If your students are reading Number the Stars in book clubs, this resource collection will help you provide your readers with questions and activities that are designed to encourage them to think deeply as they read.
Though Number the Stars was written in 1989, it continues to be a book that grabs the attention of young readers and encourages them to put themselves in Denmark at the time of World War II.
If you have not read Number the Stars, it is a story that I encourage you to pick up before you pass it on to your students. As an adult it will be a quick read that is also very engaging.
This resource collection is designed to be used for book clubs in your classroom. We know it can be difficult to follow along with many books as your students choose different books in the classroom. For this reason, we have included a resource page for each chapter.
Chapter Resource Pages
- Each of these pages includes a short summary.
- You will also find a list of words that your students will be introduced to or words that will be important for them to understand the reading.
- Finally, you will find a list of questions that cover important events in the chapter.
These pages are designed for teacher use – they are not intended to be handed to students. They are simply a guide for teachers who are circulating the classroom and switching between books. It can be sometimes be difficult to remember where students are and these pages will help you quickly catch up.
Activating Schema
Before students read Number the Stars, a day of activating schema could be useful. To do this, you might provide students with books that they can look through, a favorite web site on World War II that is age appropriate or another resource.
You have been provided with an Activating Background Knowledge page. This page can be a place for students to take notes and fill with what they learn as they preload knowledge.
Also, help your students identify where the book takes place and where they are in the world. You will find a map where students can locate their home and Denmark.
Reading Reflections
Two sets of question cards have been created.
The first are geared towards getting students to reflect on specific chapters. These can be discussion starters for each chapter. Most chapters have just one question card. The exceptions are chapters 2 and 4 where the author has provided a great deal of information that can lead to good discussions among students.
The second set of question cards are not specific to Number the Stars. These can be put on a ring and added to your group to need as they need help getting discussions started.
Graphic Organizers
An assortment of graphic organizers have been created to accompany the reading of the book.
There are two different pages for chapter notes. You might use these for students to record important events and reflections as they read.
You will find three different vocabulary pages that can be used as needed when you would like students to look at specific words.
We did not provide a vocabulary list with the intent of students created a vocabulary page or entry for every word listed. We encourage you to use the vocabulary pages when you feel that the completion of an entry will add to your students’ learning and understanding of the book.
You can download this free Number the Stars collection here:
Book Study
If you are looking to purchase Number the Stars or other books that would fit this book study, you will find them here (contains affiliate links):