LitCamp Sample Lesson | Silver Bunk Grades 7–8 Unit 3

READ ALOUD: The Great Greene Heist 25 MIN

INTRODUCE THE TEXT This is the first day of our Belonging Unit! Belonging means feeling one is a needed, loved, and respected member of one’s family, community, and the world. We all want to feel a sense of belonging—here at camp and with other people and groups who are important to us. Display the book, noting the title and author. Today, we will explore Belonging by reading and discussing the first chapters in a novel about a middle school boy who is torn between using his talents to help his friends or keeping his promise to stay out of trouble. Note that even though this book is set in a modern middle school, the author meant for it to be a funny, exaggerated account of what goes on at school. DURING READING As you read, pause for discussion as noted below. Today’s text begins on page 1 and ends on page 29. • AFTER PAGE 2: How does the author introduce the character of Jackson Greene? What key details does the author use to describe Jackson? • AFTER PAGE 15: What does the dialogue between Keith and Dr. Kelsey tell you? How do you think their plans will affect the plot of the story? AFTER READING These first chapters of The Great Greene Heist have laid a foundation for the novel. We have discovered traits of characters, identified relationships, and learned about a variety of schemes.

• Where do people find a sense of belonging in middle school? • Describe what you see on the front and back cover of this book. Based on the cover what do you think the characters in this book will be like? EL SUPPORT The novel includes colloquial language and media references that may be challenging for campers to understand. As you read the novel aloud, encourage campers to use sticky notes to mark confusing passages of the text to discuss later.

• AFTER PAGE 23: How would you describe the relationship between Jackson and Hashemi? Why are the Student Council and its Executive Council so important to Jackson and Hashemi? • AFTER PAGE 29: Based on the text so far, which characters are scheming? Why are they scheming?

• How would you describe Jackson? Which of the 7 Strengths does he possess or display? Support your opinion with details from the text. • How is belonging to a group important to the characters in the story?

BRING THE TEXT TO LIFE: Belonging Map 20 MIN

But based on the relationship between the characters, that camper will choose how close or how far to put the second character on the board. Continue doing this until every character is represented as a circle on the board. Invite campers who have not gone to come up and draw arrows connecting the circles. In the end, take a look at this map of relationships. Discuss the following questions. • What groups do we see forming on the board? • What does this map say about the characters in the novel and their relationships to each other? • How is belonging to a certain community important to each character?

INSTRUCTIONS: Have campers write their names on slips of paper and place them in a bowl or container. Ask campers to name the characters from the book while you write the names in a list on chart paper or the whiteboard. We are going to play a game that will help us get better acquainted with characters in the novel. Working together, we will create a map that will help us visualize the relationships among the characters. One by one, I will draw campers’ names from the bowl. The first camper I call will come to the front of the room, take the first character on the list, say the character’s name, write it on the board, and draw a circle around that name. The second camper I call will do the same for the second character on the list.

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