Last week, one of my small groups finished reading Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee.
This group is composed of all GATE students (gifted & talented), so I was expecting a very thoughtful discussion about the lessons that Maniac had learned throughout the novel.
I was not disappointed.
They took turns and talked about how Maniac had dealt with overcoming a tragic childhood with the loss of his parents. They talked about how he oversaw racism and brought people together. They talked about how he kept trying to do the right thing, even when he suffered the loss of friends and was kicked out to the streets. They briefly addressed Maniac being homeless and what could be done to help him. I was very impressed with their maturity.
One brought up that Jerry Spinelli must have had some trouble in his childhood since he wrote Loser as well.
That spurred another conversation comparing Zinkoff (from Loser) with Maniac (from Maniac Magee). It was a beautiful, natural conversation about characters from across texts. It was one of those moments I wish I was being observed so their thoughtfulness (and on topic behavior) would positively reflect in my teacher evaluation.
But then I ruined it.
They went on and on about death, struggle, trying to do the right thing and being a hero to others. So I looked them straight in the face and said "Oh, so Maniac is kind of like Batman?"
That prompted a whole new, slightly less academic conversation.
Sorry, but I'm not sorry! There should be more joy in teaching and if I can find a way to talk about Batman, I will!
Happy reading!
(You can snag the guide I made and use with my small groups here)
I'm pleased to announce I've posted another teacher guide on TpT! It's my 105th product :)
The most recent is for Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee, which I'm currently reading with two different small groups.
This novel does a great job at exploring race relations and will lend itself well to Black History month. Scholastic has some great free resources that compliment my twenty four page novel guide!
I have included pre and post reading questions, extension activities, suggested vocabulary, comprehension questions with answers for each chapter and suggested homework questions. Snag yours here!
Happy reading!
I first read Jerry Spinelli's Loser over the summer after a retiring teacher gave me a few copies from his library.
I love this author, so I immediately ordered a few more from Amazon so I'd have enough to read the novel with small groups.
I'm almost done with the novel with my group (they're finishing over winter break) and I'm really impressed with how well they're doing. Some of the members of my small group have been bullying others, so I decided to use this text as a teachable moment.
They're having some great discussions about being kind to others and labels like "loser". What we talk about in our small group literature circle is having a positive impact on their classroom and playground choices, which is quite exciting.
My teacher guide is available here.
I'm pleased to announce I've made a chronological order sort as well!
Happy reading!
I just finished Jerry Spinelli's Loser and although the book is over ten years old (yikes!), its message is still quite relevant today. I plan to have some great class discussions about bullying and acceptance with this novel. I know some of the upcoming fifth graders would really benefit from the contrast between "winners" and "losers" in the novel.
I created a teacher's guide with comprehension questions, vocabulary and homework (for each chapter) that is now available at my TpT store. Coming in at close to thirty pages and aligned to the Common Core state standards, it is really quite a good deal. Grab yours now and get ready to rock those small reading groups!
Also available at my TpT store are the last 2 of the Percy Jackson series. Many more will be coming, they're just stored on my teacher computer which I don't have access to yet :)
Ms. Vice
