Will CommonLit 360 include novels? What novels are included? Will the novels be provided?
CommonLit 360 is a free, full-year ELA curriculum for grades 6-12 that is designed to drive student growth in reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. CommonLit 360 exposes students to diverse genres and content, including full-length novels and dramas, short stories, scientific articles, historic speeches, Supreme Court cases, and more.
Each grade in the CommonLit 360 curriculum includes at least one novel or drama unit, one thematic unit, one research unit, and one argumentative writing unit. In addition, CommonLit 360 provides resources to support teachers with creating routines around the independent reading of novels in their classrooms throughout the year.
Full-length Novel Units
In a CommonLit 360 classroom, students read full-length novels and full-length dramas by award-winning authors such as George Orwell, Jacqueline Woodson, Ray Bradbury, and Shakespeare with their classmates.
Please note: The novels themselves are not provided by CommonLit. The CommonLit 360 curriculum provides supplemental texts, activities, resources, and more to engage in the instruction of these novels.
Each unit comes with lesson materials built around the novel to support educators to make their novel instruction engaging – chapter guides, reading and writing lessons, supplemental texts, discussion lessons, and more. Students can delve into the complexities of the novel, make connections between texts, and explore related themes or issues.
Here is a snapshot of books students will encounter through direct instruction in CommonLit 360:
Middle School (Grades 6-8), Edition 2.0
| Grade & Unit | Title & Author | ISBN Number | Other Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6th Grade, Unit 3 Edition 2.0 | The Giver by Lois Lowry | 978-0-544-33626-1 | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 1993 edition |
| 7th Grade, Unit 3 Edition 2.0 | Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson | 978-0-14-751582-7 | Penguin Random House 2016 Edition |
| 8th Grade, Unit 3 Edition 2.0 | Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose | 978-0-14-310440-7 | Penguin Classics 2006 Edition |
High School (Grades 9-10), Edition 2.0* (Cont.)
| Grade & Unit | Title & Author | ISBN Number | Other Details |
| 9th Grade, Unit 2 Edition 2.0 | Animal Farm by George Orwell | 978-0-451-52634-2 | Signet Classics 1996 Edition (Same as Ed1.0) |
| 9th Grade, Unit 5 Edition 2.0 | Antigone by Sophocles | 978-0-14-044425-4 | The Penguin Classics version of The Three Theban Plays includes the Fagles translation of Antigone that the CommonLit unit references. |
| 10th Grade, Unit 2 Edition 2.0 | Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury | 978-1-4516-7331-9 | Simon & Schuster 2012 or 2018 edition |
| 10th Grade, Unit 3 Edition 2.0 | A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry | 978-0-679-75533-3 | Vintage 2004 Edition |
| 10th Grade, Unit 5 Edition 2.0 | Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe | 978-0-385-47454-2 | Penguin Books 2017 edition (Same as Ed1.0) |
*Texts used in High School (Grades 9-10) Edition 1.0 indicated in "Other Details" column.
High School (Grades 11-12), Edition 1.0
| Grade & Unit | Title & Author | ISBN Number | Other Details |
| 11th Grade, Unit 1 Edition 1.0 | The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald | 978-1-9821-4948-2 | Scribner 2020 edition (Additionally, this novel is in the public domain and available free of charge from Project Gutenberg.) |
| 11th Grade, Unit 2 Edition 1.0 | Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston | 978-0-06-112006-0 | Harper Collins 2006 Edition |
| 11th Grade, Unit 4 Edition 1.0 | Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko | 978-0-14-310491-9 | Penguin Classics 2006 Edition |
| 11th Grade, Unit 5 (A) Edition 1.0 | The Crucible by Arthur Miller | 978-0-14-243733-9 | Penguin Books 1995 Edition |
| 11th Grade, Unit 5 (B) Edition 1.0 | Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson | 978-0-8129-8496-5 | One World; Reprint edition (August 18, 2015) |
| 12th Grade, Unit 1 Edition 1.0 | Frankenstein by Mary Shelley | 978-0-141-43947-1 | Penguin Classics 2003 edition (Additionally, this novel is in the public domain and available free of charge from Project Gutenberg. Use this document to compare the chapter numbers.) |
| 12th Grade, Unit 3 Edition 1.0 | Othello by William Shakespeare | 978-0-7434-7755-0 | Folger Shakespeare Library 2017 Updated Edition |
| 12th Grade, Unit 4 Edition 1.0 | The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri | 978-0-358-06268-4 | Mariner Classics 2019 Edition |
| 12th Grade, Unit 5 Edition 1.0 | The Stranger by Albert Camus | 978-0-679-72020-1 | First Vintage International Edition, March 1989 |
Support for Independent Reading of Novels and Other Long-Form Texts
In addition to our dedicated novel units, CommonLit 360 encourages teachers to create classroom routines that introduce more novels and long-form texts throughout the year through independent reading. Teachers have access to Independent Reading Teacher Guides that help them support students in reading full-length, self-selected books that align to unit themes. The guides help teachers develop accountability systems and check for understanding with the goal of encouraging a deep love of literature.
These supports include:
- Suggested independent reading lists that include novels and texts with an array of genres , stories, and topics at different instructional levels that novel lists connected to unit themes (up to 10 suggested novels and full-length texts per independent reading list)
- Accountable independent reading routines (ex. reading logs, narrative prompts)
- Student-led book club resources to make independent reading collaborative and discussion-rich
With these resources, teachers and school leaders are empowered to incorporate novel instruction into any CommonLit 360 unit based on the needs of their students and community.
To learn more about the CommonLit 360 Curriculum, view the full Scope & Sequence here. Have more questions? Reach out to help@commonlit.org.