Wonder: A Close Reading Guide

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Blog post by Lisa Robles
TPT store: LisaTeachR
Grade levels: 4-7

      Have you ever thought about ways to get your students to empathize with each other? I found Wonder by R.J. Palacio. It's a great book about differences, bullying and acceptance. I created this guide to examine the book using close reading techniques. The Common Core demands that students examine text, annotate, question and think. I love using literature to get students to think and question. It's all about going deep. Get to know August and his circle of family and friends. Another great thing about this book is that it is told from different perspectives at different points of the story. Nice way to introduce POV. I hope you love this book as much as I do.

I created a guide to a close reading guide for Wonder by RJ Palacio. It's a wonderful book chronicling Auggie's, a young boy born with a facial deformity, journey through school and the adjustments he, his family and his classmates have to make.

Close reading will be an integral part of teaching with the Common Core. Students need to know how to be analytic when reading texts and poems. I have outlined the components of authentic literacy and what it looks like in the classroom. I formatted the guide as follows. It begins with an explanation of close reading and how to format a lesson. Then, there is a story summary, themes listed and character descriptions. After that, I created focus questions for each chapter. There are explicit gradual release formatted lessons sprinkled throughout. I included a close reading sheet for each of the explicit lessons. You could use the focus questions to create more close reading lessons using the blank templates or for class discussions. At the end, there is a blank sheet for planning and to use with close reading of different chapters. I hope your students enjoy it as much as my students did. This isn't a bunch of worksheets as I don't teach that way. This is for going deep with the literature!

Awards for Wonder:
New York Times Best Seller, Texase Bluebonnet Award Master List, 2014 Maine Student Book Award, Vermont's Dorothy Canfield Fished Children's Book Award

Some comments about my unit:

"Very thought-provoking questions which is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!!!"
"This was perfect for getting my kids into close reading. Made my world easier! Thanks!!"
"This is an awesome book and I am going to use your packet to help with my 7th and 8th grade intervention group."

Find my close reading unit on Wonder here!

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Fourth Grade Teacher in California!


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