Middle School

Everything on this site written with grades 6–8 in mind — the novels, the movies, the ways into a text that work with middle schoolers. Where the reading is challenging enough to matter and close enough to reach them.

Watercolor illustration of the White Witch in Narnia, with Charn ruins on the left and a snowy Narnia landscape on the right
Character Analysis

The White Witch and the Concept of Tyranny: Teaching Power and Justice Through Fantasy

The White Witch is not simply cruel—she is a tyrant with a theory, one she states aloud to a boy who has just asked how she could destroy a world. This article reads Jadis as a case study in how power exempts itself from the rules, tracing the three ways she escapes judgment across Lewis’s two novels: by argument, by force, and by law.

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Watercolor illustration of Scout and Jem sitting at a desk in a classroom, observing symbolic representations of Boo Radley behind a tree and Tom Robinson behind bars, with a mockingbird perched nearby.
Novel Studies

To Kill Two Mockingbirds: Stories of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson

“It is a sin to kill a mockingbird,” says Atticus in chapter 10. If you’ve ever had a student exclaim, “Oh, wait, that’s the title! But… what does it mean?”, this article will help you dive deeper into the metaphor, exploring the stories of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson and offering insights for your classroom discussions.

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