A friend recently suggested a new book to me, Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. Katherine Applegate is the author of the beloved book, The One and Only Ivan, which I absolutely adore so I went straight to Amazon to purchase and I am so glad I did!
You first realize this book is narrated by a tree. A tree? Doesn’t sound super exciting, but it really is. The story is written in such a beautifully poetic way and how the author ties current events is mesmerizing and thought-provoking. The reader is left with a lot to contemplate about how we treat others, especially those that are different than ourselves.
Click the book photo to learn more about this book and to read an excerpt.
These lessons are so needed in classrooms today. This book is sure to hook any reader and make them think and philosophize. I highly recommend using this in your classroom!
Wishtree is a novel that can serve as a valuable novel study resource.
Wishtree promotes empathy and encourages readers to see the world from different perspectives.
Wishtree tackles important social issues such as discrimination and tolerance, making it an educational tool for teaching these concepts.
Wishtree is written in a captivating and engaging style that holds the reader’s attention and keeps them invested in the story.
Using Wishtree as a novel study will help improve reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
Try a free sample of the novel study for Wishtree
You can purchase this novel study which contains both a printable and a Google Drive™ format at the following locations:
Are you interested in reading about and sharing ideas with other educators on using children’s literature in your classroom? My goal is to bring together teachers and homeschoolers who teach grades 3-8 and use novels with their students. I’d love for you to join me to learn, share, and grow together!
The One and Only Ivan is a favorite book of mine. I was so excited to learn that Katherine Applegate wrote a sequel, this time showcasing Bob, Ivan’s loyal stray dog companion. Applegate takes the heartwarming, humorous, and thought-provoking recipe of her creation of Ivan and brings it again to The One and Only Bob. It is a new favorite for teachers and students alike!
Take a look at this book trailer from Katherine Applegate’s YouTube Channel:
From the book jacket:
Return to the unforgettable world of the Newbery Medal-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling novel The One and Only Ivan (soon to be a major motion picture!) in this incredible sequel, starring Ivan’s friend Bob!
Bob sets out on a dangerous journey in search of his long-lost sister with the help of his two best friends, Ivan and Ruby. As a hurricane approaches and time is running out, Bob finds courage he never knew he had and learns the true meaning of friendship and family.
Bob, Ivan, and Ruby have touched the hearts of millions of readers, and their story isn’t over yet. Catch up with these beloved friends before the star-studded film adaptation of The One and Only Ivan hits theaters in August 2020! **NOTE: The One and Only Ivan movie is currently available to stream via Disney+.
Just as The One and Only Ivan is a favorite book to use in the classroom, The One and Only Bobis ripe for you to use as a novel study as well.
Try a free sample of the novel study for The One and Only Bob
You will love The One and Only Bob just as you did The One and Only Ivan, but maybe in a little bit different way. Bob brings the humor. He was the comedy of The One and Only Ivan after all! You still have the heartwarming journey of the character who is seeking acceptance of themselves, who is trying to find out where they belong in the world and who they can depend on. This journey will resonate with children who are on that same path in life, and many adults as well! Should Bob go it alone, or is it okay to rely on others, and at the core, is it okay/safe to trust? Take your students on this journey with Bob. You won’t be sorry!
Please check out the completed The One and Only Bob Novel Study that contains both a printable and Google Drive™ compatible format available in my store.
You can purchase this novel study at the following locations:
Are you interested in reading about and sharing ideas with other educators on using children’s literature in your classroom? My goal is to bring together teachers and homeschoolers who teach grades 3-8 and use novels with their students. I’d love for you to join me to learn, share, and grow together!
Crenshaw is Katherine Applegate’s follow-up novel to her Newbery Award-winning, The One and Only Ivan. This is a heartwarming story of a boy who looks within himself to find friendship and support as his family faces hard times. This is a wonderful book to use for a novel study, literature circles, book clubs, or individual study in the classroom or home school.
Crenshaw is a beautiful, vividly written tale exploring the themes of friendship, homelessness, hope, forgiveness, and acceptance. This story is great to open students’ eyes to the plight of homelessness in an empathetic way that they can relate to.
Summary of Crenshaw:
*From the book jacket
Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There’s no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again.
Crenshaw is a cat. He’s large, he’s outspoken, and he’s imaginary. He has come back into Jackson’s life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?
Beloved author Katherine Applegate proves in unexpected ways that friends matter, whether real or imaginary.
Crenshaw is a magical tale that shows that we can all find friendship and support in the toughest times by opening our hearts.
I offer a complete novel study to accompany Crenshaw for use in the classroom or homeschool. The unit includes both a printable format and a Google Drive™ format for use in a paperless classroom or with Google Classroom.
You can purchase this novel study at the following locations:
Are you interested in reading about and sharing ideas with other educators on using children’s literature in your classroom? My goal is to bring together teachers and homeschoolers who teach grades 3-8 and use novels with their students. I’d love for you to join me to learn, share, and grow together!
Some of my most vivid childhood memories of school were the novel studies that we read for various subjects. It was my most favorite way to learn skills, history, any topic really! I am a lover of books and getting to read an entire book from cover to cover as a school assignment put me in heaven! I am sure this is a major reason why as a teacher my passion is to create and teach is novel studies! I love to introduce new books to students and as a community, get immersed in the book together. I love for a student to pull us off the schedule with a question or comment from something they read that leads the class in a lively discussion. That’s where the real memorable learning takes place after all!
Novel studies are my largest product line simply because I like to focus on what I love. I want to work with my passion! I often get questions from readers asking how I would set up novel studies in my classroom. I decided to write a small series explaining my methods. For the most part, all of my novel studies include comprehension questions, vocabulary/grammar skill work, extension activities, and assessments.
Today’s post, part 4, deals with the extras added to the novel studies, from writing activities to non-fiction research activities. You can read part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 here.
Novel Studies Part 4: The Extras!
Of course, when using novel studies in the classroom you need to hit the basics of comprehension and vocabulary. One of the wonderful bonuses with novel studies is you can pull in other areas of the curriculum into a larger thematic unit. The various topics of the different books can lead to a plethora of inquiry and learning.
As I create a novel study I open my mind to all the places the story may be taking me. Some books are easier to explore outside the reading domain than others. Some take me down the rabbit hole of investigation with a deep-thought question that allows for some longer writing passages that can lead to some really nice class debates!
With The One and Only Ivan Novel Study, your students can learn about gorillas and elephants. They can learn and compare life for these animals in the wild vs. captivity. And, the most interesting to me was the true story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla that inspired the story!
A book like Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH leads to some deep-thought questions regarding animal testing that can be debated and discussed in-depth in the classroom.
All of my novel studies offer a Google Drive™ format to use with your students in addition to the printable format that is shown above. This allows you to use novel studies in a 1:1 classroom, save paper, and easily engage students that are absent. The “extras” of the novel study are included in the Google Drive™ format as well. Here’s an example page from the Google Drive™ format of my The Lightning Thief Novel Study.
I love being able to combine the theme from the full novel throughout different curriculum areas in a way you just can’t do with short passage reading instruction. This allows for even deeper learning by using novel studies!
Join me for the conclusion of my series to learn how I handle the assessments to end my novel studies.
Are you interested in reading about and sharing ideas with other educators on using children’s literature in your classroom? My goal is to bring together teachers and homeschoolers who teach grades 3-8 and use novels with their students. I’d love for you to join me to learn, share, and grow together!
Some of my most vivid childhood memories of school were the novel studies that we read for various subjects. It was my most favorite way to learn skills, history, any topic really! I am a lover of books and getting to read an entire book from cover to cover as a school assignment put me in heaven! I am sure this is a major reason why as a teacher my passion is to create and teach is novel studies! I love to introduce new books to students and as a community, get immersed in the book together. I love for a student to pull us off the schedule with a question or comment from something they read that leads the class in a lively discussion. That’s where the real memorable learning takes place after all!
Novel studies are my largest product line simply because I like to focus on what I love. I want to work with my passion! I often get questions from readers asking how I would set up novel studies in my classroom. I decided to write a small series explaining my methods. For the most part, all of my novel studies include comprehension questions, vocabulary/grammar skill work, extension activities, and assessments.
Today’s post, part 3, deals with pacing the novel study. You can read part 1 and part 2 here.
Novel Studies Part 3: Pacing
One of the challenges of using novel studies in the classroom is finding the time. It’s a balance between not moving too fast and not letting the unit drag on for too long because we all know you have a million other things to squeeze into your curriculum!
Each of my complete novel studies includes detailed daily teacher lesson plans that include the objective and directions for the day. You can see how I have this designed for my Freak the Mighty Novel Study.
I also create a pacing guide for each novel study that helps you map out your long-range plan. You can see an example here from my Crenshaw Novel Study.
It’s a delicate balance to set the pacing. I generally try to aim for approximately 20 pages to read per day. This will be altered based on the chapter sizes. I don’t schedule split chapters as I feel this disrupts the reader. I know I hate to stop reading mid-chapter. That’s just mean!
All of my novel studies offer a Google Drive™ format to use with your students in addition to the printable format that is shown above. This allows you to use novel studies in a 1:1 classroom, save paper, and easily engage students that are absent. Here’s an example page from the Google Drive™ format of my Wishtree Novel Study. The same pacing would apply for the Google™ version as you would use for the printable version.
This pacing is a suggestion as it has worked for me, but it is very adaptable so you can work to fit it into the schedule that you are working with. The planning pages are generally written for a whole class novel study, but again these can very easily be adapted to fit small book groups or individual novel studies. How much teacher interaction you want to have in the course of the study is up to you and can be worked out very easily in the suggested pacing.
Join me for part 4 in my series to learn how I add extra experiences to my novel studies for deeper learning and growth.
Are you interested in reading about and sharing ideas with other educators on using children’s literature in your classroom? My goal is to bring together teachers and homeschoolers who teach grades 3-8 and use novels with their students. I’d love for you to join me to learn, share, and grow together!
Novel Studies Part 4: The Extras!
With 
All of my novel studies offer a Google Drive™ format to use with your students in addition to the printable format that is shown above. This allows you to use novel studies in a 1:1 classroom, save paper, and easily engage students that are absent. The “extras” of the novel study are included in the Google Drive™ format as well. Here’s an example page from the Google Drive™ format of my 
Novel Studies Part 3: Pacing
All of my novel studies offer a Google Drive™ format to use with your students in addition to the printable format that is shown above. This allows you to use novel studies in a 1:1 classroom, save paper, and easily engage students that are absent. Here’s an example page from the Google Drive™ format of my 
