What if you woke up one morning and couldn’t remember the person you used to be?
That’s the fascinating premise behind Gordon Korman’s Restart, a high-interest middle-grade novel that gives students an opportunity to think deeply about bullying, identity, second chances, empathy, friendship, choices, and personal growth.
If you’re looking for a Restart novel study, Restart book unit, or ready-to-use ELA activities to accompany the novel, you’ve come to the right place!
My Restart Novel Study is a complete, no-prep unit designed to help students build reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, grammar, critical-thinking, and literary analysis skills while reading Restart.
It includes printable and Google Drive™ versions, so you can easily use it in a traditional classroom, digital classroom, small reading group, or homeschool setting.
📚 Why Teach Restart by Gordon Korman?
Restart follows Chase Ambrose, a popular athlete who wakes up in the hospital after an accident with no memory of his past.
The problem?
Chase has been told that before the accident, he wasn’t exactly a good person.
In fact, he was known as a bully.
Now Chase has to figure out who he was, who he wants to become, and whether he can truly change.
That makes Restart an especially powerful novel for classroom discussion.
Students aren’t simply reading about a character—they’re constantly being asked to consider questions such as:
- Can people really change?
- Should someone be forgiven for things they don’t remember doing?
- How do our actions affect other people?
- Does having a second chance mean we have to take it?
- How much of our identity is shaped by the choices we make?
- What does it mean to be a good person?
These questions naturally lead to meaningful classroom discussions, writing activities, character analysis, and critical-thinking opportunities.
⭐ Themes to Explore in a Restart Novel Study
One of the reasons Restart works so well as a classroom novel is that it provides plenty of opportunities to explore relevant themes.
Bullying and Its Consequences
Chase’s past behavior gives students an opportunity to examine bullying from multiple perspectives and consider the lasting effects our actions can have on others.
Identity and Personal Growth
After losing his memory, Chase has an unusual opportunity to discover himself again. Students can analyze how his experiences and relationships influence the person he becomes.
Second Chances
The idea of getting a second chance is at the heart of the novel. Students can discuss whether everyone deserves a second chance and what someone must do to earn forgiveness.
Empathy
Because the story gives readers access to different characters and perspectives,
Choices and Consequences
Students can examine how characters’ decisions affect themselves and the people around them—an excellent connection to both character analysis and real-world decision-making.
📖 Use Restart to Build Reading Comprehension
A good novel study should do more than ask students to recall what happened in each chapter.
Restart provides plenty of opportunities for students to practice higher-level reading comprehension and critical thinking.
Students can analyze characters, make inferences, identify important details, examine cause and effect, support their ideas with evidence from the text, and think critically about the choices characters make.
That’s why I created my Restart Novel Study as a complete book unit rather than simply a collection of comprehension questions.
es, Restart provides opportunities for students to consider situations from viewpoints other than their own.
📚 What’s Included?
This complete Restart novel study includes everything you need to teach the book with minimal prep:
- Daily lesson plans, pacing guide, and standards alignment
- Chapter-by-chapter comprehension questions
- Vocabulary and grammar activities
- Writing, character analysis, and extension activities
- Mid-novel and end-of-novel assessments
- Answer keys and teacher resources
- Printable + Google Drive™ digital versions
- Interactive notebook and end-of-book activities
The complete unit is designed for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students and can be adapted for whole-class instruction, small groups, independent work, or homeschool.
⏰ Save Time With a No-Prep Restart Novel Unit
Teaching a novel shouldn’t require hours of preparation before you even begin reading.
With this no-prep Restart novel study, the planning is already done for you.
You can simply print the materials or assign the digital version, follow the lesson plans, and begin teaching.
The unit can also be used with students working more independently, making it flexible enough for reading groups, intervention, independent reading, and homeschool.
💻 Printable + Digital Restart Novel Study
Do you prefer paper?
The printable version makes it easy to create student packets and traditional reading assignments.
Going paperless?
The Google Drive™ version makes it easy to use the unit with digital learning and Google Classroom™.
You get both formats in the complete Restart Novel Study, giving you the flexibility to choose what works best for your students.
See what people are saying about the Restart Novel Study by The Teaching Bank!
🎁 Try a FREE Restart Novel Study Sample
Not sure if this unit is right for your classroom?
Try the free sample first!
The free Restart novel study sample includes the Chapter 1 activities from the complete unit, so you can see the format and types of activities included before purchasing.
🛒 Get the Complete Restart Novel Study
If you’re teaching Restart by Gordon Korman and want a ready-to-use novel unit with comprehension questions, vocabulary activities, writing activities, assessments, lesson plans, answer keys, and standards alignment, this complete resource is designed to make your life easier.
Use it for:
✔ 4th grade ELA
✔ 5th grade ELA
✔ 6th grade ELA
✔ Reading groups
✔ Literature circles
✔ Whole-class novel studies
✔ Small-group instruction
✔ Independent reading
✔ Homeschool
✔ Digital learning
✔ Reading intervention
Save your planning time and give your students a structured way to dig deeper into Restart.
Connect with Fellow Educators!
Are you teaching Restart this school year?
Join our free community, Book Talk with The Teaching Bank, to share ideas, grab freebies, and connect with 3rd–8th grade teachers using novels in the classroom!
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