Free Materials for Catcher in the Rye

The Practical EnglishTeacher is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Ah. Catcher in the Rye. Whenever I mentioned this book title at Back to School Night, it never failed to elicit a lot of groans from the parents in front of me, as well as the question: "I read that in high school. WHY are kids still reading Catcher in the Rye?" Uh...I don't really know? It's on the curriculum so I teach it....? And then once I taught it I wanted to KEEP teaching because kids react very strongly to Catcher. Most kids hate read Catcher and think Holden is ridiculous but there are always a few kids in the back clutching the book who are like "this book is my life!!" I love teaching any books that elicits a strong emotion in either direction rather than a lukewarm response or apathy....so therefore, I always loved Catcher. On a personal level, I love rereading Catcher because I always react differently to it. In high school I connected to it, in college I felt bad for Holden in adulthood I thought he was hilarious. I always tell kids to go back and reread Catcher in college or beyond....if they want.

I taught Catcher for a few years in a row and below are my materials. I did not use all of these materials every year. The materials are in the general order in which I used them.

Before Reading Materials

Vocabulary

 During Reading Materials

Isolation Quotation Analysis (Group work)

For this activity, I gave each group of students a different quotation related to isolation and required them to complete the analysis steps. I had each group share out when everyone was done.

Other Assignments

Symbolism Analysis & Presentation Groups

Similar to the isolation activity, I gave each group of students a different symbol and required them to complete the analysis steps. When everyone was done, they had to share out to the class.

Reading Quizzes

I always give my kids detailed and annoying reading quizzes. To each their own. These are all the different quizzes I have used over the years but I never managed to make answer keys for them.

Other Assessments

After Reading Materials

Catcher Paper (Assigned Essay 2018)

Catcher Research Paper

Connecting Books

These are all of the materials that I thought would be helpful for Catcher. If you have any materials that you would like to share with others, please feel free to post them in the comments section below.