Orbiting Wonder

A comprehensive six-week English Language Arts curriculum for high school freshmen centered on R.J. Palacio's 'Wonder'. This unit analyzes how shifting narration, point of view, and multi-perspective characterization impact reader empathy and character development, culminating in evidence-based thematic essays on kindness and identity.

MCMakaela Carias

Launching the Orbit

Focuses on Part 1 (August). Introduces the concept of first-person narration, character voice, and narrative reliability. Students analyze how August establishes his identity and how his perspective guides our initial understanding of Beecher Prep.

Dual Gravities

Focuses on Parts 2 & 3 (Via & Summer). Introduces the concept of shifting narration and contrasting viewpoints. Students examine how familial obligations, grief, and genuine friendship shape how other characters see August and how they see themselves.

Shifting Satellites

Focuses on Parts 4 & 5 (Jack & Justin). Explores typography as voice, socio-economic factors in peer pressure, and the courage required to stand up to social norms. Students compare Jack's cognitive dissonance with Justin's experimental stream-of-consciousness writing.

Eclipsed Truths

Focuses on Parts 6 & 7 (August's medical updates & Miranda). Examines motivations of secondary characters, the impact of secret keeping, and the concept of subjective reality versus absolute truth as friendships drift and realign.

Cosmic Collision

Focuses on Part 8 (August). Analyzes the resolution of primary conflicts, structural shifts, and the return to August's perspective. Students study character transformation, narrative closure, and prep for thematic synthesis.

Universal Impact

Focuses on the entire novel. Culminates in a thematic synthesis, drafting, revising, and presenting evidence-based literary analysis essays centered on the novel's core values: kindness, friendship, and identity.