We are so excited about Maddie McDowell and the Rodeo Robbery! This new traditional middle grade novel is a wonderful historical mystery of a girl seeking for adventure and what really matters in life. LuAnn M. Rod’s debut novel is filled with all sorts of fun twists and turns, strong middle grade voice, and deep understandings earned through perseverance.
We’re excited to be bringing you this fun story, but that’s not all we have to offer.
Chicken Scratch Books was created with a strong focus on teaching. As you probably know, we offer online courses for writers seeking to strengthen their craft. What you may not know is that we also offer Online Novel Study Courses for students based on every book we publish.
Our Online Novel Study Courses are targeted to middle grade age kids – the kids who are reading our books. Each course includes:
- Guided deep analysis of the story.
- Direct work in a specific literary focus skill.
- Vocabulary, writing, and project work.
- More than a dozen instructional videos.
- Three videos from the author!
Our courses are individual student based, with a combination of online work, paper and pencil work, and videos. The curriculum is designed by experienced, certified teachers and goes beyond standards expectations. They are perfect for a homeschool setting, small group study, or even a whole classroom novel study unit.
The Maddie McDowell and the Rodeo Robbery Online Novel Study Course is like nothing else out there.
We’re very excited to offer you this unique extension to a unique traditional story.
What are the online courses about?
For each book we publish, we create a companion online course for kids that focuses on deep analysis, literary skills, writing, and personal application. We incorporate all the elements of a robust novel study unit into an individualized online platform, and then make it fun with videos and project choice.
I created this video to explain in much more detail what these courses are like and why they’ll be an excellent addition to your readers’ novel study.
Click here to watch the video Intro to Novel Study Courses and learn more about what we offer.
Because we only publish new traditional middle grade novels, you can trust the deep analysis of our novel study work to focus on the literature itself, not any social agendas.
Our only agenda is good literature. Helping kids learn to analyze literature deeply is our goal.
Maddie McDowell and the Rodeo Robbery Online Course
The Maddie McDowell and the Rodeo Robbery – Novel Study Course is geared for students in grades 5-8, the target audience for upper middle grade novels. In this course students are guided in close reading, focused on one specific literary skill, challenged with vocabulary finding and quizzes, given a culmination writing assignment, and a personal application project they get to choose.
Click here for downloadable PDF course outline for Maddie McDowell and the Rodeo Robbery – Novel Study Course.
Do you know students in 5th – 8th grade? Do you know the gatekeepers of these kids? This curriculum is ideal for a homeschool setting, a small group or rural school environment, or a full classroom novel study unit. Share this information with them, and have them go to our website and check out what we have to offer.
Helping students recognize all a novel has to offer is one of the highlights of my teaching career. I love helping kids see more in literature than they do on their own.
I retired from teaching to start Chicken Scratch Books. One of my biggest reservations was walking away from analyzing literature with my students. When I landed on the idea of bringing that teaching to my publishing company, I knew I’d found my calling. The creation of my business was geared around this concept from the ground up.
Now I get to offer it to you.
Chicken Scratch Books gives you more than just great literature. Our online student novel study courses help kids improve their reading, language, and writing skills. But even more importantly than that, our courses help them see themselves in stories filled with traditional values.
Let’s spread the word about Chicken Scratch Books and all we have to offer.