Number the Stars: How Lois Lowry Builds SuspenseSuspense Detective Board

Number the Stars: How Lois Lowry Builds SuspenseSuspense Detective Board | Grades 5–8

Help students investigate how Lois Lowry creates genuine suspense in Number the Stars. Instead of simply identifying that a scene feels suspenseful, students examine the specific author’s craft techniques Lowry uses to create tension, including foreshadowing, pacing, withheld information, and sensory description.
Students gather textual evidence from multiple parts of the novel, take a closer look at the climactic forest scene, and analyze how several techniques can work together to affect the reader. They also investigate how Lowry creates danger and uncertainty through implication rather than graphic detail before using their findings to create a collaborative Suspense Detective Board.

Included
- Teacher Directions & Student Overview
- Mini Research Questions & Online Resources
- 5-Step Group Activity
- 3 Research, Analysis & Planning Pages
- Color + Black-and-White Student Pages

Why Teachers Love This
- No prep and ready to use
- Designed for 1–2 class periods of 45–60 minutes
- Builds precise author’s craft vocabulary
- Strengthens close reading and textual evidence skills
- Moves students from identifying techniques to analyzing their effects
- Examines how multiple techniques work together
- Combines individual analysis with collaborative project work

Perfect For
- Number the Stars novel studies
- Author’s craft
- Suspense & tension
- Foreshadowing
- Pacing
- Sensory description
- Textual evidence
- Collaborative ELA projects
- Grades 5–8

Important Disclaimer
This is an independently created educational resource designed to accompany the novel Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It is not affiliated with, authorized by, endorsed by, or sponsored by Lois Lowry, the publisher of Number the Stars, or any related rights holder.
Number the Stars and its characters, storylines, settings, and other elements originating from the novel remain the intellectual property of their respective copyright holders. References to the novel, its characters, events, themes, scenes, and literary techniques are included solely for educational instruction, literary analysis, discussion, and classroom activities.
No text from the novel is reproduced or included in this resource, and this product is not intended to replace the novel. Students and teachers must have access to legally obtained copies of Number the Stars to complete activities requiring reading, textual evidence, or reference to the text.
Purchase of this educational resource does not include a copy of the novel and does not grant permission to reproduce, distribute, scan, upload, or otherwise share the novel.