Are you looking for Wishtree activities, comprehension questions, vocabulary, and lesson plans to help your students get more from Katherine Applegate’s Wishtree?
Wishtree is a wonderful choice for an upper elementary or middle school novel study. With its engaging story, memorable characters, and meaningful themes of friendship, empathy, acceptance, immigration, and community, the novel gives students plenty to think about and discuss.
But finding the time to create Wishtree lesson plans and activities to accompany an entire novel can be a challenge.
That’s why I created a complete Wishtree novel study that gives you everything you need to teach the book with minimal preparation.
Why Teach Wishtree in Your Classroom?
Katherine Applegate’s Wishtree tells the story of Red, an ancient oak tree who watches over the people and animals in the neighborhood surrounding him.
Through Red’s perspective, students encounter important ideas about kindness, belonging, prejudice, friendship, courage, and acceptance.
The novel also provides natural opportunities to connect reading instruction with real-world topics such as immigration, cultural differences, community, and environmental awareness.
That makes Wishtree more than just an engaging read. It can become the foundation for a meaningful ELA novel study that develops reading skills while encouraging students to think about the world around them.
What Skills Can Students Practice with Wishtree?
A well-designed novel study allows you to teach reading skills within the context of a complete story rather than relying only on isolated passages.
While reading Wishtree, students can practice:
- Reading comprehension
- Vocabulary development
- Making inferences
- Identifying theme
- Analyzing characters
- Using text evidence
- Making connections
- Critical thinking
- Written responses
- Literary analysis
- Grammar and language skills
- Nonfiction reading and research
The story also lends itself naturally to conversations about empathy, inclusion, immigration, prejudice, and standing up for others.
🌎 Connect Wishtree to Real-World Topics
One of the things I love about Wishtree is how easily it opens the door to conversations that go beyond the story.
The novel study includes a nonfiction interactive activity that connects the experiences of Irish immigrants in the 1800s with Muslim immigrants today.
This provides an opportunity for students to make connections between literature and history while thinking about immigration, culture, and the experiences of people from different backgrounds.
📚 Make Teaching Wishtree Easier with a Complete Novel Study
If you want to use Wishtree with your students but don’t want to spend hours creating materials, my Wishtree Novel Study Book Unit is designed to save you time.
This is a complete, no-prep novel study for grades 5–8 that can be used with a whole class, small reading group, or individual student.
The unit includes both printable and Google Drive™ formats, making it easy to use in a traditional classroom, paperless classroom, homeschool setting, or for independent learning.
What’s Included
This Wishtree novel study includes everything you need for a complete, low-prep ELA book unit:
- 📚 Daily Lesson Plans & Pacing Guide
- 📖 Chapter-by-Chapter Comprehension Questions
- 📝 Writing & Literary Analysis Activities
- 🔤 Vocabulary, Grammar & Spelling Activities
- 💡 Critical Thinking & Text Analysis
- 📓 Interactive Notebook Activities
- 🌎 Nonfiction & Cross-Curricular Activities
- 📋 Mid-Unit & Final Assessments
- 📌 Vocabulary Word Wall Cards
- ✅ Complete Answer Keys
- 📊 Common Core Standards Alignment
- 💻 Printable PDF + Google Drive™ Digital Resources
Everything is organized and ready to use—so you can spend less time planning and more time teaching!
💻 Printable + Digital Wishtree Novel Study
Do you teach in a paperless classroom?
No problem!
The complete Wishtree novel study includes both printable resources and Google Drive™ versions. This gives you flexibility to use the materials in whatever format works best for your students.
The digital resources can be particularly helpful for:
- Google Classroom
- 1:1 classrooms
- Distance learning
- Independent assignments
- Students who are absent
- Paperless instruction
The printable and digital versions follow the same basic unit structure, so you can easily use either format depending on your classroom needs.
See what people are saying about the Wishtree Novel Study by The Teaching Bank!
🏫 Who Is This Wishtree Unit For?
This novel study is designed for grades 5–8 and works well in a variety of instructional settings.
Use it for:
- Whole-class novel studies
- Small-group reading
- Literature circles
- Independent reading
- Homeschool language arts
- Reading intervention
- Reading enrichment
- Middle school ELA
- Upper elementary ELA
The materials can also be adapted depending on how much teacher interaction you want to provide.
⭐ Try a FREE Sample
Not sure if this Wishtree novel study is right for your students?
You can download a FREE sample that includes the Chapter 1 activities from the complete unit. It’s a great way to see exactly how the materials are structured before purchasing.
📚 Get the Complete Wishtree Novel Study
If you’re ready to teach Wishtree without spending hours creating your own materials, check out the complete Wishtree Novel Study Book Unit.
You’ll get a comprehensive collection of printable and digital ELA resources designed to help your students build comprehension, vocabulary, writing, critical-thinking, and literary-analysis skills while reading Katherine Applegate’s Wishtree.
Connect with Fellow Educators!
Are you teaching Wishtree 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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