The Giver Unit Plan - Lois Lowry Novel Study Reading Unit

The Giver Unit Plan includes everything you need to teach The Giver by Lois Lowry. With more than 340 pages and slides of content, there will be absolutely no prep required. This novel unit includes eye-catching presentation slides, print-ready assignments, questions, vocabulary, quizzes, and interactive class activities.

What Teachers Are Saying About The Giver Unit Plan:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This unit plan for The Giver is worth every penny I spent on it! We just did the activity on sharing feelings and the students loved it. In fact, there was a retired P.E. teacher sitting in on the class with me, and even he started raising his hands to participate. The best part about this unit is that all activities help build more student interest in the story, so when it's time to read the next chapters, everyone is so engaged. Very very well done!

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Included in The Giver Unit Plan:

➡️ The Giver Introductory Presentation: Start The Giver unit plan with this interactive PowerPoint presentation that includes pre-reading discussion questions, an interactive class activity, a biography of Lois Lowry, a fun review quiz, novel context and reception, and background information on the novel.

➡️ The Giver Novel Genre Presentation: Help students understand how The Giver by Lois Lowry incorporates elements of three different fiction genres. Students will learn about the common characteristics of the utopia, dystopia, and science fiction genres and will explore how Lowry weaves these three genres together in the novel. With links to movie trailers that employ these genres, your students will be absolutely hooked.

➡️ The Giver Chapter Summary Cards: These summary cards are an excellent classroom reference for both teacher and student. These 23 printable chapter summary cards outline the most important plot moments from The Giver. Simply print and cut out the cards, and you have a resource available that can be used as a tool for struggling readers, as a quick way to find plot moments, or as a tool to find text evidence during essay writing.

➡️ The Giver Quizzes: These short chapter quizzes are the perfect addition to The Giver unit plan as they are a quick check for student comprehension. Each quiz covers 2-3 chapters and includes a detailed answer key for easy grading or review. You can be totally confident that your students are understanding The Giver with these easy-to-use assessments as they include short answer quote response questions. Detailed answer keys are included.

➡️ The Giver Vocabulary Booklet and Slides: Help students learn new vocabulary words from the novel during The Giver unit plan with this ready-to-use resource. This resource helps students hone their skills in using context clues to determine the meaning of new words as they are used within The Giver. Included is a vocabulary booklet organized by chapter sets where students read the new word in a quote from the novel and infer its meaning. Then, they look up the definition to see if they were correct. Presentation slides are included for easy class review or grading.

➡️ The Giver Questions and Answers: This resource includes novel reading questions organized by chapters that include comprehension and analysis questions. It also includes a presentation to review the answers with students. The answers are detailed and include text evidence for support.

➡️ The Giver Analysis Notes: The Giver unit plan also includes a 37-slide PowerPoint presentation that shares some of the most important literary elements in The Giver organized by chapter. The notes address setting, language, characterization, symbolism, important ideas, historical context, theme, and more. The notes can be used for students to copy, or they can be used as discussion starters. After using this presentation, your students will have a much deeper understanding of the novel.

The Giver Unit Plan also includes creative assignments and activities for each chapter set. You can learn more about what's included below:

Chapters 1-2

➡️ The Giver Telling of Feelings Activity: This fun and interactive classroom activity allows students to empathize with Jonas from The Giver. In the novel, families are required to participate in a ritual called The Telling of Feelings. During the ceremony, each person describes an emotion they experienced during the day and discusses it with the family. Allow your students to step into The Giver by assigning them a family within the classroom and having them participate in a simulation of The Telling of Feelings ritual.

Chapters 3-4

➡️ The Giver The House of the Old Activity: This creative classroom activity allows students to examine how the elderly are treated in different cultures and how that relates to The Giver. In the novel, the elderly are placed in The House of the Old and are eventually released from the community. Students will learn about how the elderly are treated in South Korea, Japan, North America, France, and in Mediterranean and Latin countries. Then, students will compare what they learn to Jonas' community. 

Chapters 5-6

➡️ The Giver Dream Sharing Activity: This activity allows students to empathize with Jonas from The Giver. In the novel, the members of Jonas' community must share their dreams in a daily dream sharing family ritual. This activity allows students to simulate this ritual in the classroom by forming a family group and sharing one dream they have felt lately based on prompting cards with common dream elements. Then, they will have the chance to interpret their dreams.

Chapters 7-9

➡️ The Giver Ceremony of Twelve Activity: This is a student favorite from The Giver unit plan! an interactive classroom activity that your students will never forget! In The Giver by Lois Lowry, children are assigned their careers during The Ceremony of Twelve. Bring this into your classroom and allow your students to empathize with Jonas and the rest of the community by taking on the role of Chief Elder and assigning roles to each of your students! The resource includes absolutely everything you need to successfully facilitate a mock Ceremony of Twelve in your classroom. 

Chapters 12-13 

➡️ The Giver Seeing Beyond Activity: This activity will be a favorite of your students during The Giver Unit Plan! It will spark discussion about Jonas' ability to see beyond in the novel. In the novel, Jonas can see color when his friends and family cannot. Use this fun and interactive class activity with optical illusions to help your students empathize with Jonas' experience and consider how he and the community members feel.

Chapters 14-16

➡️ The Giver Memory Transmission Activity: This classroom simulation activity allows students to examine the importance of keeping both painful and joyful memories. In The Giver, Jonas receives memory transmissions from The Giver that brings him both pleasure and pain. During this activity, students will receive four new memories and consider whether they are important memories to keep. Finally, students will take on the role of The Giver and decide on one memory from history they think is important to keep.

Chapters 17-18

➡️ The Giver A World Without Pain Activity: This activity will allow students to examine a world with no pain as the community members experience in The Giver. Allow your students to make a real-world connection to the novel by reading and watching a video about a condition where people feel absolutely no pain. This activity is sure to engage your students in thoughtful discussion about the importance that pain plays in our lives. 

Chapters 19-20

➡️ The Giver Family Structure One-Child Policy Activity: Families in The Giver are selected by the community's Committee of Elders, and partners are assigned two children produced by birthmothers. While this seems like an impossibility in today's society, this activity will give students a real-world connection with the example of China's One-Child Policy. Until relatively recently, families in China were only permitted to have one child in an attempt to control population growth. This article and small group assignment are sure to spark interesting discussions in your classroom that will form important connections to the novel.

Chapters 21-23 (Post-Reading)

➡️ The Giver Speech: Students prepare a speech for The Giver to deliver to the community after Jonas escapes. The speech should offer comfort and prepare people to deal with how the memories will change their lives.

➡️ The Giver Soundtrack: Students create a soundtrack for The Giver. They will need to find three songs that connect to the novel. They will choose specific moments in the plot and find lyrics to songs that connect with the important plot moment.

➡️ Jonas' Journal: The year between Jonas' assignment as the Receiver and his escape with Gabriel was a time of many challenges and growth for him. Students will imagine they are Jonas. They will write a series of diary entries that capture the most significant changes he experienced during that time.

➡️ Lois Lowry's Acceptance Speech: Students will read Lois Lowry’s Newbery acceptance speech for The Giver, and respond to a prompting question.

➡️ The Giver Plot Diagram: Students complete a plot diagram template with information from the novel.

➡️ The Giver Essay Topics: Finish off The Giver unit plan with these essay topics for students to choose from to write a five-paragraph essay on the novel.

What Teachers Are Saying About The Giver Unit Plan:

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➡️ The Giver Unit Plan Digital Version 

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