Since my elementary students have been spending the past few weeks on assessments (AIMSWeb and NWEA), my classroom has been pretty quiet. In my downtime between testing, I've been working on another of my novel units per customer request.
Novels units are one of my favorite products to create. I've created them for years, prior to posting them on Teachers Pay Teachers. I knew what I wanted for my students, and I just couldn't find it anywhere out there. When completing literature circles or read alouds, I think it's important to devote most of the time to actual reading, but it's also important to review key concepts and work on comprehension skills and vocabulary. So, in my novel units, I always pull vocabulary words and use them in context to help students hone that strategy. Then, I use a combination of short-answer and multiple choice questions to focus on comprehension. My favorite part of each chapter is, of course, the chapter activity. I try to keep these fun, interactive, and educational. These activities push my students to think a little more about the reading, to make connections to the reading and the world around them, and to have a little fun. So many of the novel units I've found out there look great and work on thoughtful and important concepts, but they are so time-consuming. I want something that's a quick review, so we can get on to the rest of the story.
I know I should probably spend more time discussing and talking about the story, but I've found that if I've chosen a good chapter book, my students are excited to read. They don't want to stop to do the questions because they want to know what's going to happen next. They don't want me to stop reading...they want MORE! So, I use my novel units to work on key reading strategies, but I bring the love of reading to my students with my read alouds and literature circles.
So, with that said, I'll post a link to some of my most popular novel units. Maybe you'll find something that works for both you and your students. Bring them the love the reading!
Have a terrific week!
