Teacher notes
Monster is written as a screenplay, so students read it as directors and jurors at the same time. The unit keeps three verdicts apart (legal, moral and what really happened) and makes students back each one with evidence. A primer explains how a trial works and how Steve's case would play out differently in Canada. It's a mature book, best for strong Grade 8 readers and Grades 9–10.
Quick answers
Is the content OK for Grade 7? It includes jail violence, a slur and references to sexual assault. The teacher guide flags each one by section so you can decide.
How long is the unit? Seven weeks, or three with the shorter option.
Priced in Canadian dollars, so it costs less here than the US-dollar price on TPT. Instant download after checkout.
Full details
Steve Harmon is sixteen, in jail, and on trial for felony murder. To survive it, he writes his life as a movie, and he names it after what the prosecutor called him. This Monster novel study never asks students "what happened?" Every prompt asks what it means, why people did it, how Walter Dean Myers built the screenplay, and what students would have decided. The whole unit is shot as a film in six "reels" that follow the book's dated sections: Fade In, Cross-Exam, Flashback, The People Rest, Take the Stand and Final Cut. Each reel has a menu of prompts, a hands-on activity, and trackers that build the case for the question the book never answers: was Steve the lookout? WHAT'S INCLUDED (60 pages, letter size) Student booklet (46 pages) - 6 reel menus with 36 prompts (6 per reel). Students pick two per week from five camera lenses: Close-up, Reverse Shot, Objection!, Camera Work and Director's Cut. - 6 hands-on activities everyone does: Opening Statements, Cross-Exam Lab, Shot List (direct the father's visit as film), Eyewitness (weigh the eyewitness with no deal), The Cup Test (crack O'Brien's coaching rules) and Three Verdicts (legal, moral, and what really happened). - 5 trackers: Monster Meter (identity), Witness Board (credibility), Evidence Locker (the open question), Ink + Film (notebook vs. screenplay) and Motif Reel. - Pre-reading hook (Who Gets to Name You?), an anticipation guide with a sealed prediction, and a Courtroom + Camera primer: how a trial works, screenplay terms, and how Steve's case would differ in Canada. - Organizers: Build the Case (claim, evidence, so what), Chain of Events, Off Camera (what the movie never shows), Truth vs. Proof, and The Network. - Socratic seminar prep ("Closing Arguments") with 9 big questions and a moves tracker. - 6 final project choices: the missing scene shot two ways, a closing argument, a self-portrait film, a true-crime podcast, a New York vs. Canada youth justice brief, and a movie trailer. - 6 character profiles, 5 toolkit templates (Objection! builder, screenplay decoder, script page, storyboard, interview + research planner) and a 24-word vocabulary page. - 6 exit tickets, a project planner, a single-point rubric and two Level 1–4 rubrics. Teacher guide (14 pages) - Visual implementation map: the whole unit on one page, week by week, with what to read, the shared activity, and the scenes to handle with care - Start-here checklist, unit map, and a 7-week plan (3-week option included) - Teaching with care: content notes by section, do's and don'ts, background notes, and 24/7 support lines - Full plot key, plus "The open question": every clue for and against Steve's guilt - Look-fors for all 36 prompts and 6 activities, with extension prompts - Parent letter - Ontario Language (2023) curriculum links, assessment plan, and Grade 9–10 connections WHY TEACHERS LIKE IT - No recall questions, so students can't answer by skimming. - The same weekly routine every week: read, activity, two prompts, trackers, exit ticket. - Built for the book's big question: students keep the legal verdict, the moral verdict and what really happened apart, and back each one with evidence. - Made for a mature text: content notes by section, guidance for the hardest scenes, and no staged jail scenes. - A one-page implementation map shows the whole unit at a glance. Pin it up. - Every page number is a clickable link in the PDF, so it works on paper or on screen. - White pages, designed to photocopy in black and white. PLEASE NOTE Students need their own copy of Monster by Walter Dean Myers (HarperCollins, 1999). References use the book's dated sections and scenes, not page numbers, so any edition works. The book includes jail violence, references to sexual assault, a slur, drug use and a character's thoughts of suicide; the teacher guide flags each one by section. This is an independent teaching resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the author's estate or the publisher.
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