[superteach113]

My fifth graders are getting ready to read Maniac Magee. Please share any good projects that you do with this book. Thanks in advance!

[tia]

i haven't used this book in a long while, and besides writing tall tales, can't think of any projects, but here are a few places you can go to find info on MM and projects:

http://www.nvo.com/ecnewletter/novelunits/
i found this website this year--with links to MANY novel units

http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00000596.shtml
i LOVE ethemes!!! this link sends you straight to what they have on MM, but if you back out, you'll find loads of good stuff for EVERYTHING--countries, animals, science topics, etc!

http://www.edhelper.com/books/Maniac_Magee.htm
you have to belong to edhelper to get any real good pieces--along with answer keys! and i'm not sure you can even get into this page if you're not a member---i only just realized edhelper had literature units--i bounced around looking at what they had and was impressed--unfortunately, they have nothing for the novel i'm starting after break.

hope this helps! (not just with MM but other novels, as well!)

I like to have student do an illustrated time line of Jeffery's first day in Two Mills. The students can get pretty creative with this.

[kristen_teach]

We focus a lot on the figurative language in this book- what do the similes/ metaphors really mean? A lot of the kids had a literal understanding so we tried to take it beyond that.

We did a final project where we created a bb with drawings of this town. We had to go back through the book for references. Each student picked one place (Amanda's house, the zoo, the Pizza Place, etc), looked in the book for references on what it might look like and drew it. We then placed it where it went in the town. The kids were working on 3D drawings in art so it was a really nice connection.

I have heard of teachers having a day where the kids had a chance to run the rails or eat Zeps (is that what the sandwiches were called). We didn't do these activities though.

[Nat]

my students were assigned a chapter and they wrote a script to go with the book... we then used the script (after I edited it) and we chose characters and produced a play for the parents. it was a big hit.

nat

[dewar]

Hello Nat,

My grade 7's have just finished reading Maniac, and they loved it - especially the reluctant readers, and the boys. I would love to have students write their own scripts, but would appreciate any advice you might have, since you've done it already. If you could even forward on a sample of one chapter that your students wrote up, it would help.

It is one of my favourite books, and my crew this year just loved it too - good to see!

Thanks,
sue

will u show me 1 of the timelines your student wtote

Our teacher read both Maniac Magee and Jerry Spinelli's autobiography, Knots in my yo-yo string. she gave us a sheet to compare the two book's plots,characters, setting, author's style, and message. She also had a twoc circle comparison chart where we compared Mars bar and maniac before and after they became friends. She also gave us a sheet to fill out figurative language. She also told us about how deep the book is with homelessness and segregation.

You're welcome in advanced!!