Number the Stars In Depth Guide for Great Literature (Rigorous Reading)

Please note that a brief synopsis of many of the books included here are provided in our Library Builders section. Study guides for the same book are often available from several publishers, so we found it more efficient to give a description of the book only once.

In-Depth Guide for Any Picture Book for grades 2-4, In-Depth Guide for Any Novel for grades 3-5, and In-Depth Guide for Any Novel for grades 6+ gives you the freedom to choose any book for literature study! In grades 2-4, students interpret a picture book through multimodalities (looking at the text, visual images, and book design). Students are taught key literary terms and how to understand the pictures. There are writing and drawing activity sheets, visual craft activities, collaborative projects, as well as many other activities including learning about different story elements.  In-Depth Guide for Any Novel guides for older students involves keeping an interactive novel log (consisting of a 3-ring binder, blank paper, and activity sheets from the guide) to track the introduction and development of literary elements. Pre-reading and post-reading activities, and additional activity sheets for analyzing characters, genre, comparing two sets of text, and more are also included. Activity sheets for each guide are reproducible for individual classroom use only.

As students dissect the information in novels by doing various activities in these guides, they will discover intricate details about each book and appreciate a deeper understanding of the text. Guides are written to the teacher with complete lesson instruction. A large part of the book study consists of students keeping an interactive novel log. Students need a three-ring binder, blank paper, and the reproducible worksheets from the guide to complete the novel log. After a few chapters or sections of the book are read, students complete activities in the novel log then other activities in the literature guide. Some activities include answering comprehension questions, filling in graphic organizers, creating a timeline of events, and more. Answers are included in the back.

In-Depth Guide for Any Picture Book and In-Depth Guide for Any Novel for ages 6 and up and grades 3-5 are available to use with any picture book or novel. These include various activities to teach key literary terms. The guide for older students involves keeping an interactive novel log.