🦁Novel Study: The Wizard of Oz

Big Idea...“The journey changes us.”

Students explore how characters grow, how choices matter, and how “home” can mean more than one thing.

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📚 Learning Goals 

Students will:

• Understand story elements (characters, setting, problem, solution)
• Identify themes (courage, kindness, wisdom, home)
• Make text-to-self and text-to-world connections
• Practice retelling, predicting, and inferring
• Express understanding through art, drama, writing, and discussion

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🧭 Structure Overview (4–5 weeks)

• Read aloud + shared reading
• Short chapters grouped together
• Hands-on response activities instead of long written work
• Choice-based projects

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🟡 Week 1: Kansas → Oz (Chapters 1–4)

Focus

• Setting
• Problem
• Prediction

Activities

1. Before Reading: “What Makes a Home?”

• Class discussion or journal draw/write
• Prompt: What makes a place feel like home?

Kansas vs Oz

2. Setting Contrast

• Create a T-chart:
  • Kansas (black & white)
  • Oz (colorful & magical)
• Students draw or label differences

3. Tornado Science Tie-In

• Simple demo (water bottle tornado)
• Discuss: What is real? What is fantasy?

4. Prediction Stop

• Ask:
  • Do you think Dorothy will get home?
  • Who might help her?

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🟠 Week 2: The Yellow Brick Road (Chapters 5–9)

Focus

• Characters
• Wants vs. needs

Activities

1. Character Want Cards Each student gets a character card:

• Scarecrow – wants a brain
• Tin Man – wants a heart
• Lion – wants courage

Students answer:

• What does your character THINK they need?
• What do they actually show they already have?

2. Freeze-Frame Drama

• Students act out scenes where:
  • Scarecrow solves a problem
  • Tin Man shows kindness
  • Lion is brave

3. Vocabulary Magic Create an Oz Word Wall:

• courage
• kindness
• clever
• journey
• promise

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🟢 Week 3: The Emerald City & The Wizard (Chapters 10–16)

Focus

• Theme
• Truth vs. appearance

Activities

1. Wizard Investigation

• Discuss: Is the Wizard what Dorothy expected?
• Compare:
  • What people think the Wizard is like
  • What he is actually like

2. Theme Sort Sort sentence strips under:

• Courage
• Kindness
• Wisdom
• Friendship

3. Opinion Writing Prompt:

Was the Wizard a good helper? Why or why not?

(Grade-appropriate: paragraph or oral response)

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🔵 Week 4: Getting Home (Chapters 17–24)

Focus

• Resolution
• Character growth

Activities

1. Character Growth Map Before → After chart for:

• Dorothy
• Scarecrow
• Tin Man
• Lion

2. The Meaning of Home Art + writing:

• Draw a place that feels like “home”
• Write: Home is…

3. Alternate Ending (Optional)

• What if Dorothy stayed in Oz?
• What if Toto could talk?

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🎭 Culminating Project (Student Choice!)

Students choose ONE:

🌟 Option 1: Oz Passport

• Character profile
• Favorite quote
• One lesson learned

🎨 Option 2: Map of Oz

• Label major locations
• Add short captions explaining events

🎤 Option 3: News Report

• “Breaking News from Oz!”
• Students report on the Wizard, Wicked Witch, or Dorothy

📦 Option 4: Character Suitcase

• Draw or list 3 items a character would pack for the journey
• Explain why

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📊 Assessment (Low-Stress & Authentic)

• Participation in discussions
• Oral retell
• Visual projects
• Short written reflections
• Teacher observation checklist

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📎 Extensions & Cross-Curricular Links

• Geography: Map skills
• SEL: Emotions, bravery, kindness
• Art: Color symbolism
• Media Literacy: Book vs. movie comparison
• Music: “Over the Rainbow” lyric discussion

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