Novels in verse are such a gift to readers of all ages, but especially young adults. For avid readers, YA novels in verse make for an engaging change of pace, and for striving readers, they make ELA skills more accessible. From a Literature Circle standpoint, YA novels in verse are the perfect genre because the word count isn’t as intimidating as a traditional novel, but middle school novels in verse are still just as rich in discussion points and ELA elements. If you want to learn more about novel in verse literature circles and novels in verse activities to do with your lit circles, read on to hear how middle school ELA teacher Mrs. Wanser sets hers up!

Victoria Wanser, NBCT, teaches seventh grade on Long Island, New York. She loves reading and sharing her love of reading with her students. Read on to see how Victoria encourages her students to read, discuss, and fall in love with novels-in-verse.
The lights are dimmed, the room is quiet, and the middle school students are totally absorbed in their books. Now imagine small groups of these middle school students having animated discussions about the importance of characters, the impact of conflicts within the story, and the development of themes across the text. With a novel-in-verse unit that centers around student choice and engagement, you, and, most importantly, your students will experience the power of a good book and a great conversation.
Because YA verse novels and the accompanying novels in verse activities are so engaging, I tend to end the year with this unit. I start by giving my students time to explore a wide variety of titles on a Padlet, and then I encourage them to spend time with the actual book to see if the length, the topic, the vocabulary, the font, etc. will work for the students. One thing I’ve noticed about the students is that they love picking the same books as their friends, and while some might find this concerning, I’ve found that giving students the option to read with their friends is another way for them to connect with their friends through a text. Once the books are chosen, the students set their reading calendars, and then it’s off to the reading races.

The students have three weeks to read their books, and every few days, I incorporate a lesson from the Novel-in-Verse Vault to reinforce the strategies that we learned throughout the year, to apply these strategies to a new text, and to encourage the students to have meaningful conversations about their books. Because middle school students respond to structure and consistently, I follow the same format when introducing one of the graphic organizers in the Novel-in-Verse Vault: We read a short poem to focus on the teaching point, several of which are included in the Novel-in-Verse Vault, then we practice with one graphic organizer as a class, finally, the students work on the graphic organizer with their reading groups. When we get to the theme organizers, I will often model how to use two different theme graphic organizers, and then the reading groups choose the graphic organizer that they like the best.

Middle School Novels in Verse Activity 1: Character Chronicles/ Setting Showoff
I like starting with these two options because they both help the students to identify the exposition of the YA novel-in-verse, and the students have the ability to choose the character or the setting on which they want to focus. Setting Showoff requires that for the students to read with their senses; they have to describe how the author uses sensory details to help the reader visualize the setting, and the students have to include a collage that represents their setting and includes all five senses, which, to be honest, is their favorite part of the graphic organizer. Finally, the students are challenged to think about why the author chose the setting, and how this setting contributes to the story.

With the Character Chronicles graphic organizer, students have to choose a major character from their novel-in-verse and analyze how this character grows and changes through the use of direct and indirect characterization. There is a link to a mini lesson on direct and indirect characterization, which the students found very helpful because they can watch it as many times as they need. Their favorite part, however, is the acrostic poem. The students love to find just the right words to describe their character.

Lit Circles Novel in Verse Activity 2: Verse Vibes
The Verse Vibes novels in verse activity asks the students to go deep into the mood of the story by having them analyze the word choices that the author made and how the connotation of these words contributes to the mood of the story. There is a link to a mini lesson on connotation for the students to watch as needed, and the students have to choose a visual that reveals the mood of the passage. I’ve found that this graphic organizer is the most challenging for the students because they have to think so deeply about the author’s choices; however, with the structure of the organizer and the support of the teacher, the students do rise to the challenge.

Middle School Novels in Verse Activity 3: Conflict Continuum
We spend so much of our time in seventh grade discussing conflict and its impact on characters and their choices that this graphic organizer is a natural fit for the novel-in-verse unit. The students have to decide where the conflict is introduced, and then analyze how the story would be different if the conflict were introduced elsewhere in the text. This is such an important task because it forces the students to really think about how the conflict(s) drive the story, and how smaller conflicts are caused as a result of a larger conflict. Finally, the students have to explore secondary conflicts in their novel, and explain how the secondary conflict adds to the story.

Lit Circles Novel in Verse Activity 4: Seeking Symbols
For this novel in verse graphic organizer, students first look at a sample poem, Youth, by Georgia Douglas Johnson, and analyze the symbols in this poem. I prefer to do this with my students because middle school students tend to struggle with identifying symbols within a text. Once they feel confident, they go back into their novel-in-verse, locate a passage with a symbol, and explain its significance. I do encourage them to find a symbol that repeats throughout the story because that helps them to better understand the symbol and its significance to the story. Like Character Chronicles, this graphic organizer includes a mini lesson on symbolism that the students can watch as many times as they need.

Middle School Novels in Verse Activity 5: Theme
I cannot say enough about the three theme novels in verse activities that are part of the Novel-in-Verse Vault. Each graphic organizer asks the students to analyze the development of the theme over the course of the novel-in-verse, but does so through three different lenses.

Theme Thief has the students make connections between their lives and the novel-in-verse and has them elaborate on how they would apply this theme to their lives.

Theme Throwdown has the students weigh the evidence behind two different themes; the students then have to decide, based on this evidence, which theme the author feels more strongly about and why.

Finally, Theme Theatre has the students choose three different scenes from their novels-in-verse, describe how the scene revealed the theme, and analyze how these themes relate to their own lives.
I hope this post inspires your next middle school novel in verse unit and makes planning a breeze with these novels in verse activities!
[…] I love using genre-based literature circles because it helps students recognize different types of books and figure out what works best for them. If your units are based on genre (and even if they aren’t), consider building your choice reading unit as an extension of your full-class novel by tying them together with a genre study. Since most libraries are categorized by genre, I find that this is a familiar connection students are able to make when working with two books at once. For example, you may be doing a whole class poetry study while students are reading choice novels in verse. […]