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The Breadwinner-Chapter Questions

Chapter-by-chapter comprehension questions cover all 15 chapters of the novel The Breadwinner, with answer lines for students to write responses.
Grades
Grades 5–8, Elementary, Middle School
File type
PDF
Preparation
Print ready

Updated Sep 20, 2021

Subject
ELA, Reading
Topic
The Breadwinner Novel, Novels
Resource types
Worksheets & Printables, Novel Studies
Preparation
Print ready
Standards
CCSS.RL.6.1

About this resource

What's inside this resource

The Breadwinner, a children's novel by Deborah Ellis is about an 11-year-old girl named Parvana. She is forced by circumstances to be the breadwinner for her family in a war-torn Taliban-era in Afghanistan.

A great way for students to recap their knowledge and understanding of the Novel, The Breadwinner!

After reading each chapter, independently or as a read aloud, students will have the opportunity to complete questions to ensure understanding of the text.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Students will recall and explain key plot events, character motivations, and setting details from each of the novel's 15 chapters.

  • Students will make inferences about characters' choices using textual evidence.

  • Students will track how Parvana's circumstances and relationships change across the novel.

Teaching tips

  • Assign the chapter questions as a post-reading check after each chapter rather than all at once, given the set covers all 15 chapters individually.

  • Chapter 15's final question ('Did you like how the novel ended? Explain why or why not.') works well as a culminating discussion or written reflection.

  • Since the novel is set under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, pre-teach context before Chapter 1's questions about why Parvana wasn't 'supposed to be outside.'

Skills covered

  • Chapter-level comprehension recall — students answer three to twelve short-answer questions per chapter covering plot, character, and setting.

  • Inference-making — students explain characters' reasoning and hidden motivations, such as why Nooria hides when soldiers enter.

  • Sequential plot tracking — students follow Parvana's changing situation across 15 chapters, from her father's arrest to disguising herself as a boy.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

What central disguise does Parvana adopt partway through the novel, and how do the chapter questions track this development?

Parvana begins dressing and working as a boy to support her family after her father's arrest; later chapters ask students to explain why she agreed to the plan and how she felt running errands disguised this way.

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Curriculum

Standards, concepts & topics

Standards

  • CCSS.RL.6.1 — Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Core concepts

  • novel study

  • reading comprehension

  • character analysis

  • historical fiction

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