educator’s guide booked - teachingbooks.net · educator’s guide booked by kwame alexander ......

educatorrsquos guide

B o o k e dby Kwame AlexAnder

978-0-544-57098-6

About the BookTwelve-year-old Nick is a soccer-loving boy who absolutely hates books In this follow-up to the Newbery-winning novel The Crossover soccer family love and friendship take center stage as Nick tries to figure out how to navigate his parentsrsquo divorce stand up to a bully and impress the girl of his dreams These challengesthinspmdashthinspwhich seem even harder than scoring a tie-breaking game-winning goalthinspmdashthinspchange his life This energetic novel-in-verse by the poet Kwame Alexander captures all the thrills and setbacks the action and emotion of a World Cup match

About the AuthorKwame Alexander is a poet childrenrsquos book author playwright producer public speaker performer and winner of the 2015 Newbery Medal for his novel-in-verse The Crossover Alexander believes that poetry can change the world and he uses it to inspire and empower young people He lives with his wife and daughter in the Washington DC area Visit his web-sites at wwwkwamealexandercom and bookinadayorg

Discussion Questions

As students read or listen to Booked invite them to consider the relationships conflicts and surprises in the story Ask open-ended questions that motivate them to dig deep and challenge them to find poems or passages that support their opinions or analysis Possible discussion questions includeemsp

bullemsp How do Nick and Coby keep their friendship strong while playing on competing soccer teams

bullemsp Why is soccer so important to Nick

bullemsp How does Nick handle the tension between his parents

bullemsp Why do you think dragonflies are mentioned many times throughout the book

bullemsp What is the role of family meetings and therapy (with a doctor) in the story

bullemsp How does Nickrsquos stay in the hospital change things

bullemsp Why doesnrsquot Nick like to read What changes his mind

bullemsp What can you do when a good friend is making a racist joke (For example see p 191)

bullemsp What is ldquolimerencerdquo and why is it such an impor-tant word in this story (See pp119ndash120 121 128 289ndash290)

bullemsp What do you think was in the ldquoKey to Freedomrdquo box that Mr Mac gave to Nick Why do you think that

(CCSSELA-LITERACYRL51 RL61 RL63 RL71)

Vocabulary

As a linguistics professor Nickrsquos dad requires Nick to read an adult dictionary from cover to cover to expand his vocabulary much to Nickrsquos dismay Talk

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers bull Houghton Mifflin Harcourt bull wwwhmhbookscom

about how Nickrsquos use of ldquobig wordsrdquo is portrayed in the story and how it becomes important to him Then highlight the authorrsquos use of footnotes to introduce key words Discuss the role of footnotes in text and the format of these footnotes ie featuring actual definitions followed by Nickrsquos more playful or sar-castic definitions Which of these words are new to students Talk about these (and any other new words encountered) and challenge students to use them in the coming days When they do invite fellow stu-dents to acknowledge the new vocabulary by holler-ing ldquobookedrdquo Vocabulary words showcased in the footnotes include

emsp verbomania p 4emsp malapropism p 18emsp pugilism p 40emsp futsal p 44emsp cachinnate p 54emsp mewling p 70emsp ragabash p 81emsp codswallop p 84emsp logorrhea p 102emsp flummoxed p 119emsp onomatophobia p 121emsp farrow p 134emsp sweven p 144emsp nutmeg p 183emsp rapprochment p 215emsp stupefy p 220emsp twain p 248emsp callipygous p 259emsp incompossible p 268emsp hellkite p 272emsp gadfly p 288emsp wordbound p 294emsp yobbery p 296emsp zazzy p 300

This is also a great opportunity to talk about dic-tionaries (print or online) and what they offer and provide quick mini-lessons on searching key words etymologies etc Two helpful online dictionaries includewwwmerriam-webstercomdictionaryreferencecom

Ready-made lesson plans are also available from the National Council of Teachers of English at Read-WriteThinkorg (CCSSELA-Literacy RL51 RL54 RL61 RL64 RL71 RL74 SL51d SL61d L54C L64C L74C)

MalapropismsIn addition to introducing new vocabulary and high-lighting the dictionary as a resource the author has fun with words and wordplay particularly in intro-ducing malapropisms Talk about what malaprop-isms are and challenge students to identify examples of them in Booked There are many beginning with the poem ldquoBustedrdquo (pp 17ndash18) Talk about them and how they add humor to the story

Look to the Grammarly Blog for more examples of common malapropisms heard all the time (wwwgrammarlycomblog20158-embarrassing-yet-com-mon-malapropisms) and invite students to share further examples they read or hear outside of school Create a collaborative chart with two columns to collect them allmdashwith one column for the misused word or phrase (eg could of) and the other column for the correct use (eg could have) Keep adding to it all year long

Forms of Poetry

Since this is a novel in verse every page of the book is a poem (or part of a poem) Students may be surprised to learn however that the poet has used several different forms of poetry throughout the book See if the students can identify any particular forms of poetry first and then challenge them to find exam-ples of each of these forms in the book Talk about each poem how each one is composed and arranged and why the author might have chosen that particu-lar form for that moment in the story Some forms include the following

emsp acrostic (the first letter of each line of the poem spells a word vertically eg p 116)

emsp blackout (all the words and letters of a page are blacked out except those letters that make up the


educatorrsquos guideeducatorrsquos guide


poem eg p 80)emsp free verse (not rhyming but rhythmic poem eg

p 91)emsp blackjack (three-line poems with seven syllables in

each line for a total of twenty-one syllables eg p 72)

emsp epistolary (poem written in the form of a letter eg p 32)

emsp couplet (two rhyming lines with the same meter eg p 245)

emsp tercet (any three lines of poetry as a stanza or poem rhymed or unrhymed metered or unme-tered eg p 11)

emsp quatrain (a stanza or poem in four lines usually with alternating rhyme eg pp 86-87)

emsp spine (poem built from the titles of books as they appear on the booksrsquos spines eg p 244)

emsp borrowed (poems that allude to previous poems or famous works eg p 269)

emsp list (poem made from seemingly unconnected things arranged in list form eg p 148)

In addition students may enjoy exploring the poem as a daydream or wish fulfillment in ldquoStand Uprdquo (pp 105ndash106) and ldquoDo-Overrdquo (p 109) Here the author uses the poem to express what Nick wishes he could say or do rather than what actually happened Stu-dents may enjoy rewriting a life moment by creating a poem in this way After yoursquove worked together to explore these different forms and have read and dis-cussed examples from the book challenge students to choose one of these forms and write their own poems (alone or with a partner)

(CCSSELA-Literacy RL51 RL55 RL61 RL65 RL71 RL75 W53 W63 W73)

More about the Poetry

Challenge students to find the title of the book (Booked) within the poems in the book (eg ldquoBookedrdquo pp 192ndash194 ldquoConversation with Cobyrdquo pp 210ndash211

ldquoText to Cobyrdquo pp 257ndash258) Talk about the title of the book and why the author might have chosen that word for the title Consider the multiple meanings of

the word (in playing soccer in being committed in reading books)

Talk about how the poet uses the titles for each poem If you read only the titles what do you surmise about the story (before or after reading the book) Try it Read the book aloud as a group with the titles only by passing the book around the class How do the titles alone set the stage or move the story alongMany of the poems also use graphic elements for a distinctive effect Work with students to identify the poems that use font size boldface or italics in distinc-tive ways (eg pp 125 and 126ndash127) Why does the poet do that What emotion might this convey How does that make you read the poem differently

(CCSSELA-LITERACYRL57)

Another distinctive feature of this book is the use of italics within a poem to indicate that someone is speaking (besides the narrator) This creates dialogue within the poem that can be very effective when read aloud Try a readers theater performance so that stu-dents can get a sense of the charactersrsquo voices Select poems with two parts plain text and italicized text for two volunteers or two groups to read aloud in turn Then talk about how that helps us understand the poem and the points of view better

(CCSSELA-LITERACYRL56 RL66 RL67 RL76 RL77)

Words of Wisdom

Several characters offer Nick advice along the way Challenge students to identify a line phrase or pas-sage that is pivotal to the story or meaningful to them and talk about why Possible examples include

bullemsp ldquoThe world is an infinite sea of endless possibilityrdquo (p 271)

bullemspldquoWhat would you do if you werenrsquot afraidrdquo (p 295)





bullemsp ldquoThe only fight you really have to win is the one against the fearrdquo (p 296)

bullemsp ldquoNick the river is always turning and bending You never know where itrsquos going to go and where yoursquoll wind up Fol- low the bendrdquo (p 301)

bullemsp ldquoStay on your own path Donrsquot let anyone deter yourdquo (p 301)

bullemsp ldquoIt feels good to run toward something and not awayrdquo (p 304)

bullemsp ldquo(Fight the fear Nick)rdquo (You got this Nick)rdquo (p 310)

(CCSSELA-LITERACYRL52 RL62 RL72)

I Have a Dream

Dr Martin Luther King Jrrsquos ldquoI Have a Dreamrdquo speech is mentioned in the story Talk about why this might have been included in the book For students who are not familiar with this historic speech share these resources

Text available at the National Archives sitewwwarchivesgovpressexhibitsdream-speechpdf

Video of Dr Kingrsquos speech available on TeacherTubewwwteachertubecomvideoi-have-a-dream-speech-20916

(CCSSELA-LITERACYRH6-86)

Etiquette

Nick also attends an extracurricular class on social skills with Miss Quattlebaum as the instructor Here the focus is on learning good manners proper eti-quette and dance lessons Invite students who have attended similar classes to share their experiences What did they learn How was it helpful If time allows role-play social situations and talk about appropriate behaviors (shaking hands making intro-ductions etc) Investigate the availability of similar

classes for students in your own area through local scouting organizations church groups or community centers National organizations with local and region-al classes include

wwwnljccomjunior_cotillionhtmlThe National League of Junior Cotillions

wwwcotillioncomJDW Social Education programs

Cast of Characters

Names nicknames and name derivations are an im-portant part of this story In one instance for example Nick cleverly deflects a bully by his taunts regarding the boyrsquos name Mr Mac names his car and even a special dragonfly box Talk about the names of each of the major characters and speculate about the signifi-cance of eachemspbullthinspNick (Nicholas Nicky) the protagonistemspbullthinspthinspCoby his best friendemspbullthinspApril his girl crushemspbullthinspMr MacDonald (Mr Mac) school librarianemspbullthinspMs Hardwick Honors English teacheremspbullthinspDean and Don Eggleston twins and bullies

Challenge students to find out the derivation and story behind their own names or nicknames Possible sources for examining naming derivations and trends includeemspbullthinspBabyNamescomemspbullthinspParentscombaby-namesemspbullthinspBabblecombaby-names(CCSSELA-Literacy RL51 RL61 RL71 SL51d SL61d)

Sports and Games

Sports are an essential element woven throughout this book with soccer at the heart but many other sports and games are also referenced For example as a competitive soccer player Nick mentions FIFA the World Cup and the Dr Pepper Dallas Cup Talk about the game of soccer and how the poet describes it in these poems For students who are less familiar with



the game work together to research the governing body for all soccer teams and tournaments FIFA the Feacutedeacuteration Internationale de Football Association (FIFAcom) the World Cup soccer championship games held around the world and the Dr Pepper Dal-las Cup (DallasCupcom) the oldest and most pres-tigious international youth soccer tournament in the United States held annually in Dallas Texas Other sports and games referenced in Booked include

bull futsalbull Xbox and video gamesbull blackjackbull Ping-Pongbull horse racingbull football (and the Super Bowl)bull dancingbull swimmingbull bicyclingbull boxingbull tae kwon do

Survey students about their favorite sports and games and talk about their experiences with these activi-ties Which have they tried Which would they like to try What are the key components of each activity (equipment practice competitions etc) Challenge them to select their favorite sport or game for a future poem-writing activity

Reading Books and Book Clubs

Nick gradually comes to read books that he enjoys and participates in the ldquoNerds amp Words Book Clubrdquo Talk about any of the books that his book club (and English class) read and discussed that students might also be familiar with including

emsp Huckleberry Finnemsp Tuck Everlastingemsp The Watsons Go to Birminghamemsp All the Broken Piecesemsp Out of the Dustemsp Locomotion And several woven together in a spinefound

poem ldquoBooks You Find on Googlerdquo (p 244)

Create a display for students to recommend their own favorite books and see if there is interest in creating your own book club if one isnrsquot already available If students are interested in reading more novels in verse like Booked direct them to Kwame Alexanderrsquos previous book The Crossover and challenge them to make some comparisons between the two (eg the book covers the sports featured the protagonists the parents the poem forms etc) For even more novels in verse to connect with Booked consider these

emsp Adoff Jaime 2005 Jimi amp Me New York Hyperi-on

emsp Adoff Jaime 2008 The Death of Jayson Porter New York Jump at the SunHyperion

emsp Applegate Katherine 2008 Home of the Brave New York Square Fish

emsp Burg Ann 2009 All the Broken Pieces New York Scholastic

emsp Creech Sharon 2001 Love That Dog New York HarperCollins

emsp Creech Sharon 2008 Hate That Cat New York HarperCollins

emsp Crisler Curtis 2007 Tough Boy Sonatas Honesdale Penn WordsongBoyds Mills

emsp Frost Helen 2003 Keesharsquos House New York Far-rar Straus amp Giroux

emsp Frost Helen 2011 Hidden New York Farrar Straus amp Giroux

emsp Glenn Mel 1997 Jump Ball A Basketball Season in Poems New York Lodestar BooksDutton

emsp Grimes Nikki 2002 Bronx Masquerade New York Dial

emsp Grimes Nikki 2011 Planet Middle School New York Bloomsbury

emsp Hesse Karen 1997 Out of the Dust New York Scholastic

emsp Holt K A 2014 Rhyme Schemer San Francisco Chronicle

emsp Koertge Ron 2003 Shakespeare Bats Cleanup Somerville Mass Candlewick

emsp Koertge Ron 2010 Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs Somerville Mass Candlewick

emsp McCall Guadalupe Garcia 2011 Under the Mes-quite New York Lee amp Low




emsp Rose Caroline Starr 2012 May B New York Ran-dom House

emsp Smith Hope Anita 2003 The Way a Door Closes New York Henry Holt

emsp Smith Hope Anita 2008 Keeping the Night Watch New York Henry Holt

emsp Soto Gary 2002 Fearless Fernie Hanging Out with Fernie amp Me New York Putnam

emsp Soto Gary 2005 Worlds Apart Fernie and Me New York Putnam

emsp Woodson Jacqueline 2003 Locomotion New York Putnam

emsp Woodson Jacqueline 2014 Brown Girl Dreaming New York Nancy Paulsen BooksPenguin

emsp Zimmer Tracie Vaughn 2008 42 Miles New York Clarion

(CCSSELA-LITERACYRL59 RL69 CCSSELA-LITERACYSL51 SL61 SL71)

Guide created by Sylvia Vardell a professor at Texas Womanrsquos University and the author of Poetry Aloud Here and The Poetry Friday Anthology series (co-edited with Janet Wong) She blogs at Poetry For Children and writes the poetry column for ALArsquos Book Links magazine




about how Nickrsquos use of ldquobig wordsrdquo is portrayed in the story and how it becomes important to him Then highlight the authorrsquos use of footnotes to introduce key words Discuss the role of footnotes in text and the format of these footnotes ie featuring actual definitions followed by Nickrsquos more playful or sar-castic definitions Which of these words are new to students Talk about these (and any other new words encountered) and challenge students to use them in the coming days When they do invite fellow stu-dents to acknowledge the new vocabulary by holler-ing ldquobookedrdquo Vocabulary words showcased in the footnotes include

emsp verbomania p 4emsp malapropism p 18emsp pugilism p 40emsp futsal p 44emsp cachinnate p 54emsp mewling p 70emsp ragabash p 81emsp codswallop p 84emsp logorrhea p 102emsp flummoxed p 119emsp onomatophobia p 121emsp farrow p 134emsp sweven p 144emsp nutmeg p 183emsp rapprochment p 215emsp stupefy p 220emsp twain p 248emsp callipygous p 259emsp incompossible p 268emsp hellkite p 272emsp gadfly p 288emsp wordbound p 294emsp yobbery p 296emsp zazzy p 300

This is also a great opportunity to talk about dic-tionaries (print or online) and what they offer and provide quick mini-lessons on searching key words etymologies etc Two helpful online dictionaries includewwwmerriam-webstercomdictionaryreferencecom

Ready-made lesson plans are also available from the National Council of Teachers of English at Read-WriteThinkorg (CCSSELA-Literacy RL51 RL54 RL61 RL64 RL71 RL74 SL51d SL61d L54C L64C L74C)

MalapropismsIn addition to introducing new vocabulary and high-lighting the dictionary as a resource the author has fun with words and wordplay particularly in intro-ducing malapropisms Talk about what malaprop-isms are and challenge students to identify examples of them in Booked There are many beginning with the poem ldquoBustedrdquo (pp 17ndash18) Talk about them and how they add humor to the story

Look to the Grammarly Blog for more examples of common malapropisms heard all the time (wwwgrammarlycomblog20158-embarrassing-yet-com-mon-malapropisms) and invite students to share further examples they read or hear outside of school Create a collaborative chart with two columns to collect them allmdashwith one column for the misused word or phrase (eg could of) and the other column for the correct use (eg could have) Keep adding to it all year long

Forms of Poetry

Since this is a novel in verse every page of the book is a poem (or part of a poem) Students may be surprised to learn however that the poet has used several different forms of poetry throughout the book See if the students can identify any particular forms of poetry first and then challenge them to find exam-ples of each of these forms in the book Talk about each poem how each one is composed and arranged and why the author might have chosen that particu-lar form for that moment in the story Some forms include the following

emsp acrostic (the first letter of each line of the poem spells a word vertically eg p 116)

emsp blackout (all the words and letters of a page are blacked out except those letters that make up the


educatorrsquos guideeducatorrsquos guide






















Words of Wisdom














I Have a Dream





Etiquette





Cast of Characters



Sports and Games

































































Words of Wisdom














I Have a Dream





Etiquette





Cast of Characters



Sports and Games




















































I Have a Dream





Etiquette





Cast of Characters



Sports and Games













































educator’s guide booked - teachingbooks.net · educator’s guide booked by kwame alexander ......

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