This is especially the case in pre-reading activities as you set the stage for the time and location of the novel. Since these guides were originally created to enhance a science and social studies driven curriculum, there are many activities that get fairly deeply into these subject areas. I can see why these are recommended for gifted students. Also striking is the rigorous nature of some of the assignments, especially at the lower levels. Motivated, artistic, imaginative, creative children will love all of the extension activities here! They will have many opportunities for creative expression as they write stories, draw and design things, use critical thinking skills, journal, reenact scenes, and mentally put themselves in the characters' shoes. Another unique attribute is the amount of creative expression involved, from identification with particular characters in the book to developing plotlines or stories having some common theme - there is much more running with a train of thought stimulated by the book than responding directly to the book. This is unlike most purely literary study guides which bring everything in toward a focus on the novel itself. These use literature as a springboard for investigation, exploration, research, creativity and expression the focus moves outward from the book.

Available at seven levels (ages 7-9, 8-10, 9-11, 10-12, 11-13, 12-14, and high school), they correspond to concept units in the Moving Beyond the Page curriculum. However, they are more than this, bordering on unit studies because of their strong social studies, science, critical thinking, and art/design components. The set of all 12 literature units at each level are intended as a complete language arts curriculum teaching vocabulary, grammar, writing, spelling, story elements, and figurative language in the context of popular children's books.

A raisin in the sun book