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Backward Glass
Reading, Writing and Response Activities
This package is composed of reading, writing and other discovery activities for the study of Backward Glass by David Lomax. The activities in here are intended to deepen your appreciation of this novel and to deepen your awareness of some of the issues it raises. In this package, you will find both mandatory (must do) activities and optional (choose any six) activities.
MANDATORY: 6 JOURNAL RESPONSES OPTIONAL: 6 ACTIVITIES
STUDENT NAME: ________________________________
Mandatory: Response JournalWhile you are reading the novel, you will be asked to write in a response journal.
Everybody writes responses differently, and the most important thing is that your response is personal. It's what you thought about the chapter or what you thought while reading the chapters. If you are stuck for what to write in your response to a chapter, consider looking at the following suggestions and writing three or four paragraphs based on them. Use the subheadings to help you organize your thoughts.
React – Write what you thought about it. What did you like or dislike? What did you think was funny, interesting, sad, dull, exciting, etc. Write your first reactions and then explain why you had those reactions.
Relate – Relate something you have read to your own life or your own experience. For example, is this like your family? Do you know people like these? Did something like this once happen to you? Is this neighborhood like your own? Are these parents like yours? Explain yourself fully in this paragraph.
Reflect – Write about WHY. Why did characters do what they did? Did they make the right decisions or the wrong decisions? Would you have done the same thing? Why or why not? Why did the author write it this way?
Re-think – Pick an important event in the story and write about what the story would have been like if something different had happened? What if somebody had made a different decision? What if someone had been lucky instead of unlucky?
Predict – What do you think will happen next? Explain in a full paragraph.
Chapter Responses (minimum, single-spaced)Part One: Time Travelers' Rules, Winter 1977 1 page
Part Two: The Curse of Prince Harming, Spring 1977 1 page
Part Three: The Mirror in the Lake, Summer 1947 1 page
Part Four: The Little Hobo Boy, August 1957 1 page
Part Five: Shatterdate 1 page
Part Six: The Baby in the Wall, September and Everything After 1 page
Name _____________________________Response Journal Rubric
Categories Level 1
50-59%
Level 2
60-69%
Level 3
70-79%
Level 4
80-100%
Knowledge/Understanding
- knowledge of the form required for response journal
- demonstrates limited knowledge
- demonstrates some knowledge
- demonstrates considerable knowledge
- demonstrates thorough knowledge
- understanding of information, ideas, concepts related to each individual journal entry
- demonstrates limited understanding
- demonstrates some understanding
- demonstrates considerable understanding
- demonstrates thorough understanding
Thinking/Inquiry
- critical thinking skills shown in responses to questions
- uses critical thinking skills with limited effectiveness
- uses critical thinking skills with moderate effectiveness
- uses critical thinking skills with considerable effectiveness
- uses critical thinking skills with a high degree of effectiveness
- inquiry skills in analysing, and interpreting information, and forming conclusions to questions
- uses inquiry skills with limited effectiveness
- uses inquiry skills with moderate effectiveness
- uses inquiry skills with considerable effectiveness
- uses inquiry skills with a high degree of effectiveness
Communication
- communication of information and ideas in journal writing pieces
- communicates information and ideas with limited clarity
- communicates information and ideas with some clarity
- communicates information and ideas with considerable clarity
- communicates information and ideas with a high degree of clarity
- use of various forms of communication for different purposes
- demonstrates limited command of various forms
- demonstrates moderate command of various forms
- demonstrates considerable command of various forms
- demonstrates extensive command of various forms
Application
- application of language conventions in response journals
- uses language conventions with limited accuracy and effectiveness
- uses language conventions with some accuracy and effectiveness
- uses language conventions with considerable accuracy and effectiveness
- uses language conventions with a high degree of accuracy and effectiveness
- connection of personal ideas, feelings, and experiences in response journals
- connection of personal ideas to writing is limited
- connection of personal ideas to writing is moderately effective
- connection of personal ideas to writing is considerably effective
- connection of personal ideas to writing is highly effective
Reading Strand /100Writing Strand /100
Word-max: Choose 5 words from the reading that may be new, different, difficult, interesting or important.
Word: _____________________
Context: ________________________________________________________________________
I predicted this word means: ________________
When I looked it up in the dictionary, I found it means:
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Word: _____________________
Context: ________________________________________________________________________
I predicted this word means: ________________
When I looked it up in the dictionary, I found it means:
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Word: _____________________
Context: ________________________________________________________________________
I predicted this word means: ________________
When I looked it up in the dictionary, I found it means:
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Word: _____________________
Context: ________________________________________________________________________
I predicted this word means: ________________
When I looked it up in the dictionary, I found it means:
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Word: _____________________
Context: ________________________________________________________________________
I predicted this word means: ________________
When I looked it up in the dictionary, I found it means:
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SEEC ParagraphChapter____________________________Kenny and the other mirror kids discover that time travel can be both exciting and frightening. On this page, write a clear supported opinion paragraph of at least six sentences (statement, example, explanation, example, explanation, conclusion) about your interpretation of the experience of time travel in the novel. If you are having trouble starting, here are a couple of sentence-starter templates:
I believe that time travel, as presented in Backward Glass, is far more dangerous than it is enjoyable.
I believe that time travel, as presented in Backward Glass, is far more enjoyable than it is dangerous.
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Comic BookWrite a comic-strip that explains part of what you read.
Creative WritingIn Backward Glass, Kenny runs into an awkward situation when he is forced to confront his own
grandmother 5 years before he is even born. Luckily, Kenny is able to provide his grandmother with enough personal information to convince her that he is who he says he is. Now it's your turn. Choose a member of your family and write the diaglogue you would have with that person if you travelled back to a time 5 years before you were born. Remember that you must convince them that you are who you say you are.
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QuestionerWrite some questions to help the group discuss this day's reading. Generate questions that invite group members to share their thoughts, feelings, reactions, and concerns about the text. Use the following suggestions to guide the development of your questions. After each question, write down what the group has to say.
Who...? What...? When...? Where...? Why...? How...? If...?How did you feel about...? Did __________ surprise you? What lesson ...?
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Chapter(s) __________: Problems and SolutionsOn the chart below, note some of the problems, large and small, that you have seen in this chapter. For each problem, write what seems to you the best solution to the problem. At the bottom of the page, write your personal conclusions about the problems in the book so far.Problem Solution
Your conclusions:
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Chapter(s) __________: PredictionsPick two characters from the story so far and make some predictions as to what their lives could be like ten years from now. For each character, make a “best case” and a “worst case” prediction.
Best Case Worst Case ___________________________________________
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Chapter(s) __________: Pro and ConJohn Wald was unable to return to his own life when he was a young man. However, once he had lived his life in the past, he still chose to block his younger self from returning. Complete the chart on this page with the ideas that John Wald might give for this choice.
Pro Con
In conclusion, John's decision was a good or bad one because...
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Chapter(s) __________: New charactersImagine that the mirror kids are joined by two new characters. On this sheet, draw and give a few details about each new character. Include their street name, some things about their appearance, and some things about their lives.
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Fortune GraphComplete the following graph showing the changes in fortune experienced by four characters in the play.
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Ill Fortune
Neutral Fortune
Good Fortune
T-Chart
Create a t-chart showing the differences between any of the following (choose one pair of ideas): Kenny and you; Luka and you; life in 1977 and life now, technology in 1977 and technology now; anything else you think that’s worth comparing.
2 SEEC ParagraphsChapter____________________________
Evaluation of decisionsPick the two people who made what you would think of as the worst decisions in this novel and explain why you think their decisions were bad.
On this page, write one clear supported opinion paragraph of at least six sentences (statement, example, explanation, example, explanation, conclusion) for each of the two characters that you choose.
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2 SEEC ParagraphsChapter____________________________
Evaluation of character Pick the person in this novel who had the poorest character and the person who had the best, and explain your decisions. In this case “character” means their goodness, their commitment to principles, their good decision-making skills, their integrity, and so on.
On this page, write one clear supported opinion paragraph of at least six sentences (statement, example, explanation, example, explanation, conclusion) for each of the two characters that you choose.
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ResearcherDig up some background information on any topic related to the book. This could include the history or geography of the book's setting, information about a time period portrayed in the book, or information about a specific technology. Below, write the website at which you found your information, and summarize the information you found.
Websites: ______________________________ ______________________________
Topic: _________________________________
What you found out:
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A Map of Time David Lomax has said that when he last counted “there were almost two hundred time-travel events, either actually dramatized or just implied” in Backward Glass. Try to diagram at least ten of these time-travel events on this sheet. If you like, use different colours to represent the journeys of different characters. If you can manage to document every single instance of time-travel, the author would like to see it and feature it on his website.
January February March April May June July August September October November December
1917 _____________________________________________________________________________
1927 _____________________________________________________________________________
1937 _____________________________________________________________________________
1947 _____________________________________________________________________________
1957 _____________________________________________________________________________
1967 _____________________________________________________________________________
1977 _____________________________________________________________________________
1987 _____________________________________________________________________________
1997 _____________________________________________________________________________
2007 _____________________________________________________________________________
2017 _____________________________________________________________________________
Character Relationship MapOn this sheet, create a map representing the relationships between the characters of the novel.
ClivePeggy
Prince Harming
Keisha
Kenny
Melissa
John Wald
Luka
Curtis
Rose
ConnorBrian Maxwell
Jimmy
Rick
Lilly
Anthony
Name _____________________________
Activity Package Rubric Categories Level 1
50-59%
Level 2
60-69%
Level 3
70-79%
Level 4
80-100%
Knowledge/Understanding
- knowledge of novel and of the various tasks in the package
- demonstrates limited knowledge
- demonstrates some knowledge
- demonstrates considerable knowledge
- demonstrates thorough knowledge
- understanding of variety of the content of the novel
- demonstrates limited understanding
- demonstrates some understanding
- demonstrates considerable understanding
- demonstrates thorough understanding
Thinking/Inquiry
- critical thinking skills shown in various activities
- uses critical thinking skills with limited effectiveness
- uses critical thinking skills with moderate effectiveness
- uses critical thinking skills with considerable effectiveness
- uses critical thinking skills with a high degree of effectiveness
- creative thinking skills shown in various activities
- uses creative thinking skills with limited effectiveness
- uses creative thinking skills with moderate effectiveness
- uses creative thinking skills with considerable effectiveness
- uses creative thinking skills with a high degree of effectiveness
Communication
- communication of information and ideas in activities
- communicates information with limited clarity
- communicates information with some clarity
- communicates information with considerable clarity
- communicates information with a high degree of clarity
- use of various forms of communication in activities
- demonstrates limited command of various forms
- demonstrates moderate command of various forms
- demonstrates considerable command of various forms
- demonstrates extensive command of various forms
Application
- application of language conventions
- uses language conventions with limited accuracy and effectiveness
- uses language conventions with some accuracy and effectiveness
- uses language conventions with considerable accuracy and effectiveness
- uses language conventions with a high degree of accuracy and effectiveness
Reading Strand /100Writing Strand /100
