“I am Ivan. I am a gorilla. It’s not as easy as it looks.”
Few stories capture the hearts of upper elementary students quite like Katherine Applegateโs Newbery Medal-winning masterpiece, The One and Only Ivan.
Inspired by the true story of a real shopping mall gorilla named Ivan who spent 27 years in a glass enclosure, this powerful novel explores themes of friendship, empathy, animal welfare, and keeping promises. Written in accessible, poetic verse with short, fast-paced entries, it is one of the most effective ELA anchor texts for 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th-grade classrooms.
Whether you are hosting a whole-class read-aloud, running literature circles, or facilitating independent book clubs, here is how you can teach The One and Only Ivan with zero prep time while building critical ELA and cross-curricular reading skills!
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๐ Why The One and Only Ivan Belongs in Your Reading Curriculum
1. Sparks High-Interest Nonfiction Connections
Unlike purely fictional stories, Ivan serves as a perfect launchpad for cross-curricular reading. Students naturally become curious about the real Ivan, gorilla and elephant behavior, and the moral debate surrounding animal captivity vs. wildlife sanctuaries.
2. Teaches Point of View & Literary Devices
Written from Ivanโs first-person perspective, the novel provides a masterclass in voice, sensory details, figurative language, and character developmentโmaking deep literary analysis approachable for reluctant readers.
3. Fosters Deep Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)
As Ivan forms an unbreakable bond with Stella the elephant and Ruby the baby elephant, students reflect on empathy, compassion, standing up for others, and what it truly means to be a good friend.
I offer a novel study for The One and Only Ivan that not only incorporates comprehension and vocabulary activities, but also non-fiction aspects for students to learn about Silverback Gorillas, elephants, animals living in captivity vs. the wild, and, of course, the story of the real-life Ivan!ย
๐ฆ Whatโs Included in the Complete Ivan Unit (Print + Google Appsโข)
Creating chapter questions, vocabulary lists, and assessments for a 300+ page book can take dozens of hours. This all-in-one novel study unit delivers everything you need from start to finishโoffered in both printable PDF and interactive Google Driveโข (Google Slides & self-grading Google Forms) formats.
Mid-Book & End-of-Book Quizzes (Print & Self-Grading Google Formsโข): Easily monitor comprehension after Chapter 66 and at the conclusion of the novel.
Bonus Extension Packets: Includes a Story Elements Interactive Notebook Packet and End-of-the-Book Projects usable with any novel!
Please check out the completedย The One and Only Ivan Novel Studyย that contains both a printable and Google Driveโข compatible format available in my store.
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๐ Download a FREE Sample & Start Teaching Today!
Want to test out the unit before committing? Download a Free Sample that includes all student activities and teacher plans for Chapter 1!
You can purchase this novel study at the following locations:
๐ฌ Join the Conversation!
Have you taught The One and Only Ivan or its companions (The One and Only Bob and The One and Only Ruby) in your classroom?
Join our free teacher community, Book Talk with The Teaching Bank, to share ideas, grab freebies, and connect with upper elementary and middle school educators!
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“I’m sure that back of it all was a divine power. With the help of God, two good dogs, and determination, a boy can do anything.”
Wilson Rawlsโ classic novel, Where the Red Fern Grows, remains one of the most powerful and unforgettable stories in upper elementary and middle school literature.
Following young Billy Coleman as he works tirelessly to save for two Redbone Coonhound pupsโOld Dan and Little Annโthis timeless story takes students on a deep journey through perseverance, hard work, loyalty, sacrifice, and grief.
Whether you are teaching this classic as a whole-class anchor text, running middle school literature circles, or facilitating independent reading stations, here is how you can teach Where the Red Fern Grows with zero prep time while building critical 5thโ8th grade ELA skills!
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๐ Why Where the Red Fern Grows Is a Must-Teach Classic
1. Masterclass in Character Development & Theme
Billyโs journey from a young boy dreaming of pups in the Ozark mountains to an accomplished hunter facing profound loss gives students a rich landscape for analyzing character arcs, theme development, and the author’s craft.
2. High-Interest & Deeply Emotional
Few books elicit a response from middle-grade readers quite like this one. Short, action-packed hunting chapters balanced with quiet, emotional moments keep even reluctant readers completely hooked.
3. Builds Critical Vocabulary Skills
With 78 context-rich vocabulary words, the novel challenges students to expand their academic language and apply context clue strategies across every section of the book.
๐ฆ Whatโs Included in the Complete Red Fern Unit (Print + Google Appsโข)
Planning a multi-week unit for a classic novel shouldn’t mean spending your nights and weekends writing chapter questions and grading quizzes. This all-in-one unit provides everything you need from start to finishโavailable in both printable PDF and interactive Google Driveโข (Google Slides & self-grading Google Forms) formats.
Detailed Daily Lesson Plans & Pacing Guide: Clear roadmap for every day of reading.
Chapter/Section Guide: Keep your reading schedule organized and on track.
Vocabulary Word Wall Cards: Printable cards and digital Google Slides formats to reinforce key terms.
Proactive Parent Letter: Pre-written communication explaining the themes of the book.
Complete Answer Keys: Hassle-free grading for every student task.
๐ 2. Student Practice & Workbooks
78 Vocabulary Words: Targeted context-clue practice and skill instruction.
Chapter-by-Chapter Comprehension Questions: Short-answer questions designed to foster critical thinking, inferencing, and textual evidence retrieval for every chapter.
In-Depth Character Studies: Analytical activities focusing on Billy, Dan, and Ann.
โ Exclusive Post-Reading Analysis Tasks: Deep-dive extension tasks available only in this complete unit bundle!
โ๏ธ 3. Self-Grading Quizzes & Assessments
After-the-Book Assessments (Print & Self-Grading Google Formsโข): Comprehensive assessment covering vocabulary, comprehension, and essay prompts.
Bonus Activity Packets: Includes a Story Elements Interactive Notebook Packet and End-of-the-Book Projects usable with any novel!
Looking for an engaging novel study for middle school ELA that will get your students excited about reading? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix can provide a powerful opportunity to combine student engagement with meaningful instruction in reading comprehension, vocabulary, critical thinking, writing, literary analysis, and social-emotional learning.
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is much more than a story about magic. Beneath the spells, magical creatures, and adventures are important themes involving friendship, courage, authority, resilience, grief, prejudice, responsibility, and standing up for what you believe is right.
That makes this popular novel an excellent choice for a Harry Potter novel study in grades 5โ8.
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Why Teach Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?
Getting students interested in a novel is sometimes half the battle.
Fortunately, many students already recognize Harry Potter and have some familiarity with the characters and wizarding world. That familiarity can provide an immediate hook for reluctant readers and create enthusiasm for classroom discussions.
But engagement alone isn’t enough. The best literature units use an engaging story to help students develop the skills they need as readers, writers, and thinkers.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix offers plenty of opportunities to do exactly that.
1. Build Reading Comprehension Skills
A lengthy novel can be challenging for students, particularly when there are dozens of characters, multiple storylines, and important details to remember.
A structured Harry Potter novel study can help students slow down and think carefully about what they are reading.
Chapter-by-chapter comprehension questions can encourage students to:
Recall important details
Identify key events
Make inferences
Determine cause and effect
Analyze character motivations
Make predictions
Support answers with evidence from the text
Connect events and themes throughout the novel
Instead of simply asking students, “What happened?”, meaningful comprehension questions encourage them to think about why events happened and what those events reveal about the characters and story.
2. Encourage Critical Thinking and Literary Analysis
One of the biggest advantages of using a complex novel in the classroom is the opportunity to move students beyond basic comprehension.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix contains numerous topics that lend themselves to critical thinking and literary analysis.
Students can examine questions such as:
How does Harry change throughout the novel?
How do Harry’s experiences influence his decisions?
How does authority affect the characters?
Why is friendship so important during difficult situations?
How do characters respond differently to fear?
What motivates characters to stand up for what they believe?
How do the novel’s conflicts develop its larger themes?
How does Rowling use symbolism and characterization to communicate ideas?
These kinds of questions encourage students to look beneath the surface of the story and develop stronger analytical reading skills.
3. Explore Important Themes Through Literature
Great literature gives students something to talk aboutโand Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix provides plenty of opportunities for meaningful classroom discussion.
Some of the themes teachers can explore include:
Courage
Courage doesn’t always mean being fearless. Students can examine how characters make difficult choices even when they are afraid of the consequences.
Friendship
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and their friends demonstrate the importance of loyalty and support. Students can consider how relationships influence the characters’ decisions.
Resilience
The characters experience setbacks, disappointment, grief, fear, and conflict. These experiences provide opportunities to discuss perseverance and resilience.
Authority and Responsibility
The novel raises interesting questions about rules, authority, power, and when individuals should challenge decisions they believe are wrong.
Standing Up for What You Believe
Students can explore what it means to stand up for others and remain committed to their beliefs even when doing so is difficult.
These discussions can help students connect the events of the novel to situations and challenges they may encounter in their own lives.
4. Strengthen Vocabulary and Language Skills
A novel study shouldn’t be limited to reading comprehension.
Students can also use Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as a springboard for vocabulary development and language study.
The novel contains rich vocabulary that can help students:
Determine word meaning from context
Examine how word choice affects meaning
Expand their academic vocabulary
Practice using new words in context
Explore grammar and language skills
Teaching vocabulary in the context of a novel gives students a meaningful reason to learn and use new words rather than memorizing disconnected vocabulary lists.
5. Encourage Writing and Deeper Responses
Reading and writing naturally complement one another.
After reading a chapter or section of the novel, students can respond through short-answer questions, analytical writing, journal responses, essays, and creative activities.
Writing prompts can encourage students to explain their thinking, support ideas with evidence, analyze characters, and explore the novel’s themes.
This makes Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix an especially useful text for integrating reading and writing instruction into one cohesive unit.
6. Foster Creativity and Imagination
The magical world of Harry Potter provides endless opportunities for creative thinking.
Students can use the novel as inspiration for activities such as:
Designing their own magical creatures
Creating spells
Writing from a character’s perspective
Developing their own wizarding-world scenarios
Creating alternative endings
Designing visual representations of story elements
Comparing the magical world with their own world
Creative activities can give students another way to demonstrate their understanding of the novel while encouraging imagination and engagement.
7. Connect Literature to Social-Emotional Learning
Literature provides a natural way to discuss emotions and difficult experiences.
Throughout Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, characters deal with anger, fear, grief, isolation, friendship, conflict, and uncertainty.
Teachers can use these situations to encourage students to think about:
How people respond to difficult emotions
The importance of supportive friendships
How people cope with adversity
Why empathy matters
How our choices affect other people
What it means to persevere when things become difficult
These conversations can make the novel feel more relevant while helping students develop empathy and self-awareness.
A Complete Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Novel Study
If you want to teach this novel without spending hours creating materials yourself, I’ve created a complete Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix novel study for grades 5โ8.
This ready-to-use unit combines reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, critical thinking, writing, literary analysis, assessments, and extension activities into one comprehensive resource.
This Harry Potter novel study is designed for 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students and can be adapted for a variety of classroom settings.
Use it for:
Whole-class novel instruction
Small-group reading
Literature circles
Independent reading
Homeschool instruction
Reading intervention
Middle school ELA
Upper elementary ELA
The combination of printable and digital materials also gives teachers flexibility when planning instruction for traditional, blended, or paperless classrooms.
Make Harry Potter Part of Your ELA Curriculum
If your students are already excited about Harry Potter, take advantage of that enthusiasm and turn it into meaningful learning.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix provides a rich literary experience that can help students develop reading comprehension, vocabulary, critical thinking, writing, analytical skills, and social-emotional awareness while exploring a story they are excited to read.
And because the novel is substantial, having a structured Harry Potter novel study can make it much easier to keep students focused and moving through the book.
Try a free sample of the novel study for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
๐งโโ๏ธ Ready to Start Your Harry Potter Novel Unit?
Make teaching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix easier with a complete, no-prep novel study designed for grades 5โ8.
You’ll have the instructional materials you need to guide students through the novel while giving them meaningful opportunities to read, think, write, discuss, and analyze.
Are you teachingย Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenixย this school year?ย
Join our free community,ย Book Talk with The Teaching Bank, to share ideas, grab freebies, and connect with 3rdโ8th grade teachers using novels in the classroom!
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“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”
Few books leave a lasting mark on upper elementary students quite like Wonder by R.J.Palacio.
The inspiring story follows August “Auggie” Pullmanโa 10-year-old born with facial differencesโas he transitions from homeschooling to entering a mainstream private school for fifth grade. Told through multiple perspectives, Auggieโs journey gives students a powerful look into empathy, bullying, perspective-taking, and the true meaning of friendship.
Whether you are teaching Wonder as a whole-class read-aloud, running literature circles, setting up independent reading stations, or in homeschool, this novel is one of the most effective ELA anchors for 4th, 5th, and 6th-grade classrooms.
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Here is how you can teach Wonder with zero prep time while building critical ELA skills and fostering a culture of kindness in your classroom!
๐ Why Wonder Is an Essential Read for Upper Elementary
1. Drives Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) & Character Building
Wonder is more than a reading unitโit’s a tool for SEL. By examining the story through the eyes of Auggie, Via, Jack Will, and Summer, students learn to appreciate differences, reflect on their own behavior, and embrace the #ChooseKind mindset.
Palacioโs novel alternates between six distinct narrator voices. This unique structure provides a perfect framework for teaching point of view, character motivation, tone, and author’s craft without overwhelming middle-grade readers.
3. Engages Reluctant & Advanced Readers Alike
With short, fast-paced chapters and deeply relatable themes, even your most hesitant readers will stay hooked from chapter one.
I offer a completeย novel study to accompany Wonder for use in the classroom or homeschool. The unit includes both a printable format and a Google Driveโข format for use in a paperless classroom or with Google Classroom.
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๐ฆ Whatโs Included in the Wonder Complete Unit (Print + Google Appsโข)
Planning a comprehensive novel study shouldn’t require spending your weekends creating worksheets and grading assessments. This all-in-one unit contains everything you need to teach Wonder from start to finishโavailable in both printable PDF and interactive Google Driveโข (Google Slides & self-grading Google Forms) formats.
1. Teacher Planning & Management Packet
Detailed Daily Lesson Plans & Pacing Guide: Open, print (or click), and teach with confidence.
Vocabulary Word Wall Cards: Printable cards and digital Google Slides formats to build academic vocabulary.
Proactive Parent Letter:Pre-written communication explaining the themes and educational goals of the unit.
Complete Answer Keys: Stress-free grading for every assignment.
2. Student Practice & Skill Workbooks
Vocabulary & Grammar Activities: Direct instruction covering 126 context words across the book.
Chapter-by-Chapter Comprehension Questions: Short-answer questions designed to push students beyond basic retrieval into deeper critical thinking.
In-Depth Character Studies: Analytical writing prompts for each section of the novel.
4 Exclusive Post-Reading Analysis Tasks: Deep-dive extension tasks available only in the complete unit bundle.
3. Cross-Curricular Nonfiction Connections
Build real-world background knowledge with two complete informational reading activity guides:
๐ Hearing Loss Informational Reading & Activity Guide
๐ Therapy Dogs Reading & Activity Guide
4. Self-Grading Quizzes & Assessments
4 Section Quizzes (Print & Self-Grading Google Formsโข): Easily monitor comprehension after Part 1, Part 2, Part 5, and Part 8.
Bonus Activity Packets: Includes a Story Elements Interactive Notebook Packet and End-of-the-Book Projects usable with any book!
๐ Download a FREE Sample & Start Teaching Today!
Want to test out the unit before committing? Download a Free Sample that includes all student activities and teacher plans for Day 1 of the unit!
You can purchase this novel study at the following locations:ย
๐ฌ Connect with Fellow Educators!
Are you teaching Wonder 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 3rdโ8th 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 historical fiction novel that will grab your students’ attention while giving you plenty of opportunities to teach reading skills and history?
The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin is an excellent choice for a middle school or upper elementary novel study. With mystery, secret codes, World War II history, family secrets, and plenty of suspense, this novel gives students a reason to keep turning the pages.
Even better, The Bletchley Riddle provides natural opportunities to teach reading comprehension, vocabulary, inference, critical thinking, nonfiction reading, writing, and historical connections.
If you’re looking for a book that combines ELA and social studies, this one deserves a place on your reading list!
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What Is The Bletchley Riddle About?
The Bletchley Riddle takes readers into the world of Bletchley Park, the top-secret British site where codebreakers worked during World War II to decipher enemy communications.
The story follows siblings Lizzie and Jakob, who become caught up in a mystery involving their family, secrets from the past, and the world of wartime codebreaking.
The combination of historical fiction and mystery makes the novel especially appealing to students who might not automatically reach for a traditional historical novel.
Instead of simply reading about World War II, students get to experience history through a suspenseful story filled with clues, puzzles, secrets, and questions.
And that makes this book particularly useful in the classroom.
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Why The Bletchley Riddle Works So Well as a Classroom Novel
1. The Mystery Hooks Readers
One of the biggest challenges when choosing a class novel is finding something that students actually want to read.
The Bletchley Riddle has an advantage right from the beginning: students have questions they want answered.
What is really happening?
Who can be trusted?
What do the clues mean?
How are the characters connected to the secrets of the past?
As students work their way through the story, they are constantly encouraged to make predictions, look for clues, and revise their thinking.
That makes the novel a natural fit for teaching inference, prediction, drawing conclusions, and using textual evidence.
Instead of asking students to read closely simply because the teacher told them to, you can give them a mystery to solve.
2. It Brings World War II History to Life
World War II can sometimes feel distant to young readers.
Dates, battles, political events, and historical figures can be difficult for students to connect with.
The Bletchley Riddle offers a different approach.
Students encounter the secret world of Bletchley Park and the people who worked there to break enemy codes through a fictional story.
This creates opportunities to investigate topics such as:
Bletchley Park
The Enigma code
World War II codebreaking
Alan Turing
The Polish mathematicians who helped lay the groundwork for breaking Enigma
The role of women at Bletchley Park
Intelligence and espionage during WWII
The impact of technology on warfare
These topics can easily become research projects, nonfiction reading lessons, discussion topics, or cross-curricular activities.
Most importantly, students begin to see that history isn’t simply a collection of facts to memorize.
History is made up of real people facing difficult choices and extraordinary circumstances.
3. It’s Perfect for Teaching Inference and Critical Thinking
Mysteries are wonderful vehicles for teaching critical thinking because readers can’t simply wait for someone to explain everything.
They have to figure things out.
As students read The Bletchley Riddle, they can practice:
Making predictions
Drawing inferences
Identifying clues
Using text evidence
Recognizing foreshadowing
Making connections
Drawing conclusions
Analyzing character motivations
Revising predictions when new information is revealed
You can even turn students into codebreakers themselves.
Have students create their own secret messages, investigate simple ciphers, or develop a series of clues for their classmates to solve.
Suddenly, reading comprehension becomes part of a mystery-solving experience.
4. The Historical Connections Create Great Discussion
Another strength of The Bletchley Riddle is the number of topics it can bring into classroom conversations.
Students can explore questions such as:
What does it mean to be brave?
When is it acceptable to break a rule?
Can keeping a secret ever be the right thing to do?
How does the past affect the present?
How much should we trust the information we are given?
What sacrifices were people willing to make during wartime?
These questions encourage students to move beyond simple recall and engage in meaningful discussion about character, choices, courage, loyalty, trust, family, and truth.
5. It Offers Excellent Cross-Curricular Opportunities
Although The Bletchley Riddle works beautifully as an ELA novel study, don’t limit it to reading class.
This novel can connect naturally to several subject areas.
Social Studies
Use the novel as a springboard for studying:
World War II
The British home front
Intelligence operations
Bletchley Park
Women in World War II
The Enigma machine
Codebreaking
STEM and Technology
Students can explore:
Cryptography
Codes and ciphers
Encryption
Early computing
Problem-solving
The development of technology during wartime
Writing
Students can write:
Historical responses
Character analyses
Opinion pieces
Text-based responses
Creative stories
Research reports
Reflections about the novel’s themes
This makes The Bletchley Riddle a great choice for teachers looking for a novel that can support learning across the curriculum.
6. It Can Engage Reluctant Readers
Not every student loves historical fiction.
Some students see a book set during World War II and immediately assume it will be difficult or boring.
The mystery changes that equation.
The combination of adventure, secrets, puzzles, codes, family relationships, and historical events gives students multiple entry points into the story.
Students who enjoy mysteries have the mystery.
Students interested in history have the historical setting.
Students who enjoy puzzles have the codes and clues.
And students who enjoy character-driven stories have the relationships and family connections.
That’s one reason The Bletchley Riddle can work so well with a diverse group of readers.
Make The Bletchley Riddle Easier to Teach
If you’re planning to use The Bletchley Riddle as a class novel, you don’t have to spend hours creating chapter questions, vocabulary activities, writing prompts, nonfiction passages, and assessments.
I’ve created a complete The Bletchley Riddle Novel Study for Grades 5โ8 designed to make teaching the novel as easy as possible.
The resource includes 285+ pages of printable materials, along with digital resources for a paperless classroom.
Students can work on:
Chapter-by-chapter reading comprehension
Vocabulary
Grammar
Writing
Critical thinking
Text evidence
Nonfiction reading
Historical connections
End-of-book activities
Story elements
The unit also includes Common Core standards alignment, teacher resources, answer keys, assessments, and digital Google Driveโข materials.
Explore the History Behind the Story
One of my favorite parts of this novel study is the collection of nonfiction reading passages that allow students to dig deeper into the real history behind the novel.
Students learn about:
Black Saturday
The Bletchley Park Code and Cipher School
The Men of Bletchley Park
The Women of Bletchley Park
Tyler Kent
The Polish Codebreakers
These passages give you an easy way to incorporate informational text and historical research into your novel study while helping students understand the real-world events that inspired the story.
A No-Prep Bletchley Riddle Novel Study for Grades 5โ8
If you’re ready to bring mystery, history, and codebreaking into your classroom, The Bletchley Riddle is a fantastic novel to consider.
It’s an engaging choice for:
Upper elementary ELA
Middle school ELA
World War II units
Historical fiction units
Literature circles
Whole-class novel studies
Small-group reading
Independent reading
Homeschool
Cross-curricular ELA and social studies instruction
And with a ready-to-use novel study, you can spend less time creating materials and more time helping your students read, question, investigate, and think deeply about the story.
Ready to turn your students into codebreakers?
Try a free sample of the novel study for The Bletchley Riddle
Bring the mystery of Bletchley Park into your classroom and give your students a historical fiction experience they’ll want to keep reading.
You can purchase this novel study at the following locations:
๐ฌ Connect with Fellow Educators!
Are you teachingย The Bletchley Riddleย this school year? How do you celebrate kindness in your classroom?
Join our free community,ย Book Talk with The Teaching Bank, to share ideas, grab freebies, and connect with 3rdโ8th 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.