The City of Ember No-Prep Sub Plan | Novel Study Literacy Activities
Save planning time with this ready-to-use The City of Ember no-prep sub plan, designed as a complete one-day literacy lesson for relief teachers, CRTs, emergency cover, or classroom novel study sessions.
Students read Chapters 1–3 of The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, then complete focused reading comprehension questions, a Vocabulary Spotlight activity, a Lina or Doon Character Facebook Profile activity, and an Ember Job Recommendation writing task.
This printable PDF resource is ideal for busy teachers who need a meaningful, low-prep English lesson that builds key skills in reading comprehension, vocabulary development, inference, character analysis, written responses, and text evidence.
The activities focus on the opening chapters of the novel, including Assignment Day, Lina and Doon’s first jobs, the problems within Ember, and the early clues that suggest the city is organised but troubled.
What’s Included
- Teacher instructions page
- Warm-Up / Bell Ringer activity
- Reading comprehension questions
- Vocabulary Spotlight activity
- Lina or Doon Character Facebook Profile activity
- Ember Job Recommendation writing task
- Comprehension answer key
- Student success criteria
- Printable PDF format
Skills Covered
- Reading comprehension
- Retrieval
- Inference
- Vocabulary development
- Context clues
- Character analysis
- Text evidence
- Written responses
- Problem-solving
- Dystopian fiction understanding
- Discussion skills
Perfect For
- Relief teachers / CRTs
- Emergency lessons
- Novel study sessions
- Guided reading
- Independent literacy work
Why Teachers Will Love It
This print-and-go The City of Ember resource gives students a structured literacy lesson without requiring extra planning. The activities are clear enough for a relief teacher to follow, while still supporting meaningful work around Lina, Doon, Assignment Day, Ember’s problems, character choices, vocabulary, and writing skills.
It can be used as a one-day sub plan, backup English lesson, guided reading task, or short novel study activity when introducing The City of Ember.
