Books in a Series Critical Thinking Questions

Day 1 In a paragraph, make a prediction about your story. Make sure to include what your prediction is and why you are making it.

Example Response While reading Maniac Magee today I made a prediction. I predict that Maniac is going to need help from Mars Bar in order to untie Cobble’s knot. I think this will happen for a couple of reasons. First of all, no one has been able to untie Cobble’s knot for decades. Secondly, I predict that Mars Bar will help Maniac because Maniac is in the East End and Mars Bar is someone in the East End who doesn’t like Maniac. Amanda Beale said that when Maniac unties the knot people will like him. I think if Mars Bar helps Maniac untie the knot then they will immediately become friends. That is my prediction from today’s reading.

Day 2 In a paragraph, describe what genre your book club book is. Make sure to include specific examples and details to prove your statements.

Example Response Maniac Magee is a fiction book. In the fiction category, I believe this story fits into the realistic fiction genre. After reading about how Maniac conquered Cobble’s knot, the reaction from the crowd seemed very realistic. If there was an undefeatable opponent in your town that someone finally beat for the first time in decades, I would expect people to cheer and go crazy. That is what happened when Maniac beat Cobble’s knot and that is a very realistic reaction making this story’s genre, realistic fiction.

Day 3 In a paragraph, make a prediction about a character from your book club book. Include a description of the character and reasons for your prediction.

Example Response I am going to make a prediction about Amanda Beale from the book Maniac Magee. Amanda is a 10 year-old girl from the East End who loves to read and takes especially good care of her books. Amanda has a little brother, a little sister, and a dog named Bow Wow; all of whom are able and of destroying her precious books. I believe that Amanda Beale is going to become a child-detective so that she can figure out who ruined her Encyclopedia A. Since the Encyclopedia was used as confetti for Maniac’s celebration, and its destruction caused Maniac to leave to town, she will feel it is her duty to find the culprits and prove to Maniac that it was not his fault. That is my prediction about Amanda Beale.

Day 4 In a paragraph, make a visualization about something you could see in today’s reading. Make sure to include adjectives and details to help your audience see what you saw.

Example Response In today’s chapter Maniac Magee I made a visualization. I could picture what Grayson saw when he spotted Maniac lying on the ground outside of the buffalo pen. Maniac must have looked like he had not eaten in weeks. His bones looked thin and stuck out of his skin like a skeleton wearing a thin layer of clothing. His clothes looked like he had been running through dark mud with thorns sticking out of it. The thorns would have made deep red and snake like crevices through his skin. That is how I visualized a homeless Maniac Magee.

Day 5 In a paragraph, make another prediction about a different character from your book club book. Include a description of the character and reasons for your prediction.

Day 6 In a paragraph, describe who is telling the story. Make sure to include specific examples and details to back up your statements.

Example Response In the book Maniac Magee there is a narrator telling the story. You can tell that there is a narrator telling the story because of the language they use. For example, the narrator refers to Maniac as “he”. The narrator is also able to tell the reader what each character is thinking or feeling. For example, the narrator knew that Grayson wanted to ask Maniac to stay at the Y with him before Grayson actually asked. We also knew that Maniac was going to turn down Grayson because the narrator told us how Maniac felt about homes before Maniac responded to Grayson. That is why I think that the story’s point of view is coming from the narrator.

Day 7 In a paragraph, write a visualization you had during today’s reading. Make sure to include adjectives and descriptions to depict your visualization.

Day 8 Either below your CTQ from yesterday or on the next page; illustrate your visualization from Day 7. Be sure to include a caption under your picture.

Day 9 In a paragraph, explain if any of your earlier predictions came true. Be sure to state what your prediction was and what really happened. Also, include details and examples to help your writing.

Example Response On day 2 I predicted that Maniac Magee would untie Cobble’s Knot with Mars Bar help and everyone would love him, but my prediction did not come true. Maniac Magee was able to untie Cobble’s Knot on his own, without help. Mars Bar didn’t help at all, and in fact, he helped Maniac leave town after he accomplished his feat. There was a lot of cheering for Maniac but it was overshadowed by the fact that someone ruined Amanda’s Encyclopedia A in order to make confetti for Maniac’s celebration. Maniac felt like it was his fault that Amanda’s encyclopedia was destroyed and decided to leave the East End and the Beales family. This proves how wrong my prediction was and what really happened in Maniac Magee.

Day 10 In a paragraph, state what your books major problem is and predict how it will be solved. Use examples and details from your book to back up your statements.

Day 11 In a paragraph, write a visualization you had during today’s reading. Make sure to include adjectives and descriptions to depict your visualization.

Day 12 In a paragraph, describe what the author’s message is (what does the author want you to learn?). Use specific examples and details from the book to back up your statements.

Sample Response In the book Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, the author wants his readers to learn about the importance of family, the importance of reading, and to learn about diversity. Jerry Spinelli talks about the importance of reading when he describes how Maniac teaches Grayson to read and how proud they are of him for learning. He also talks about the importance of family because Maniac Magee is always trying to find of home of his own. Lastly, the author wants us to learn about diversity. Maniac Magee doesn’t care about skin color, he’ll play football or baseball with anyone. Those are some of the author’s messages from Maniac Magee.

Day 13 In a paragraph, describe the resolution to your story. Were you surprised by the ending? Was the ending different then you predicted? Use details and examples from the book to help your writing.