When You Reach Me - Tanya Beers

Tanya Beers

IST571: Children's Literature Lit Kit

Book: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Lesson Plan and Selling Tool:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jnfKBud-sTEQe2mqq5guXAwEo5ZBcJovjr5v4C5HfrE/edit

Tanya Beers

IST571: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead –Lit Kit

Title: When You Reach Me

Author:  Rebecca Stead

Lexile Level: 750L

Grade Level:   3rd – 7th grade

Age Range: 9 through 13 years

ISBN #: 1921656069

Miranda is a 6th-grade student, living in New York City in 1978 with her mother. She begins 
receiving anonymous notes in different areas where she is sure to find them. At first she is 
frightened and then intrigued because she has no idea who the notes are coming from. Mystery 
mixes with fantasy in this novel about a young girl growing and maturing as she navigates her 
everyday interactions and her not-so-everyday magical encounters.

Lesson for 6th graders:

Students will read When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.

The character Miranda lives in the Upper West side of New York City. I will show this area 
to the students on Google maps so they can visualize where the story takes place.

Students will respond to the following questions about the reading in a 2 page essay:

1. What are the similarities and differences between Julia and Miranda?

2. How does Miranda’s friendship with Sal change in the book?

3. Why will Marcus eventually lose his sanity?

4. Does Miranda’s relationship with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend change in the 
book?

5. How would you feel if you knew one of your closest friends would one day lose their 
sanity?

Students will also write their own fantasy/mystery that will be no more than 3 pages, 
double-spaced. If students wish to share their story with the class by reading it aloud they 
are welcome to do that but it is their choice.

Learning Standards:

Common Core ELA Writing Standards 6-12 (Grade 6).

6.3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,

relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator 
and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.

b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop 
experiences, events, and/or characters.

c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and 
signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.

d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language 
to convey experiences and events.

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

6.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style 
are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types 
are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

a. Produce text (print or non-print) that explores a variety of cultures and perspectives.

Learning Goal:

Students will depict their knowledge of the reading through an essay and use their creative 
writing skills to write their own fantasy/mystery.

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will depict their knowledge of the reading by answering the assigned questions 
in the form of an essay (Cognitive).

2. Through the assigned essay, students will write about how they would feel if they knew 
that one of their closest friends would one day lose their sanity (Affective).

3. Students will display their creative writing skills by writing their own fantasy/mystery 
story, using their reading as inspiration (Psychomotor).

Learning Outcome:

Students will display their writing skills and understanding of the lesson through two writing 
assignments.

Works Cited:

New York State Department of Education. (2011). New York State P-12 Common Core Learning 
Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. Retrieved from https://www.engageny.org/
resource/new-york-state-p-12-common-core-learning-standards-for-english-language-arts-
and-literacy.

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. Yearling, 2010.

Selling Tool: Book Trailer for When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwQcPyue_HE