Creative Wonder Novel Study Ideas
By MARISSA DESPINS Updated Nov 22, 2023
Wonder Novel Study Activities for Upper Elementary
The message behind R.J Palacio’s novel Wonder is all about choosing kindness – an essential and important concept for all of our students to learn. Because of this, teachers have gravitated towards this popular novel since it was first published in 2012. It makes for a thoughtful read aloud for younger learners, and an excellent literature circle or novel study choice for upper elementary and middle school students.
Looking for a COMPLETE unit to use along with this engaging novel? Click on the image or button below to grab a copy to use right away in your classroom.
Today I share some creative and engaging activities to help bring a Wonder novel study to life in your classroom.
What are the benefits of teaching novel studies?
The novel study can be the backbone of the middle school ELA curriculum. Exposure to well chosen and engaging texts is crucial to student reading success. These important books help students practice deep thinking and reading comprehension strategies.
For a detailed list of novel study benefits, and why they are so important to include in your classroom, check out my previous blog post here.
For educators, these Tips for Planning a Novel Study can provide valuable guidance in selecting and organizing your novel study materials.
Alongside novels, incorporating a variety of reading materials can be beneficial. Discover some of The Best Short Stories for Middle School Classrooms to further enrich your students’ reading experience.
Why should you choose to do a Wonder Novel Study in your classroom?
Wonder follows the adventures of Auggie, a ten your old boy born with Mandibular Dysostosis and a cleft palate. In his short life he has had to endure 7 different surgeries. Because of this, he has spent his educational career being home schooled by his mother. The story begins at the start of a new school year, with Auggie about to start public school for the very first time. Each chapter of the story is told through the perspective of Auggie or 5 other narrators. This gives readers a unique look at events through the eyes of others.
This thoughtful story covers important themes of identity, family, courage, and kindness. It promotes empathy, as readers are encouraged to “choose kind” as they examine the relationships and interactions they have with others.
Wonder Novel Study Activities
While there are boundless activities you could use along with this beautiful story, I have included three of my favorites below. All three were hits with my learners – I hope you can find something to inspire your learners too!
Wonder One Pagers
One Pagers have long since been one of my favorite ways to assess understanding. They may seem like fairly simplistic assignments, but they are actually incredibly powerful. The ability to select and record information along with images helps with knowledge retention. Mixing images with text helps access both the verbal and visual parts of the brain, leading to powerful results. Put simply, students are able to remember more when language and imagery are mixed. For more information on one pagers, and tips and tricks for successful implementation, check out my previous posts here and here.
Students can complete their Wonder One Pagers independently or in small groups. For group work, I like to enlarge the templates on the copier to allow for a bit more space. I like to provide a variety of different templates to allow for differentiation – some students love the freedom that a one pager allows, while others still need a bit of guided structure.
Completed projects make gorgeous classroom displays or interactive notebook additions! I love to see the creative ideas that students come up with to represent their learning.
Grab a copy of this engaging activity for your class here.
To further enhance your students’ ability to analyze characters, consider these Character Analysis Activities as a complementary tool.
Top Three Pennant Project
This is one of my favorite activities to complete at the end of our Wonder novel study. The activity asks students to reflect back on the story, and summarize the three parts they found most impactful. I love how it requires them to think critically about the text. Also, I love how the responses of each student end up being totally different, depending on their own thoughts and feelings about the story.
As an added bonus, these final projects end up making gorgeous bulletin board displays to showcase student learning!
Interested in trying this activity out with your learners? Grab a copy of this activity (and many more!) in my TPT shop by clicking here.
Scavenger Hunt Review
This is a really fun way to review the novel at the end of the unit, especially because it gets kids up and moving!
To set up the activity, first cut out the question cards. I like to laminate mine so I can use them year after year. Next, tape the questions up around your classroom and hallway. If the weather is nice, and you want to get a bit of sunshine and fresh air, it also works great to tape them up around your outdoor space.
Finally, pass each student a clipboard and recording sheet. Students can then hunt around your classroom for the questions and record their responses. This is so much more fun than your typical review questions!
You can grab this activity to complete with your class in my TPT shop here.
Interested in grabbing these wonder novel study activities to complete with your learners?
Pop over to my TPT shop and grab the complete novel study bundle by clicking on the image below.
Interested in a free resource to use along with your novel study?
Click here or on the image below to grab copies of these FREE Precept Posters. They feature all 11 of Mr. Browne’s Precepts. These posters make great classroom or hallway displays, and are perfect for encouraging class discussions!
Looking for more engaging novel study ideas?
Check out my previous posts about novel studies below.
3 Dystopian Novel Studies for Middle School
Benefits of Teaching Novel Studies
Favorite Middle School Novel Studies
3 Favorite Activities for Teaching a Novel Study on The Outsiders
Teaching Characterization with Bridge to Terabithia
Wishtree Novel Study Activities
Looking for some more engaging novel studies to use in your classroom?
Check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking here or on the image below. I have a wide variety of different novel studies available.
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