A Wrinkle in Time Novel Study Unit Your Learners Will Love
Do you read A Wrinkle in Time as part of a literature circle or book club with your students? This no prep A Wrinkle in Time Novel Study Unit engages students with this classic story by Madeline L’Engle without overwhelming them with endless lists of surface-level comprehension questions.
The activities included in this A Wrinkle in Time Novel Study are easy to differentiate for a whole group novel study or as a follow-up to a read-aloud, but they are also a great fit for literature circles or book clubs.
You can purchase A Wrinkle in Time on Amazon if you need a copy of the book.
About the Story: A Winkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
Madeline L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” is a captivating story that takes readers on an extraordinary journey across space and time. This novel is not just a thrilling adventure; it also delves into themes of love, identity, and the battle between good and evil.
The narrative unfolds around Meg Murry, a young girl who feels out of place in her world. Along with her younger brother Charles Wallace, and their new friend Calvin, Meg embarks on a quest to find her missing father, a scientist who disappeared while working on a mysterious project. Guided by three enigmatic beings – Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which – the trio travels through the ‘wrinkle in time’ known as a tesseract.
The story explores profound themes as they journey through various worlds, facing challenges and confronting darkness. It highlights the power of love and courage, the importance of individuality, and the battle against the oppressive forces of conformity and evil.
What’s included in this novel study unit for A Wrinkle in Time?
This novel study guide focuses on comprehension and vocabulary. It includes four weeks’ worth of lessons and paper-saving printables, including:
- Instructional guide with daily comprehension skill, objective, and key Tier 2 & text-based vocabulary
- Comprehension trifolds with reading response activities (provided in color and black & white)
- Reader’s Notebook Comprehension Prompts (matching trifolds)
- Word of the Day Text-based Vocabulary flip books
- Trifold answer keys for easy grading
Comprehension skills addressed in this novel study
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The skills addressed in this A Wrinkle in Time novel study include:
- Analyzing text quotes, characters, and setting
- Cause & effect
- Point of view
- Compare and contrast
- Making inferences
- Summarizing
- Text-dependent writing
- Vocabulary analysis & context clues
- Visualizing using sensory details
- Analysis of character change
- Theme
Each day focuses on a single comprehension skill. This was done to allow you to dive deep into the skill and ensure your students truly understand and can apply their knowledge to the text.
These comprehension prompts encourage higher-level thinking. Students must apply the skill to generate a written response and defend their answers with text evidence.
This literary analysis fosters a deep understanding of the plot of A Wrinkle in Time, but it also builds comprehension strategies that apply to other texts.
How do students practice the comprehension skills?
The daily comprehension prompts are provided in two formats. Each format was selected to reduce the needed copies while offering materials for student use.
The benefits of each format are outlined below.
The trifold format was the original design for this novel study.
Each foldable was designed to cover a week’s worth of comprehension using only one piece of paper.
Students are given a daily question that focuses their reading on the daily comprehension skill.
The benefit of the trifold format is that it is extremely approachable to students. Each day only takes up a third of the page, preventing reluctant writers from shutting down.
This also makes it easy to collect and grade. Many students use the trifold as a bookmark, helping prevent missing papers.
Learn more about trifold novel studies.
The Reader’s Notebook prompts are perfect for students who are advanced and need more space to provide an in depth analysis or need more space to write their response.
For advanced readers, the notebook prompts can generate a longer, more detailed response to the daily prompt. This pushes the students to analyze and defend their answers.
However, the notebook prompts are also great for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and fine motor issues because they can be glued onto specialized paper or within a notebook to give students with large handwriting more room to respond.
Regardless of the format selected, the prompt is the same so some students can easily work on the trifolds while others use the notebook prompts.
The digital novel study is also available in Google Slides to offer differentiated or online learning options.
What academic vocabulary is included in the novel study for A Wrinkle in Time?
Over 40 academic vocabulary words are included in this novel’s instructional guide.
These include general academic vocabulary and skill-specific vocabulary. A sample of the included terms is shown below:
General vocabulary:
- analyze
- evaluate
- synthesize
- generate
- impact
- composition
Skill specific vocabulary:
- context clue
- summary and main idea
- theme
- protagonist and antagonist
- point of view
- resolution
Why do you include academic vocabulary?
Tier 2 vocabulary, or academic language, is one of the biggest barriers to student success in school.
The research on the impact of academic vocabulary is clear, and we must explicitly teach these words to our students.
I outline key Tier 2 words for each skill to make it easy. This allows you to incorporate these words into your novel study discussions.
It also means you can explicitly teach students their meaning if you are working with struggling students or English Language Learners (ELLs).
Many teachers like pre-teaching this vocabulary to help struggling students start the text on equal footing with their peers.
Text-based vocabulary in A Wrinkle in Time
In addition to the Tier 2 vocabulary, each day includes a text-based vocabulary word that can be found in the day’s reading.
Some of the text-based vocabulary words included in this A Wrinkle in Time novel study include:
- relinquished
- dilapidated
- indignant
- morass
- seethe
- assuage
These words can be taught using the flipbook format. Designed with conserving copies in mind, this format uses one piece of paper per week.
The Word of the Day Flip Book is designed for use in interactive reading journals.
To use the flip books, your students cut around the flip book, cut the tabs, and glue it into their notebook. Have students leave the tabs unglued so they can be lifted. This allows students to write under them.
Depending on your students, you can have them define the day’s word or generate a list of synonyms and antonyms.
You can even have students draw a picture of the meaning.
How to purchase this novel study for A Wrinkle in Time
The A Wrinkle in Time novel study unit can be purchased on Teachers Pay Teachers.
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