In this post, I'm sharing the five components I use in every novel unit, plus a free character trading card template you can download and use with any book. But first, a quote many teachers can relate to…
“A writer only begins a book, a reader finishes it.”-Samuel Johnson
As a reading teacher, I find so much truth in this statement. One essential thing I believe is that it takes a special skill set for students to select a best-fit book and see it through to completion. As a middle school teacher, I consistently share book recommendations with my students, but many times they struggle to complete self-selected texts. A book is chosen, a struggle to connect ensues, interest is lost, and the book is abandoned.
Helping students become lifelong readers is a process.
To break this unproductive cycle, I love implementing novel units. Novel units are a must-have addition to your middle school teacher toolbox. They help teachers focus on reading standards while also providing readers with engagement, focus, connection, and clarity. I have utilized them in my upper elementary and middle school classrooms over the last 20 years because the components that I incorporate allow my students to more effectively “finish” their reading selections.
While there are so many components that can be incorporated into novel units, helping my students to better analyze characters, utilize context clues, connect with the text through literal and inferential questions, determine a text’s plot structure, and reflect on reading through writing are a few of the ways I work to create more aware and effective readers.
Here is an overview of the components I regularly use with my middle school readers.
1. Character Analysis
Character analysis is a HUGE part of the reading process. Being able to connect with characters and recognize how the story's plot impacts the character(s) over time is a critical skill. When too many characters are introduced at once, it can be overwhelming, but especially daunting for a struggling reader. By creating a chart to better track and analyze characters' actions and traits, I am teaching my students a strategy that they can carry forward to other texts that they read.
Free Download: Character Trading Card Template. Use this with any novel. No prep required.
Before reading, my students know which characters they will be introduced to in the text. Completing this character analysis, it allows my students to jot down notes about each character while reading. At the end of the text, we can discuss how different events impacted each character, causing them to change over time. The character analysis chart in the image above is from my Maniac Magee Novel Study Unit.
2. Context Clues
Vocabulary is the key to reading comprehension. Readers cannot understand what they are reading without knowing the meanings of most words. My 7th graders are expected to determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings.
To help my students navigate challenging words in text, I teach them to utilize context clues. As they read, I want students to identify any unfamiliar words or terms in the sentence. In that sentence or the surrounding sentence, can they find a synonym, an antonym, the word's definition, or infer the meaning? To develop this skill, we practice A LOT.
This organizer can be utilized for pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading. The goal is to give students specific words to look for within a given text and identify context clues (synonyms, antonyms, a definition, or an inference) to make sense of the given word. Guided practice with context clues makes progress. The vocabulary chart in the image above is from my Esperanza Rising Novel Study Unit.
3. Reader Comprehension Questions
Our 7th-grade reading literature standard requires students to cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly, as well as inferences drawn from it. To further develop this skill, I generate questions that help my students make sense of the text. Literal questions allow my students to find specific information explicitly stated in the text, while inferential questions require them to think about their thinking.
During and after reading, having students generate both literal and inferential questions about a whole-class text is an awesome strategy for further developing this skill. In addition, for both literal and inferential questions, I always ask students to share the page where they found their response or generated their thoughts to encourage them to support their thinking.
Reading comprehension is critical to feeling successful as a reader.
The example in the image above shows literal questions generated from my Tuck Everlasting Novel Study Unit. While I incorporate comprehension questions into each of my units, the goal is for them to serve as a guided practice tool to enhance students' understanding of a text and help them recall and reflect on the reading. While I have created these comprehension pages within each unit, I encourage teachers utilizing my units to modify them to give students choice and voice in how they respond to the questions.
4. Plot Structure Activities
Story maps and plot structures are great tools to help students identify the elements of a plot. My students need to understand the major events within a story, including the exposition (introduction of setting and characters), rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. A plot structure organizer is the perfect resource to help students navigate where characters encounter major challenges that impact any changes they make over the course of the text.
By utilizing this organizer with my readers, students can record and reflect on major events within the story. In addition, this is a tool I can utilize a few times through guided practice with whole class text, and my students can re-create in their readers' notebooks with a self-selected novel or text. The plot organizer in the image above is from my Bud, Not Buddy Novel Study Unit.
5. Journal Prompts
I am consistently asking my students to write about reading in a variety of formats. I will have students sketch notes while I read aloud to jot down any connections, questions, notable quotes, or images. In addition, I love giving students the opportunity to reflect on their reading by responding to both student- and teacher-generated prompts.
Writing about reading allows my students to share their own connections, inferences, insights, and understandings of the words the author has shared. Writing about reading allows my readers to make sense of and elaborate on those words. The journal prompt examples in the image above are from my Wonder Novel Study Unit.
Novel units should NEVER be utilized as a form of “busy work”. The idea being-“read this, and now do this!”
My purpose for novel units is to use them as guided practice to help my students gain greater independence as aware, engaged, and effective readers of text. My goal is to instill a LOVE of reading in my students. Through guided practice with novel units, that work can be done efficiently, leading to greater independence for my student readers.
If you want a done-for-you resource your students can use when they finish any book, my End of Novel Projects pack includes all 10 activities plus grading rubrics. The character trading card template above is one of the projects included.
This flexible PDF resource includes all of the project ideas below.
- Character Trading Cards
- Main Character vs. Me Venn Diagram
- My Paper Friend Craft Project
- An Interview with a Main Character
- A Letter to the Author
- Book Cover Makeover
- My Novel: A Picture Book
- Nutritious Novelties
- Word Work Word Search
- Rubrics for Each Project
- Read the full description and 5-star reviews on TPT
I make it my mission to put those “right” books in my students' hands and arm them with tools not just to tolerate but also to love reading. Best wishes for an amazing year filled with great books!
Grab the free character trading card template above to get started, and check out the full End of Novel Projects pack if you want ready-to-use options for your whole class.
