Wonder
Author: R.J. Palacio
Grade Level: 4-8
Genre: Fiction (novel)
Awards: Bluebonnet Award, E.B. White Read Aloud Award, IRA-CBC Teachers' Choice
Summary: August (Auggie) Pullman is a funny, smart, bright young boy who only wants to be seen as "ordinary." Auggie was born with severe facial deformities. These deformities caused him to look very different than the people around him. Even after countless surgeries, Auggie new he would never be seen as "ordinary." The book takes the reader through Auggie's first year in a public school after being home-schooled his entire life. The book not only shows Auggie's perspective, but his sister's and close friends'. The reader soon sees that life is not only difficult for Auggie, but those closest to him. As Auggie goes through his fifth grade year, he soon learns that kindness is the strongest bond in a friendship. *Spoiler Alert* Despite the many hardships Auggie faced in school, he soon learned he had more friends than he realized while he and his classmates were on a school camping trip. After being bullied by seventh graders from another school, Auggie had some unexpected people come to his rescue. After this moment, everything changed for Auggie. School became a place he felt he belonged. At the end of the story, Auggie earned the highest award recognizing his "courage, kindness, friendship, and character." He finally got the standing ovation he dreamed of.
Evaluation: This book was wonder-ful! I could not seem to put it down. I loved the author's creativity of writing the book in different points of view. The author's writing style even differed depending on the point of view she was writing from - so creative! I personally believe the mature theme throughout the book is very appropriate and applicable for middle school students. The book does a wonderful job at teaching acceptance and kindness - both of which are important characteristics we should encourage in our students.
I decided to put the grade level appropriateness between fourth and eighth grade because the students will be at a suitable age to appreciate and understand the issues the book addresses. Even though I stopped the grade level at eighth, I think high school students could benefit from reading this book as well.
I would definitely use this book in my future classroom. I would use this book to teach students about plot development to determine whether and how conflicts were resolved throughout the book (ELA.8.6A). We would then look at how the different points of view changed or clarified the plot development sequence. I might even use this book as a writing assignment where students write a fictional story from different points of view.
Grade Level: 4-8
Genre: Fiction (novel)
Awards: Bluebonnet Award, E.B. White Read Aloud Award, IRA-CBC Teachers' Choice
Summary: August (Auggie) Pullman is a funny, smart, bright young boy who only wants to be seen as "ordinary." Auggie was born with severe facial deformities. These deformities caused him to look very different than the people around him. Even after countless surgeries, Auggie new he would never be seen as "ordinary." The book takes the reader through Auggie's first year in a public school after being home-schooled his entire life. The book not only shows Auggie's perspective, but his sister's and close friends'. The reader soon sees that life is not only difficult for Auggie, but those closest to him. As Auggie goes through his fifth grade year, he soon learns that kindness is the strongest bond in a friendship. *Spoiler Alert* Despite the many hardships Auggie faced in school, he soon learned he had more friends than he realized while he and his classmates were on a school camping trip. After being bullied by seventh graders from another school, Auggie had some unexpected people come to his rescue. After this moment, everything changed for Auggie. School became a place he felt he belonged. At the end of the story, Auggie earned the highest award recognizing his "courage, kindness, friendship, and character." He finally got the standing ovation he dreamed of.
Evaluation: This book was wonder-ful! I could not seem to put it down. I loved the author's creativity of writing the book in different points of view. The author's writing style even differed depending on the point of view she was writing from - so creative! I personally believe the mature theme throughout the book is very appropriate and applicable for middle school students. The book does a wonderful job at teaching acceptance and kindness - both of which are important characteristics we should encourage in our students.
I decided to put the grade level appropriateness between fourth and eighth grade because the students will be at a suitable age to appreciate and understand the issues the book addresses. Even though I stopped the grade level at eighth, I think high school students could benefit from reading this book as well.
I would definitely use this book in my future classroom. I would use this book to teach students about plot development to determine whether and how conflicts were resolved throughout the book (ELA.8.6A). We would then look at how the different points of view changed or clarified the plot development sequence. I might even use this book as a writing assignment where students write a fictional story from different points of view.
No comments:
Post a Comment