Looking for a funny, engaging novel that will keep your students reading while strengthening their ELA skills?Wayside School Is Falling Down by Louis Sachar is an excellent choice for an upper elementary novel study or book unit.
With its outrageous characters, unexpected plot twists, absurd situations, and clever humor, Wayside School Is Falling Down gives students plenty to laugh about—and plenty to think about.
But this quirky novel can do much more than entertain your students. It can also be a wonderful tool for teaching reading comprehension, vocabulary, critical thinking, creativity, writing, inference, and literary analysis.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Why Teach Wayside School Is Falling Down?
Published by Louis Sachar, Wayside School Is Falling Down takes readers back to the wonderfully strange Wayside School, where almost anything can happen.
The school was accidentally built 30 stories high with one classroom on each floor, and the students and teachers who inhabit it are just as unusual as the building itself.
From bizarre classroom situations to characters who don’t behave the way students expect, the novel constantly surprises readers.
That makes Wayside School Is Falling Down especially useful for classroom discussion.
Instead of simply asking students to remember what happened, you can encourage them to ask:
Why did that character behave that way?
What clues does the author give us?
What would you have done in that situation?
Is the situation meant to be taken literally?
Why is this scene funny?
What makes the characters memorable?
What can we learn from the characters’ choices?
Those conversations turn an entertaining children’s book into a rich ELA learning experience.
1. Build Reading Comprehension Skills
A Wayside School Is Falling Down novel study gives students numerous opportunities to practice important reading comprehension skills.
As students read, they can work on:
Making predictions: What do you think will happen next?
Making inferences: What can you figure out even though the author doesn’t directly tell you?
Making connections: How does a character’s experience connect to your own life or another text?
Analyzing characters: What do a character’s words, actions, and choices tell us about them?
Analyzing plot: How do individual events contribute to the overall story?
Evaluating the text: What do you think about a character’s decision or the author’s choice?
The unusual events in Wayside School Is Falling Down make these skills particularly engaging because students can’t always rely on conventional storytelling patterns.
2. Use Humor to Teach Deeper Thinking
One of the reasons students love Louis Sachar’s books is the humor.
But the humor in Wayside School Is Falling Down can also provide an excellent opportunity to teach students about how authors use language and unexpected situations to create humor.
The book frequently uses absurdity, exaggeration, irony, unexpected events, and unusual character behavior.
Ask students questions such as:
What makes this situation funny?
What did you expect to happen?
What actually happened?
Why is the difference between the two funny?
How does the author’s word choice contribute to the humor?
Would the scene be as funny if it happened in a realistic school?
These questions encourage students to move beyond simply saying, “That’s funny!” and begin thinking about why something is funny.
That’s an important reading skill—and a great way to introduce literary analysis in an accessible way.
3. Encourage Creativity and Imagination
Wayside School Is Falling Down is anything but ordinary.
A teacher can turn into an apple. A student can float away with balloons. A school can have classrooms stacked 30 stories high.
These wonderfully strange events give students permission to think creatively.
After reading a chapter, challenge students to imagine their own version of Wayside School.
What would happen if there were a 31st floor?
What would the strangest classroom in the school look like?
What unusual rule would the teacher have?
What completely unexpected event could happen during the school day?
These questions can easily become creative writing activities, narrative writing prompts, or classroom art projects.
The book gives students a model for thinking outside the box—and then invites them to create something of their own.
4. Develop Critical Thinking Skills
The absurd situations in Wayside School Is Falling Down also make excellent opportunities for critical thinking.
Students can examine characters’ decisions, question assumptions, consider alternative explanations, and defend their opinions with evidence from the text.
For example, students can discuss:
Was the character’s decision a good one? Why or why not?
What could the character have done differently?
What evidence supports your opinion?
How might another character view the same situation?
What assumptions did the characters make?
What would happen if one event in the story changed?
Because the novel doesn’t always behave the way students expect, it naturally encourages them to question, analyze, and reconsider.
5. Teach Vocabulary in Context
A novel study is also a natural way to build vocabulary.
Instead of teaching vocabulary words in isolation, students can encounter new words within the context of an engaging story.
With Wayside School Is Falling Down, students can:
Determine the meaning of unfamiliar words using context clues
Examine how word choice affects meaning
Use new vocabulary in their own writing
Practice spelling and word study
Discuss interesting or unusual language from the novel
Vocabulary instruction becomes much more meaningful when students encounter words while reading a story they actually want to understand.
6. Connect Reading to Writing
Wayside School Is Falling Down provides countless opportunities for writing.
Students can respond to the chapters, analyze characters, explain their thinking, make predictions, write creatively, or defend an opinion.
Some possible writing prompts include:
What would it be like to attend Wayside School?
Which character would you most want as your teacher? Explain why.
What would happen if Wayside School had a 31st floor?
Which event in the novel is the most surprising? Support your answer with evidence.
Choose a character and explain what you have learned about that character from their actions and choices.
These activities help students practice writing while keeping the writing connected to a book they are already reading.
A Complete Wayside School Is Falling Down Novel Study
If you want to teach Wayside School Is Falling Down but don’t want to spend hours creating comprehension questions, vocabulary activities, writing assignments, assessments, and lesson plans, I’ve done the work for you.
My Wayside School Is Falling Down Novel Study is a complete, no-prep novel unit for grades 3–5 designed to make teaching this hilarious Louis Sachar novel easier.
The resource includes 135+ pages of printable materials plus digital resources, giving you everything you need to turn the novel into a complete ELA unit.
What’s Included?
Teacher Materials
Daily lesson plans
Pacing and standards guide
Vocabulary word wall cards
Answer keys
Parent letter
Student Activities
Vocabulary activities
Chapter-by-chapter comprehension questions
Short-answer questions
Extension activities
Writing activities
Printable and digital resources
Assessments
Vocabulary quiz
Reading comprehension quiz
Short-answer assessment
Multiple-choice assessment
Writing assessment
Self-grading digital quizzes
Additional Literacy Activities
Story Elements interactive notebook activities
End-of-book activities
Additional writing activities
Activities that can be used with other novels
The unit is designed for 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-grade classrooms and can be used for whole-class instruction, small-group reading, literature circles, independent work, or homeschool settings.
Make Your Wayside School Is Falling Down Unit Easy
Teaching a novel shouldn’t require you to spend your evenings searching for chapter questions, creating vocabulary worksheets, and putting together assessments.
A complete novel study gives you the structure and resources you need while allowing your students to focus on what matters most: reading, thinking, discussing, and enjoying the book.
And Wayside School Is Falling Down is an especially fun choice because students can laugh at the outrageous situations while simultaneously practicing important reading and thinking skills.
Try a free sample of the novel study for Wayside School is Falling Down
Ready to Start Your Wayside School Is Falling Down Novel Study?
If you’re planning a Louis Sachar novel study, upper elementary ELA unit, reading comprehension unit, or book study, this resource can save you valuable planning time.
Connect with Fellow Educators!
Are you teaching Wayside School is Falling Down 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!
Looking for a fun, engaging novel to read with your elementary students? Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar is an excellent choice for a 3rd-, 4th-, or 5th-grade novel study.
With its short chapters, outrageous characters, unexpected situations, and laugh-out-loud humor, this classic chapter book has a way of getting even reluctant readers interested in what happens next. But beneath all the silliness are plenty of opportunities to teach reading comprehension, vocabulary, character analysis, story elements, critical thinking, and writing.
If you’re looking for a novel that will keep students laughing while giving you meaningful opportunities to teach ELA skills, Sideways Stories from Wayside School deserves a place in your classroom library.
What Is Sideways Stories from Wayside School About?
Written by Louis Sachar, Sideways Stories from Wayside School takes readers to the wonderfully strange Wayside School, a school that was accidentally built thirty stories high—with one classroom on each floor.
The students and teachers at Wayside are anything but ordinary.
Each chapter introduces another bizarre situation, unusual character, or completely unexpected twist. The short, episodic chapters make the book especially accessible for elementary readers and provide natural stopping points for classroom discussions, reading responses, and comprehension activities.
And because the stories are so unpredictable, students are constantly wondering what could possibly happen next.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
5 Reasons to Teach Sideways Stories from Wayside School
1. It Gets Kids Excited About Reading
One of the biggest advantages of Sideways Stories from Wayside School is simply that kids have fun reading it.
The humor and absurd situations make the novel highly engaging, while the short chapters can feel much more manageable to students who may be intimidated by longer chapter books.
For reluctant readers, that can make a huge difference.
Instead of seeing reading as a chore, students become invested in the characters and curious about the next ridiculous thing that will happen at Wayside School.
2. The Short Chapters Are Perfect for a Novel Study
The structure of the book makes it easy to incorporate into a whole-class novel study, small-group reading, literature circle, or independent reading unit.
The short chapters give teachers natural opportunities to:
Stop and check for understanding
Ask comprehension questions
Make predictions
Discuss characters
Identify important details
Practice vocabulary
Make text-to-self and text-to-world connections
Write about what they have read
Because the chapters are relatively short, you can also adjust the pacing to meet the needs of your students.
3. It Builds Reading Comprehension Skills
Don’t let the humor fool you—there are plenty of opportunities for serious reading comprehension instruction.
As students read Sideways Stories from Wayside School, they can practice identifying important details, making inferences, summarizing, analyzing characters, determining themes, and supporting their thinking with evidence from the text.
The unusual events also provide excellent opportunities for students to think critically about what they are reading.
Ask questions such as:
Why did the character make that choice?
What evidence supports your thinking?
How would you have handled the situation?
What can we infer from what the character says or does?
Questions like these turn an entertaining chapter book into a meaningful ELA learning experience.
4. It Provides Great Opportunities for Vocabulary Instruction
The book also provides opportunities to develop students’ vocabulary in context.
Rather than simply memorizing a list of definitions, students can encounter unfamiliar words while reading and use the surrounding text to determine meaning.
A Sideways Stories from Wayside School novel study can incorporate vocabulary practice alongside reading comprehension, helping students strengthen both their word knowledge and their ability to use context clues.
5. It Creates a Shared Classroom Experience
Few things build classroom community like a book that makes everyone laugh.
Reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School together gives students a shared experience they can discuss, debate, and enjoy.
The unusual characters and ridiculous situations naturally lead to classroom conversations:
Which character is your favorite?
Which story was the funniest?
What would you do if you attended Wayside School?
Which situation would you least want to experience yourself?
Those conversations can turn a simple read-aloud into a memorable classroom experience while encouraging students to communicate their ideas and listen to the perspectives of their classmates.
Sideways Stories from Wayside School Is Great for Reluctant Readers
If you have students who aren’t naturally enthusiastic about reading, this is a book worth considering.
The short chapters, humor, fast-moving stories, and unpredictable plot can make reading feel less overwhelming. Students don’t have to wait through hundreds of pages to reach an exciting event—the book delivers something new and unexpected throughout.
That makes Sideways Stories from Wayside School a particularly useful choice for upper elementary reading instruction.
How to Use Sideways Stories from Wayside School in Your Classroom
There are several ways you can incorporate this novel into your ELA instruction.
Whole-Class Novel Study
Read the book together and pause throughout the novel for comprehension questions, vocabulary instruction, discussion, and written responses.
Small-Group Reading
Use the book with a small reading group while other students work independently or at literacy centers.
Literature Circles
Have students read and discuss the book with classmates while practicing comprehension and communication skills.
Independent Reading
Students can read the novel independently and complete reading responses, vocabulary activities, or comprehension assignments as they progress through the book.
Read-Aloud
The humor makes this book especially fun to read aloud. Even students who struggle with reading independently can participate in discussions and enjoy the story.
Turn the Book Into a Complete ELA Novel Study
While Sideways Stories from Wayside School is entertaining enough to read simply for fun, pairing it with a structured novel study allows you to get much more instructional value from the book.
A complete novel unit can help you teach:
Reading comprehension
Vocabulary
Character analysis
Story elements
Critical thinking
Reading responses
Writing
Literary analysis
Text connections
Assessment
And the best part?
You don’t have to create all of those materials yourself.
📚 Save Time With a Ready-to-Use Sideways Stories from Wayside School Novel Study
If you’re planning to teach Sideways Stories from Wayside School, my Sideways Stories from Wayside School Novel Study provides a complete, ready-to-use unit for 3rd–5th grade ELA.
The resource includes printable and digital materials, so you can choose what works best for your classroom.
You’ll get:
✔ Detailed lesson plans ✔ Reading comprehension questions ✔ Vocabulary activities ✔ Writing activities ✔ Story elements activities ✔ Extension activities ✔ Assessments ✔ Answer keys ✔ Standards alignment ✔ Printable PDF materials ✔ Google Drive™ resources
It’s designed to give you the instructional materials you need without spending hours creating worksheets, questions, assessments, and answer keys from scratch.
Download the FREE preview to take a closer look at the Sideways Stories from Wayside School novel study and see how it can fit into your ELA instruction.
Whether you use this book for the whole class, small group, or individual instruction, you will find your students laughing and truly enjoying reading. They are so much fun and really open up the reading world for those reluctant readers!
You can purchase this novel study at the following locations:
Whether you use it as a whole-class novel study, small-group reading unit, literature circle, or independent reading activity, Sideways Stories from Wayside School is a book that can make reading instruction more engaging—and a whole lot more fun.
Final Thoughts
The best classroom novels are the ones that students remember long after they’ve finished reading them.
Sideways Stories from Wayside School is funny, imaginative, unpredictable, and accessible, making it an excellent choice for elementary students and upper elementary ELA instruction.
More importantly, it gives teachers countless opportunities to combine engaging children’s literature with meaningful reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and critical-thinking instruction.
If you’re searching for a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade novel study that will keep students engaged while helping you teach important ELA skills, give Sideways Stories from Wayside School a place in your reading plans.
Connect with Fellow Educators!
Are you teaching Sideways Stories From Wayside School 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!
*The Teaching Bank participates in the Amazon Associate Program and earns a fee from qualifying purchases made on the Amazon.com site.
Looking for a Stone Fox novel study that will keep your students reading, thinking, discussing, and writing? Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner is a short but powerful novel that gives upper-elementary students plenty to think about.
With its themes of courage, perseverance, friendship, determination, sacrifice, and overcoming adversity, Stone Fox is an excellent choice for a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade novel study. The action-packed story can also be a great way to engage reluctant readers who may be intimidated by longer chapter books.
And if you’re looking for a no-prep Stone Fox book unit, I’ve created a complete resource to make teaching the novel easier!
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Why Teach Stone Fox in Your Classroom?
Stone Fox follows Willy, a young boy determined to save his family’s farm. When Willy discovers that he may be able to earn the money needed to save the farm by entering a dogsled race, he and his loyal dog Searchlight take on an incredible challenge.
The story provides numerous opportunities for students to explore important literary themes while developing essential reading comprehension and critical-thinking skills.
1. Explore Courage and Perseverance
One of the greatest strengths of Stone Fox is its exploration of perseverance and determination.
Willy faces challenges that seem almost impossible to overcome, but he refuses to give up. This makes the novel an excellent springboard for classroom conversations about:
What does it mean to persevere?
How do characters respond when things don’t go according to plan?
What motivates someone to keep trying?
What can we learn from failure and adversity?
These discussions can help students make meaningful connections between the novel and their own lives.
2. Analyze Memorable Characters
Stone Fox features memorable characters who give students plenty of opportunities to practice character analysis.
Students can examine Willy’s motivations, decisions, strengths, and challenges while also analyzing the relationships between characters.
Stone Fox himself provides another fascinating character to explore. Students can consider what they learn about him through his actions and how their perceptions of him change throughout the story.
Character analysis activities are an excellent way to move students beyond simply recalling what happened in a book and toward evidence-based literary thinking.
3. Discuss Friendship, Loyalty, and Sacrifice
The relationship between Willy and Searchlight creates opportunities for meaningful conversations about friendship, loyalty, love, and sacrifice.
Students can discuss what makes a strong friendship and how characters demonstrate loyalty through their actions.
These themes are especially effective for classroom discussions because students can connect them to their own experiences while still supporting their ideas with evidence from the text.
4. Make Cross-Curricular Connections
One of the best things about choosing a novel for your classroom is finding ways to connect reading with other areas of the curriculum.
Stone Fox can provide opportunities for cross-curricular learning, including:
Social Studies: Explore the setting and life in the American West.
Geography: Locate Wyoming and investigate the regions mentioned in the story.
Science: Research dogsled teams, snow, cold-weather survival, and animal adaptations.
Writing: Write responses, character analyses, personal reflections, and opinion pieces.
Research: Investigate sled dogs and the history of dogsled racing.
The Iditarod: Use the novel as a literature connection for an Iditarod-themed unit.
These connections can turn a novel study into a much broader learning experience.
Stone Fox Is Great for Reluctant Readers
Sometimes the best way to get students excited about reading is to give them a story that immediately pulls them in.
At only a relatively short length, Stone Fox is accessible for students who may struggle to finish longer novels. At the same time, the story contains enough action, emotion, conflict, and meaningful themes to give stronger readers plenty to discuss and analyze.
That makes Stone Fox a particularly useful choice for upper-elementary reading instruction, small-group instruction, literature circles, and whole-class novel studies.
Make Teaching Stone Fox Easy With a No-Prep Novel Study
If you love the idea of teaching Stone Fox but don’t want to spend hours creating comprehension questions, vocabulary activities, assessments, and writing assignments, I’ve done the work for you!
My Stone Fox Novel Study is a comprehensive, no-prep ELA resource for grades 3–5 that gives you ready-to-use activities to accompany the entire novel.
The resource includes both printable and digital formats, making it easy to use whether you’re teaching in person, using Google Classroom, or creating a paperless learning environment.
What’s Included in the Stone Fox Novel Study?
Your students will practice important ELA skills through activities such as:
Chapter-by-chapter reading comprehension
Vocabulary activities
Spelling activities
Short-answer questions
Writing activities
Story elements activities
Reading assessments
Vocabulary assessment
Comprehension quizzes
End-of-book activities
Teacher answer keys
Printable resources
Digital activities for Google Slides™ and Google Forms™
The unit is designed to provide approximately two weeks of engaging ELA instruction with minimal teacher preparation.
Not sure if this Stone Fox book study is right for your students?
Try the free sample before you buy!
You can purchase this novel study at the following locations:
Teach Stone Fox With Less Prep and More Purpose
A great novel can give students far more than reading practice. It can open the door to conversations about perseverance, courage, friendship, determination, empathy, and overcoming challenges.
Stone Fox is a wonderful choice for teachers looking for a meaningful 3rd–5th grade novel study, and a ready-to-use unit can make the teaching process so much easier.
If Stone Fox is on your upcoming reading list, save yourself the planning time and grab the complete Stone Fox Novel Study today!
Get the ready-to-teach Stone Fox novel study and spend less time creating materials—and more time helping your students fall in love with the story.
💬 Connect with Fellow Educators!
Are you teaching Stone Fox this school year? How do you celebrate kindness in your classroom?
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!
*The Teaching Bank participates in the Amazon Associate Program and earns a fee from qualifying purchases made on the Amazon.com site.
I’m Shelley from The Teaching Bank. I have taught 3rd, 4th, and 6th grades.
My goal is to provide lessons and units for K-12 that are practical and ready to teach with minimal prep needed.
Connect with Fellow Educators!
