Passage Picker (1)

Section 1: New Kid Gets Old Teacher Pgs. 1-32

1. Page 2 Paragraph 1

2. First two words: “She had” Second two words: “anyone else’s”

3. The passage that I chose is a great example of a simile.

4. The simile is she dressed in a brown plaid skirt and a clean white blouse every day, dependable as the tile pattern on the classroom floor. It is a simile because it compares Cara to the classroom floor.

5. How is Cara described? Compare this description with Cara’s life now? Which life would you rather have and why?

She had only lived in Carlton for 6 months. From the day she moved to town, with her mom after her dad had left, during April of Fourth grade year, everyone had completely ignored her. That all changed one afternoon in fifth grade. It was this particular day that Cara decided to put upon the bulletin board, the first edition of the Landry News. She is at least not being ignored now and is getting a lot of attention. I would rather have a life in which both of my parents were a part of my life, instead of having to live with one or the other.

6. This passage gives you some background information on Cara and what she has been through in order to understand the rest of the book. This passage talks about how important it is for families to try and get along because the kids will always blame themselves and think that it is their fault.

Passage Picker (2)

1. Page 11 Paragraph 2

2. First two words: “Mr. Larson” Second two words: “their faces”

3. The passage I chose is a great example of a descriptive passage.

4. The passage is very descriptive because it describes in great detail, Mr. Larson.

5. How is Mr. Larson described as a teacher? Compare this description with that of Mr. Larson as a person? Which person do you like better and why?

He is lazy and does not do anything. He sits in his chair and reads newspapers while the class works on things themselves. Mr. Larson is an entirely different person who has a wife and 2 daughters to support. He was the first in his family to go to college. I like Mr. Larson the person better, he seems to be in more control and sure about his surroundings.

6. I think this passage shows that a teacher has two sides to themselves. Teachers are human too, and should not be expected to be the same person they are in the classroom, outside the classroom. Teachers need time to themselves as well. It shows that Mr. Larson has a totally different side of himself outside the classroom and that he seems to be a caring man from what he says about his family.

Passage Picker (3)

1. Page 21, Paragraph 1

2. First two words: “Karl was” Second two words: “of schooling”

3. The passage I chose is a great example of a surprising passage.

4. The passage is a surprising passage because it shows how surprised Mr. Larson is to find out that his 5^th grade teacher is not really the same outside the classroom.

5. How is Mrs. Spellman described now? Compare this description with that of how she was when she was a teacher?

She has just let herself go and is just not the same person she was in the classroom. When she was a teacher, she always had her hair all fixed up and she would wear neat looking clothes. She cared what she looked like in the classroom and did not dare look like she does now.

6. I think that this passage helps to put Mr. Larson in a different light than he had been portrayed earlier in the book. It helps you to see that you cannot judge a book by its cover, you must delve inside and see what is there.

Passage Picker (4)

1. Page 26 Paragraph 3

2. First two words: “Cara flinched” Second two words: “truth here”

3. The passage I chose is a great example of a fact passage.

4. The passage is a fact passage because it describes how the editorial is based on facts.

5. How do you know that Cara wrote the editorial based on facts? Do you think that the editorial is based on facts or opinions?

What she said about Mr. Larson is true, he does not do anything just like she stated in the editorial. The editorial is based on facts because Cara said that she never puts anything in her editorial that is not truthful.

6. The author wanted to get across to the reader that Cara always tells the truth in her editorials and nothing else. It lets you know that whatever editorial Cara writes throughout the book will always be truthful or it will not be placed into the newspaper.

Section One