Teaching literature through Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick will be engaging, thought-provoking, and thorough with this Socratic Seminar and literary devices novel study.

This Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick Middle School reading unit and novel study is exactly what you need to teach your seventh or eighth-grade middle school learners in an engaging Socratic Seminar, discussion-based, and reading response focused format with this realistic fiction book.

This unit digs deep into EVERY SINGLE common core reading literature and main writing standard. These units were designed because I didn't want to just “hit” the standards. I wanted to dig deep into every single standard multiple times throughout the year.

The backbone of these units is The Socratic Seminar, which pushes students to have discussions with their peers, about the novels (by using the guiding and interpretive questions provided) while using text-based evidence and critical thinking.

Here's what you'll get:

1. Freak the Mighty 16 Lesson Reading Unit
2. Teacher answer keys and vocabulary for all lessons.
3. 16+ Reading Response Examples for teachers and students to reference.
4. 8+ Literary Devices Mini-Anchor Charts or Student Reference Pages
5. 15+ Reading Response Graphic Organizers
6. 40+ page Implementation Teachers Guide: Socratic Seminar, Tips and Tricks, Pacing, Student Examples, FAQs, scripted lesson examples, etc.
7. PowerPoint, JPEG, and PDF Display slides for all Guiding and Interpretive Questions
8. Digital Student Reading Response Notebooks
9. Editable PowerPoint Reading Response Rubrics: Differentiated by grade level.
10. Editable PowerPoint Literary Nonfiction Reading Response Rubrics: Differentiated by grade level.
11. Small group and individual conference teacher forms
12. BONUS: Freak the Mighty Book Quote Posters

Students' thinking and discussions build a strong foundation of understanding for their reading responses (which will blow you away because of how much they grow throughout the year). This unit teaches your students about every single sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade CCSS literature standard in an engaging and thought-provoking unit, and all the work is done for you.

The 16 lesson plans are:

1. Pre-Lesson: Socratic Seminar Norms
2. Freak the Mighty Day 1: Point of View
3. Freak the Mighty Day 2: Plot
4. Freak the Mighty Day 3: Character Traits
5. Freak the Mighty Day 4: Characterization
6. Freak the Mighty Day 5: Text Structures
7. Freak the Mighty Day 6: Literary Conflict
8. Freak the Mighty Day 7: Theme
9. Freak the Mighty Day 8: Narrative Point of View
10. Freak the Mighty Day 9: Characterization
11. Freak the Mighty Day 10: Author’s Purpose + Theme
12. Freak the Mighty Day 11: Author’s Purpose + Irony
13. Freak the Mighty Day 12: Point of View + Theme
14. Freak the Mighty Day 13: Movie Comparison
15. Bonus Lesson One: Comparing Texts
16. Bonus Lesson Two: Objective Summaries

In this unit, your students will get tons of support and conversations from their peers, will be exposed to literature and vocabulary at or above their grade level, and become part of a reading community. Yet it still gives you the flexibility to work with groups of students at their particular reading levels.

Prep is quick and easy... Just review the guiding questions, print or display any reference materials, and you're ready for an engaging and results-producing class period! There is no fluff and no busy work in my reading units.

TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amy S. says, "OBSESSED!!!! I am teaching summer school and I'm normally a math teacher but I am also teaching them ELA. I found this and I honestly wish I taught ELA so I could buy the rest of the novel studies and do them! This is the way you should teach ELA. Easily able to teach all standards through reading notebook, vocabulary, discussion. Lesson plans are soooo thorough. I highly suggest all upper elementary ELA teachers look into your resources!"

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sarah V. says, "I really appreciate how this unit is organized and how thought provoking it has been. We are only a few days in and the students are loving the socratic seminar setup and I, being a newbie with this type of discussion setup, am enjoying all of the instructions and lack of busywork for students to just get done. I'll be purchasing more for the novels that I teach!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Krista L. says, "Students are thrilled to be talking about the book instead of doing a ton of comprehension questions. My students’ writing improved because they are hyper focused on answering the discussion question and are actually using textual evidence to answer, because instead of 5-10 questions, they have one. The vocabulary and extra comprehension questions are very useful as well.

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