A Wrinkle in Time Book Activities for your Middle School Class

Cooperative Group Activities

Working in cooperative groups gets students involved and working with others. Groups should be broken up into approximately four students in each. The children should have different academic levels; so that students who are at a higher level can help those at a lower reading level understand the story better. Each child is given a role such as leader, secretary, fact finder and presenter. Students take turns reading the story and actively work together to answer questions related to the story or to summarize each chapter of the story.

Students can work in groups to learn about space travel. The teacher should write questions down on the board related to time travel. These include:

1. How far is the sun from the earth?
2. Why does the sky appear to be black when a person is in space?
3. Why don’t stars appear in photos of astronauts in space?
4. What are the reasons that the space shuttle doesn’t take trips to the moon?
5. Can you list the benefits of space programs as well as what was learned from them?

Have the children work in their groups to find the answers. Tell them they can use the encyclopedia, online sources and scientific magazines to find their answer. When complete, students present their findings.

Set Up for Learning in Centers

Create learning centers for students to actively explore different themes and elements that make up the story A Wrinkle in Time.

Reading:

For the reading center, have students explore this and other books related to space travel.

Science:

In the science center, put magazines and books about space out on a table. Have students create a collage.

Computer:

In the computer center, students go online and read a study guide on the book or take an online quiz.

Writing:

In the writing center, set up a writing prompt for students by asking questions about the characters in A Wrinkle in Time (find more about the characters in this study guide). Students can also act out parts of the story in the play area.

WebQuests on the Book

There are WebQuests available online to use when planning activities. A Wrinkle in Time WebQuest gives students a thorough synopsis of the book, its characters and themes in the story. Students work together in small groups to complete it.

The literary explorer A Wrinkle in Time gives a complete summary and thorough analysis of characters in the story. Included is a synopsis, author biography, literary concepts, time travel, math and science activities, the Universe, history of space travel, “creature feature” writing workshop, light bearers historical figures and a diagram of a hypercube. Students will learn a lot about the story, its themes and science from visiting this WebQuest.

Do you have any activities that are fun to share on A Wrinkle in Time? Please include information in the comment section.

References

• Teaching experience.