A Guide for Using The Great Gilly Hopkins in the Classroom Based on the novel written by Katherine Paterson This guide written by Colleen Dabney M. Ed. Teacher Created Resources, Inc. 6421 Industry Way Westminster, CA 92683 www.teachercreated.com ISBN: 978-1-57690-343-8 1999 Teacher Created Resources, Inc. Reprinted, 2010 Made in U.S.A. Edited by Sara R. Rosenfeld Illustrated by Anna Castanares Cover Art by Dennis Carmichael The classroom teacher may reproduce copies of materials in this book for classroom use only. The reproduction of any part for an entire school or school system is strictly prohibited. No part of this publication may be transmitted, stored, or recorded in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Table of Contents Introduction.................................................................... 3 Sample Lesson Plan.............................................................. 4 Before the Book (Pre-reading Activities)............................................... 5 About the Author................................................................ 6 Book Summary.................................................................. 7 Vocabulary Lists................................................................. 8 Vocabulary Activities............................................................. 9 Section 1 (Chapters 1 3).......................................................... 10 Hands-On Project A Taste for TV: Graph It! Cooperative Learning Activity Goodie Goodie Gumballs! Curriculum Connection Reading Response Journals Into Your Life A Sense of Description Section 2 (Chapters 4 6).......................................................... 15 Hands-On Project Collage Collaboration Cooperative Learning Activity Chime In for Choral Reading Curriculum Connection Genealogy: Do You Have Roots? Into Your Life Words Can Wound Section 3 (Chapters 7 9).......................................................... 20 Hands-On Project Word Perfect: Using a Thesaurus Cooperative Learning Activity Alphabetizing Awesome Authors Curriculum Connection Map Skills: Watch It! Into Your Life Step Right Up Section 4 (Chapters 10 12)........................................................ 26 Hands-On Project Calculating in Candy Land Cooperative Learning Activity Let s Celebrate Curriculum Connection Math: Tab for Turkey Dinner Into Your Life Sweet Dreams Section 5 (Chapters 13 15)........................................................ 31 Hands-On Project Oodles of Ornaments Cooperative Learning Activity Bloom Where You re Planted Curriculum Connection History: News You Can Use Into Your Life Making Envelopes After the Book (Post-reading Activities) Any Questions?............................................................. 36 Book Report Ideas........................................................... 37 Let s Learn More............................................................ 38 Culminating Activities........................................................... 39 Unit Test Options............................................................... 42 Bibliography of Related Reading................................................... 45 Answer Key.................................................................... 46 #2343 Literature Unit 2 Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
Quiz Time Answer the following questions about Chapters 1, 2, and 3, using complete sentences. 1. Who is Miss Ellis? 2. What mischievous act did Gilly do with her gum? 3. What was Gilly s first impression of her new foster home? 4. How old is Gilly? How old is William Ernest? 5. What keepsake did Gilly unpack and put in her bureau drawer along with her clothes? 6. What lesson did Maime Trotter want Gilly to strictly follow? 7. Why did Gilly think that Mr. Randolph wasn t home even though she stood before him at his house? 8. How did Mr. Randolph treat Gilly? 9. What did Gilly promise herself for the millionth time? 10. What did Gilly think would drive Mrs. Trotter wild? 11. Why did Gilly think that Trotter was showing favoritism? 12. What surprised Gilly about her new classmates? 13. What did Gilly do that landed her in the principal s office? #2343 Literature Unit 10 Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
A Taste for TV: Graph It! When Gilly got settled in her new home, she could hear the theme song from Sesame Street blaring from the television. Gilly decisively vowed to improve little William Ernest s taste in TV. Find out your classmates TV viewing habits by doing the following activity. 1. Pretend your principal has asked you to give him or her a report about how much TV kids are watching and what kinds of shows. He or she thinks kids are watching too much TV. Do you agree? Gather data to confirm or disprove his or her hypothesis. You will need a pencil, ruler, colored pencils, and the completed tally sheet below. 2. Survey your class and others in the school by asking them to select the three categories of TV that they watch most frequently. Next, ask them how much time they spend in one week watching TV. Use tally marks on the charts. 3. Make two bar graphs of the results on the back of this page. Title graph one Our TV Choices and graph two Time Spent Watching TV. Label the left scale STUDENTS on both graphs and use increments of two students for each line. On graph one, write in the TV choices along the bottom scale. On graph two, write in the TV watching times along the bottom. Keep your words neat and evenly spaced. 4. Use your ruler to make vertical bars of the results from the tally sheet. Next, color each bar a different color. 5. Discuss your findings as a class. Tally Chart TV Shows 1. Cartoons 2. Educational TV 3. Hobby Shows 4. Music Videos 5. Movies 6. News 7. Shopping Network 8. Situation Comedies 9. Soap Operas 10. Sports 11. Talk Shows TV Time 0 1 hours 1 1 /2 3 hours 3 1 /2 5 hours over 5 hours Teacher Created Resources, Inc. 11 #2343 Literature Unit
Goodie Goodie Gumballs! Gilly loved chewing gum. She had it in her mouth, hair, and even at the end of her nose! When the social worker turned the other way, Gilly stuck gum under the handle of the car door. This reveals a little about Gilly s character. Look at the gumball machine below. A character quality is listed on each gumball. After reading Section 1, work in cooperative groups of three to five to discuss which character qualities match with Gilly. Use colored pencils or markers to color in the matching circles. Some circles are left blank for you to add your own character qualities. On the back of your paper, list evidence from the story to support your answers. 9. 4. Generous 14. Kind Considerate 10. Fair 1. Tolerant 5. 15. Creative Aggressive 11. Honest 2. Enthusiastic 6. Angry 16. Courageous 12. 3. Helpful 7. Friendly Responsible 13. 8. Adaptable Confident #2343 Literature Unit 12 Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
Reading Response Journals One great way to ensure that the reading of becomes a personal experience for each student is to include the use of reading response journals in your plans. In these journals, students are encouraged to respond to the story in a number of ways. Here are a few ideas: Ask students to bring in inexpensive, one-subject notebooks for their journals. Tell students that the purpose of the journals is to record their thoughts, ideas, observations, and questions as they read. You may want to provide writing prompts for the chapters. Three ideas for section one follow: 1. If you had to live with someone other than your family, who would you choose and why? 2. Describe someone unique who has been a dinner guest in your home. 3. Write about one of your favorite poems or poets. Students can draw their responses to certain events or characters in the story. After reading each chapter, students can write what they learned by summarizing the important events in the story. The journal could be used as a diary for personal reflections on the story or as a personal dictionary for words unfamiliar to them which they found in the text. Students can use their journals for mapping concepts such as characterization, main ideas, or theme. Allow students to write in their journals daily. Personal reflections will be read by the teacher, but no corrections will be made or letter grades assigned. Credit will be given for effort. If a grade is desired, grade according to the number of journal entries completed. For example, if five entries are assigned and the student responsibly completes all five, then he or she receives an A ; or ask students to select one entry to revise and edit according to the writing process. Score the final revision. Nonjudgmental teacher notations should be made as you read the journals to let students know you are reading and enjoying their journals. Here are some types of responses that will please your students and encourage them to write more. You have good insight into this passage. Your writing is so clear I feel as if I am there. You seem to be learning a lot from this book and showing the ability to apply it to your life. Teacher Created Resources, Inc. 13 #2343 Literature Unit