Title: Zoobreak (Korman, G. (2009). Zoobreak. New York: Scholastic Press.)
Author: Gordon
Korman
Copyright 2009 Gordon Korman
Published by: Scholastic
Press- New York
Reading level: ages 9-12, Grades 4-7, Lexile level 700L,
Accelerated reader level: 4.9, points: 5
IRA Children's Choices 2010, Advanced Readers
Suggested Delivery:
Read aloud
Exciting, Thrilling,
Engaging, Empowering, Entertaining
Electronic resources to support reading:
a.
This website provides students with 170 reviews to
choose from. I would ask students to
visit this website after reading the book and choose 2 good reviews and 2 bad
reviews. Then I would ask the students
to compare and contrast these reviews and justify the reviewers’ opinion. The students should provide explicit details
from the text to describe the reviewers’ opinion.
a.
This is a great website to visit prior to
reading the book. I could use this
website as an introduction in the classroom as a whole group approach to
initiate the reading of Zoobreak. The students can hear the author himself
describe the characters and events that take place in the text while motivating
students to learn more about the plot and encourage their engagement in the
text.
Teaching suggestions:
1.
Vocabulary words:
a.
poised (pg 6),
b.
obviously (pg 27),
c.
burly (pg 62),
d.
stagnant (pg 62),
e.
adamant (pg 100),
f.
subdued (pg191).
2.
Teaching suggestions
a.
Before reading: Have students produce a list of people
and job functions to organize and execute a group effort to break into a zoo
and safely rescue the animals. The
students will be able to visually see and plan in their own minds what it might
take to pull off a stunt like the one in Zoobreak. After making their lists, the students
can compare with each other and modify their lists to include anything they may
have forgotten. They will gain skills in
cooperating together and collaborating with others. Then students can read the text and see what
the kids of Cedarville do while comparing their lists to the one in the story
made by Griffin Bing, “The man with the plan”.
b.
During reading:
Students should keep a journal that they write a brief 1 or 2 sentence
summary after reading each chapter to following along with the events and
characters. The students should identify
each student’s strength and purpose (why they are needed to perform a specific
duty during the break in at the zoo).
c.
After reading:
Students can make an outline of events in the text to understand the
sequencing that takes place. Students
should identify characters, make connections among character relationships, and
identify the proper order of events that take place in the story. Students could then be asked to modify the
plan in their outline to come up with their own unique, creative ending of the story. This narrative writing task helps students
develop their story telling skills and understand how sequence of events affects
the plot of a story.
3.
Writing activity:
a.
Students can summarize the relationship of
Griffin and Ben in this story in a graphic organizer such as a timeline. The students can identify and evaluate the
characters actions chronologically with a visual representation to see how
their relationship changes throughout the text.
Students should interpret Griffin and Ben’s relationship by providing
opinions related to why these changes take place in the story. By providing an opinion, students are
engaging with the characters emotions and feelings to better understand the plot
and characters as well as gain inferential comprehension.
