Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources for When You Reach Me

Use When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead to turn your read aloud or small group work into a time to improve comprehension and talk about the text in purposeful ways.

Miranda is unsure what to think when she starts to receive mysterious notes from an unknown source. These notes warn her that a friend is in trouble and, seem legitimate, because they correctly predict future events. The note writer also tells her not to share the messages with others; leaving Miranda to solve this mystery on her own. Author Rebecca Stead expertly weaves the clues to solving this mystery throughout the story elements, making this a perfect chapter book for a Book Club focused on making inferences. Expect to share many ah ha!" moments with students as they navigate this well-crafted mystery."

Explore lesson plans and activities to help you teach with When You Reach Me in the drop down below.

Instructional Overview

The first page of Book Club for When You Reach Me Instructional Overview

Instructional Overview

The instructional overview includes instructional background for making inferences, instructional objectives for each of the Book Club meetings, and a list of the materials and preparation necessary to host the When You Reach Me Book Club.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Management Resources

The first page of Book Club for When You Reach Me Management Resources

Management Resources

The management resources include a Book Club Calendar, conversation prompts, Student Self-Evaluation forms, Reading Response Board (with optional Common Core alignment), and an Expectations for Book Club anchor chart.

Meeting 1

Mysteries, like When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, are perfect for readers developing their ability to make inferences to deepen their comprehension. Prime students to make inferences to solve a mystery with a ready-to-use mini mystery game.

Meeting 2

Throughout the When You Reach Me Book Club, readers will be making inferences to learn more about the characters of the story and to try to solve the mystery before the author reveals the answer. This meeting will provide the opportunity for students to look for details in the text that support predetermined inferences.

Meeting 3

Building on the last meeting, students will now formulate their own inferences based on the details author Rebecca Stead included in When You Reach Me. Group discussion focuses on inferring information about the various characters that have been presented so far and a graphic organizer is used to help students track their thinking while reading independently.

Meeting 4

Readers will begin to notice recurring themes in the inferences they are making. This When You Reach Me Book Club meeting focuses discussion on drawing conclusions when students make similar inferences over and over, and knowing when to dismiss an inference they made because there is not enough text evidence to support it.

Meeting 5

Making inferences and making predictions can be tricky concepts to differentiate. As students approach the end of Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me, they will see how the inferences they made throughout the Book Club can inform their predictions of the solution of the mystery.

Meeting 6

This final When You Reach Me Book Club meeting is full of "ah ha!" moments for readers. Now that the mystery has been solved, students can go back through the details in the story and see how they could have inferred the ending. The culminating activity encourages creativity as well as the demonstration of the skills related to making inferences that the students gained throughout their participation in the Book Club.

Vocabulary Connections with When You Reach Me

The first page of Vocabulary Connections with When You Reach Me

Vocabulary Connections with When You Reach Me

This set of vocabulary development resources for When You Reach Me highlights the words that are most important for students to know and understand while reading the book.  Through engaging in fun word games, matching words to definitions, and practicing how to categorize words, students will develop the vocabulary necessary to comprehend this story and many others.

Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Focus Assessment and Rubric

The first page of Book Club for When You Reach Me Focus Assessment and Rubric

Focus Assessment and Rubric

Use this six-question assessment to determine whether or not students understand the key concepts associated with making inferences.

Running Record with When You Reach Me

Thumbnail for Running Record with When You Reach Me

Running Record with When You Reach Me

Use this Running Record to assess oral reading fluency with When You Reach Me. Track meaning, structure, and visual accuracy using the first 100 words of the text to determine whether or not this book is a good fit for the readers in your classroom.

Management Resources - Spanish

The first page of Book Club for When You Reach Me Management Resources

Management Resources - Spanish

The management resources include a Book Club Calendar, conversation prompts, Student Self-Evaluation forms, Reading Response Board (with optional Common Core alignment), and an Expectations for Book Club anchor chart.

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About the Book

The cover for the book When You Reach Me
Title: When You Reach Me
Author: Rebecca Stead
Genre: Mystery
Themes: Award Winners, Bullying, Friendship
ISBN: 9780375892691
Publisher's Summary:
Shortly after a fall-out with her best friend, sixth grader Miranda starts receiving mysterious notes, and she doesn’t know what to do. The notes tell her that she must write a letter—a true story, and that she can’t share her mission with anyone. It would be easy to ignore the strange messages, except that whoever is leaving them has an uncanny ability to predict the future. If that is the case, then Miranda has a big problem—because the notes tell her that someone is going to die, and she might be too late to stop it.
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