Teaching long-form literature is a worthy and challenging endeavor. TeachNovels provides literature teachers with resources that actually help.
The TeachNovels blog offers ideas that are free to all. If you find the blog resources helpful, please consider purchasing one of my complete teacher guides and units.
TeachNovels blog
There are some articles about teaching literature generally, but the blog is mainly organized by text so that you can easily find ideas for your instruction.
Blog posts offer ideas for lessons, discussion questions, extension tasks, and structuring your unit.
TeachNovels guides
The challenge of teaching long-form literature
Every literature teacher has experienced both disappointment with purchased resources and the challenge of designing literature units from scratch. After fourteen years teaching literature in middle and high schools, I decided to design units that I wish I had found.
Many teacher guides for novels have major shortcomings. Some are simply endless lists of disconnected discussion questions and vocabulary words. Others seem to be a part of a “crayola curriculum” where students are in engaged in interesting projects that have nothing to do with language arts standards. Still others offer great ideas but no real structure, so you are left to organize everything.
TeachNovels guides are different by focusing on
- A clear reading schedule
- A consistent lesson format
- Overarching elements like themes, purpose, and craft
- Citing and analyzing evidence from the text
- Common Core lesson objectives
- Student accountability
- Practical assessments and assignments
- Collaborative learning opportunities
- Assessment question banks so that you can make selections
- Minimal photocopying / printing
- Guidance for accommodation
- Standards-based extension ideas
- Providing a unit blueprint that you can customize
TeachNovels.com is a new project.
I only have resources for five texts at this time. I sincerely hope that you will find something helpful, and I appreciate any feedback as I add resources. Please feel free contact me with ideas for texts to include or changes to existing resources.
