Unit of Work: The Giver

Lois Lowry’s novel about the value of memory and individuality in a sinister dystopia is an established favourite for late primary school / junior high school. This 31-page unit of work has been tested successfully with a mixed-ability class of 11-12 year olds.

This unit focuses on close textual analysis. There is a mixture of tasks which gets students writing analytically, personally, and creatively, helping them to build up their own unique interpretation of the work, and eventually to express this in a formal essay.

There is a contextual introduction to historical ideas of utopia, and a short research task where students find out about a utopian vision from another culture or time.

Chapters are grouped into five sections, with each section comprising comprehsion questions, an analytical response, a personal response, and a creative response.

Five age-appropriate essay questions ask students about the themes and characters in the novel.