Free Materials for Catcher in the Rye

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

• Catcher "Shy Guy" Introduction Handout

• Article About 1950s Lifestyles and Trends

• Article # 2: Catcher Background

• Catcher Opening Journal

• Catcher in the Rye Annotations Assignment Sheet

• Catcher in the Rye Annotations Assignment Sheet (different version from a different year.)

Vocabulary

• Catcher in the Rye Vocabulary List

• Stream of Consciousness Vocab Activity

• Vocabulary Grouping Activity

• Catcher Vocabulary Quiz (paid product)

During Reading Materials

• Catcher Opening Passage Analysis, Literary Terms Notes, Rubric

• Catcher 1st Page Literary Terms PowerPoint

• Catcher 1st Page Literary Terms Matching Quiz (paid product)

• Holden Character Analysis Questions Chapters 1-7

• Catcher Small Group Discussion Chapters 7-10

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.

• Isolation Quotation Analysis 1-Group 1 (Chapter 8)

• Isolation Quotation Analysis 2 (Chapter 9)

• Isolation Quotation Analysis 3 (Middle of Chapter 9)

• Isolation Quotation Analysis 4 (Chapter 9)

• Isolation Quotation Analysis 5

• Isolation Quotation Analysis 6

• Isolation Quotation Analysis 7

• Isolation Quotation Analysis 8

• Isolation Quotation Analysis 9

Other Assignments