Looking for an engaging Al Capone Does My Shirts novel study that will keep your students reading, thinking, and discussing? Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko is an excellent choice for a whole-class novel, small-group book study, literature circle, or independent reading unit.
Set on Alcatraz Island in 1935, this historical fiction novel combines humor, mystery, friendship, family, and important themes of acceptance and inclusion. It gives students plenty to discuss while also providing rich opportunities for reading comprehension, vocabulary, character analysis, critical thinking, and writing.
And if you’re looking for a way to teach the novel without spending hours creating materials, I have a complete Al Capone Does My Shirts novel unit ready to go!
Why Teach Al Capone Does My Shirts?
There are so many reasons this novel works well with upper elementary and middle school readers.
🏝️ Explore Alcatraz Island
Students get a fascinating look at Alcatraz Island when it was a working federal prison. The unusual setting immediately gives students something interesting to investigate and provides a natural opportunity to connect literature with history.
📚 Connect Literature and History
The novel takes place during the Great Depression in the 1930s, allowing students to explore historical context while reading a story they can connect with emotionally.
Students can investigate topics such as:
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- Life during the Great Depression
- Alcatraz Island
- The history of Alcatraz prison
- Al Capone
- Life in the 1930s
- Historical fiction
- How historical events influence a story
❤️ Discuss Family, Friendship, and Acceptance
At the center of the story is Moose Flanagan and his family. Moose is adjusting to life on Alcatraz while also dealing with the challenges surrounding his sister Natalie.
The novel provides meaningful opportunities to discuss family relationships, friendship, empathy, acceptance, inclusion, responsibility, and perseverance.
Because these themes are presented through the experiences of the characters, students can have thoughtful conversations without the topics feeling disconnected from the story.
🔎 Analyze Characters and Themes
Al Capone Does My Shirts is also an excellent book for teaching literary analysis.
Students can explore:
- Character development
- Character traits
- Conflict
- Setting
- Point of view
- Theme
- Plot development
- Relationships between characters
- Cause and effect
- Making inferences
- Supporting ideas with text evidence
These skills make the novel especially useful for an ELA novel study or reading unit for grades 5–8.
Al Capone Does My Shirts Novel Study
If you’re ready to turn the novel into a complete classroom unit, my Al Capone Does My Shirts Novel Study provides the materials you need to teach the book from beginning to end.
The resource includes printable and digital Google Drive activities, making it easy to use whether you’re teaching in a traditional classroom, a paperless classroom, or through Google Classroom.
What’s Included?
The complete novel study includes:
- Teacher lesson plans
- Reading comprehension activities
- Chapter-by-chapter questions
- Vocabulary activities
- Grammar practice
- Writing activities
- Reading assessments
- Critical-thinking questions
- Answer keys
- Pre-reading activities
- Nonfiction WebQuests
- Story elements activities
- Interactive notebook activities
- Common Core standards alignment
- Printable materials
- Google Drive digital materials
Everything is designed to save you time and give your students meaningful work to complete as they read.
See what people are saying about the Al Capone Does My Shirts Novel Study by The Teaching Bank!
Who Is This Novel Study For?
This resource works especially well for:
- 5th grade ELA
- 6th grade ELA
- 7th grade ELA
- 8th grade ELA
- Upper elementary reading
- Middle school reading
- Whole-class novel studies
- Small-group reading
- Literature circles
- Homeschool
- Independent reading
- Reading intervention
Whether you’re planning an entire Al Capone Does My Shirts unit or simply need high-quality activities to accompany the novel, this resource gives you a ready-to-use collection of materials.
Try a Free Sample
Not sure if this Al Capone Does My Shirts book unit is right for your students?
You can try a free sample before purchasing to see the types of activities included in the complete novel study.
Get the Al Capone Does My Shirts Novel Study
If you’re planning to read Al Capone Does My Shirts with your students, you don’t have to create all of the comprehension questions, vocabulary activities, assessments, and writing assignments yourself.
The Al Capone Does My Shirts Novel Study gives you a complete set of ready-to-use materials so you can spend less time planning and more time helping your students engage with the book.
Ready to Teach Al Capone Does My Shirts?
Bring this engaging historical fiction novel to life with a complete Al Capone Does My Shirts novel study designed to make teaching easier and reading more meaningful.
Grab the complete novel unit and start teaching your Al Capone Does My Shirts unit today!
Connect with Fellow Educators!
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