Class novels make the BEST long-term sub plans.
I have to give a HUGE shout out to Carol Gaab for the amazing teacher's manual that she wrote to accompany her equally amazing novel, El nuevo Houdini. My 2A students will be reading the past-tense version of the novel (the novel includes two versions: one present and one past) while I am on maternity leave during the third quarter, and I am more or less leaving my fantastic substitute with the teacher's manual and the set of novels.
To help my sub, I made copies of the vocabulary worksheets, additional readings, and other activities that were included in the manual, copied the chapter assessments, and copied and laminated a few "accessories" for some of the activities that she described in the manual, and that's it! GRACIAS CAROL! I am bummed that I won't be the one teaching it to my students because I think it is going to be so much fun with all of the activities that she planned, but I am confident that my students will enjoy reading the novel and find it completely comprehensible (I'll be pre-teaching the vocabulary before I leave).
If you are someone that feels totally overwhelmed when you think about how to read a novel and make it interesting without spending hours developing creative, purposeful activities, you must check it out!!!
Did I mention that 40 novels and the teacher's guide cost just $249?! Are you kidding me?! What principal can deny that order request?
