A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Lesson plans and teaching resources

The author's web site.

Historical background. Follow links to photos, a letter, and frequently asked questions.

Summary, learning activities, vocabulary, writing activities, journal prompts, and a link to an online reading check quiz.

Booktalk, 10 discussion questions, and related titles for 8th grade and up.

A Northern Light reading strategies, word study, and writing tasks. Adobe Reader required for these resources.

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  Background information, character list, vocabulary words.
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  Students create a time line, practice with context clues, and make predictions.
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  Students make inferences about character motivation. They work with context clues and make predictions.
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  Students make predictions, work with context clues.
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  Students write summaries, create semantic maps, and think beyond the novel.
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  Students analyze what the reader knows and doesn't know as a consequence of first-person narration.
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  Students note examples of ways in which the characters' ideas and actions spring from the novel's historical context.
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  Students record examples of colloquial speech. Then they rewrite it in standard English. They note how the change in style affects the emotional impact of the passage.
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  6 discussion questions and 2 post-reading activities.
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  10 questions.

Author interview, a dozen discussion questions, related titles and sites. 4 pages; Adobe Reader required.