Teacher notes
Sugar Falls is a graphic novel based on the true story of Betty Ross, an Elder from Cross Lake First Nation. It's short enough to teach in about ten classes and strong enough to anchor a Truth and Reconciliation unit. The study centres listening: students read the panels as closely as the words, and the teacher guide has content notes for every hard page.
Quick answers
Is it good for hesitant writers? Yes. Every exit ticket accepts a sketch with a caption, and sentence starters fade out over the unit.
Which edition? The original black-and-white edition or the full-colour 10th anniversary edition.
Priced in Canadian dollars, so it costs less here than the US-dollar price on TPT. Instant download after checkout.
Full details
Your students already know what happened. This Sugar Falls novel study asks what it MEANS. No recall questions. Every prompt in this study of David A. Robertson's graphic novel asks students to infer, listen for what a character feels, make a tough call, study the author's and artist's choices, or create something. It's built for Grade 7 and 8, linked to the Ontario Language curriculum (2023) and Grade 8 History, and written to handle a residential school survivor's true story with care. WHAT'S INCLUDED (36 pages, clickable PDF) Student booklet (29 pages) ► Course map: the whole unit on one clickable page ► 5 parts with 31 thinking prompts across 5 "lanes" (Between the Panels, Third Ear, Tough Call, Artist's Eye, Ember) ► 2 running trackers: Taken / Kept and an Echo Log ► Before reading: a class Listener's Code, a Three Ears listening warm-up, a cover read with a sealed prediction, a word wall and a private Strength Web ► 10 organizers and activities: Set the Room, Teaching Translator, Sugar Falls Soundscape, Size Shift, Two Skies poem, Cover Callback, Two-Sided Card, Ember to Fire, and more ► Talk Circle (seminar) prep with a talk tracker ► 5 exit tickets and an Ember Circle closing routine ► Final project choice board (6 options), project planner and single-point rubric ► Templates: response sheet, comic page, museum placards, sentence starters and a letter frame Teacher guide (7 pages) ► Start Here page and a day-one plan ► Content notes for every hard page, with a suggested approach for each ► Support lines to post, care practices and a family note you can send home ► Pacing for about ten 60-minute blocks ► Look-fors for all 31 prompts ► Ontario curriculum links and assessment notes WHY TEACHERS LIKE IT ✔ No prep. Print the student booklet and go. ✔ Prints clean in black and white. No shaded writing areas. ✔ Every page links to the course map, the page before and the page after. Great on screens. ✔ I Think → I See → So What built into every answer ✔ Built for hesitant writers: every exit ticket accepts a sketch with a caption, and sentence starters fade out over the unit PLEASE NOTE Sugar Falls is based on the true story of Betty Ross, an Elder from Cross Lake First Nation. The book shows children taken from their families, physical punishment, abuse by a priest (implied, not shown) and the death of a child. Content notes and a family note are included. Works with the original black-and-white edition and the full-colour 10th anniversary edition. Both have the same 40 numbered story pages. Students need access to the book. This is an independent teaching resource, not affiliated with the author or publisher. Terms: one licence = one teacher.
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