The Crossover – Vocabulary

Want to teach one of the hottest books for middle schoolers?   “The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander is it!  I have been teaching this book to my seventh graders this year and they LOVE IT!  Follow my TpT store for all the latest lessons!

I’m just starting to get all my lessons up on TpT.  There will be numerous sections included in this unit:

•      Vocabuary – Tier II and Tier III lists
•      Prereading Storyboards activity
•      Prereading poetry and photographs
•      Tupac Shakur and Jacqueline Woodson connection
•      Novel pairing – The Playlist
•      Writing journals focusing on character traits
•      Nonfiction connections
•      Inductive learning
•      Chapter printables and activities

Try a free sample of vocabulary words for the popular novel,  by Kwame Alexander!  5 words, assessment example & ten slides!

To see the entire unit, CLICK HERE.

This product is for two literature based vocabulary lists to accompany the novel “The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander. Tier two words are separated into “Four Quarters” with five words for each quarter of the book. It includes a second list of 20 Tier III words – specific terminology for basketball. It is all in a .zip file.

The tier II words are divided into each quarter with 5 words from each quarter for a total of 20 words. There is a practice activity for each quarter with an answer key. There are also two assessments: 1 – Quarters One & 2; 2- Quarters 3 & 4 with keys.

The tier III words are on a master list describing the various basketball terminology used in the book. There is also an 8 step “Playing Basketball” printable which can be used to physically teach the kids basketball. I took my own students to our gym for a class day to play basketball using all the terminology from the book.

In addition, there is a 41 slide PowerPoint presentation that can be used in a few ways. The images can be printed out for a bulletin board. It can be used to explain the terms as a visual in class. Or there is a review game attached with it that requires students to review the words in a “Heads-Up” game format. For this game, I laminated the images and placed them in various envelopes for student use.

In total, this resource is 16 printables .pdf files and a 41 slideshow presentation (also saved as 41 .jpeg). This is perfect to use for this novel.

 

“Hoot” Chapters 3 & 4 Activities

This product is for activities for Chapters 3 & 4 in the novel “Hoot” by Carl Hiaasen.  It is a .zip file with 5 .pdf printable handouts.

2 one-page Warm-up Activities including:

Tier II vocabulary found in the text

Jigsaw learning

Role playing

Incorporating documents

2 one-page Chapter Activities including:

Conflict activity

Inferencing

Text dependent questions

1 half sheet Exit Ticket including:

General assessment question to check for comprehension

All handouts include a complete key with answers or suggested answers included.

These activities would fit perfectly into a typical class period where students could complete the warm-up activity, read the chapter and complete the activity.  The exit ticket would be completed at the end of the second class day.

All printables are visually appealing and ready to use.  If you like this activity, check out the entire novel study for Hoot located here.

The One and Only Ivan – book companion

This product is a 20 page printable, novel companion packet for “The One and Only Ivan” by Katherine Patterson.  It includes skills in

• making connections
• main idea
• drawing conclusion
• close reading
• figurative language: idioms
• Tier II vocabulary
  

  

This includes a complete key!

There are also various question techniques used in the packet. 5 “right there” questions to begin the book, discussion questions and various leveled questions (general understanding, key details, vocabulary and structure, purpose, inferences, opinions and arguments)

There is a nonfiction book pairing with “Koko’s Kitten” by Dr. Katherine Applegate and a poetry connection.  There are additional pages linking animal activism, making a personal connection and a book review.

The packet can be used for a read aloud, or for individual use.  All of the pages do not have to be used together.  Each one could work on its own.  The pages are laid out to fit on one printable page and clipart is used to make the pages more appealing to children.  This packet, in its entirety, would probably work best with 3-6^th grade students.

The PDF file contains the questions, a second copy of the questions with the correct answer in bold, an answer sheet with an answer key.  There is also a 30 question assessment assessing the book with the following question types:

Here is an explanation for each question:
#1 – protagonist
#2 – setting – time
#3 – setting – place
#4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 221, 22, 23 – basic recall questions
#6, 17 – vocabulary
#7, 18 – figurative language
#8, 19, 29 – character development
#9 – pace
#10 – point of view
#14, 20 – tone
#15 – conflict
#16, 27 – theme
#24 – resolution
#25 – awards/honors/book knowledge
#25 – paragraph/chapter structure
#28 – quotation
#30 – genre