Teacher notes
The Crossover is a novel in verse, so this unit teaches poetry without calling it a poetry unit. Students analyze the 13 forms Kwame Alexander uses, then write their own, including a definition poem in Josh's style. The basketball theme (quarters, plays, stat sheets) keeps reluctant readers in the game, and the teacher guide covers how to teach the ending with care.
Quick answers
Is there a French version? Yes: Frères, built for the Albin Michel translation.
Does the edition matter? No. References use part names and poem titles, so any edition works.
Priced in Canadian dollars, so it costs less here than the US-dollar price on TPT. Instant download after checkout.
Full details
Josh Bell and his twin brother JB are the stars of an undefeated basketball team, until a girl, a haircut and their dad's hidden health problem start pulling the family apart. This Crossover novel study never asks students "what happened?" Every prompt asks what it means, why people did it, how Kwame Alexander built the poem, and what students would have done. The whole unit is themed as a basketball game that follows the book's own parts: Warm-Up, four quarters and Overtime. Each period has a menu of "plays," a hands-on drill, and stat sheets that track the twins, Dad's ten Basketball Rules, and every warning sign the family misses. WHAT'S INCLUDED (57 pages, letter size) Student booklet (45 pages) - 6 period menus with 36 plays (6 per part of the book). Students pick two per week from five lenses: Film Room, Crossover, Jump Ball, Form Check and Freestyle. - 6 hands-on drills everyone does: Scouting Report, Definition Lab (write your own "As in" poem), Instant Replay (rule on the pass like a replay official), Fix It Fast, Because + Questions, and Final Buzzer (four meanings of "crossover" + write Rule #11). - 5 stat-sheet trackers: Dad's rulebook, a brother scoreboard with a graph, warning signs (foreshadowing), form stats (13 poetry forms) and motifs + names. - Pre-reading hook (Locker Room) and an anticipation guide with a sealed prediction. - Organizers: shot chart (claim, evidence, so what), fast break (cause and effect), the unsaid, a two-track season schedule, and a team roster relationship map. - Socratic seminar prep ("The Huddle") with 9 big questions and a move tracker. - 6 final project choices, including a graphic panel remix of a poem, a play-by-play podcast, a heart-health PSA, and a verse memoir. - 6 player cards, 5 playbook templates (debate builder, form check spotter, remix, graphic panels, interview planner) and a 24-word vocabulary page built on Josh's own definition poems. - 6 exit tickets, a project planner, a single-point rubric and two Level 1–4 rubrics. Teacher guide (12 pages) - Start-here checklist, unit map, and a 7-week plan (3-week option included) - Full plot key, plus a key to every warning sign that sets up the ending - Look-fors for all 36 plays and 6 drills, with extension prompts - Content notes, guidance for teaching the ending with care, and a parent letter - Ontario Language (2023) curriculum links and assessment plan WHY TEACHERS LIKE IT - No recall questions, so students can't answer by skimming. - The same weekly routine every week: read, drill, two plays, stat sheets, exit ticket. - Real poetry instruction: students analyze and write the forms Alexander uses. - 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 The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014). References use part names and poem titles, not page numbers, so any printing of the novel works. This is an independent teaching resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the author or publisher.
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