How do characters in literature and film navigate their emotions and relationships, and what can we learn from their experiences to develop our own social and emotional skills?

Note: This is just one example of how to pace the unit. And it centers around a Reader’s Writers workshop idea, in the sense that you read the chosen book (book club, choice, or whole‐​class novel) or watch a TV episode or film and work with it daily. This is paced for a 48‐​minute class period. Each day’s lesson has a daily plan. Suggestions for books, short stories, poems, TV episodes, and films are below. Use what you know works in your district, school, and classroom.

Note: The list below is not separated by grade, as a teacher should pick books according to what is appropriate for your classroom, school, and district. These are just ideas of works that could be used. This list is not exhaustive. Use what you know works in your district, school, and classroom.

• The Giver and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys
• The Outsiders by SE Hinton
• Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Homecoming by Cynthia Voight
• Redwall series by Brian Jacques
• Life As We Knew It series by Susan Beth Pfeffer
• Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
• The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
• Secondhand Lions by John Whitman
• A Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L’Engle
• Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
• The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
• Dear America series by various authors
• Poppy series and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
• I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
• And, Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
• Skeleton Creek series by Patrick Carman
• Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown
• The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Fear Street series by R. L. Stine
• Shepherd of the Hills by Harold Bell Wright
• Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
• Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
• Babysitters Club series by Ann M. Martin
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffery
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelo
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio
• All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
• Dicey’s Song and Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Slake’s Limbo by Felice Holman
• The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Watership Down by Richard Adams
• Restart by Gordon Korman
• Twelfth by Janet Key
• The Civil War of Amos Abernathy by Michael Leali
• Small Town Pride by Phil Stamper

• “The Monkey’s Paw” by W. W. Jacobs
• “By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benét
• “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
• More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
• “The Red Pony” by John Steinbeck
• “To Build a Fire” by Jack London
• “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury
• “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury
• “The Tell‐​Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
• “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury
• “The Elevator” by William Sleator
• “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl
• “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
• “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry
• “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty
• “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant
• “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara
• “The Masque of the Red Dead” by Edgar Allan Poe
• “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin
• “The Lady or the Tiger?” by Frank R. Stockton
• “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst
• “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid
• “Civil Peace” by Chinua Achebe
• “The Open Window” by Saki
• “The Wife’s Story” by Ursula K. LeGuin
• “First‐​Day Fly” by Jason Reynolds
• “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov
• “My Favorite Chaperone” by Jean Davies Okimoto
• “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” by Walter Dean Myers
• “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto
• “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• “Click Clack the Rattlebag” by Neil Gaiman
• “Names/​Nombres” by Julia Alvarez
• “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield
• “Geraldo No Last Name” by Sandra Cisneros
• “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan
• “The Friday Everything Changed” by Anne Hart
• “The Scholarship Jacket” by Marta Salinas
• “Amigo Brothers” by Piri Thomas
• “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros
• “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell
• “Mother and Daughter” by Gary Soto
• “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?” by Bruce Coville
• “The Boo Hag” by Veronica Byrd
• “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
• “Charles” by Shirley Jackson
• “The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov
• “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan
• “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
• “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote
• “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison
• “Stone Animals” by Kelly Link
• “The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges
• “The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Lui
• “Flipped” by Wendelin Van Draanen

• Teach Living Poets
• Ogden Nash poems
• “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning
• “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes
• “And the Ghosts” by Graham Foust
• “That Sure Is My Little Dog” by Eleanor Lerman
• “Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House” by Billy Collins
• “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes
• “Oranges” by Gary Soto
• “This Is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams
• “Having a Coke with You” by Frank O’Hara
• “Pass On” by Michael Lee
• “Snow” by David Berman
• “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou
• “So You Want to Be a Writer” by Charles Bukowski
• “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
• “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
• Emily Dickinson poetry
• “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market” by Pablo Neruda
• “Language Lesson 1976” by Heather McHugh
• “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath
• “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron
• “A Man Said to the Universe” by Stephen Crane
• “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
• “The Laughing Heart” by Charles Bukowski
• “Tattoo” by Ted Kooser
• “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman
• “If” by Rudyard Kipling
• “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley
• “Be the Best of Whatever You Are” by Douglas Malloch
• Edgar Allan Poe poems
• “The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred Tennyson
• Robert Frost poems
• “Rat Ode” by Elizabeth Acevedo
• “I Lost My Talk” by Rita Joe
• “Friend” by Josephine Miles
• “There Are Birds Here” by Jamaal May
• “Dear Future Generations: Sorry” by Prince Ea
• “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
• “The Rose That Grew from Concrete” by Tupac Shakur
• “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
• ““Eating Poetry” by Mark Strand
• “Deer Hit” by Jon Loomis

• Tinga Tinga Tales—African folktales from many African nations told in cartoon form
  • “Why Giraffe Has a Long Neck”
  • “Why Elephant Has a Trunk”
  • “Why Tortoise Has a Broken Shell”
  • “Why Monkeys Swing in the Trees”
  • “Why Lion Roars”
  • “Why Crocodile Has a Bumpy Back”
  • “Why Flamingo Stands on One Leg”
  • “Why Hippo Has No Hair”
  • “Why Tickbird Sits on Hippo’s Back”
  • “Why Owl’s Eyes Are Red”
• Avatar: The Last Airbender, “The Southern Air Temple”
• Hey Arnold!, “The Journal”
• Gravity Falls, “Dreamscaperers”
• Steven Universe, “Mindful Education”
• The Simpsons, “Lisa the Vegetarian”
• Adventure Time, “I Remember You”
• Arthur, “Arthur’s Big Hit”
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, “The Cutie Mark Chronicles”
• Phineas and Ferb, “Rollercoaster: The Musical!”
• Scooby‐​Doo! Mystery Incorporated, “The Night the Clown Cried”
• Teen Titans, “Nevermore”
• The Magic School Bus, “Inside Ralphie”
• The Powerpuff Girls, “Members Only”
• Arthur, “The Election”
• Rugrats, “Chuckie’s Wonderful Life”
• The Wild Thornberrys, “Gift of Gab”
• Code Lyoko, “The Girl of the Dreams”
• Clifford the Big Red Dog, “Dog for a Day”
• Dora the Explorer, “Lost City Adventure”
• Kim Possible, “Stop Team Go”
• Bluey, “Magic Xylophone”
• Bluey, “Daddy Putdown”
• Star vs. The Forces of Evil, “Star Comes to Earth”
• Star vs. The Forces of Evil, “Mewberty”
• SpongeBob SquarePants, “The Camping Episode”
• The Simpsons, “Bart Gets an F”
• Adventure Time, “What Was Missing”
• Steven Universe, “Change Your Mind”
• Gravity Falls, “Not What He Seems”
• Hey Arnold!, “Arnold’s Christmas”
• Arthur, “Arthur’s Perfect Christmas”
• The Magic School Bus, “Gets Lost in Space”
• Teen Titans Go!, “Accept the Next Proposition You Hear”
• The Wild Thornberrys, “The Origin of Donnie”
• Avatar: The Last Airbender, “The Ember Island Players”
• Dora the Explorer, “Save the Mermaids”
• Phineas and Ferb, “Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!”
• Kim Possible, “So the Drama”
• Clifford the Big Red Dog, “Big Hearted T‑Bone”
• Rugrats, “Mother’s Day

• Glory
• The Color of Friendship
• Clara’s Heart
• Corrina, Corrina
• The Lion King
• Hidden Figures
• Wonder
• The Princess Bride
• Ella Enchanted
• Coco
• The Karate Kid
• The Diary of Anne Frank
• The Boy Who Could Fly
• I Can Only Imagine
• Bridge to Terabithia
• Akeelah and the Bee
• Matilda
• The Sandlot
• Soul
• Freedom Writers
• October Sky
• Holes
• The Mighty Ducks
• The Secret Garden
• My Neighbor Totoro
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
• The Breadwinner
• Queen of Katwe
• The Iron Giant
• Whale Rider
• The Goonies
• E.T. the Extra‐​Terrestrial
• The Sound of Music
• A Wrinkle in Time
• The Princess Diaries
• Moana

• ”Three Words You Need for Your Next Hard Conversation: Oops, Ouch, Whoa” by Annaliese Griffin
• “What’s Going on with Gen Z and Civil Discourse” (Cato Institute)
• “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” by NCTE
• “Project Zero’s Thinking Routine Toolbox”
• “What Is Civil Discourse?” (Sphere)
• “Cultivating Civic Discourse in Your Middle School Classroom” (Sphere)
• “Best 12 Diverse Artist to Teach in Your Art Classroom”
• “Ditch That Textbook Graphic Organizers”