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This unit is from the summer of 2009, when I taught summer school for the first time. I had just started my masters (in reading), so there are actually a few good handouts in here. Unfortunately, my overall unit notes had not yet developed by this point, so I just have the handouts for individual days without all of the unit essential questions, etc. As I comb through all of my materials from the past 15 years, I can see the progression of my organization as well as my lessons. A lot my earlier files are just is not as organized as my later stuff. I posted the handouts in the order that I used them, but there are a few gaps so just be sure to check the page numbers. For most of the handouts, I tried to focus on grief and decision making as the "big ideas." Also, if you have not checked out Sharon Draper's site already, there are a lot of good discussion questions & activities posted here.
I chose Tears of a Tiger for that particular class because it was on their reading level (700) and its an engaging story. Although, come to think about it, any story by Sharon Draper is engaging to struggling readers. In this particular story, the main character, Andy, a basketball player, drinks with his friends and decides to get behind the wheel. He gets into an accident kills one of his best friends. The story mostly deals with the aftermath of Andy's guilt.
Handouts for Tears of a Tiger
Vocabulary for Pages 51-70 of Tears of a Tiger (This one is mostly just vocabulary)
For this handout, you will do a lesson on figurative language before getting into the reading. For the lesson, you will need a box of random items at the front of the room. Reading Guide for Pages 71-88 of Tears of a Tiger.
For the end of the novel, I did a lesson on foreshadowing and then had kids go back through the book for clues to the ending of Tears of a Tiger. Before they could do this, though, they needed a small explanation of foreshadowing and some practice in identifying it. To do that, I used a passage from Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief, which was all the rage with the kids that year. Together, we read through the passage and found "clues" that the scene was not going to end well. I have no idea why I typed this whole scene up instead of just photocopying the page from the book, but it is posted below. Once the kids were pretty good at identifying the clues, I let them finish reading Tears of a Tiger and then I had them go back through the book and try and find some clues for the ending. Here are the foreshadowing handouts:
Summer school ended at this point so I wasn't able to do a summative activity, but I was required to give a final exam. I made the exam a simple, multiple-choice reading comprehension test, I let the kids use their books, and I only had them answer 30 questions. I also had them do a short answer section, posted below.
I hope some of these free resources for Tears of a Tiger are helpful to you.
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