October Sky
Reading and Assignment Schedule
Day and Date
Assignment
Chapter(s)
Tuesday, August 28
Wednesday, August 29
Thursday, August 30
Friday, August 31
Wednesday, September 5
Thursday, September 6
Friday, September 7
Monday, September 10
Tuesday, September 11
Wednesday, September12
Thursday, September13
RRJ
Take-home quiz ch 6-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Friday, September 14
Monday, September 17
Tuesday, September 18
Wednesday, September19
RRJ
Vocabulary check 1st half
RRJ
Take-home quiz ch 11-15
12
13
14
15
Thursday, September 20
Friday, September 21
Monday, September 24
Tuesday, September 25
Wednesday,September26
Thursday, September 27
RRJ
16
17
18
19
20
21
Friday, September 28
Monday, October 1
Tuesday, October 2
Wednesday, October 3
Thursday, October 4
RRJ
RRJ
Take-home quiz ch 1-5
RRJ
RRJ
RRJ
Take-home quiz ch16-20
RRJ
RRJ
Vocabulary check 2nd half
RAFT (due 10/9)
22
23
24
25
epilogue
See next page for specifics on Vocabulary, RRJ entries, and Quizzes.
Assessment
10 points
10 points
Quiz 1 50 pts
10 points
10 points
Quiz 2 50
points
10 points
50 points
10 points
Quiz 3 50
points
10 points
10 points
10 points
Quiz 4 50
points
10 points
10 points
50 points
100 points
Vocabulary from the novel:
1. In the miscellaneous section of your notebook, begin a page entitled “Words I
Want to Use” with the following headings:
Word
Book
Page number
How to use it
Ex: confounded October Sky
10
same as “blown away”
You are to note any words you encounter in the novel that sound good to you. These
are words you would like to work into your vocabulary. This log will be ongoing and will
be checked twice throughout our reading of October Sky. I will also ask you at times
to use some of these new words in writing assignments.
2. In order to understand this book, you must look up words you do not know. This
includes words you do not know at all or words you have heard before but you
are not sure of the meaning. I know some of you have extensive vocabularies,
but there are some challenge words in there even for you! For these words,
simply write a brief definition that makes sense to you in the margin beside the
text where the word is found. Highlight or underline the word in the sentence. I
will check the books along with the list above.
There the doctors gave him little chance for survival. While Mom
waited in the Stevens Clinic waiting room, the Captain was allowed
to watch the operation. After a long piece of his intestine was
removed, Dad confounded everybody by going back to work in a
month. Another month later, drenched in rock dust and sweat, his
section punched through the header into the softest, blackest,
purist coal anyone had ever seen. (10)
Each vocabulary check is worth 50 points and counts as a vocabulary grade.
Reader Responses:
You will be asked to respond in writing to what you have read. You MAY NOT
simply write plot summary. I am asking you to do use a variety of responses. You may
respond in the way you most prefer, but out of the 10 entries, you must use at least
three ways to respond. That means if you like to draw, you may draw for 8 of the
entries, but you must use at least two other ways to respond. Below is a list of
acceptable responses:
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Drawings – visualizations that show how you visualize the characters or scenes
Quotes – this would be statements from the book you find interesting and
comment on their meaning, importance to the story, connections to your life,
etc.
Charts – you may wish to chart the types of rockets or types of fuels and the
result of the launches or create a timeline of events
Related historical facts – this novel references several important historical
events and eras. You might want to read more on the internet or in books about
a particular topic and relate it to the book.
Relate the experience of the rocket boys to your own experience building and
launching your own rockets for science class.
Questions you may have
Connections you have made to events or people in the novel or in your life
Reactions to events, people, or conflicts in the novel
Comparisons/contrasts among characters
Assigned topics – I will assign at least two topics for Reader Response.
Each Reader Response counts as 10 points, must be at least ½ a page, be one entry
per page, and totals 100 points for the unit.
Take-home Quizzes: There will be four take-home quizzes throughout the novel.
These will be worth 50 points each. You may use your book, notes, rrjs and anything
else you need to answer the questions for the quiz, but cheating will result in a
zero. Don’t copy your friend’s answers. I read them ALL and recognize exact same
language. Besides, if you copy, you haven’t learned anything.
Each quiz will be worth 50 points for a total of 200 points
RAFT – this is the end of the unit assessment, and I will discuss this with you in
depth as we reach the end of the novel. This will be worth 100 points.
Our total unit will be worth 400 points.