Selection Review #1 Selection Review #2 Make Lemonade Chapters 15 - 27 1. LaVaughn tried not to give her mom too much information about Jolly before she took the babysitting job

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Select ion Review #1

Make Lemonade

Chapters 1 - 14

1. What information about her new job does LaVaughn give her mother? What does she nottell her mother, and why? LaVaughn tells her mother that the new job involves babysittingtwo small children while their mother is working nights. The job is easy to get to on the bus,and LaVaughn will have time to do her homework. However, LaVaughn does not tell her momthat her new boss, Jolly, is a teenaged mom only a few years older than she is. She does nottell her mom how filthy Jolly’s apartment is or how easily Jolly becomes discouraged by herproblems. LaVaughn does not want her mother to have a poor opinion of Jolly and refuse tolet LaVaughn accept the job.

2. How is LaVaughn’s mom characterized in this section? Cite evidence from the text to sup-port your answer. LaVaughn’s mom is characterized as a strong, determined single mom. Shechecks every night to make sure that LaVaughn has done her homework, which LaVaughnsays is “... a completely required thing/ like a vaccination.” She takes hold of LaVaughn’s ideaabout going to college and makes sure that LaVaughn never loses sight of it. She prepareseconomical home-cooked meals, with LaVaughn helping her from a young age. She is thechairman of the Tenant Council that tries to improve living conditions in the apartment building.She also has a special stool in the kitchen so that she and LaVaughn can have conversationsevery day.

3. Why is going to college such a big part of LaVaughn and her mother’s vision forLaVaughn’s future? What challenges does she face? How is she working to meet thosechallenges? La-Vaughn is determined to attend college because she believes it is the onlyway to get out of poverty and out of living in a rundown, dangerous neighborhood.LaVaughn’s mom shares this view. She also wants LaVaughn to make her proud by becomingthe first person in their family to ever reach college. However, LaVaughn’s mom tells her thatgoing to college requires both money and hard work. Since her mom does not have muchmoney for college, LaVaughn begins babysitting to earn money. Also, she always does herhomework and gets to school on time.

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Talent Development Secondary Program

4. What happens to LaVaughn’s schoolwork during the first few weeks of her job? Why isLaVaughn afraid when she sees herself in the mirror? In the first few weeks that LaVaughnworks at her job, she falls behind in her schoolwork and gets low grades on several tests. Shealso misses one whole day of school when Jolly doesn’t come home and she has to sleep overwith the children. LaVaughn is afraid that either her grades will slip, or her mom will make herquit and she won’t have enough money. She fears that if she doesn’t go to college she couldend up living the way Jolly does in a bad, filthy apartment.

5. How does LaVaughn try to improve Jeremy’s life? How does Jeremy surprise her? LaVaughntries to improve Jeremy’s life by bringing him a pot and dirt to plant a lemon seed. She hopeshaving a pretty plant to look at will brighten Jeremy and Jilly’s life. She is surprised by howseriously Jeremy takes his responsibility to talk to the pot and encourage the plant to grow.Also, LaVaughn decides to potty train Jeremy, since there never seem to be enough diapers.However, she is not sure how to explain it to Jeremy and at first he doesn’t seem at all inter-ested. La-Vaughn returns to Jolly’s place after several days away. When she is not looking,Jeremy amazes her by using the potty all by himself.

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Make Lemonade

Chapters 15 - 27

1. LaVaughn tried not to give her mom too much information about Jolly before she took thebabysitting job. What is LaVaughn’s mom’s first reaction when she meets Jolly? Why doesshe feel sorry for Jolly? Why is she worried about LaVaughn? When LaVaughn’s mom firstmeets Jolly, her first reaction is disapproval. She tells LaVaughn, “That Jolly... needs to takehold. She’s a mess.” Still, LaVaughn’s mother feels sorry for Jolly because Jolly is “barely achild.” She says that LaVaughn is “a good help to her.” However, she is also concerned aboutLaVaughn, because Jolly is not a good example for her.

2. How does LaVaughn’s relationship with Jeremy and Jilly grow in this section? What lessonsdoes LaVaughn learn about dealing with small children? LaVaughn continues to grow closerto Jeremy and Jilly. She gets Jeremy to help her clean in the apartment and teaches him tomake his bed. She sings to Jilly, bathes her, and changes her. LaVaughn learns to be carefulabout what she says around the children when Jeremy cuts the curl off his little sister’s fore-head. LaVaughn realizes that Jeremy thought cutting Jilly’s hair would help her stay out oftrouble. LaVaughn is also learning that “whopping” the children is usually not a good idea. Sheis learning to be patient and find other ways to handle them.

3. In this section we learn more about La Vaughn and Jolly’s “burdens,” bad things that hap-pened in the past and still have an impact on their lives. What are some of these bur-dens? LaVaughn’s one great burden is the death of her father when she was a small child.He was playing basketball with friends when a stray bullet hit him and took his life. Jolly hasmany burdens: she has no family and lived for some time with other homeless young peoplein cardboard boxes behind the hardware store.

4. Why does Jolly lose her job? Explain why she cannot report what her boss did to her. Jollyloses her job because her boss tried to force himself on her for sex. She refused him andstabbed his hand with a pencil to get away. Jolly cannot report what her boss did to her be-cause the big boss at the factory does not take her calls. Also, she has no money for a lawyer,and there were no witnesses when her boss attacked her.

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5. Jolly and LaVaughn have very different ideas about what to do after Jolly loses her job. Inthe chart below, describe each girl’s idea for a solution, and explain why each idea cre-ates tension between LaVaughn and Jolly. Possible answers are shown.

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Jolly’s Idea for a Solution

LaVaughn should give Jolly some of themoney she earned babysitting Jolly’s children.

Why This Idea Creates Tension

LaVaughn refuses to give her money to Jolly,saying that it would not help solve the prob-lem.

LaVaughn’s Idea for a Solution

Jolly should go back to school and earn herGED.

Why This Idea Creates Tension

Jolly angrily rejects LaVaughn’s idea becauseshe thinks if she goes on welfare the govern-ment will take her children away.

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Make Lemonade

Chapters 28 - 43

1. Why does LaVaughn like to go places with Jeremy? Give examples of ways that he makesher life fun. LaVaughn likes to go places with Jeremy because he has his own way of looking atthings and is so much fun. When they go to the shoe store, he becomes the king of the ShoeBus. When they go to the grocery store, he sits on the bottom rack of the grocery cart and pre-tends he is a lion in a cage. LaVaughn buys Jeremy new shoes with her own money and savesnew lemon seeds to plant because he is so disappointed that the first seeds did not grow.

2. Why does LaVaughn take Jolly with her to Steam Class? Why does she think that Jolly didnot get as much help from the class as she was hoping? Steam Class helps students be-come strong enough to face challenges in their lives. LaVaughn takes Jolly with her becauseshe thinks the skills and attitudes taught in Steam Class would help her. However, Jolly doesnot participate, and LaVaughn says she got “incomplete benefits” because “you don’t learnyour Steam/ till you have to talk/ and keep talking.”

3. Why does LaVaughn’s mom worry about the time LaVaughn spends watching Jolly’s chil-dren? Why does LaVaughn think it is still a good thing for her to do? LaVaughn’s mom isconcerned because LaVaughn is spending a lot of time babysitting without pay, since Jolly hasno money to pay her. Also, LaVaughn’s mom doesn’t think Jolly will ever get her life together.However, LaVaughn thinks it is still useful for her to watch the children because, when Jollyhas to be alone with them, she yells a lot. LaVaughn says she would probably yell too if shehad as much bad luck as Jolly seems to have.

4. What makes LaVaughn become very serious about finding a way to help Jolly change herlife? Where does she get advice about what Jolly should do? LaVaughn becomes very seri-ous about helping Jolly when Jolly tells her she’s “doin’ okay.” LaVaughn can see that Jollyand her children are definitely not okay and Jolly is not taking any steps to improve the situa-tion. LaVaughn asks her Steam Class teacher about how Jolly can get back in school and re-ceive free day care for her children.

5. Describe the Moms Up program. How does LaVaughn persuade Jolly to enroll in it? TheMoms Up program offers high school classes, free day care, and child care and office trainingto teenage moms. LaVaughn gets all the information for Jolly, makes an appointment for her,and puts her on the phone with the Moms Up lady. The lady tells Jolly that the program willhelp her keep her children and not take them away from her. Jolly doesn’t like the plan butshe realizes it might be better than the way she is living now.


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Make Lemonade

Chapters 44 - 56

1. When Jolly begins attending the Moms Up program, LaVaughn gets more sleep and is morealert in school. Why is she still sad? What makes it possible for LaVaughn to spend timewith Jolly and her kids on a regular basis again? Even though getting Jolly back in schoolmakes LaVaughn feel good, she is still sad because she misses Jeremy and Jilly. However,after a while LaVaughn is called to a meeting with Jolly and one of the Moms Up counselors.The counselor tells LaVaughn that Jolly needs a Home Helper to watch the children so thatshe can get her homework done. The program will pay for LaVaughn to do this for an houreach day.

2. What causes LaVaughn and Jolly’s big fight? What are some of the deeper issues thatcome out? How does the quarrel end? LaVaughn and Jolly have a big fight when LaVaughncriticizes Jolly for doing things halfway. She makes the mistake of asking whether that is howJolly did birth control. Jolly becomes very angry with LaVaughn. One of the deeper issues thatcomes out is that Jolly thinks that LaVaughn looks down on her. She is jealous of LaVaughnand feels that LaVaughn makes her look bad as a mother. LaVaughn feels terrible and realizesthat Jolly is at least partly right. She is getting ready to leave but suddenly finds herself huggingJolly’s legs. Jolly begins to cry, and the two girls comfort one another.

3. How do LaVaughn and Jolly use comic relief after the fight? How does this event changethe way LaVaughn thinks of Jolly? After the fight, Jolly asks LaVaughn to tell her a funnystory that she has already heard about LaVaughn’s mom. The story makes them both laughand relieves the tension after the fighting and the crying. This incident gives LaVaughn a newrespect for Jolly. She realizes how much courage Jolly shows just going on with her life.

4. LaVaughn notices signs that Jolly is really trying to “take hold” in her life. What are someof these signs? One thing that LaVaughn notices is that Jolly is washing the dishes and try-ing to keep her kitchen cleaner than she used to. The counters are wiped and the dishes areneatly stacked. Also, Jolly decides to write a letter to a wealthy man who is known to givemoney to people in need. When LaVaughn points out a mistake in Jolly’s letter, Jolly checksthe mistake, then writes the letter over without becoming angry. LaVaughn realizes that Jollyis trying hard to take responsibility for herself.

5. What does Jolly finally tell LaVaughn about her past life? Jolly has always told LaVaughnthat she doesn’t have folks, but she has never given any details. She says that she was livingin a refrigerator box when she was twelve. However, now she tells LaVaughn that she oncelived with a foster mom she called “Gram.” She also tells LaVaughn about one of Gram’sother foster children who was grown up but came back to visit her. His name was Jeremy,and he was kind and helped Gram with her garden. LaVaughn realizes that little Jeremy isnamed after this grown man that Jolly knew when she was little.


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Make Lemonade

Chapters 57 - 66

1. Summarize the parable that Jolly’s Parenting Skills teacher told the class. The parable isabout a blind woman in a far-away country. She is trying to take an orange to feed her starvingchildren when a group of bullies knocks her down. One of the bullies then gives her a lemon inplace of her orange. When the woman realizes it is a lemon, she feels stupid for letting herselfbe tricked. However, she finds a bit of sugar and some water and manages to make lemonadefor her children anyway.

2. Explain why this parable is so meaningful to Jolly. The story means a lot to Jolly becauseshe has been the victim of people who abused and tricked her. She has also felt stupid andhelpless because she let herself be tricked. However, the story helps her realize that even inthis situation, she can make something good and beautiful of her life.

3. Why does LaVaughn feel full of energy after Jolly tells her the story? What does she dowith her new burst of energy? After Jolly tells her the story, LaVaughn feels a new burst ofenergy because she sees that Jolly has understood and is ready to take responsibility for herlife. LaVaughn spends time trying to help Jeremy learn his numbers. She also tries plantingsome lemon seeds again, but this time she uses potting soil to help them grow.

4. Describe the suspenseful situation that makes LaVaughn call 911. How does Jolly handlethe situation? LaVaughn calls 911 because Jilly swallows a plastic tarantula and chokes onit. She cannot breathe and is turning blue. However, Jolly immediately begins using the skillsshe learned in the parenting class to try to save Jilly. She takes her pulse and does CPR whileLaVaughn is calling 911. After a long, difficult struggle, Jilly finally throws up the plastic spiderand begins to breathe again.

5. How does Jolly’s life change after she saves Jilly’s life? How does her relationship withLaVaughn change? After Jolly saves Jilly’s life, there is an article about her in the school paper.She makes other friends and has a babysitting pool with one of the other Moms Up students.She doesn’t call LaVaughn any more, although she is sometimes friendly when they meet inthe hallway.

6. Why does LaVaughn’s mom tell Jeremy that he is a hero? What is the picture that LaVaughnremembers from the whole time she spent with Jolly and her family? LaVaughn’s mom tellsJeremy that he is a hero for pushing the “9” on the phone to call 911. The picture that LaVaughnremembers best from her time with Jolly and her children is that of her mom swinging Jeremyhigh up in the kitchen to celebrate how he and his mom saved his little sister’s life.


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L i terature Test #1

Make Lemonade

Chapters 1 - 14

1. Matching: Match the people listed to the things they say.

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N a m e :


People

_____ 1. LaVaughn

_____ 2. Jolly

_____ 3. LaVaughn’s mom

_____ 4. Myrtle and Annie,LaVaughn’s friends

What They Say

a. “You go to college, you make me prouder/ than I been in mywhole life.”

b. “Those kids’ll get sick.”/ “A dirty place like that.”/ “You won’tget paid.”

c. “Reality is my babies only got one thing in the whole world/ andthat’s me and that’s the reality.”

d. “It’s babysitting, 2 little kids, evenings,/ so their mother cango to work./ They’re Jeremy & Jilly. I’d be their regular, theirmain sitter./ I’d be in charge.”

2. List at least two things that LaVaughn does so that she can attend college some day.

3. What impact does LaVaughn’s job have on her schoolwork in the first few weeks? Why doesthis make her afraid?

4. List two ways that LaVaughn tries to improve Jeremy’s life, and tell how he surprises her.

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Make Lemonade

Chapters 15 - 27

1. What do we learn in this section about things that happened to LaVaughn and Jolly in the

past?

2. Why does LaVaughn’s mom come to Jolly’s house? What does she say about Jolly after shemeets her?

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3. The night that Jolly loses her job, she comes home full of fear. What happened to her? Howdoes this make LaVaughn feel?

4. The chart below lists several possible things for Jolly to do after she loses her job. Fill thechart in, explaining why each option does not work out.

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Possible Actions Problems with Each Option

Jolly could report her boss.

Jolly could “borrow” moneyfrom LaVaughn.

Jolly could go back to schooland get her GED.

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Make Lemonade

Chapters 28 - 43

1. Give two reasons why LaVaughn still babysits Jolly’s children, even though she is not gettingpaid to do it.

2. What is Steam Class? Why doesn’t Jolly get all that she can out of Steam Class?

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3. Why does LaVaughn become angry with Jolly? What does she do about it?

4. Explain why Jolly finally agrees to enroll in the Moms Up program.

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Literature Test #4

Make Lemonade

Chapters 44 - 56

1. Matching: Match the people listed to the things they say.

2. LaVaughn and Jolly have a serious argument. Each girl accuses the other. Fill in the chartbelow, listing at least one thing that each girl accuses the other of doing. At the bottom, tellhow the fight ends and how it changes the girls’ relationship.

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N a m e :


People

____ 1. Jolly

____ 2. LaVaughn

____ 3. LaVaughn’s teacher

____ 4. LaVaughn’s mom

What They Say

a. “You do those three things for yourself, LaVaughn./ You canthank me/ when you graduate.”

b. “I’m not good enough for you,/ go on home!”

c. “You say AIN’T on the job,/ your boss gets nervous./ Yourboss gets insecure when you talk like that.”

d. “It’ll be okay, Jolly. It’ll be okay, Jolly. It’ll be okay.”

LaVaughn accuses Jolly of... Jolly accuses LaVaughn of...

How the fight ends:

How it changes the girls’ relationship:

3. List two things that LaVaughn identifies as signs that Jolly is working on taking responsibilityfor herself.

4. What does Jolly finally tell LaVaughn about her childhood?

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Make Lemonade

Chapters 57 - 66

1. In the parable told by Jolly’s Parenting Skills teacher, how does the blind woman feel whenshe finds out that the boy gave her a lemon? What does she do with the lemon?

2. Why does Jolly relate to the story of the woman in the parable? What lesson does she takefrom the story?

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3. How does Jolly respond when Jilly chokes on a plastic spider? How does the use of repeatedwords add to the suspense in this story?

4. Why does LaVaughn take Jeremy home with her? Describe her mom’s reaction when shehears the story of how Jolly saved Jilly’s life.

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N a m e :78

Vocabular y Test #1

Make Lemonade

Chapters 1 - 14

WRITE MEANINGFUL SENTENCES FOR THE FOLLOWING WORDS:

disorderly concentrated solemn

outrage


Vocabular y Test #2

Make Lemonade

Chapters 15 - 27


N a m e :

cherish rituals incident

hilarious hostile vigorous

bluntly adequate

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N a m e :80

Vocabular y Test #3

Make Lemonade

Chapters 28 - 43


rigid demean disadvantage

capable catastrophe ambush

originals


Vocabular y Test #4

Make Lemonade

Chapters 44 - 56


N a m e :

discontent occupied moping

certified primitive insecure

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N a m e :82

Vocabular y Test #5

Make Lemonade

Chapters 57 - 66


exaggerates tenacity qualified

sincerity astonishment discarded

standstill


Documents

Selection Review #1 Selection Review #2 Make Lemonade Chapters 15 - 27 1. LaVaughn tried not to give her mom too much information about Jolly before she took the babysitting job