The Giver Lesson Plan Ideas

I want to share a few of lesson plan ideas with you here to help you get started teaching The Giver.

If you have any good lesson plans for The Giver, please feel free to share them in the comment section.

And if you want to have your entire unit for The Giver planned and ready to teach, click here to try my full unit plan.

Character

Diary Entry – Students write a diary entry from the perspective of a character in The Giver.  They should make the voice authentic and the topics relevant to the character’s role in The Giver.  Start the lesson by discussing what characterization is and how it is achieved.

Letter – Students write a letter from one character to another in The Giver.  Again, the voice should demonstrate a meaningful understanding of the character.

Facebook Profile – Students create a facebook profile for a character in The Giver.  This is a great way for them to push their analysis of a character with images, posts, status updates, comments, shares, likes, friends, and more.

Shoebox – Jonas keeps a lot of secrets in The Giver.  Have students fill a shoebox (or something similar) with items that he might consider special and keep hidden.  Explain your choices.

Plot

Plot Structure – Teach the elements of plot (introduction, inciting event, rising action, climax, falling action.  Discuss where these elements occur in The Giver, and whether the story follows the traditional structure at each point.  Then have your students create plot diagrams for The Giver.  You could also have them include images or symbols inspired by The Giver to represent the events in the story at each point on the diagram.

Comic Strip – Students create comic strip versions of The Giver.  It can be a lot of fun to try to condense the story into as few frames as possible, and it is a great way for students to show they understand which parts of The Giver are the most important.

Setting and Atmosphere

Map – Students draw and label a map of the community.  You can also have them include important events form the story in their maps.

Wordle – Students create a Wordle that conveys the atmosphere of the story (or of an important part of the story).  http://www.wordle.net/

Theme

Collage – Students create a collage of images and words to represent an important theme in The Giver.  Start this lesson plan by discussing major themes in The Giver.

Book Cover – Create a book cover for The Giver.  Include images and descriptions that convey important themes from The Giver.

Share Your Lesson Plans for The Giver

What lesson plans and activities do you use with The Giver?  Leave your ideas in the comment section.

5 thoughts on “The Giver Lesson Plan Ideas”

  1. Wow, great ideas for The Giver. Some of these I use in one form or another already, but I hadn’t seen “Wordle” before. It looks like a great way to combine literature with technology, poetry, and art. There is a lot of potential there, and it has my brain percolating.

    I also like the idea for creating facebook profiles for characters in The Giver. Another idea is to create twitter accounts for characters. It can get a little goofy, but it can also be a great way for students to show they understand the motivations and concerns of characters in the novel.

    Looking forward to using your lesson plans when I started teaching The Giver next week. Thanks for sharing.

  2. Thanks for all of the lesson plan ideas for The Giver. Here is one I like to use:

    Students create a travel brochure for the community in The Giver. The brochure should really sell the community by highlighting its positive attributes (think peace, security, stability, tranquility, etc.) Students are to include written descriptions, bullet points listing benefits or features of the community, and appealing images to entice would-be residents.

    1. You are very welcome for the ideas, and thank you for taking the time to share your own lesson plan for The Giver.

  3. Thank you for the lesson plan ideas. I haven’t taught The Giver before, so these are much appreciated.

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