Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli Novel Study Unit: A WWII Historical Fiction Book Unit

This Milkweed novel study for the historical fiction book by Jerry Spinelli can save you hours of prep for your literature circles or book clubs. Daily comprehension practice requires students to focus on text analysis and responding to literature, and the vocabulary focus builds word knowledge and academic vocabulary.

This no-fluff novel study for Milkweed engages students as they learn about they follow the story of a young orphan traversing the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. The novel study's format won't take away from the story's key themes and meaningful plot, but it will help students continue their development as critical readers while gaining a deeper insight into this important historical period.

Standards-aligned & perfect for novel studies, small group book clubs or lit circles, independent reading, or as a way to monitor and teach during read aloud.

What's Included in this Milkweed Novel Study Unit?

✔Daily comprehension prompts in 3 formats for differentiation

• Foldable trifold brochures
• Cut & paste journal prompts for interactive notebooks
• Google Slides

✔Weekly word of the day flip books for text-based vocabulary

✔ Easy-to-follow directions for printing & prep

✔ Instructional planning guide

✔Answer keys

Reading Comprehension & Higher-Level Thinking Skills addressed:

✔Main Idea & Summary

✔Responding to Literature

✔Point of View

✔Analyzing Character Change

✔Making Inferences

And so much more!

Benefits of this Literature Unit over Traditional Novel Studies:

❑ Unique formats and question styles provide novelty, support differentiation & encourage student engagement

❑ Targeted daily comprehension focus builds transferrable skills vs. plot recall

❑ Skill-per-day focus allows for instruction and intervention where needed so ALL learners can benefit from novel studies vs. only advanced learners who are more independent with comprehension skills

❑ Less overwhelming to reluctant readers and writers

❑ Engaging questions support deep analysis and have students demonstrate an understanding of plot vs. retelling or copying from text

❑ Encourages discussion about skills & strategies

Terms of Use:

© Rebecca Davies. All rights reserved by the author. These materials are intended for personal use by a single classroom only. Copying for more than one teacher, classroom, department, school, or school system is prohibited. For use in multiple classrooms, please purchase additional licenses. This product may not be distributed or displayed digitally for public view. Failure to comply is a copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Clipart and elements found in this PDF are copyrighted and cannot be extracted and used outside of this file without permission or license. See product file for clip art and font credits.