Unit Plan Ideas

Wonder (By: R. J. Palacio)

Central Text and Supporting Texts

1. Wonder (R.J. Palacio) – Novel

2. Wonder (R.J. Palacio) – Picture Book
3. Wonder (Rated G) – Film
4. Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories (R.J. Palacio) – Novel
5. “R.J Palacio Biography” (Research her inspiration for writing this) – Internet Sources
6. “Wonder” (Natalie Merchant) – Song
7. Search of Treacher-Collins Syndrome (Auggie’s face deformities)- Internet Sources

Themes
 Friendship
 Kindness
 Appearances
 Identity

Discussion Questions (Whole Class/ Think Pair and Share/ Round Table)
 Why is it important to “choose kind”?
 How does the way we treat people affect them throughout their lives?
 How does our time in school affect our lives outside of school?
 Have you ever met someone with a deformity? If so, how did you respond? Do you think
your response made the other person comfortable? Do you think your response was
appropriate?
 Have you ever been bullied because of your appearance or have bullied another person
for this reason? How did it make you feel? How do you think it made the other person
feel?
 How does Auggie’s family respond to Auggie’s deformity? What his Auggie’s
relationship with his mom, dad, and sister?
 What are the characteristics of a good friend? Which of these qualities are reflected in
Auggie’s friends?
 Sometimes friends talk “trash” behind our backs like Auggie’s friend did. How do you
deal with the betrayal of a friend? Should you try to repair the relationship?

Word Study Activities

 Word Wizard Cranium: This is a spin-off of cranium, students will get into teams and one
team member will choose a card (i.e.: word from the book) then they will choose another
card and this will tell them to either act out the word (charades), make the word
(playdough), draw the word (paper and pencil), give a definition or example of the word,
etc. The student’s team has to figure out what the word is, if they do before the timer runs
out, they get the point.
 Wonder Taboo: Play like regular taboo only using words from the book.
 We Are All Wonders Word Maze: create a word maze using words from the book,
students will roll a die which will indicate how many spaces they move, and whatever
 word they land on, they must say and give a definition/ example of it, if they can’t, they
must go back. Whoever gets to the end of the maze first wins.
 Synonyms: Create a list of synonyms for the word “kind” and other key words in the
book.

Phonemic Awareness Activities

 Isolate prefixes and suffixes in multisyllabic words found in Wonder.
 Break down the syllables in multisyllabic words found in Wonder.
 Create your own alliterative sentence describing why you’re a wonder.
 Students will choose a character/ scene from the book and write a riddle or poem about
either of these.

Writing Activities
 Wonder Precept (Shared Writing Activity): First discuss what a precept is- have students
discuss and define this. Look at some of Mr. Browne’s precepts throughout the book
(listed below) and then have students write their own personal precept and discuss why
this is their precept. Have the teacher model this on chart paper.

[Mr. Browne’s Series of Precepts: SEPTEMBER- “When given the choice between
beingright or being kind, choose kind.” —Dr. Wayne Dyer / OCTOBER- “Your deeds
are your monuments.”—Inscription on an Egyptian tomb / NOVEMBER- “Have no
friends not equal to yourself." —Confucious / DECEMBER- "Fortune favors the
bold." —Virgil / JANUARY- "No man is an island, entire of itself." —John Donne /
FEBRUARY- "It is better to know some of the questions than al of the answers." —
James Thurber / MARCH- "Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish
much." —Blaise Pascal / APRIL- "What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon
be beautiful." —Sappho / MAY- "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in
all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people
you can, as long as you ever can." —John Wesley’s Rule / JUNE- "Just follow the day
and reach for the sun!" —The Polyphonic Spree]

 Book Tweet: For this activity, students have to be able to pick out the main ideas of a
book passage or about a book character and convey their response to the audience using
minimal text. Like a tweet, when students reach 140 characters they aren’t able to write
anymore, this teaches students to be mindful of the kind of events they are sharing (leave
out unimportant details) and how to summarize accordingly (use book tweet template).
 Letter: Write a letter to your best friend outlining all of the reasons why they are special.
 Reading Response: Write a reading log entry as if you were one of the characters, and use
their perspective on what’s happening/ how they are feeling about a certain event.
 Create a Group Proposal: Have students get into groups and discuss ways in which they
can make MCS a kinder and safer place for all students. Together, have students devise
and create a proposal implementing one of their ideas that they could present to Mrs.
Sprague.
 Poetry: Auggie says, “I felt very sad and a tiny bit happy at the exact same time, kind of
like that laughing-crying feeling.” (p. 33). Feeling two emotions simultaneously is not
unusual. Divide students into partnerships and ask them to work together to write a poem
 in two voices. One voice expresses Auggie’s sadness at various points of the story while
the other voice expresses his happiness. Have students read their poems aloud to the other
students.
 Quick Writes: Have students answer any of the above discussion questions or a prompt
about specific chapter they are reading and have them answer it in a quick write.

Integrated Lessons
 Art: Have students create their own portrait but leave their face blank. Inside of their
headshot, have students use words or phrases describing what makes them a wonder.

Extending Activities
 Random Acts of Kindness: Principal Tushman states at the end of the year, “Always try
to be a little kinder than necessary.” Celebrate kindness with your students, from acts
within school or outside school. Have students engage in random acts of kindness around
the school/ a day of random acts of kindness then have them share their experiences.
 Compliments Board: Have students write a compliment or something they admire about
someone in the class on a sticky note and have them stick it up anonymously on a
designated spot of the board. OR Positive Words Activity: Have each student’s name on
a piece of construction paper taped on their desk or around the world. Have students go
around the room and write a positive word about each student on their appropriate sheet.
 Sharing Circles: Have students showcase an interest, talent, personal anecdote in small
circles of students. What students share should be something they pride themselves in/ or
like about themselves. Highlight the importance of individuality throughout this activity.

Theatre
 Dramatize a scene from the novel
 Engage students in a reader’s theatre for a chapter of the book

Word Wall
 Ordinary
 Stare
 Extraordinary
 Cleft
 Palate
 Forewarn
 Precept
 Alignment
 Adjust
 Contagious
 Deed
 Monument
 Mortality
 Nauseous
 Outcome
 Accommodate
 Verge
 Jagged
 Implant
 Defect
 Catastrophe
 Gauge
 Sarcastic
 Illuminate
 Genetic
 Quip
 Plague
 Syndrome