Common Core Classroom ready Guide - Little Brown Library

1 978-0-316-651729-4 Common core Connections Fifth Grade FocusliTTle, Brown / Genre: Fiction Maniac magee by Jerry SpinelliMany books can meet most, if not all, Common core State Standards (CCSS). However, we have found that some books speak strongly to a few Standards. This one-page applications Guide connects a focused text and the CCSS as written for fi fth graders, leaning on this text s literary strengths. Because this text is written in short informative chapters, this book leads to rich consideration of this standard which challenges learners to explain how a series of chapters fi t together, leading toward (the larger goal of the standard) building an understanding of the structure of the story.

2 (Think story as puzzle pieces connecting.)Begin this exercise by considering information across a set of the full research exploring chapter sets across the entire text. (For example, group work and then the class explores the results together, giving a picture of the entire text s structure.)Focus questions for each chapter set: What do you notice happening across these chapters? What do you learn about Maniac? How do these chapters come together to add to our understanding of the story of Maniac magee ?ChaptersMain Idea AddressedQuestions and/or Connections to the Story1-4 Getting to know the main characterWhat do we learn about Maniac?

3 Where is he from? What does he often have with him?11-14 Describes s new life How does get involved with Amanda s family? Why? How does fi t in with her family s lifestyle?18-21 Cobbler s KnotHow does get introduced to the Knot? What s the history of the Knot?22-28 GraysonHow does Grayson affect Maniac? What all is being shared between these two characters? (Evidence in conversation, stories, and actions.)34-39 Time with the McNabsWhat are some of the heroic feats of Why does he perform them? Are they successful? 40-46 Breaking BarriersWhat had Maniac thought regarding the party? Why did Maniac walk away from the trestle and Piper in trouble?

4 How did Mars s rescue change things? Common core Classroom ready Students determine a theme from their work of exploring how a character responds to challenges, refl ecting on many of Maniac magee s actions. Since there are so many events in this text, choose a few events in his story and report on how Maniac responds. Possible themes: life being about giving people chances, meeting challenges/over coming obstacles, racial tension, racial stereotypes, what is family, being orphaned. (If this proves challenging, focus students in groups on the above chapter groupings to make this undertaking more manageable.)

5 Link to that encourages comparing and contrasting similar events. Or link to by comparing and contrasting to stories in the same genre. See Complementing Text: Bird in a Box by Andrea Davis Pinkney which also explores themes of being orphaned and racial core Connections Fifth Grade Encourages students to explore the narrator s point of view. Whose voice is telling the story? Does the narrator know Whose story is this? What do we know about the person who is telling the story? How do you think the narrator feels about Maniac? The other characters? How would the story be different if another character or Maniac himself told the story?

6 On page 153, Maniac is described as a legend in the flesh. This gives some insight to the narrator s perspective. Encourage students to find examples and quote from the text to support their thinking ( ) and draw inferences from their This text lends itself to the study of language through exploring the meaning (significance)of words and phrases. Students (independently or collectively) could collect these words and phrases as they read the text and attempt to determine meaning from story context and their personal (and group) word knowledge. Encourage students to not only define the words and phrases but to make comments on how they add to (or not) the story.

7 Here is a chart provided to support learners in this work:Fluency Practices Encourage students to group words meaningfully to add to fluency. Students read sentences with a partner (switching turns). Select a passage to prepare to read to a classmate, the whole class, or a family member (also as a means of discussing the book). Common core Classroom ready GuideThis Guide prepared by Mollie Welsh Kruger, , Bank Street College of in his other hand was a book 18finsterwillies19 cool times ten 25picadored43 even though they pretended not to listen 73 a volcano of cheers 125 bit back a grin 153 a legend in the flesh Asks students to create a written opinion piece based upon texts they have read.

8 This book offers many characters and significant actions, so a writer could choose a perspective and defend their position based on examples, quotes from the characters, and understandings, drawing also on their personal experiences. (We suggest readers choose their opinion on character and event, but these examples can support teachers in their work supporting students.) Examples: opinion of Maniac, Amanda, or Mars and their response to one of the events such as Amanda and her bag of books early in the story, Maniac with the McNabb children, or Mars racing against Maniac or the pitching Passages to practice with purpose Table provides page number, beginning phrase, and fluency strategies to 11 (start with 3rd paragraph) Jeffrey gasped.

9 Books! page 42-43 (start at bottom of 42) Maniac was still there when Mr. Beale came homepage 48 (after space midpage) The time she heard Hester and Lester *How might a book lover read this section? *Focus on phrases, connect to writing, and providing details*Re-reading to make meaning*DialoguePage 114 (first three full para-graphs)*Commas & seeking meaning*Recognizing various sentence structuresPage 158 (first 2 or 3 paragraphs of chapter 41)* Work on phrasing words two or three to a grouping, as a means of working on fluency (smooth reading)Page 171 (2nd & 3rd paragraph)*A coming together*Power of a comma