Mentor Text Linky {Language Arts} The Tiger Rising

I'm linking up with Amanda and Stacia for their Mentor Text Linky Party!  This week, the subject is language arts and I'm going to share one of my favorite favorite favorite books with you: The Tiger Rising!

Source - Amazon

If you haven't read it, The Tiger Rising is about a boy named Rob who finds a tiger in the woods behind the motel he calls home.  He then meets a girl who is new to town (Sistine) and feels compelled to tell her about the tiger.  She tries to convince him to let the tiger go and, as luck would have it, the keys to the cage are presented to Rob.  I won't ruin the end for you, but your students will have some very lively discussion about what Rob and Sistine should do and about how the author chooses to end the book.

I use this text to introduce symbolism to my students.  There are pretty heavy, and somewhat obvious, symbols used throughout the book.  My students love talking about "the cage" and Rob's suitcase.  In the text, the cage is an important image and students can discuss the characters who feel trapped in the story.  Rob's suitcase is an imaginary place where keeps his feelings and "not-thoughts" tucked away.  

Here is an organizer I used with my class to keep track of the symbols that popped up throughout the novel.  Click HERE to grab it!

 There's SO much you can do with this book.  It's great for inference, character analysis, simile and personification!  I'm working on editing the reading response sheets I used with my class and compiling all of the mini lessons we did so I can share them.  Hopefully I'll be done before I'm ready to read it to my next class!

Update: I'm done!  I just finished compiling the unit and I'm SO proud of it! The Tiger Rising Unit and Novel Study on TpT

This is an 83 page product filled with resources to help you teach the novel The Tiger Rising.

Included in The Tiger Rising Novel Study, you will find:

- Chapter by chapter notes for the teacher about the characters, symbolism, examples of literary technique and possible extension activities

- Comprehension questions for each chapter. 

- Quoting text mini lessons and text based evidence transitional phrases

- Vocabulary for each chapter, a graphic organizer for finding word meaning in context and a sheet for writing definitions and meaningful sentences.  I've also included cute, themed word cards for your to use on your word wall!

- Symbolism poster and graphic organizer

- Compare/Contrast mini lesson support; many of the prompts require the students to compare and contrast, so I've included posters for this topic.

- Reading Response Questions: these questions are more indepth and promote higher order thinking than basic comprehension questions.  There are 18 pages of questions with space for student responses.

-Character analysis graphic organizers: one organizer for each of the main and supporting characters in the text.  Students will use the character's words and deeds to support a trait chosen.

-Figurative language mini lesson resources to help you teach author's craft

- Fact and opinion sort 

Check out my TpT store to see the unit!

Have you read The Tiger Rising with your class?  What did they think?