Loser - Literature Kit Gr. 5-6


Book Description

Students deal with the concept of the human spirit and the importance of failure. Challenge students' comprehension of the novel with a variety of question styles and a final quiz. Students describe Zinkoff's self-image as it appears in the novel. Write a triangle poem about being a mail carrier. Find the synonym of vocabulary words found in the text. Students give their impressions of the teacher's speech on Zinkoff's first day of school. Understand the idea of "unconditional love" and its value in a parent-child relationship. Create a comic strip to highlight a brief incident from the story. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Loser chronicles the childhood of Donald Zinkoff, who is one of the most unusual, endearing characters ever to grace the pages of a novel for young readers. No matter what the game, Donald never wins. He trips over his own feet, constantly raises his hand without ever knowing the correct answer, and falls down laughing at the mention of any unusual word. The novel traces Donald’s journey from first to sixth grade. It details his important friendships, marks his relationships with different teachers, and describes how he copes with various shortcomings that everyone but Donald and his parents deem terribly important.




Loser (Novel Study) Gr. 4-7


Book Description

Loser is the story about the childhood of a young boy who never wins at games, trips on his own feet, raises his hand without ever knowing the correct answer, and falls down laughing at any unusual word. The novel traces Donald Zinkoff's journey from first to sixth grade. It details his important friendships, marks his relationships with different teachers, and describes how he copes with various shortcomings that everyone but himself and his parents deem terribly important. “Loser” is an excellent novel, which sensitively deals with the human spirit and the importance of failure. This Novel Study provides a teacher and student section with a variety of activities, discussion questions, crossword, word search and answer key to create a well-rounded lesson plan.




Wringer - Literature Kit Gr. 5-6


Book Description

Find the power to stand up for yourself and what you believe in. Students will become highly-engaged in the activities presented in this resource. Make predictions about what will happen in the following chapters based on what you know of the characters so far. Describe how Palmer felt about pigeons based on his reactions from the first two Pigeon Days. Answer multiple choice questions about Palmer's experience with his friends. Retell Palmer's reasons for not wanting to be a wringer as he tells them to Dorothy. Create a poem that describes Palmer's actions throughout the story. Describe three important settings from the novel and discuss some of the important plot events that happened at each of them. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Wringer teaches students the importance of self confidence and standing up against bullying. Palmer LaRue dreads the day he will turn ten years old. When he was just four years old, he witnessed his first Pigeon Day—a yearly celebration that takes place during Family Fest in the small town of Waymer. On this day, five thousand pigeons are shot. Traumatized by what he saw, Palmer forever feared the day he would turn ten and become a wringer. A wringer is someone who wrings the neck of wounded pigeons. Nearing his tenth birthday, Palmer falls in with a group of bullies who hate pigeons more than anything. At first, Palmer is proud of his new friendship, but that all changes when he befriends a pigeon. Wringer highlights Palmer’s struggle between what his friends think and what he feels is right.




Dear Mr. Henshaw - Literature Kit Gr. 5-6


Book Description

Explore the ultimate first-person narrative through the eyes of a young boy and his tale of self-discovery. Our resource is developmentally appropriate for students with special needs who read at a lower grade level. Students predict who Mr. Henshaw might be, and why he would be receiving a letter. Find antonyms to the vocabulary words found in the novel. Answer multiple choice questions about Leigh. Students become Leigh and write their own list of questions for Mr. Henshaw. Solve the mystery of the lunch thief. Create a to-do list for writing based on what Mrs. Badger suggests to Leigh. Imagine how Leigh and Mr. Henshaw's relationship would progress through the years and write a new letter from Leigh as an adult. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: This Newbery Medal-winning classic story is about Leigh Botts, a young boy who lives with his divorced mother and misses his father. The book is a collection of letters written from Leigh to Mr. Henshaw, his favorite author. The letters show increasing emotional and literary complexity as Leigh grows. They also reflect his desire to become a writer. Through his journal, Leigh learns a great deal about writing and about himself. The diary reveals Leigh's loneliness at school and details his troubles with an unknown schoolmate. When Leigh is in sixth grade, Mr. Henshaw writes back to answer the ten questions Leigh sent to him for the Author Report assignment. Through his journal, Leigh learns a great deal about writing and about himself.




Loser


Book Description

From renowned Newbery-winning author Jerry Spinelli comes a powerful story about how not fitting in just might lead to an incredible life. This classic book is perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Carl Hiaasen. Just like other kids, Zinkoff rides his bike, hopes for snow days, and wants to be like his dad when he grows up. But Zinkoff also raises his hand with all the wrong answers, trips over his own feet, and falls down with laughter over a word like "Jabip." Other kids have their own word to describe him, but Zinkoff is too busy to hear it. He doesn't know he's not like everyone else. And one winter night, Zinkoff's differences show that any name can someday become "hero." With some of his finest writing to date and great wit and humor, Jerry Spinelli creates a story about a boy's individuality surpassing the need to fit in and the genuine importance of failure. As readers follow Zinkoff from first through sixth grade, it becomes impossible not to identify with and root for him through failures and triumphs. The perfect classroom read.




Maniac Magee - Literature Kit Gr. 5-6


Book Description

Inspire your students with this brave story about racism and homelessness. The helpful journal topics offer extended writing activities and discussion prompts. Students come up with possible story ideas that could relate to the title, "maniac". Illustrate the scene between McNab and Maniac. Match quotes to the characters who said them. Students confront the idea of discrimination by identifying some of the ways people discriminate against other people. Find proof from the story to support the different qualities inhabited by Maniac and Grayson. Give meaning to expressions from the story. Identify each expression as a simile or metaphor. Identify a major and minor problem that Maniac faces in the story and explain each in a paragraph. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Maniac Magee is a Newbery Medal winning-story about a young homeless boy running through town and the different people he meets along the way. Orphaned at the age of three, Jeffrey Magee runs away from his Aunt and Uncle eight years later. He finds himself in Two Mills, Pennsylvania, where he realizes the town is split in half—the East End and the West End. Running his way through the town, Magee learns of the hatred and racism that separates the two sides. Along the way, he meets a wide range of interesting characters, and even develops a legend for himself, earning him the nickname "Maniac". He endures hardships while moving from place to place, eventually finding a home in a buffalo pen at the zoo.




The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Literature Kit Gr. 5-6


Book Description

Travel through a wardrobe to discover your destiny. The activity sheets are great for accountability of the information. Students put themselves in Peter's shoes and imagine how he feels about staying at the Professor's house. Get into the mind of Lucy and predict what she will do about what she learns of the wardrobe. Break down the conversation Peter and Susan have with the Professor to determine why it was so strange. Answer multiple choice questions about Narnia's history based on what was read in the novel. Create a map of the Witch's fortress. Draw and describe some of the creatures from the book. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe mirrors the difficulties of war at home with conflict in a fantastical land. Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan have been sent to live in the country to get away from the air-raids that are affecting London. They find themselves in the care of an old Professor in a large house. To spend the time, the children roam about the house, investigating every nook and cranny. In one particular room lies a large wardrobe filled with fur coats. It's inside this wardrobe that the children find themselves traveling to the magical land of Narnia. Here, the children are immediately plunged into a conflict between the inhabitants of Narnia and the Witch that have cursed them. The children learn that they are part of a prophecy that foretells two human boys and two human girls will defeat the Witch and bring peace to the land. The group meet up with Aslan before an epic battle that sees the children victorious and prosperous as the new Kings and Queens of Narnia. This magical tale allows children to gain control over their destiny and fight for the rights of others.




Seedfolks - Literature Kit Gr. 5-6


Book Description

Strangers become a community in this heartwarming story about overcoming prejudices and finding a common ground. The vocabulary lists and quizzes create a complete resource that saves time while preparing these lessons. Students make predictions on how certain characters might be connected to each other. Analyze Leona's comments about her experience dealing with officials to characterize her feelings towards them. Answer multiple choice questions about Virgil's relationship with his father. Students explore Sae Young's actions when the thunderstorm fills the rain collection barrels and relates this back to the themes of the book. Imagine being Virgil's father and create a business plan for the baby lettuce idea. Detail how the setting of the book evolves with the characters in a transformation graphic organizer. Aligned to your State Standards and written to Bloom's Taxonomy, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Seedfolks follows the intertwining stories of several neighbors as they break down barriers and form a community. A vacant lot in Cleveland, Ohio is not the perfect spot for Kim to plant her lima beans. It's too cold and there's not very much sun. She does this anyways in honor of her father. Little does she know that this action will intrigue the neighbors she knows only as strangers, and cause a ripple effect throughout the neighborhood. Each chapter follows a different neighbor and their personal journey that brought them to this vacant lot. People of varying ages, genders, races and religions come together with a shared goal of growing their item of choice. Some want to start a business, while others want to win back a lost love. The garden blooms from a segregated group of individual plots into a real community as peoples' guards are lowered and they begin to really know one another. When the season ends, only time will tell whether this new community will thrive.




Black Beauty - Literature Kit Gr. 5-6


Book Description

Get a sense of the remarkable injustices experienced by both horses and the people of the day. Incorporate well-thought-out questions that encourage students to really think about their answers. Determine the setting of the novel based only on a few details from the story. Prepare for the reading by investigating the purpose of the spur in horseback riding. Finish sentences from the book with their missing vocabulary words. Identify Joe's error in judgment when tending to Black Beauty. Explore ways some of the cruelties experienced by the horses in this novel could have been prevented. Write a short book review of the novel, and post it online. Choose a major event from the book and complete a concept wheel with details on who, what, when, where, and why. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Nothing could defeat the spirit of this gentle and courageous horse, Black Beauty! One of the most endearing stories of all time is set in England during the mid-1800s, and is told from the perspective of its main character. Black Beauty shares his adventures from his days as a young colt in the pastures of Farmer Grey, through different owners and into his twilight years. Tragedy seems to shape the course of Black Beauty’s life as he learns much of the world through the friendships with different horses: the tragic life of Ginger, the brave and noble Captain, and the fun-loving Merrylegs.




Kira-Kira - Literature Kit Gr. 5-6


Book Description

Experience what it's like to rise up and fill a hole left by the loss of a family member. Help guide students through the novel with vocabulary prompts and comprehension activities. Imagine the challenges faced by a Japanese-American family moving from Iowa to Georgia in the 1950s. Explore the concept of prejudice and identify different groups who might experience this. Complete passages from the text with their missing vocabulary words. Reflect on the incident where Katie decides to shoplift and describe the worst thing about the experience. Find examples from the novel of foreshadowing and imagine to what it could be predicting. List the events comprising an incident in the novel in the order that it happened in a Flow Chart. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included. About the Novel: Kira-Kira (kee ra kee ra) is a Japanese word for glittering; shining. This unforgettable story is a coming-of-age tale of one family’s difficulties in adapting to a post-World War II society that is reluctant to welcome a Japanese family that is laboring in Georgia’s poultry plants. The story features Katie, her older sister Lynn and their younger brother, Sammy. When Lynn grows ill and eventually dies, it makes Katie realize that she must assume even more responsibility. Removed from the shadow of her high-achieving older sister, she even begins to improve in her schoolwork. This Newbery Medal winning-story deals with family relationships and the illness and death of a close family member in a sensitive, realistic manner.