Jason Reynolds’s Sunny novel study lessons, CLICK HERE to find it on TpT.
Jason Reynold’s Sunny is a captivating novel that brings to life the struggles and joys of growing up in the inner city. This coming-of-age story centers around the character Sunny, an African-American teen living in Washington D.C., who discovers his own personal power while navigating through difficult family relationships, poverty, and racism. As educators, we can use this novel to engage students in meaningful conversations about important issues and help them gain a better understanding of their own lives.
Classroom Readings of Sunny
Depending on your students’ reading level and available classroom time, you may choose to have your students read the entire novel or assign individual chapters for reading assignments. By assigning individual chapters, it will give you more opportunities to pause along the way and discuss key themes as they appear throughout the book. You may also consider having your students write short reflections after each chapter or create visuals to represent ideas from the book such as a graphic organizer or Venn diagram. This will help keep your students engaged with the material throughout the course of your unit.
Incorporating Group Discussions
Group discussions are an effective way for students to share their opinions about topics addressed in the book. You can assign topics for groups to discuss during class time or even have them design their own discussion questions if they feel comfortable doing so. Before beginning a group discussion, it is important that you set expectations for how everyone should treat each other during these conversations as well as any rules that should be followed such as not speaking over one another or raising hands before speaking. It is also helpful to provide students with sentence starters such as “I agree because…” or “I disagree because…” so that they can express their thoughts in an organized manner without struggling to find words when sharing their ideas out loud.
Applying What They Learn
At the end of your unit on Jason Reynold’s Sunny, you could ask your students to think critically about what they learned from it and apply those lessons directly into their own lives. For example, you could have them create projects that include ways they can stand up against hate speech or racism and what actions they could take if they witness someone else being mistreated due to prejudice. Providing examples of people who have taken action against injustice is also a great way for them gain inspiration from real-life heroes like John Lewis who fought for civil rights during his lifetime or Malala Yousafzai who advocated for girls’ education despite threats of violence against her and her family.
Provide Connections to Real-World Issues
One way to help students engage with Jason Reynold’s Sunny is to provide connections between the characters and real-world issues. For example, Sunny struggles with multiple forms of identity throughout the novel, including race and gender identity. Educators can open up conversations about these topics by relating them back to current events and trends in society, helping students understand how they relate to Sunny’s story.
Encourage Self-Reflection
As Jason Reynold’s Sunny navigates his world and learns more about himself, it is important for educators to encourage self-reflection from their students. Ask questions that allow students to think critically about what is happening in Sunny’s life and how it relates back to their own experiences or feelings. This will help them draw personal connections between themselves and Sunny which will ultimately create a deeper understanding of both the character and themselves.
Discuss Theme & Symbolism
Themes such as identity, resilience, love, family dynamics, trustworthiness are all explored in depth within “Sunny”. Encouraging discussions around these themes helps students explore them further while also teaching them important analytical skills such as recognizing symbolism within a text. In addition, having conversations around symbols found within “Sunny” will help deepen student understanding of both theme and character development throughout the novel overall.
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Creating Connections With Characters
One of the best ways to engage students with literature is to create connections between characters and students’ own lives. With Jason Reynold’s Sunny, teachers can help students relate to the protagonist and understand her journey. Questions to consider for discussion could be, “How have you faced obstacles similar to those that Sunny faced? How did you overcome them? What did you learn from your experience?” These conversations will help bring the text alive for your students, allowing them to develop a deeper understanding of themselves in relation to the characters they are reading about.
Growth Mindset Activities
Jason Reynold’s Sunny is a great example of how persistence and resilience can lead us all towards success and personal growth. As such, it stands as an excellent reminder for teachers that growth mindset activities can be used in any subject area. One way to integrate this concept into classroom learning is through the use of reflective journals or portfolios. Ask your students to write (or draw) about their experiences with respect to Sunny, including what they have learned about themselves and life lessons that have been revealed along the way. Through these activities, your students will gain perspective on both what it takes to “win” at life and how important it is for them to recognize that failure is part of every journey—including their own educational one!
Cross-Curricular Projects
In addition to using Jason Reynold’s Sunny as a means of exploring character development or teaching growth mindset principles, educators can also use this book as an opportunity for cross-curricular projects. For example, if you are teaching math, ask your students questions related specifically Sunny’s character or plotline that require problem solving skills or data analysis. Or if you are teaching science, challenge your class by having them identify scientific phenomena mentioned throughout the book—and then explain what they mean! Involving multiple disciplines within one project will not only make your instruction more engaging but also provide valuable practice in connecting concepts across different subject areas.
Sunny by Jason Reynolds provides an engaging platform for teachers looking to open discussions about important social issues with their classes such as racism, sexism, poverty, etc.. The story follows Sunny’s journey through adolescence which allows us as readers—and our students—to think deeply about our own experiences growing up while learning valuable lessons along the way. Through readings of individual chapters from this beautiful novel combined with thoughtful group discussions and creative projects where kids can apply what they’ve learned into real life scenarios, our classrooms become powerful places filled with meaningful dialogue that will stay with our young learners long after we’ve finished studying this classic text together!
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