EXTRA CREDIT by Andrew Clements

Included is a 14 page student booklet that needs to be completed while reading the book, Extra Credit by Andrew Clements. This divides the text into four reading assignments with questions and tasks to go with each one. The questions and tasks in this booklet cover and reinforce the skills that good readers and writers need. These include comprehension, inference, compare and contrast, summary writing, visualization, interpreting expressions, and determining author’s purpose. The packet gives you practice in writing to explain your thinking and to demonstrate your understanding through higher level thinking tasks. The booklet is designed for independent work so that you can work on this at home.

You are responsible for completing all of the activities in the appropriate time period. You will not be permitted to turn this in late due to the fact that it will be the end of the semester and I have a deadline to turn in grades. For the exact due date, please refer to the instructions located at: mrsmay12.weebly.com.

Extra Credit in a nutshell: Another popular school story by best-selling author, Andrew Clements! Illinois student Abby Carson, is about to flunk out of sixth grade and she’s desperate! She’ll do anything to correct her bad record: even extra credit. Her extra credit project provides the reader with the unique opportunity to view the Afghan culture through the eyes of Sadeed, Abby’s pen pal.

Extra CreditBy Andrew Clements

Student: _______________________

Student Name______________________________________

My Bookmark for Extra Credit

As you read, keep track of words that are new or unusual. Write them on the lines below and be sure to include the page number that you found them on so that you can relocate them if you need to. Continue on the back if you run out of space.

WORD Page # __ WORD Page #

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

Assignment 1: Extra CreditRead pages 1-41 (Chapters 1-5)

Read the assignment, then complete all work for this assignment. Do not turn this in until you have completed all parts. All of the activities will be turned in together.

Identify each person below by listing facts that you have learned about them:

Mahmood Jafari: _________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

Sadeed Bayat: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Akbar Khan: ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

Hassan Jaji: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Amira: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Abby Carson: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mariah: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mrs.Carmody:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Assignment 1, continued Read pages 1-41 (Chapters 1-5)

Answer all questions in complete sentences!

1. What have you learned about the setting of the story so far? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. In Chapter 1, Hassad said that the schoolteacher had asked them to do “something that would not be proper.” What did the schoolteacher ask them to do and why was it not proper? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Describe what kind of student Abby has been. Include information about her strengths and weaknesses, what she liked and did not like about school, etc. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Do you think Abby will be able to avoid having to repeat sixth grade? What makes you think that? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Assignment 1, continued Read pages 1-41 (Chapters 1-5)

Sadeed and Amira live in the country of Afghanistan near the city of Kabul. In the space below, display a map that shows the country of Afghanistan, the city of Kabul, as well as the adjacent countries. You may trace the map, draw it freehand, or make a copy of it from the computer. Include a compass rose and use itto show where the mountains are.

Assignment 2: Extra CreditRead pages 42-87 (Chapters 6-10)

Read the assignment, then complete all work for this assignment. Do not turn this in until you have completed all parts. All of the activities will be turned in together. COMPREHENSION: All answers should be in complete sentences!

1. After some frustration, Sadeed and Amira work out a system where Amira speaks in their local language and Sadeed translates what she says into English for the letter they are writing to Abby. What language is spoken in their village? _____________________________________________________

2. How long did it take the letter from Afghanistan to reach Abby? _____________________________________________________

3. Explain why Abby felt ashamed of the letter she had sent to Afghanistan. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. When Amira told her class about Abby’s second letter, she felt famous and enjoyed every moment of the attention. However, the author ends Chapter 10 by saying, “And Sadeed didn’t”. What do you think he meant by that? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Assignment 2, continued Read pages 42-87 (Chapters 6-10)

COMPARE AND CONTRASTIn Chapter 6, we learn about Sadeed’s school. What is it like? What is your school like? In one box, make a list of things you have learned about Sadeed’s school. In the other box, list how things are the same or different in your school.

Sadeed’s School My School

1) One teacher for about 100 kids. 1) One teacher for about _________ kids.

If you were to go to Sadeed’s school, what do you think you would like and not like about it?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Assignment 2, continued Read pages 42-87 (Chapters 6-10)

VISUALIZEGood writers SHOW rather than TELL the reader something. Instead of just telling the reader that Abby had sent a picture of herself, the author shows us the picture through his description. Visualizing events in the story helps the reader feel more involved in the story.

Use the description of Abby’s picture found in Chapter 6 to make a sketch in the space below showing how you visualize the photograph. (Or, draw another scene from the reading that you could clearly visualize and create a caption that identifies it.)

Assignment 3: Extra CreditRead pages 88-130 (Chapters 11-14)

Read the assignment, then complete all work for this assignment. Do not turn this in until you have completed all parts. All of the activities will be turned in together.

UNDERSTANDING TITLES:Titles usually refer in some way to an important concept or main idea in a book or a chapter. In this book, Andrew Clements created chapter titles that are simple to read but not always simple to understand. However, after reading the chapter carefully, readers can make conclusions about what he meant. Below are the chapter titles from this week’s reading assignment. After each title, explain what you think the title refers to and whether you think it was or was not a good title.

1. A REAL PERSON: ___________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. POSTINGS: _______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. SMALL MOUNTAIN:________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. CONNECTED:______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Assignment 3, continued Read pages 88-130 (Chapters 11-14)

1. When Abby received her first letter from Amira, why did she not want to put it on her bulletin board display? What made her change her mind? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. On the day when Abby’s second letter from Amira arrived, what surprising thing happened? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Why did Sadeed decide to write and mail his own secret letter to Abby? Why did he want her to keep it a secret? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Sadeed had read some books written in English that were not approved by the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan. What books had he read? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Assignment 3, continued Read pages 88-130 (Chapters 11-14)

From: Abby Carson

TO: AMIRA BAYAT

Read pages 88-130 (Chapters 11-14)When Abby’s second letter arrived, Sadeed was impressed with its size and also with the 9 stamps on it that looked like “a picture tour of life in America.” After re-reading that section of Chapter 11, make a sketch of how you think each stamp might have looked.

Assignment 4: Extra CreditRead pages 131-183 (Chapters 15-21)

Read the assignment, then complete all work for this assignment. Do not turn this in until you have completed all parts. All of the activities will be turned in together.

WRITE A SUMMARY:A summary is a shortened version of a story, event, or chapter. It should begin with a topic sentence that identifies what is being summarized. The important ideas or events should be told in the order in which they happened, using character names.

On the lines below, summarize what happened when Sadeed decided to take a short-cut home with Abby’s letter in his pocket (Chapter 15). The summary is started for you.

With the letter in his pocket, Sadeed decided to take a shortcut to get ahome as quickly as possible. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Assignment 4, continuedRead pages 131-183 (Chapters 15-21)

EXPRESSIONSBelow are quotes that characters from our story either said or thought. Identify WHO said or thought the words in the speech bubbles below. Then, tell what you think each expression means._________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

“….why dangle meat in front

_________________________________________________ of an angry bear?”

_________________________________________________ (Chapter 16: pg. 142)

_________________________________________________

“as sure as the sunrise,

_________________________________________________ change will come.”

_________________________________________________ (Chapter 16: pg. 143-144)

_________________________________________________

“”I I“I suspect this is all a gust of wind.” (Chapter 16: pg. 142)

Assignment 4, continuedRead pages 131-183 (Chapters 15-21)

RECOGNIZING THE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE:Authors wrote books for a variety of reasons. The author is usually trying to persuade, inform, or entertain the reader. After the reading this last section of the book, think about why Andrew Clements wrote this book and explain your opinion on the lines below.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________