Find the strength within to stand up for yourself and others with this coming-of-age tale. The engaging activities will help educators keep the class paced and structured well. Put events in order as they happen when Holling stays behind one Wednesday. Imagine what Mrs. Baker’s inspiration might be for assigning Holling to read The Tempest. Predict whether Holling, Danny and Doug will feel differently towards Mrs. Baker after her gesture. Describe the difficult situation Mai Thi is in at her school and the significance it has within the backdrop of the story. Explore the motivations of the characters from the novel and describe how they impact the decisions made by them throughout the story. Map out some of the noted architecture described in the book. 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: The Wednesday Wars follows Holling Hoodhood as he enters the seventh grade. Every Wednesday, the students in his class go to separate churches for religious classes. However, as a Presbyterian, Holling doesn’t have anywhere to go. So instead, he stays behind with his teacher, Mrs. Baker. She doesn’t seem pleased about this, and quickly Holling believes that she has it in for him. Each week, Mrs. Baker gives Holling menial tasks, until finally she begins to force him to read the works of William Shakespeare. This backfires, however, as Holling begins to enjoy the plays. So much so, that he even gets a roll in the community’s Holiday Extravaganza. Life at home for Holling isn’t any better. He is constantly lost in his father’s shadow, who forces Holling to continue in the family business. His sister tries to rebel, but is also forced to follow her father’s wishes. With the war in Vietnam as the backdrop, tensions rise as news of lost husbands overseas begin to come in. This coming-of-age story focuses on one boy finding the strength within and standing up for himself and others.

In this Newbery Honor-winning novel, Gary D. Schmidt tells the witty and compelling story of a teenage boy who feels that fate has it in for him, during the school year 1968-68. Seventh grader Holling Hoodhood isn't happy. He is sure his new teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. Holling's domineering father is obsessed with his business image and disregards his family. Throughout the school year, Holling strives to get a handle on the Shakespeare plays Mrs. Baker assigns him to read on his own time, and to figure out the enigmatic Mrs. Baker. As the Vietnam War turns lives upside down, Holling comes to admire and respect both Shakespeare and Mrs. Baker, who have more to offer him than he imagined. And when his family is on the verge of coming apart, he also discovers his loyalty to his sister, and his ability to stand up to his father when it matters most.

“Henry Smith’s father told him that if you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you.” But Trouble comes careening down the road one night in the form of a pickup truck that strikes Henry’s older brother, Franklin. In the truck is Chay Chouan, a young Cambodian from Franklin’s preparatory school, and the accident sparks racial tensions in the school—and in the well-established town where Henry’s family has lived for generations. Caught between anger and grief, Henry sets out to do the only thing he can think of: climb Mt. Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine, which he and Franklin were going to climb together. Along with Black Dog, whom Henry has rescued from drowning, and a friend, Henry leaves without his parents’ knowledge. The journey, both exhilarating and dangerous, turns into an odyssey of discovery about himself, his older sister, Louisa, his ancestry, and why one can never escape from Trouble.

Imagine what it’s like when twins come of age and drift apart. This resource allows students to have a better connection with the story that they are reading. Answer statements about Josh and Jordan as true or false. Put yourself in the twins’ shoes and imagine ways to stay focused when trying to concentrate. Pretend to be one of the characters and write a first-hand account about a medical emergency that occurs. Find synonyms to key vocabulary words used in the chapters. Research foods that are heart healthy and display the information in a chart or diagram. Complete a Tanka poem, taking inspiration from the novel. 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: The Crossover tells the coming-of-age story of Josh Bell. Him and his twin brother—Jordan—are the sons of a famous basketball player. So naturally, they excel at the sport as well. The two strive to win the championship this year, but Jordan’s interests seem to stray from his brother’s. Jordan starts spending all his time with the new girl at school, and Josh doesn’t understand why his brother is acting so funny. For the first time, Josh is beginning to feel what it’s like to be lonely. He misses his brother, and starts acting out. At one of his games, Josh does something that causes him to be suspended. At home, his mother is becoming worried with her husband’s failing health. Josh learns that his grandfather died of heart disease, and now his own father is showing the same symptoms. He becomes just as worried as his mother, who starts taking steps to make sure the family is eating healthier. But with Josh’s father’s aversion to doctors, it’s only a matter of time before the unimaginable happens, and Josh is faced with a heart-breaking reality.

Students become captivated with the idea of survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Incorporate probing questions and informative vocabulary to create a thorough and useful experience for students. Identify the meaning of words found in the reading. Gain a raw understanding of the father-son dynamic by exploring the father's sacrifice for his son. Make predictions of the disaster that destroyed the world based on clues left by the author. Students imagine a nuclear winter is approaching and must make a plan to stock up their own bunker for survival. Discuss deviations from "proper" grammar, syntax, spelling, and punctuation used 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: The Road is a Pulitzer Prize winning story about a father and son's journey through post apocalyptic America. After an unspecified disaster destroys most life on Earth, a father and son must travel across a desolate landscape in hopes of making it to the coast. Along their way, they are faced with starvation, thieves, and cannibals. The landscape is without vegetation and living animals, and is covered with ash. The sky is dark, the wind is cold, and snow falls gray. Armed only with a revolver and two rounds to protect them, the father and son set out on the road. They finally reach the sea, but the father falls ill and must prepare the son for the time when he will not be around to protect him.

Students learn of loss and longing, loneliness and friendship, and finding contentment and a place for oneself. Our resource is a useful tool to write, discuss, assess, and challenge all learners. Students write the meaning of vocabulary words from the book in their own words. Using multiple choice, choose the best answer that describes how certain events in the story took place. Infer the meaning of certain character actions towards Opal. Students put themselves into Opal's shoes to understand her state of mind when Winn-Dixie is missing. Write a chapter for a nonfiction tour book about the town of Naomi, Florida. Use a fishbone organizer to keep track of different aspects of the characters, setting and resolution from 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: This is a story in which a ten-year-old girl must face the abandonment of her mother, and find the answer to the question “Will she ever come back?” The answer, surprisingly, is “No!”, but India Opal Buloni, over the course of the novel, learns to deal with this answer through her experiences and support of a growing circle of friends, all of whom has also suffered some kind of loss themselves. And finally, it is the story of the love between a girl and her dog; a pet that has an uncanny ability to bring kindred spirits together.

Follow the journey of four students, whose lives are intertwined both personally and academically. Perfect for monitoring comprehension and discussing vocabulary. Students express what they already know about turtles prior to the reading. Explain what Ethan lost and gained at Julian's tea party. Complete a paragraph from the story with the missing words. Find synonyms to difficult words used in the book. Make a prediction of what will happen to the characters at the conclusion of the novel. Conduct an interview with one of the members of The Souls for the evening news. Complete a story map using details about the setting, characters, problem, plot, and resolution. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: The View From Saturday is a Newbery Medal winning story about four gifted students and their life-altering journeys. Noah, Nadia, Ethan and Julian make up the four members of The Souls, a group of 6th grade students competing in the Academic Bowl. Led by Mrs. Olinski—their teacher who has become a paraplegic after a serious car crash—the group must face challenges that will shape their lives as they move through the competition. The story progresses through different perspectives given from each of the four members of The Souls. Each story, told in the first-person, describes an event that relates to a question they were asked in the Academic Bowl finals. Will The Souls successfully rise through the ranks to become state champions?