.C. Higgins, the Great is a Newbery Medal-winning story about a young boy who is overcome with many challenges while living with his poor, African-American family on Sarah’s Mountain. M.C. Higgins must overcome the prejudice that surrounds his best friend with the help of a mysterious girl who appears on the mountain. Also, M.C. tries to get his mother’s singing voice recorded so he and his family can leave the mountain. The greatest challenge M.C. must face is a coal mining company that have been strip-mining the area above their house, leaving a huge pile of slag (spoil heap) piled dangerously on the mountain above their house. M.C. is convinced that the pile will one day give way and bury their house and everyone in it; therefore he stands guard by sitting on a high pole.