Description
Teaching GuideAbout the BookMrs. Eva Marie Olinski is charged with appointing four students to represent her sixth-grade class in the Epiphany Middle School Academic Bowl competition. Though she doesn't have a clue as to why she chooses Noah, Ethan, Nadia, and Julian, she has a premonition that her decision is a good one. These four students, calling themselves "The Souls," surprise everyone by defeating the seventh and eighth graders and winning the school-wide competition. When they go on to win the state Academic Bowl Championship, Mrs. Olinski begins to realize what she didn't know in the beginning. Each of "The Souls" had been on a journey -- a journey that interlocked their lives like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. What Noah, Ethan, Nadia, and Julian had learned along the way is the true meaning of friendship. What they discover when they find one another is that kindness and friendship make them a team.Pre-reading ActivityThe View from Saturdayis aboutteamwork.Divide the class into three teams. Assign each team five questions taken from the fifteen questions at the end of the novel. Allot the teams one class period to find the answers to the questions. Tell them that they may use reference sources in the media center or search for answers on the Internet. Allow each team time to share their answers with the class. Then engage the class in a discussion about teamwork. How does a group become a team? What is the responsibility of each team member? Ask each group to explain how they organized their team.Discussion Topics The four sixth graders on Mrs. Olinski's academic team call themselves "The Souls." Mrs. Olinski tells them that "they were a team as soon as they became 'The Souls.'" Why is "The Souls" a good name for these four students? At what point does Mrs. Olinski realize that "The Souls" would make a good academic team? How does Mrs. Olinski become a "Soul" herself? Why does Mrs. Olinski not know why she chose "The Souls" as her team until the end of the no