Tripping Over the Lunch Lady: And Other School Stories

Tripping Over the Lunch Lady: And Other School Stories

Written by Nancy Mercado

Published by Scholastic, 2004

Brief, School, Humor, Hilarious, Awkwardness

Summary:

This fun and entertaining novel will have your students laughing! To ease anxieties about middle school this novel will put a humorous spin on some of the horror stories they have heard.  The novel features multiple short stories about everything from pop quizzes, to lunchtime, to "crazy" teachers!

Reading Level: Lexile Measure: 790L
Suggested Delivery: Small heterogeneous reading groups


Key Vocabulary: Decomposition, Specimens, Reluctant, Compromise, Principle, Detached

Teaching Strategies

a) Depending on the reading level of your class, incorporate a mini-lesson on the difficult vocabulary with your students.

b) I would suggest having the students form small groups and read a short story together.  If you are reading the novel quickly, you could assign each group and story to read and have the groups participate in whole group discussion, each contributing a portion of the novel. 

c) Your classroom environment may benefit from the students sharing personal, humiliating stories about themselves.  It can form a sense of community and honesty.  Which is an excellent classroom atmosphere, keep this trend going!  At the end of the year, move the desks into a circle and ask each student title their paper with their name, then ask the students to pass the papers around the circle and write one nice thing about that person.   

Comprehension Strategies:

                                 Pre-Reading

Since this novel is composed of ten separate stories, told by ten different authors, I believe that it is important to introduce this style of novel to your students.  Some may be able to relate to reading multiple short stories before if you mention the  Chicken Soup series. But for the rest of the class, read and examine the short story Farewell to Violet, look for the elements that make up a short story.  Consider these elements of short stories, from an online resource, which you will find referenced below. 

During reading

Ask your students to create a chart, in order for them to track examples of these 8 elements, within each short story.  This will not only provide you with a form of assessment, but the students will be help accountable for completing the reading. 

Post Reading
Avi, Angela Johnson, David Lubar, James Proimos, David Rice, Susan Shreve, Terry Trueman, Rachel Vail, Lee Wardlaw and Sarah Weeks are all contributors to the novel.  Ask your students to research these authors, What background information can they find?  How do their other novels reflect their school experience?    Are their more insights into their adolescence?

                                                                                     Writing Activity

You students should now have an abundance of examples that compose a short story.  Now it is time to write their own short story as if it is another chapter in the novel! The students should reminisce and write at least one page reflection on a noteworthy experience they've had in school.  Scaffold students' organization of ideas and thought-process through the graphic organizer featured on the left. 

Electronic Resources:

The short story graphic organizer can be accessed at this URL:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://classrooms.tacoma.k12.wa.us/stadium/schandler/documents/short_story_graphic_organizer.bmp&imgrefurl=http://classrooms.tacoma.k12.wa.us/stadium/schandler/index.php?section%3Ddocuments&h=1700&w=2338&sz=11648&tbnid=G9KoUGFBwTUS9M:&tbnh=87&tbnw=120&zoom=1&usg=__Rtg1gn40EM3-6vRceLN6rlYaYRI=&docid=gH-VQ_Ms3fs66M&sa=X&ei=XAukUNEHr7PRAZ2JgeAB&ved=0CDEQ9QEwAA&dur=3166

This is an excellent resource for online flashcards that can be used to accompany your introduction of the novel

http://quizlet.com/13180668/tripping-over-the-lunch-lady-and-other-school-stories-flash-cards/

The short story, Farewell to Violet written by Ellen Dodson can be accessed at this URL for free!  The document also includes sample CMT questions along with genuine student responses. 
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjackiewhiting.net%2FAmGov%2FCAPT%2FResp%2520to%2520Lit%2520-Farewell%2520to%2520Violet.doc&ei=lwikUL2UA6SB0QH5g4CYCQ&usg=AFQjCNHDwePVi9EVGM3tGMs0yPlL26tgMw


Below is the link to the image which I used above to display the different elements of a short story. http://www.ket.org/education/guides/pd/teachingtheshortstory.pdf

 

Mercado, N. E. (2004). Tripping over the lunch lady: and other school stories. New York: Dial Books.