Literary Circle #2: lunch lady and the cyborg substitute

Literary Circle #2

 Krosoczka, J. (2009). Lunch lady and the cyborg substitute. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Questions/Answers:

“Right there” questions:

1.  Where is the lunch lady’s secret lair located?  below the school through a secret door way

2.  What book genre does The lunch lady belong to?   graphic novel

“Think and search” questions:

1.       What kinds of inventions does Betty, the lunch lady’s sidekick, create?  A spatula that acts as a helicopter, lunch tray that is actually a laptop, etc.

2.  How is perspective used to give emphasis to certain parts of the story?    Some of the drawings are from up above, looking down on the subject, such as the panel that shows Mr. McConnell saying “Glorious!”  Other panels are shown from below, looking up at the subjects.

Interpretive questions:

1.       How does the lunch lady’s assistant help her? She comes up with inventions to help the lunch lady with her adventures.  The inventions are meant to assist the lunch lady with her quests.  She also keeps the lunch lady’s secret life as a crime fighter/detective a secret.

2.       Why does the lunch lady seem suspicious of the substitute when he says that he’s filling in for Mr. McConnell?  Mr. McConnell hasn’t missed a day of school in 20 years, so something seems odd about him not being at the school.

Critical evaluative questions:

1.  What does the limited color palette tell the reader about the book?  The use of black and white gives a neutral background for the yellow to stand out.  Yellow seems to be used to emphasis certain aspects of the story.

2.    How does Hector, a member of the Breakfast Bunch, end up handling the bully?  Instead of avoiding the bully or ignoring him, Hector looks him in the eye and said a confident “No!” when asked for his lunch money.  The bully leaves him alone after that encounter.

  

Literary Circle #1: Love that dog

Literary Circle #1

 Creech, S. (2001). Love that dog. New York: HarperCollins.

Questions/Answers:

“Right there” questions:

1.  Who is Jack’s audience throughout the book?  Jack’s main audience is his teacher, who stays silent throughout the book

2.  Why is Jack hesitant to write a poem about his dog?  Jack is worried that the poem about his dog, Sky, will make his classmates sad

“Think and search” questions:

1.   Jack worries that he’s “borrowing” too many of Walter Dean Myer’s words in one of his poems.  How does the teacher help remedy Jack’s concern?  Jack’s teacher suggests that Jack include the line “inspired by Walter Dean Myers” in his poem so that the poet receives credit for his inspiration.

2.  How does Jack label his poems for display?  Why does he prefer this method when his class mates can see his work?  Jack doesn’t want his classmates to know about his poems, so his teacher suggests that he label them as “Anonymous”. 

Interpretive questions:

1.  The cover of the book is bright yellow.  What kinds of emotions does this color evoke for the reader?  Why do you think the author chose yellow?  The bright yellow evokes a feeling of joy and happiness.  Even though Sky’s death was very sad for Jack, he ultimately came to the realization that he was happy to have such a great dog in his life.

2.  Jack said that to make a poem “you just have to use short lines”.  Is that true of most poems?  Why do you think that Jack considered that a requirement for his poetry?  Many poems have very long lines and can take up several pages.  Jack seems to like the spacing and format of poems with short lines.  He likes that his ideas are direct and to the point and don’t run on.

Critical evaluative questions:

1.  Jack’s poetry is written as a journal, with dated pages.  Why do you think that the author chose to write the story in this way?  I think that the author wanted to show Jack’s growth as a poet during the school year by laying out the poems in a journal format.

2.    Which of Jack’s poems is the climax of the book?  Jack’s poem about Sky’s death—“ My Sky”—is the climax of the book.