Onion John by Joseph Krumgold: A Homeschool Literature Unit Study

This homeschool literature unit study does NOT include the original book, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. You can obtain the original book through your local library or through retailers to use in conjunction with this curriculum.

Grade Levels: 5-9
Themes: Immigration, Community, Self-Reliance, Growing Up
Unit Projects: Essay, Interview, Social Studies Project, Art Project, Science Project, Research Paper
Schedule: 3 Schedules Included: (2) Three-week Schedules and (1) Four-week Schedule

Tolman Hall Literature Unit Studies are designed to give you the flexibility to design your own curriculum based on your children’s interests while still providing a solid foundation in literature. If used as designed, your children will learn and understand the literary concepts essential for doing well on standardized tests such as the SAT Literature Subject Test and the ACT Reading Test. Even more important, Tolman Hall Literature Studies will open your students’ eyes to ideas, concepts, and deeper meanings that they may previously have skimmed over in cursory literature studies and in their reading for pleasure.

Each Unit Study provides background information about the author, several possible unit study schedules, a plot overview, and individual lessons. The lessons each contain a reading assignment, a summary and analysis of the assignment, a vocabulary lesson, a reading quiz, and short essay questions. Depending on your needs and schedule, you can customize the lessons to fit your students’ needs. As the teacher, you can read along with your students, or if you’re short on time, you can keep up by simply reading the summaries and analyses of each lesson, which give enough information for you to discuss the assignment with your student.

Many homeschooling parents teach more than one student at a time, and with Tolman Hall Unit Studies, you can teach the same work of literature at several grade levels. For instance, you could assign the same reading to students in grades 7 and 9 but assign the 9th grader more difficult writing assignments and more mature end-of-unit projects. In this way, your whole family can discuss the same books and authors while still meeting grade-appropriate requirements.

Written by Newbery Winner Joseph Krumgold, Onion John tells the story of Little Leaguer Andy Rusch and his friend Onion John, a much older European immigrant. Andy is the only person in the town of Serenity who can understand Onion John's unique way of talking, and he loves to listen to John's stories and superstitions. But when Andy's father decides the Rotary Club should build Onion John a new modern home, everything turns upside down.