Teaching Out of My Dreams by Sharon M. Draper: Building Empathy, Resilience, and Understanding
Looking for a meaningful novel study for upper elementary or middle school students? Out of My Dreams by Sharon M. Draper is an excellent choice for engaging students in conversations about empathy, resilience, disability, independence, perseverance, and the importance of pursuing your dreams.
The third book in Melody’s story, Out of My Dreams, continues the journey that began in Out of My Mind and continued in Out of My Heart. This time, Melody has the opportunity to travel to London, opening the door to new experiences, new challenges, and new opportunities for growth.
For teachers, Out of My Dreams provides much more than an engaging story. It offers rich opportunities for reading comprehension, vocabulary development, literary analysis, writing, critical thinking, social-emotional learning, and meaningful classroom discussion.
Why Teach Out of My Dreams?
Sharon M. Draper’s Out of My Dreams gives students the opportunity to see the world through Melody’s experiences while encouraging them to think more deeply about how we understand ourselves and others.
The novel is especially valuable for classroom discussions about:
- Empathy and understanding
- Resilience and perseverance
- Disability and accessibility
- Inclusion and acceptance
- Independence and self-advocacy
- Friendship and relationships
- Family and support systems
- Personal growth
- Dreams and goals
- Overcoming challenges
These themes make Out of My Dreams an excellent addition to an ELA novel study, reading unit, literature circle, or whole-class novel unit.
1. Build Empathy Through Literature
One of the greatest strengths of Out of My Dreams is its ability to encourage students to consider experiences that may be different from their own.
Melody’s cerebral palsy affects how she communicates and interacts with the world, but her disability does not define her thoughts, personality, dreams, or abilities.
Reading about Melody can help students consider important questions:
- How do we make assumptions about other people?
- What does it mean to truly understand someone else’s experience?
- How can we make our classrooms more inclusive?
- Why is it important to look beyond what we see on the surface?
- How can our words and actions make other people feel included?
These questions can lead to thoughtful classroom discussions about empathy, kindness, accessibility, and inclusion.
2. Explore Resilience and Perseverance
Melody’s journey provides countless opportunities to discuss resilience and overcoming obstacles.
Rather than presenting challenges as something that simply disappears, the novel allows students to explore how people adapt, advocate for themselves, accept support, and continue working toward their goals.
This makes Out of My Dreams a natural fit for discussions about:
- Perseverance
- Growth
- Self-confidence
- Overcoming obstacles
- Setting goals
- Taking risks
- Learning from difficult experiences
Ask students to consider:
What does resilience really look like?
Students can compare Melody’s experiences with challenges they have faced themselves, while recognizing that everyone’s circumstances and obstacles are different.
3. Discuss Disability, Accessibility, and Inclusion
Out of My Dreams also creates an authentic opportunity to discuss disability and accessibility in an age-appropriate way.
Students can explore the difference between a person’s abilities and the barriers created by their environment.
Consider questions such as:
- What makes a place accessible?
- What barriers might someone with a disability encounter?
- How can schools and communities become more inclusive?
- Why shouldn’t we make assumptions about what someone can or cannot do?
- What does true inclusion look like?
These conversations can help students move beyond simply identifying differences and instead think about how communities can remove barriers and create opportunities for everyone.
4. Develop Critical Thinking and Literary Analysis
Out of My Dreams is also a strong choice for teaching core reading comprehension and literary analysis skills.
As students read, they can analyze:
- Character development
- Setting
- Plot
- Conflict
- Theme
- Symbolism
- Author’s word choice
- Character relationships
- Text evidence
- Cause and effect
- Making inferences
Encourage students to support their thinking with evidence from the text.
For example:
How does Melody change throughout the story?
What experiences contribute to Melody’s growing independence?
How does the setting of London affect Melody’s experiences?
What does the novel suggest about pursuing your dreams?
These types of questions take students beyond simple recall and encourage them to think critically about the author’s message and the development of the story.
5. Use Out of My Dreams for Writing Activities
The novel also provides plenty of inspiration for reading response and creative writing activities.
Students might:
- Write about a personal goal or dream.
- Describe a time they faced a difficult challenge.
- Write a response to an important event in the novel.
- Explain how Melody demonstrates resilience.
- Analyze an important character.
- Write about the importance of accessibility.
- Use text evidence to explain a theme.
- Write from a character’s perspective.
- Create a new scene that fits naturally into the story.
You can also use the novel as a springboard for argumentative and opinion writing, asking students to support their ideas with evidence from the text.
6. Make Cross-Curricular Connections
One of the benefits of choosing a rich novel like Out of My Dreams is that the learning doesn’t have to stop with ELA.
The story provides opportunities for connections to:
Social-Emotional Learning
Discuss empathy, self-awareness, relationships, perseverance, independence, and respecting differences.
Social Studies
Explore London, cultural differences, travel, and how societies approach accessibility and inclusion.
Informational Reading
Have students research topics related to cerebral palsy, accessibility, disability, or London and compare informational texts with what they learn through the novel.
Geography
Use the novel’s London setting as an opportunity to explore maps, landmarks, geography, and cultural traditions.
These connections can turn a novel study into a rich, interdisciplinary learning experience.
Ready-to-Teach Out of My Dreams Novel Study
If you want to teach Out of My Dreams without spending hours creating comprehension questions, vocabulary activities, assessments, and lesson plans, I’ve created a complete Out of My Dreams Novel Study to make your planning easier.
This no-prep novel study for grades 4-6 includes 240+ pages of printable materials along with digital resources for Google Drive™, giving you everything you need to guide students through the novel.
The Out of My Dreams Novel Study Includes:
- Detailed daily lesson plans
- Pacing and standards guide
- Common Core standards alignment
- Chapter-by-chapter reading comprehension questions
- Vocabulary and grammar activities for 62 vocabulary words
- Printable vocabulary word wall cards
- Answer keys
- Parent letter
- Informational reading activities about cerebral palsy
- Informational reading activities about London
- Three reading assessments
- Essay questions
- Google Forms™ digital assessments
- Story Elements activities
- Interactive notebook activities
- Printable and digital versions
The resource is designed to work for whole-class instruction, small groups, literature circles, independent reading, homeschool, or a paperless classroom.
Save Time on Your Next Novel Unit
A good novel study should allow you to focus on teaching, discussing, and connecting with your students—not spending your evenings creating worksheets.
This Out of My Dreams book unit gives you ready-to-use materials for teaching reading comprehension, vocabulary, literary analysis, writing, and deeper thinking while your students experience Melody’s inspiring journey.
Try a Free Sample
Want to see what’s included before you buy? Download the free sample of the Out of My Dreams novel study and take a look at the activities, lesson materials, and student resources.
📚 Ready to Teach Out of My Dreams?
Check out my complete Out of My Dreams Novel Study by Alan Gratz for a comprehensive, no-prep unit designed specifically for grades 5-8.
Print it, use it digitally, and start teaching!
Final Thoughts
Out of My Dreams by Sharon M. Draper is a powerful choice for teachers looking for a novel that combines engaging storytelling with meaningful learning opportunities.
Through Melody’s experiences, students can explore empathy, resilience, independence, accessibility, inclusion, and the courage it takes to pursue a dream.
Whether you’re planning a 4th, 5th, or 6th grade novel study, this book gives you countless opportunities to help students strengthen their reading skills while having important conversations about how we understand and support one another.
If you’re ready to bring Out of My Dreams into your classroom, make your planning easier with this complete, no-prep Out of My Dreams novel study.
You can also buy Out of My Mind, Out of My Heart, and Out of My Dreams bundled together at a discount!
💬 Connect with Fellow Educators!
Are you teaching Out of My Dreams 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!
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