Locomotion by Jaqueline Woodson Novel Study
Engage upper elementary and middle school readers with Smile and help students explore friendship, identity, confidence, and growing up with a text that feels real to them. This 8-day unit (plus an optional 9th extension lesson) is designed to guide students through thoughtful conversation and literary analysis while teaching them how to read a graphic novel with a critical eye.
Through Socratic Seminars, short written responses, and visual analysis activities, students build essential skills in theme, characterization, point of view, symbolism, and author’s craft. The structure is ideal for whole-class novel study or targeted small groups — especially for reluctant readers who thrive with visual storytelling.
What’s Included
- 8 Structured Lessons aligned to key literature standards
- Editable student reading response notebooks (digital + printable)
- Slides for each day in PowerPoint and PDF ormats
- Standards-aligned rubrics and reading conference tools
- Pacing guide + teacher notes for each lesson
- Socratic Seminar guide and discussion norms
- Objective summary practice with clear scaffolds
- Text-to-text comparison prompt (ex: Wonder, Sisters)
Core Lessons (Days 1–8) These lessons build skills, foster discussion, and help students deeply analyze how both text and visuals create meaning:
- Lesson 1: Visual Text Features + First Impressions
Students learn how to annotate a graphic novel — tracking facial expressions, panel choices, layout, and visual cues that support meaning. - Lesson 2: Character Traits & Change Over Time
Students examine how Raina and her relationships evolve, developing character tracking skills using text + image evidence. - Lesson 3: Mood & Tone Through Artwork
Students analyze how color, expression, and perspective shape emotional impact and tone. - Lesson 4: Symbolism in Graphic Novels
Objects, visuals, and repeated imagery become a window into deeper themes — confidence, belonging, growing up. - Lesson 5: Point of View + Author’s Purpose
Students explore how a memoir-style perspective shapes the message and themes. - Lesson 6: Literary Conflict
Internal vs. external conflicts drive emotional depth and help students connect personally to the story. - Lesson 7: Comparing Texts & Formats
Students compare Smile to another text from the same author or genre — analyzing how authors tell personal stories in different ways. - Lesson 8: Objective Summary + Reflection
Students practice concise summaries using a scaffolded structure and synthesize what the story reveals about growing up.
Why Teachers Love This Resource
This graphic novel study helps students:
- Grow confidence in discussion and text-based writing
- Practice analysis in a highly accessible format
- Build empathy and share personal connections in a structured way
Meanwhile, you gain:
- A fully planned, standards-aligned unit
- Practical tools for assessment and differentiation
- A discussion-based routine you can carry into future units
Even your hesitant readers will be excited to participate — Smile meets them where they are while pushing their thinking in powerful ways.
TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID…
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Marcela C. says, " "Great resource for teachers implementing book clubs, students read and later answer questions to each book novel. My students loved using this resourcde during book club.They were very engaged in the resource and made it easy to underdtand the book."
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Isabel T. says, "This resource has been amazing for my small group!! I have 8 girls with learning disabilities and ML students that are working on reading comprehension. This resource has made them excited about reading every day! Thank you!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Keeping Teaching Fun and Easy says, "Great resource!! This seller has everything you need to have a great class discussion and use the text to answer questions. This obviously took a great deal of time, but it is so easy to use! Thank you!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rebecca H. says, "I was recently introduced to these units by a friend, and after review, I immediately purchased an entire set. I did have to mix-and-match a little for my readers and classroom needs, and we sadly don't have as much time as I'd like for guided reading to maximize our use of these units. However, I love that they are adaptable, that it's easy to mix-and-match, and that the units are focused on process resources instead of booklets of worksheets! I'd love to see more tpt resources take this approach!"
