Author/Illustrator: Dan GutmanPlot Summary: An unlikely group of fifth graders become friends through their use of a machine that does their homework for them. What starts out as a way to make their lives easier, gets more and more complicated as they begin to rely on the machine and then realize that they are going to get caught.
Comments: This is the perfect book for upper elementary students and also lends itself well to the audio version. The entire book alternates between the characters speaking and giving their side of the story as it unfolds.
Extensions:
1. After a read aloud, a discussion and writing assignment - Would you use a homework machine? Why or why not?
2. The students would describe which character they related most to and explain why.
3. Tie the reading of the book to a lesson(or series of lessons) on computer ethics, online etiquette and safety, and copyright/plagarism.
Themes/keywords: homework, cheating, schools, interpersonal relations, Arizona
Age/Reading Level: 4 - 6; ATOS/Follett - 4.8; Lexile - 680
Standards:
ELA4R1 The student demonstrates comprehension and shows evidence of a
warranted and responsible explanation of a variety of literary and informational
texts.
ELA4R2 The student consistently reads at least twenty-five books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) each year. The materials should include traditional and contemporary literature (both fiction and non-fiction) as well as magazines, newspapers, textbooks, and electronic material. Such reading should represent a diverse collection of material from at least three different literary forms and from at least five different writers.
ELA4W1 The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals a satisfying closure.
ELA4W2 The student demonstrates competence in a variety of genres.
Publisher's Info: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, New York 2006
ISBN-13: 978-0-689-87678-3
ISBN-10: 0-689-87678-5
Awards/Review Sources:
Wilson's Children 10/01/06 | School Library Journal starred 04/01/06 |
| Booklist starred 02/01/06 | Book Links starred 03/01/06 |
| Horn Book 10/01/06 | Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 03/01/06 |
| Teacher Librarian 10/01/06 | Kirkus Review 02/01/06 |
Genre/Dewey: Fiction
Websites:
Dan Gutman's website
Blurb about this book on the blog of an interesting sounding librarian
Notes for Booktalk:
A sequal is out - Return of the Homework Machine. In this book, the characters are in the sixth grade and the book involves a mystery in the Grand Canyon.
An earlier book with a similar theme - Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine is available at the Dekalb County Library - illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
Vocabulary:
Comments