Classic middle grade novels are some of my favorite things to work with. There’s just so much to draw from with great novels like Number the Stars or The Cay. With perennial favorites like these, there is something for everyone, and plenty of connection to any reading skill you might want to work on. That’s just the kind of novel I most like to focus on when creating a novel study- stories that will resonate with teachers and kids year after year.
Along with the novel studies and other resources that I post on Teachers Pay Teachers for each story that I work on, I also like to do a blog post with discussion questions for the novel or ideas for follow-up lessons. Here is a round-up of the ones I’ve posted in the past.
Pictures of Hollis Woods
This contemporary novel by Patricia Reilly Giff is about a 12-year-old girl, a runaway from foster home after foster home, and her search for a real family.
Discussion Questions for Pictures of Hollis Woods
Because of Winn-Dixie
In Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate Dicamillo, a scruffy dog helps a young girl make friends in a new town and come to understand her father better.
Discussion Questions for Because of Winn-Dixie
Schooled
Schooled, by Gordon Korman, is a fun, contemporary story, with a sixties connection, about a boy who has been home schooled by his grandmother and then suddenly is thrust into the world of a modern middle school.
Learning Sixties-Style with the Novel Schooled
Discussion Topics for Schooled
Crash
Crash, by Jerry Spinelli, pairs up a bullying football player and a dorky, vegetarian pacifist for middle school adventures.
CRASH – Theme Questions for Reading Responses
The Cay
A classic novel, by Theodore Taylor, about a World War II shipwreck, castaways on an island, and the new insights gained by a young boy as he learns to survive with help from an unexpected source.
Number the Stars
A great story, by Lois Lowry, about families in Denmark that work together to beat the “relocation” of Danish Jews during World War II.
Extended Activities for Number the Stars
Freebies
In my store, Classroom in the Middle, you’ll find novel studies as well as a free resource for each of these novels. You can see them all here: Classroom in the Middle Novel Studies and Assignments.
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