Loser (Jerry Spinelli)

In this State Standards-aligned Literature Kit™, we divide the novel by chapters or sections and feature reading comprehension and vocabulary questions. In every chapter, we include Before You Read and After You Read questions. The Before You Read activities prepare students for reading by setting a purpose for reading. They stimulate background knowledge and experience, and guide students to make connections between what they know and what they will learn. The After You Read activities check students’ comprehension and extend their learning. Students are asked to give thoughtful consideration of the text through creative and evaluative short-answer questions and journal prompts. Also included are writing tasks, graphic organizers, comprehension quiz, test prep, word search, and crossword to further develop students’ critical thinking and writing skills, and analysis of the text. About the Novel: Loser chronicles the childhood of Donald Zinkoff who is one of the most unusual, endearing characters ever to grace the pages of a novel for young readers. No matter what the game, Donald never wins. He trips over his own feet, constantly raises his hand without ever knowing the correct answer, and falls down laughing at the mention of any unusual word. The novel traces Donald’s journey from first to sixth grade. It details his important friendships, marks his relationships with different teachers, and describes how he copes with various shortcomings that everyone but Donald and his parents deem terribly important. “Loser” is an excellent novel which deals sensitively with the human spirit and the importance of failure. All of our content is aligned to your State Standards and are written to Bloom’s Taxonomy.