When it comes to novel study the pros are the cons. What I mean is this: novel study gives you the chance to do a comprehensive, whole group reading of a quality grade-level text. BUT, comprehensive, whole group readings take a lot of time. Time that you might be pressured to use otherwise.
So in order for novel study to work in most classrooms it needs to be:
- standards/common-core aligned
- directly tied to your larger curriculum
- organized (so you don’t squander valuable time)
- connected in some way to test prep
The last one always got me in the classroom–when I have so little time to begin with, and a percentage of it has to go to test prep, how can I possibly squeeze in a novel study?
The answer was: use question stems to write multiple-choice quizzes over the chapters/sections, so my assessment is directly linked to test prep. But more on that later.
A couple of years ago I designed a novel study over The Girl Who Drank the Moon that meets the above criteria. It includes scaffolding guides, vocabulary guides, figurative language analysis, and common-core aligned quizzes modeled after standardized tests. Here at the end of my blog series on The Girl Who Drank the Moon, I thought I’d do a preview of the unit:
Scaffolding Guides for The Girl Who Drank the Moon
This is my favorite part of the unit! I created these scaffolding guides to flow naturally with the structure of the book. For example, the first scaffolding guide is over exposition. Students write about the characters and setting. Once the major conflicts are established in the book, students use the scaffolding guides to describe those conflicts.
You can preview all 12 scaffolding guides here.
Figurative Language Analysis
The Girl Who Drank the Moon is chock full of figurative language. Metaphor, simile, idiom, hyperbole–it’s all there.
These figurative analysis sheets include quotes from the book that contain examples of figurative language. Students identify the type of figurative language, then write out its literal meaning.
Vocabulary Guides
I decided to make three types of vocabulary sheet for each section of the book:
- A list of uncommon words found in the section with definitions. If you want students to have a vocabulary reference while reading the book, give them this sheet.
- A list of uncommon words where students find the definitions. The same words as above, but now students find the definitions.
- The same list of words, with space to use them in a sentence.
Multiple Choice Quizzes (and a Test!), Common-Core Aligned
Here’s where we do some multi tasking. You need a way to assess your student’s comprehension, and you need to tick your “test prep” box. Each question in these quizzes is common-core aligned and phrased to resemble questions found on standardized reading tests. Also included is a final test. These can purchased separately, and sampled for free.
Includes Print & Digital Versions
Every part of this novel study has been digitized. The digital version is organized like this:
- Digital Novel Study Notebook: This is a Google Slides presentation that includes the scaffolding guides, figurative language analysis, vocabulary guides and other graphic organizers. Materials are organized by section of the book.
- Digital Quizzes via Google Forms: These self grading quizzes can be assigned and graded through Google Classroom. Includes a quiz for each section of the book and a final test.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog series on The Girl Who Drank the Moon, and I hope your students benefit from some of the activities and discussion stems. I’d love to hear how your novel study went in the comments!
This is a series for teachers who are reading The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill with their students. You’ll read about focusing your novel study around major literary devices found in the book. If you’re looking for activities to go with the book, you can preview my novel study here.
