Wonder
Written by R.J. Palacio & published by Knopf Books for Young Readers, ©2012
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Grade Level: 4-6 Whole Class Read
Lexile Score: 790L Accelerated Reader: 4.8
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August Pullman is a ten year old boy with a one-in-four-million combination of chromosome abnormalities, causing him to have severe craniofacial differences. As Auggie describes, “whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.” Up until this point in his life, he has been home schooled. But the summer before fifth grade, Auggie and his parents decide to enroll him in his first year of middle school at Beecher Prep. Auggie must face the judgement of his peers, and even his teachers as he navigates middle school in this New York Times Best Selling novel.
Key words/phrases: acceptance, strength, extraordinariness, trials, overcoming
Suggestions for the Classroom
This article, written by Amanda MacMillon, discusses "what you should know about Auggie Pullman's facial disorder." It provides information on Treacher Collins Syndrome for students to explore prior to reading.
click the image to be linked to the website
This video features a free, full-length audiobook version of Wonder for students to listen along with while reading.
This video features the author of Wonder, R.J. Palacio, discussing the topic of kindness with young students in Brooklyn, New York.
SUGGESTED COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.
KEY VOCABULARY
Birth defect: a physical difference that a person has from birth
Extraordinary: something that is very unusual or remarkable
Genetic: relating to a characteristic passed from parents to kids
Mutation: a mistake or a change in a person's DNA
Precept: a short life lesson or rule
Treacher Collins Syndrome: a condition that affects the development of the bones and
tissues in your face
COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES
Before Reading: Research Treacher-Collins Syndrome with the students. After gaining background information on the syndrome, create a Padlet for students to respond to the following questions: "what new information have you learned about Treacher-Collins Syndrome" and "what are some of the struggles that you think the main character, Auggie Pullman, faces in Wonder?"
During Reading: Before beginning reading the text, show students this video on "sketchnoting," or visual notetaking. In order to prepare them for the after reading comprehension task (which you can read about below), instruct students to pick one of the novel's main characters to take visual notes on throughout the book.
After Reading: After reading the novel, instruct students to choose a character from the text and create a collage representing their chosen character. They can use things like images and words that they believe represents important aspects of the character they picked. After arranging a minimum of 10 pieces, the students should write a short reflection defending the choices they made in their collage.
WRITING ACTIVITY FOR INFERENTIAL COMPREHENSION:
Instruct students to write a monologue focusing on a specific moment in the text. The monologue should be from the point of view of one of the characters the story is told by, and students can choose the event they want to write the monologue about.