The fourth-grade reading curriculum allows for us to use Because of Winn-Dixie as a novel study as one of our units. The big ideas covered in this unit are:

• Students will describe characters in a story and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

• Students will learn parts of a story, drama, and poem.

• Students will build on their vocabulary.

• Students will compare their own point of view with the narrator or other characters.

• Students will determine the difference between literal and nonliteral meanings of words or phrases.

• Students will make connections between text and media.