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Lawn Boy Novel by Gary Paulsen - Book Companion

Gary Paulsen's Lawn Boy becomes a combined reading and economics study, with chapter vocabulary, character-relationship pages, predictions and text-evidence questions that tie the story to entrepreneurship.
Grades
Grades 5–6, Elementary, Middle School
File type
Multiple File Types

Updated Oct 19, 2026

Subject
ELA, Social Studies, Reading, Reading Comprehension, Language Development, Vocabulary, Writing
Topic
entrepreneurship, book companion
Resource types
Worksheets & Printables, Novel Studies

About this resource

What's inside this resource

The Lawn Boy Book Companion

The Lawn Boy book companion for the novel by renowned author Gary Paulsen provides teachers a powerful tool to spark entrepreneurial spirit among middle school and upper elementary students. It interestingly ties Social Studies into English Language Arts (ELA), walking students through the journey of the protagonist, Lawn Boy, who builds a successful business from his grandfather's lawn mower.

What This Product Offers:

  • A comprehensive teacher plan that's easy to implement.
  • Interactive Google Slides for hands-on learning.
  • Versatile implementation options including group discussions and assignments.

Google Slides Edition:

This edition enhances engagement with comprehension questions from text excerpts. Focusing on this enhances reading understanding while simultaneously introducing students to different economic principles like shares, stock splits and buy-sell basics.

  • Finance-related Vocabulary: The product boosts vocabulary development in Language Arts with newly introduced financial terms which students apply in sentences for enhanced retention.
  • Stock Market Basics exposure & Activity: Students get an introductory peek at stock market dynamics through an engaging activity tracking chosen stocks' performance over time.
  • Digital & Printable Assignments: The materials come in two versions - digital Google Slide format and black-and-white printable version - accommodating various teaching styles preference.

Analytical Opportunities:

Social studies content meets ELA with opportunities to analyze business decisions and relationships - central themes of the novel enabling meaningful understanding of social science amidst regular English language study sessions. +
An included answer key aids educators quickly gauge comprehension after each session, ensuring optimal engagement and completion of each ELA lesson.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Define chapter vocabulary such as capitalism and economy using page references from the novel
  • Analyze how Lawn Boy's relationships with family members shape the story
  • Support short responses to chapter questions with evidence from the text

Teaching tips

  • Every student needs access to a copy of Lawn Boy, which is not part of the resource.
  • The digital version runs in Google Slides, so students need Google accounts to use it.

Skills covered

  • Vocabulary in context — defining economics and story terms from the page where they appear
  • Making predictions — recording what they expect to happen next and why
  • Text evidence — answering assessment prompts with support from the chapters

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Is the novel included with the companion?

The companion is built to be used alongside a copy of Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen, which is purchased or borrowed separately.

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

  • Novel study
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Capitalism
  • Character relationships
  • Text evidence

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