Wonder Novel Study | Years 5–6

A novel study for Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Student workbook + teacher booklet, built on The Writing Revolution. SEL-aligned. For Year 5 and Year 6 classrooms.

Why Wonder

Wonder is the book where empathy gets taught without anyone needing to use the word.

Palacio shifts perspective chapter by chapter — Auggie, Via, Summer, Jack, Justin, Miranda — and your students live inside each of them. Kids stop being told to be kind and start practising being kind by stepping into someone else's head — and feeling what they feel.

Works as a literacy unit, an SEL unit, or both at once — which is why teachers often pair it with their kindness or wellbeing curriculum.

You want your class to do more with Wonder than just read it.

What's included

Each chapter follows the same activity sequence:

• Key vocabulary
• Summary sentence (who / what / when / where / why / how → one full sentence)
• Because, but, so (reasoning, contrast, cause and effect)
• Sentences and notes (both directions)
• Single Paragraph Outline (SPO) using The Writing Revolution
• Full paragraph with revision and editing
• Differentiation tips for every activity — below, at, above level

Plus:

• 10-week unit plan (with built-in catch-up week)
• Combined teacher booklet + student booklet — print or project
• Teacher booklet includes lesson plans, curriculum connections, and modelled responses
• Aligned to Australian Curriculum and US Common Core ELA
• Print-and-go — no extra prep

Click the Preview link above to see what a week looks like inside the unit.

Why this works

The same activities every week, on purpose. Consistent activities mean students spend their thinking on the book — not on working out what each new worksheet is asking. Built on The Writing Revolution: structured sentence and paragraph writing that proves a point about a novel.

This is for you if

• You teach Wonder as a class novel in Year 5 or Year 6
• You're tying literacy into your SEL or kindness curriculum
• You'd rather print and teach than design from scratch

Made by a teacher librarian, not AI

I read every word of every book personally. I write every question and every model response myself. In a market flooded with AI units that don't align to the actual text — this one does.

About Sarah

Made by Sarah Hodgson, Teacher Librarian. 12+ years in primary classrooms (Prep to Year 6) as a classroom teacher, curriculum coordinator and teacher librarian.

Your head is in a million places. Mine gets to be in novels. Let me take this one off your plate.