Time to Teach Kindness!

 Title: Wonder

Author: R.J. Palacio

Copyright: 2012 (Novel)/ 2014 (Audiobook)

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers/ Brilliance Audio

Guided Reading Level: V

Genre: Realistic Fiction /Audiobook

Summary: This is such a compelling and realistic novel! There are so many students in schools with many different types disabilities, and this book is absolutely perfect for not only helping a student with a disability feel welcome, but great for teaching about the concept of kindness and preventing bullying. R.J. Palacio has done an amazing job depicting the life of a fifth grader named August (Auggie is his nickname) with a facial defect. Palacio puts readers in Auggie's shoes in a compelling way. Readers may tear up a bit when reading the first few chapters with empathy, as Auggie feels unwanted. He sits alone at lunch on the first day of school, and feels like people are intimidated by his face. Auggie then becomes friends with a good group of some solid friends after his peers start to realize how sweet Auggie is. As the pages of Wonder keep turning, readers start to realize that each one of Auggie's friends have small flaws, just like everyone in the world! Auggie becomes nothing less than admired at the end of this hear-warming book.

Suggested Delivery: Classroom Read Aloud/Audio Book

This book would be perfect as both a classroom read aloud and an audio book for the classroom. For teachers -  I would have both a set of novels and the audio book handy.  There will likely be a day when you are not feeling well or may be losing your voice, and this is when the audio book would come in handy when teaching the amazing content in the book!

Key Vocabulary:

• Extraordinary
• Defect
• Forewarn
• Nauseous
• Quip
• Handicapped 
• Cleft/Cleaving

Electronic Resources:

• This is an amazing short book trailer to get students amped up about reading Wonder. 

• At the end of the novel, have a class discussion about R.J. Palacio's musical connections regarding the novel.  Play, list, and discuss the songs. As students why Palacio thought some of her music choices would make a perfect "soundtrack" for the story.  Then, show the students her comments at the bottom of her page: 
• R.J. Palacio

Increasing Comprehension Skills:

Before Classroom Read Aloud:

• As I suggested in former blog postings, word walls will also be really helpful for students.  Have a new word wall up before introducing the book to the class.  Have students fill out a K-W-L chart with all of the key vocabulary terms. Start working the key vocabulary into everyday conversations with your class.  For example, if someone needs to go to the nurse, ask them if they are feeling "nauseous".

• During "carpet time" before reading the first chapter, show students the cover of the book.  Have students make inferences about the theme of the novel while looking at the cover.  I have said this before, however, it is a visually important skill for students to use and students will be able to grasp the key theme of the book quickly due to how well the cover of Wonder fits the main character, Auggie.

During Classroom Read Aloud (home and school):

• Use a Word Detective sheet for vocabulary homework.

• Have students read about half of the book at home.  After they read the assigned reading each day, have them come up with a Text to Text connection one night, a Text to Self connection another night, and a Text to World connection the night after that.  Keep the rotating pattern.  These nightly connections will help students really understand the depth of the events within the novel.

After Book is finished:

• Have students come up with a biography of Auggie.  This will help with summarization skills, and can easily be done with a simple template.  Here is a good one: Biography Template

• The class should create a Wordle using key vocabulary words and concepts within the novel. All the students will love this activity!  Here is a sample I created.

Writing Activity:
Use my "soundtrack" concept to your advantage!  Have students come up with a list of two to three appropriate songs that would relate to the main theme of identity within Wonder. Personally, I would provide a list of options for students, and have a book full of clean lyrics all ready to go so students can flip through and find songs easily.  Have students write about the songs they chose using examples from the text to support their ideas, and have students relate to the text. This will also help with their comprehension skills.

Tiffany Tidbit - I thought listening to the audio book would be fun and would save me some time.  It certainly did as I was able to listen to it driving during my lengthy commute back to my hometown from school Friday night.  However, I was so hooked to the story, I actually wished I had the novel with me!  I absolutely loved how modern and raw this book is.