Middle School English
My friend Donna, who died in July, taught middle school English. As I helped her sister clean out Donna's apartment, I saw that she had a copy of a book she had recommended to me in the 1990s, back when we first became friends. And there was also a teacher guide for the YA novel, published in 2000. Her sister let me have both books, and I'll probably read (and re-read) those soon. When I first read the novel, it was long before blogging, so I don't know what I rated it. But I do know I was very impressed by the book and wrote about it in 2010 when I mentioned this book and posted this photo of Avi, saying that Donna and I had met him.
In this thought-provoking examination of freedom, patriotism, and respect, ninth grader Philip Malloy is kept from joining the track team by his failing grades in English class. Convinced that the teacher just doesn't like him, Philip concocts a plan to get transferred out of her class. Breaking the school's policy of silence during the national anthem, he hums along, and ends up in a crisis at the center of the nation's attention.
Teacher Guide ~ by Phyllis A. Green, 2000, for grades 7-8, 36 pages
Each Teacher Guide includes a story summary, prereading activities, vocabulary exercises, comprehension strategies, discussion questions, critical thinking challenges, literary analysis questions and activities, assessment tools, graphic organizers, writing ideas, art ideas, and more (it says, adding an exclamation mark).
Idiom on my mind
bee in her bonnet = to keep talking about something again and again because you think it is very important. Example: "She never stops talking about healthy eating; she has a bee in her bonnet about it." Speaking of bees:
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts the Sunday Salon, where we talk about our lives, our books, and what we have been reading.
3 comments:
It must have been a sweet moment to run across books that your friend recommended while you were helping clean out her place. I met Avi long ago at a reading conference, I think. I've read three books by Avi: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Crispin, and The Beginning of the End. I liked all three, but I especially loved Crispin.
I'd say that "your doing it wrong" provokes me to reply, "You're doing it wrong, too!" I wouldn't say this to a group of people with guns, either. Especially not in Texas.
Well, Deb, you seem to have noticed BOTH problems that I caught: (1) with the sentence below the photo, which is using the wrong word (your/you/re), and (2) the supposed "safety" officer is standing in FRONT of a bunch of people with guns (rather than behind them) while "instructing" them in how to do things "safely."
It will be interesting to see what you think of Avi's book and if it has aged well. How nice that you have a number of things from Donna!
Your is wrong, but I also have an image of those people shooting the men standing in front of them.
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