Teacher notes

Restart asks a question every middle schooler has an opinion on: can someone really change? The unit builds the case week by week and ends in a courtroom verdict. The modified (IEP) version uses the same weeks and joins the same class activities, so students on modified expectations stay with the class instead of doing separate work, and nothing on their pages says "IEP."

Quick answers

• Is there a French version? Yes: Repartir, the same unit en français.

• 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

Chase Ambrose falls off a roof and wakes up with no memory, including the memory of being the worst bully at his school. This Restart novel study never asks students "what happened?" Every prompt asks what it means, why people did it, and what students would have done.

The whole unit is themed as a computer "system restore": six chapter "disks," five thinking "lenses," and trackers that build the case for the big question: is the new Chase the same person as the old one?

A modified (IEP) version is included. It follows the same weeks, so students on modified expectations read the book alongside the class.

WHAT'S INCLUDED (89 pages, letter size)

Student booklet (45 pages)

• 6 disk menus with 36 prompts covering all 30 chapters. Students pick two per week from five lenses: Recover, Switch User, Conflict, Source Code and New File.

• 6 hands-on weekly activities everyone does: Source Check, Debug the Hallway, Closet Scan, Silent Film (storyboard), Frame by Frame (video evidence) and Your Verdict (courtroom).

• 5 running trackers: narrators and their blind spots, old Chase vs. new Chase, recovered memories, who "edits" Chase's past, and motifs + nicknames.

• Pre-reading hook (Factory Reset) and an anticipation guide with a sealed prediction.

• Organizers: response sheet (claim, evidence, so what), chain reaction, forgiveness meter, rebuild-the-past timeline, network map.

• Socratic seminar prep with 9 big questions.

• 6 final project choices, including interviewing a senior citizen like the book's video club does, writing a missing narrator's chapter, and a mock hearing.

• 6 character profiles, 5 toolkit templates (debate builder, craft spotter, new-narrator rewrite, storyboard, interview planner) and a 24-word vocabulary page.

• 6 exit tickets, a project planner, a single-point rubric and two Level 1–4 rubrics.

Modified (IEP) version: "Quick Restore" (28 pages)

• One scaffolded task per chapter (30 in all), with plain-language directions

• A word bank and printed sentence starts on every task, plus circle-first choices

• Students can write, draw or say any answer, and tick which one they used

• Simplified trackers (narrators, old vs. new Chase, memory files) with chapter numbers pre-filled, and 12 key words with meanings given

• A weekly disk check with one X-line on the big question, ready to use as IEP progress evidence

• Three project choices, a plain-language Level 1–4 rubric and a reflection page

• Same design as the class booklet; student pages never say "IEP" or "modified"

Teacher guide (16 pages)

• Visual implementation map: the class booklet and the modified version on one page, week by week, meeting at the same weekly activity

• Start-here checklist, unit map, and a 7-week plan (3-week option included)

• Full plot key, including how the big twist is set up

• Look-fors for all 36 prompts and 6 activities

• Content notes and a parent letter

• Ontario Language (2023) curriculum links and assessment plan

• Modified-version guide (how it runs alongside the class, accommodations, assessment) and look-fors for all 30 chapter tasks

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.

• Differentiation is done for you: the modified version runs on the same schedule and joins the same class activities.

• A one-page implementation map shows the whole unit, and both versions, at a glance.

• Every page number is a clickable link in the PDF, so it works on paper or on screen.

• Designed to photocopy in black and white.

PLEASE NOTE

Students need their own copy of Restart by Gordon Korman (Scholastic, 2017). This is an independent teaching resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the author or publisher.

Teaching in French? Repartir is the same unit en français.