Prisoner B-3087 Creative Notes

Teaching reading can be tough when trying to get buy-in from your students. On top of that, you want students to be able to identify main events and participate in deep discussion about the text… it only boosts reading comprehension.

Creative chapter notes are the key to increasing engagement during your next novel study.

Why does it work?

Not only are the notes broken up in a non-traditional format, but it already provides students with an idea of the main events and key information. When students are set up for success in this format, it magically increases their focus and engagement.

Students can read independently, small group guided reading, or whole class and still be able to contribute to these notes.

The young adult chapter book, Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz covers the life of Jack Gruener, a Holocaust survivor. As a child, Jack was known as Yanek, he was able to survive ten concentration camps without his family. Your students will be captivated by the fight for survival.

How does it work?

In my classroom, I’ve tried handing out individual pages as we went along with reading. It never failed that students lost a single page. When I moved to a packet with all of the creative notes stapled together, students almost always kept track of the packet. There might be a stray here or there who lost it. It also made it much easier for students who were absent during the reading.

The chapter notes can be found here, as well as my Taco Bout FACS TPT store.

Need a differentiated focus for your students? This version includes one chapter per page instead of two chapters per page. It’s also available in my Taco Bout FACS TPT store.

Looking for a deal on both? A bundled version is available here.