Title: Pay It Forward, Young Reader's Edition
Author: Catherine Ryan Hyde
Copyright: 2014
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Reading Level:
Fountas and Pinnell: Level U
Lexile: 630 L
Accelerated Reader: 5.1
An inspirational, heroic, emotional, and gut wrenching tale
of a boy who wanted to change the world. This book will inspire you pay it
forward and think about the part you play in the kindness around the world.
Suggested Delivery: small group read aloud
2 electronic resources to support/extend the text:
This is an interview
that the author did about her novel. In this interview, she explains why she
wrote the book for a younger audience and discusses what the book is about.
This will help students get an insight into what the author wants them to take
away from the book and her reason for writing it.
This is the official website of the pay it forward
foundation which the author of Pay It Forward started. This will allow students
to learn about the movement that this book started and hopefully get actively
involved in any way that they can.
Key Vocabulary:
1. Euphemism- An inoffensive expression that is substituted
for one that is
considered offensive.
2. Random Acts of Kindness- A selfless act performed by a
person or a group
that wants to assist or cheer up another person without expecting anything
in return.
3. The Vietnam War- A war that killed more than 3 million
people between the
years of 1955 and 1975. This is the war that Reuben was injured in.
4. Transcend- To rise above or go beyond the normal limits
of something.
5. Revelation- When someone makes a secret or surprising
fact known.
6. Orchestrate- To organize or plan something that is
complicated and has many
parts.
Before Reading Strategy:
Before reading, have
students do a read, write, pair, share to introduce them to the idea of random
acts of kindness and to see what they already know. First, the teacher will read
a picture book that praises random acts of kindness such as A Sick Day for Amos Mcgee aloud to the
class.
After the read aloud, write the phrases “Pay It Forward” and
“Random Acts of Kindness” on the board and have students free write whatever
comes to mind when they hear or read those phrases. Also have them write how
they relate to the story that was just read.
Once students are done writing, have them pair with a
neighbor and take turns sharing what they wrote. Also have them discuss whether
they have ever paid it forward or if someone has paid it forward to them.
Once all groups are done sharing, a few people will share to
the whole class what they wrote and discussed with their partner. Then the
teacher will discuss what random acts of kindness are and talk about the pay it
forward movement.
During Reading Strategy:
In order to guide
comprehension, have students stop and jot at the beginning of every chapter.
For some of their stop and jots, they can do a directing Reading-thinking
activity where they make predictions based on the title and first paragraph of
the chapter. The teacher can ask various questions about what they think will
happen to the character who the chapter is named after and how the main
character will come into the chapter. Once students have read, you can go back
and ask them follow up questions to gauge what they took away from the chapter
and to see how well their predictions held up. This also helps them use text
features to monitor their comprehension because they have to stop and look at
the title of the chapter rather than just skipping over it and starting to read
the first paragraph.
After Reading Strategy:
As a fun way to see what they retained from the novel and to
enhance their question making abilities, have the students get into a circle in
their table groups and play tossed terms. In this game, there is a dice with
the words characters, setting, conflict, resolution, and free question. The
students will take turns rolling the dice and whatever it lands on, they have
to create a question related to that topic. Students should take turns until
everyone has answered and asked at least 4 questions. This is a way for students to informally
assess each other but the teacher can also walk around and listen to the questions
that are being asked and see who in the groups take charge and who are less
talkative.
After finishing the novel, have students write a response to
the assignment that Reuben gives to his class that sparks the entire pay it
forward movement. In this response, discuss what you would have done if your
teacher made this an extra credit assignment. Would you have done it or not?
Would you have tried to change the world or assumed that a child could not
change the world?
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