Teacher Man

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Teacher Man - Activity worksheets

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Activity worksheets

LEVEL 4

PENGUIN READERS

Teacher Support Programme

Before reading
1 Readthefirstparagraphonpagevand

answer:

Howoldarethestudents?

Whydidtheylookshocked?

WhatwouldyoudoifyouwerePetey?

Whatwouldyoudoifyouweretheteacher?

While reading
Chapters 1–3
2 MakealistofwordstodescribelifeinIreland

whenMr.McCourtwasachild.

3 WriteaboutadayinthelifeofMr.McCourt

asayoungboy.

4 WhowerefamousteenagestarsintheUnited

Statesandinyourcountryinthe1950s?What
songswerepopular?

5 Lookupthewordheadlineinyourdictionary.

ImagineMr.McCourtisreadingthe
newspaper.Writeaheadlineforanimportant
pieceofnewsinthe1950s.

6 ThefirstclasswithMr.McCourt.

YouareoneofthestudentsinChapter2.
YougethomeafterthefirstclasswithMr.
McCourt.Tellyourparentswhathappened.
Twoofyourclassmateswilltaketheroleof
yourparents.Whatwilltheysay?Planthe
conversationandthendoitforthewhole
class.

7 ReadthefirstparagraphofChapter3.

Doyouagreewiththeexperiencedteachers’
comments?Why?Whynot?Discussthiswith
oneofyourclassmates.Doyoubothagree?

Chapters 4–6
8 Telltheclassastorythatyouweretoldwhen

youwereveryyoung.Whydoyoustill
rememberit?

9 WhatisanOpenSchoolDayorNight?Are

thereOpenDaysinschoolsinyourcountry?

10 Workwithanotherstudent.It’sMr.McCourt’s

firstOpenSchoolDay.Youareanexperienced
teacher.Givehimadvice.

Chapters 7–9
11 Youwanttomissaclassyoudon’tlike.Write

anexcusenote.

12 Workwithanotherstudent.Oneofyouisthe

guidancecounsellor,theotheroneisMr.
McCourt.HaveaconversationaboutKevin.

13 Onpage27,Kevin’smothersays,“…the

Communistsgothim”.Whofoughtthe
Vietnamwar?When?Why?

14 You’reKevin.WriteashortlettertoMr.

McCourtfromVietnam.

15 Writewhy.

a Studentswroteexcusenotesbecause…

b Theteachercopiedthestudents’excusenotes

because…

c TheinspectorlikedMr.McCourt’sidea

because…

d KevinDunnewasadifficultstudentbecause

…

e Mr.McCourtthoughtBarbaraSadlarshould

gotocollegebecause…

f Mr.McCourtdidn’tliketeachingatcollege

because…

Chapters 10–11
16 Writeasummaryofthetwochaptersinno

morethan50words.Whatideasareimportant
foryouandwhy?Compareyoursummaryto
theonewrittenbyanotherstudent.Arethey
different?

17 Readthetextbetweenthetwodiamondson

pages34and35.Workwithanotherstudent.
Tellhim/herwhathappenedatschool.Whatdid
youlearn?Didyouliketheclass?

18 Withanotherstudent,writetheconversation

betweentheheadoftheEducationDepartment
atFashionHighSchoolandMr.McCourton
pages33and34.Thenactitout.

Chapters 12–14
19 YouwenttothemovieswithMr.McCourt.

Workwithanotherstudent.Tellyourmother
orfatherwhathappened.

20 UsingbooksortheInternet,lookup

informationaboutHamlet.Wouldyouliketo
seetheplay?

21 MakealistofadjectivestodescribeAndrew.

ThencomparehimwithotherstudentsMr.
McCourthastaught.

22 ReadChapter14again.You’reAndrew.Tell

yourstorytotheclass.

Teacher Man

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Teacher Man - Activity worksheets

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Activity worksheets

LEVEL 4

PENGUIN READERS

Teacher Support Programme

Chapters 15–17
23 UsingbooksortheInternet,lookup

informationaboutDublin.

24 Imagineyou’reMr.McCourt,andyouarein

Dublin.Writealettertoyourwife.

25 DiscussMrsMcCourt’slifenowthather

husbandisinDublin.Isshehappy?

26 YouaretheHeadofStuyvesantHighSchool.

Makeabrochureorawebpagefortheschool.
Youcanincludepicturesanddrawings.

27 Workwithanotherstudent.YouareMr.

McCourt,yourpartnerishiswife.Your
marriageisabouttoend.Writethe
conversationbetweenthetwo.Thenactitout.

28 Readthedialogueonpages58and59.Work

withanotherstudent.Imagineyouarestudents
inMr.McCourt’sclass.Rewritetheconversation
withtrueinformationaboutyourdinnerlast
night.

29 WriteanotetoDaniel.Youwereintheclass

andfeelsorryforDaniel.Writeanotetohim.

Chapters 18–20
30 OneofyouisMr.McCourt.Yourpartneris

anangrymotherwhowasatthemeeting.
Whatshouldthemotherdo?Whatshould
Mr.McCourtdoortellher?Discussthiswith
anotherstudentandthenactoutthe
conversation.

31 Writewhy…

a teachersaretiredafterOpenSchoolDay.

b teachersdon’tknowmuchabouttheir

students’privatelives.

c Bobdidn’tbringpenandpapertoschool.

d Bobwantedtobeafarmer.

e Bob’sfatherdidn’twanthimtobeafarmer.

32 WhatisGilgamesh?Lookupinformationand

writeaboutit.

33 Roleplaytheconversation.

TheKoreanfatherandKen’sfathermeetat
school.Writetheconversationbetweenthemand
actitout.

34 MakeaplanofNewYork.Locatethelibrary,

theBronx,GreenwichVillageandotherplaces
Mr.McCourtmentionsinhisbook.

After reading
35 Workwithanotherstudent.StudentA:Read

threelinesfromthebookoutloud.Donotshow
thepagetoyourfriend.StudentB:donotlook
atthebook.Trytosaywhathappensbeforeand
after.

36 Imagineyouworkatabigbookstore.Makea

postertoadvertiseMr.McCourt’sbook.

37 Istheendinghappyorsad?Doyouthinkit’s

agoodending?Changetheending.

38 Tellpartofthestory.Includewrong

information.Canyourpartnerfindthewrong
information?

39 Makeathankyounote.

Drawandwriteathankyounoteforateacher
youadmire.

40 Makeanewcoverforthereaderandthinkof

anothertitle.

41 Youareawriternow.Chooseoneofthe

chaptersandrewriteitasaplay.Thenactitout.

42 Write.Didanyteacherevermakeyoufeelyou

hatedhis/herclasses?Why?Whatdidyoudo
aboutit?Writeaboutthosememories.

43 Workwithanotherstudentandmakealist.

Whatarethegoodthingsaboutworkingasa
teacher?Whatarethedifficulties?

44 Discuss:Doyouthinkteachersshouldearn

moremoneyinyourcountry?Why?Whynot?

45 Didyoulikethebook?Why?Whynot?Write

youropinionforanewspaper.

46 Project:thebestteacher.Asktenotherstudents

(ifpossible,inanotherclass)whattheythink
makesagoodteacher.Makeaposterwiththe
results.Whatarethethreethingsmoststudents
agreeon?Doyouagree?

Teacher Man

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Teacher Man - Progress test

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Progress test

LEVEL 4

PENGUIN READERS

Teacher Support Programme

Chapters 1–3
1 Who’swho?Choosetherightnameto

completethesentences.

Mr.McCourt Petey Theprincipal
teachers Joey

a ………broughtasandwichtoschool.
b ………livedinIreland.
c ………wantedtoknowaboutIreland.
d ………wastraditional.
e ………gaveadvicetonewteachers.

Chapters 4–6
2 Arethesesentencestrue(T)orfalse(F)?

a ………Mr.McCourtandtheprincipals

agreedonthevalueofstories.

c

b ………Therewerenoproblemson

McCourt’sfirstOpenSchoolDay.

c

c ………Mr.McCourtfoundsomething

goodineverystudent.

c

d ………Mr.McCourtthoughtgrammar

lessonswereveryimportant.

c

e ………Mr.McCourtfeltproudwhenhis

studentslearnedanewword.

c

Chapters 7–9
3 Choosetherightanswer.

a …oftheexcusenoteswereforged.
1 All
2 Many
3 None
b Theprincipalthoughttheexcusenoteslesson

was…

1 excellent.
2 justOK.
3 poor.
c KevinDunne…
1 wasapopularstudent.
2 usedtobemuchbetter.
3 learnttolikeMr.McCourt.
d BarbaraSadlar…
1 wassmarterthanotherstudents.
2 hadanordinaryjob.
3 wantedtogotoavocationalschool.
e Mr.McCourt’scollegestudents…
1 haddoneresearchbefore.
2 ledveryeasylives.
3 werenotgoodatwritingresearchpapers.

Chapters 10–11
4 Whathappenedfirst?Numbertheseeventsin

thecorrectorder,from1to6.
a Mr.McCourthadaproblemwithHector.
b Mr.McCourttookajobathiswife’sschool.
c Mr.McCourttaughtatFashionHighSchool.
d Nancy’sstorymovedeverybody.
e Theprincipaldidn’twantMr.McCourtback.
f Mr.McCourtexplainedgrammarusingapen.

Chapters 12–14
5 What’stherightanswer?

a AtSewardParkMr.McCourthad(fiveclasses

inall/29girlsinall/allninthgrades).

b Thegirls(traveledtothecinemabybus/

enjoyedthemovie/paidfortheirtickets).

c Serena(hadsmalleyes/wastakentoprison/met

hergrandmotherforthefirsttime).

d Andrew(hatedalltheteachers/lovedMr.

McCourt/wasJune’sson).

e Mr.McCourt(sawJuneagain/wasniceto

Andrew/wrotealettertoJune).

Chapters 15–17
6 Matchthesentences.

a Mr.McCourt…
b Alberta…
c RogerGoodman…
d Ben…
e StudentsatStuyvesant…
1 workedatStuyvesantHighSchool.
2 didn’twanttobecomeaprincipal.
3 toldMr.McCourtabouthisfamily.
4 weremuchbetterthanatotherschools.
5 hadbeenonvacationwithMr.McCourt

whilehewasdoinghisdoctorate.

Chapters 18–20
7 Arethesesentencesright(3)orwrong(7)?

a Mr.McCourtlikedOpenSchoolDays.

c

b Bobwasanexcellentstudent.

c

c Bob’sfatherdidn’tunderstandhisboy.

c

d KenwasborninKorea.

c

e Guydiedatwar.

c