Orca Sports Resource Guide : High Interest Sports Action [1 ed.] 9781554693764, 9781551439259

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Resource Guide

Copyright © 2010 Sarah Harvey, Susan Geye and Janice Reynolds All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Harvey, Sarah N., 1950Orca sports resource guide / Sarah N. Harvey, Susan Geye and Janice Reynolds. Issued also in electronic format. isbn 978-1-55143-925-9 1. Language arts--Correlation with content subjects. 2. Language arts (Middle school). I. Geye, Susan II. Reynolds, Janice T III. Title. lb1631.h37 2010

372.6’044

c2010-904648-x

First published in the United States, 2010 Library of Congress Control Number: 2010931511 Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit. orca book publishers po Box 5626, Stn. B Victoria, bc Canada v8r 6s4

orca book publishers po Box 468 Custer, wa usa 98240-0468

www.orcabook.com Printed and bound in Canada. 15 14 13 12 • 6 5 4 3

Orca Sports Resource Guide Contents

orca sports

Index of Teachers’ Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi The Value of Using Orca Sports in the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Orca Sports and Reading Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 How to Use this Curriculum Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Classroom Teaching Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Book Summaries with Reading Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Books Grouped by Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Book Titles with Keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Appendix A: Lexile Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Appendix B: Fry Reading Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Resource Guide Contributors A former high school English teacher, Susan Geye is now a librarian for Crowley ISD in Texas. Susan has served on the ALA’s Best Books for Young Adults committee as well as the Texas Tayshas High School Reading List committee. She is the author of Mini-Lessons for Revision: How to Teach Writing Skills, Language Usage, Grammar and Mechanics in the Writing Process. Janice Reynolds has been teaching for more than eighteen years. She has been honored as Teacher of the Year at both elementary and secondary levels. She has also been teaching writing workshops since 1995 and works as an assessment specialist for Crowley ISD in Fort Worth, Texas. Sarah Harvey is the editor of the Orca Sports series. She is also the author of numerous books for children and teens. Visit her website at www.sarahnharvey.com. Alex Van Tol grew up reading a wide range of books, from Enid Blyton to Stephen King. She taught middle school for eight years, then made the switch to writing for a living. Alex lives in Victoria, British Columbia, with her family. Visit www.alexvantol.com for more information.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Index of Teachers’ Guides

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Absolute Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 All-Star Pride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Blazer Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Boarder Patrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Chief Honor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Cobra Strike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Crossover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Dead in the Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 The Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Fly Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Flying Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Gravity Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Hitmen Triumph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Hurricane Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Jumper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Kicker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Maverick Mania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Oil King Courage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Paralyzed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Powerslide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Razor’s Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Rebel Glory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Scarlet Thunder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Slam Dunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Squeeze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Thunderbird Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Tiger Threat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Titan Clash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Two Foot Punch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Venom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Winter Hawk Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

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Orca Sports Resource Guide The Value of Using Orca Sports in the Classroom These novels, written by award-winning authors, will engage readers from page one with compelling stories about interesting characters in contemporary settings. And even though the novels are geared to reluctant teen readers, all students will enjoy these short, entertaining books and gain a new interest in reading.

orca sports

Orca Sports and Reading Levels Orca Sports have been assigned a grade level for readability using the Fry Readability Formula. Orca Book Publishers has chosen the Fry reading level because it is relatively easy to understand and is a basic measure of word and sentence length. The grade level for all Orca Sports titles falls between grade 2.0 and grade 4.5. The interest level, determined age-appropriate content, is ages ten and up. The Fry Readability Formula (or Fry Readability Graph) is a readability metric for English texts, developed by Dr. Edward Fry. The Fry Readability Formula assigns grade reading levels based on a calculation of the average number of sentences and syllables per one hundred words. These averages are plotted onto a graph in which the intersection of these averages determines the grade reading level. Please note that the Fry reading level is intended to be used a guide for teachers, librarians, and educators looking for texts that are suitable for their students. The Fry Readability Formula does not take into account difficult concepts or constructs or the sophistication of the content. We recommend that educators consider the content when making selections for their students. A book is much more likely to succeed in the classroom if the content holds personal interest to students. Orca Book Publishers employs a stringent editing process that ensures linear comprehensible storylines, clear context and controlled vocabulary. There are few characters in these books and no flashbacks or confusing constructs or situations.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide How to Use this Curriculum Guide This curriculum guide will enable teachers to use Orca Sports books in the classroom. A teaching guide for each book in the series includes a summary, writing and research activities, elements of the novel, discussion questions and tools used by writers. The activities in these guides will allow students to study the novels while gaining a deeper understanding of how the text relates to their lives and to the society in which they live. The guides may be used as written for an individual book or combined with other guides for multiple book study. Teachers may also use a portion of the guide to highlight a particular aspect of the book or to teach a specific curriculum based lesson.

orca sports

Classroom Teaching Ideas Preview Reading Activity

Reading Workshop—Individual Silent Reading To encourage students to read every day, allow a set period of time in each class for silent reading. Daily reading will increase a student’s fluency, enhance their vocabulary, improve their writing skills and raise their test scores. One way to evaluate their reading is to use the following guide to establish a grade. Students will be graded on the number of pages they read, and their pages can be recorded on a reading log that is maintained throughout the year. Pages Grade 50 or less . . . . . 65 51 – 74 . . . . . . . 70 75 – 99 . . . . . . . 75 100 – 124 . . . . . 80 125 – 149 . . . . . 85 150 – 174 . . . . . 90 175 – 199 . . . . . 95 200 – 225 . . . . 100 In order to determine if a student has read the book, ask them a few of the following questions. 1. How does the title relate to the story? 2. What does the cover image have to do with the plot of the story? 3. Can you identify and describe any characters displayed on the cover? 4. Who is the antagonist? How does he/she work against the protagonist? 5. What is the result of the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist? 6. What happens to the antagonist at the end of the story? 7. What is the main problem/conflict the characters deal with? 8. What steps do the characters take to resolve the conflict? 9. Describe the main character. 10. What lesson does the main character learn?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

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Literature Circles Literature circles are small, student-led book discussion groups comprised of four to five students who are reading the same book. Literature circles can be used in one of two ways: (1) each group reads a different book, or (2) the entire class reads the same book but breaks into smaller literature circle groups for book discussions. This student-centered instructional technique enables each student to respond to literature in the discussion format regardless of his or her reading level. The students initiate and lead the discussions in their small groups, and the teacher simply acts as observer, facilitator and, as needed, mediator. Assessment in literature circles can be both formal and informal and can include student input. Generally, literature circles should meet once or twice a week for approximately 20 minutes. Students should come prepared having read the assigned pages and completed some type of written response. No official leader or roles are assigned; all students know that they are expected to participate and respond to the comments, questions and ideas of the other members of the group in genuine give-and-take conversations. Assigning Students to Book Discussion Groups The most successful assignment of students to literature circles occurs when students are placed in groups based on their interest in a particular book. If the teacher has a collection of various titles, the teacher may want to “book talk” the titles, then have students vote for their preferred reading selection. The teacher then assigns students to book discussion groups based on book preferences, as much as possible, and availability of books. When students are able to read a genre or topic that piques their interest, their book discussion group will be much more lively and authentic. To give each student a “sneak preview” at a variety of Orca Sports books, give each student a different Orca Sports title and set a timer for five minutes. Ask students to look at the cover and read the first few pages of the book for five minutes. When the time period is up, ask students to pass their book to another student and set the timer for an additional five minutes. Repeat this process at least four times, and then allow students to select the book that captures their attention to read. Student Ownership of Book Discussion Groups Once students have been assigned to book discussion groups, students need to know that the success of the literature circle discussion group is their responsibility. Allowing students to set ground rules for the discussion, such as expectations for participation and respect for group members, as well as establishing a reading schedule (within reasonable limits) will be the first step in giving students ownership of the discussion. For example, students may decide that, if a member of their group has not done the reading, they cannot participate in the discussion that day. The teacher can assist in this decision-making process by clarifying expectations such as whether or not class time will be allotted for reading of the novel and, if so, how much time will be allowed. The teacher will also need to indicate a completion date and group project due date, if applicable. The groups should use this information to set reasonable reading schedules. Orca Book Publishers • www.orcabook.com • 1-800-210-5277

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Orca Sports Resource Guide This will help keep the readers at more or less the same place in the book and facilitate discussion.

• Themes: loss/abandonment, family relationships, self-discovery, friendship • Characters: honesty, open-mindedness, courage • Writing Style: story within a story, literary allusions, imagery

orca sports

Modeling Responses to Literature When introducing the concept of literature circles, the teacher should explain to students that the group discussions are conversations about their reading and that all students are expected to contribute to the discussions. Teachers can facilitate these book discussions before students are ever placed in literature circle discussion groups by encouraging the type of open-ended responses that are the essence of literature circle discussions. One way to do this is for the teacher to introduce the open-ended type of student response in a class discussion. The teacher may model responses or solicit responses from the students either as the class reads the novel or after individual reading of sections of the book. During the novel discussion, the teacher may ask questions that help the students to focus on:

During classroom discussions, the teacher can encourage responses that focus on the “big ideas” (theme, characterization, etc.); textual passages (foreshadowing, imagery, etc.); connections (to students’ personal lives, other texts or the real world); and style (diction, vocabulary). This classification process allows students to see the wide variety of acceptable responses and the open-ended nature of the discussions. With such experience, they are more fully prepared to come to literature circle discussions able to discuss both the story and more advanced literary topics, including author’s technique, literary devices, figurative language, diction and other topics.

Written Preparation for Literature Circle Discussions Literature circles are most effective when students do some written preparation prior to attending the literature circle discussions group. This written preparation insures that when the students do meet with their groups, each student has at least one or two “conversation starters” in case the free-flowing conversation about the book stalls or breaks down. For younger elementary students, this written preparation may be in the form of a drawing of a scene from the book or a journal entry recording their thoughts at an event in the story. For older students, written preparation may be in the form of a response to a question focusing on a literary element, a character journal or a dialectical journal that reflects on both the textual elements of the story, as well as the student’s individual response to the story. All students bring their written preparation to the book discussions and USE THEM AS NEEDED. They are “conversation starters” ans students should nottake turns reading them aloud.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

orca sports

Dialectical Journals Dialectical journals offer the distinct advantage of recording the student’s thought processes at a specific point in the novel and preserving those thoughts for the book discussion groups that will ensue. Dialectical journals invite a dialogue between the reader and the text. These double-entry journals record two types of information: on the left side of the journal, students write a reference to the text, a quotation or passage, or a summary of an event; and on the right side, a personal response to the text referenced. Again, teachers should encourage responses such as connections to self, the outside world or another text; predictions; questions; visualizations (in words or drawings); clarifications of the text; conclusions or inferences; or statements that are indicators of the student’s comprehension. Students should be encouraged to make an entry in their dialectical journals as they read or to put a Post-it note in the book where they have a response and return to the Post-it note when they have finished reading and are ready to write in their dialectical journal. Group Sharing Teachers and students can enjoy and benefit from an end-of-the-book project that focuses on higher-order thinking skills. Groups can choose one or more of these options or suggest another idea for their group sharing project: • Make a collage which might be found hanging in the bedroom of one of the characters, and write a brief explanation of each item selected. • Write diary entries that one of the characters might have written during the course of the story. • Write a poem or song that expresses one or more of the characters’ feelings. • Create a piece of artwork that interprets one of the themes of the book. • Write and perform a skit based on the book. • Write letters that two of the characters might have written to one another about what was happening in their lives. • Create a board game based on the book. • Write and record a news broadcast about the events in the book. • Write and illustrate a picture book based on the characters and events. • Cast the characters in a movie based on the book and develop an advertising campaign for the movie. • Draw a timeline of the book, complete with illustrations and commentaries. • Create a cause-and-effect continuum of how and why the main character changes as a result of the events and situations that occur. After the projects are completed, each group will share their final product with the class.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Culminating Activities • Ask students to select one of the resource guide research activities for the novel they read and complete or adapt the assignment for a “Celebration of Reading.” Have students prepare a tri-fold cardboard backboard and a display to showcase their research projects. Invite parents, teachers and other classes to view the projects. Award prizes and invite school district officials and local news media to cover the event. • Ask students to write a review of the book they have read. Encourage them to consider character development, language, plot and theme. A useful format for a book review is: Brief synopsis of plot and introduction to the main characters Comments on the book’s theme Something postive about the book A constructive criticism Your overall impression of the book Advice for who might enjoy the book

Students may wish to send their reviews to the author or the publisher.

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

• Divide students into groups of three or four. Have one of the students volunteer to be talk-show host. Ask the other students to assume the identity, dress and persona of one of the characters from one of the Orca Sports books. Ask the students to develop a theme for their talk show and a series of questions for the character interviews. Have each group present their interviews to the class. • Many of the central problems in the Orca Sports books involve situations that could be considered newsworthy. As a class, prepare a news program consisting of a series of news reports—one for each Orca novel read. Students can portray news anchors, reporters, other victims, participants, family members and bystanders in the news stories. Have students write, practice and tape their news stories. Invite other classes to view the newscast.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Assessment

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Informal Teachers can derive multiple informal assessments from literature circle discussion groups. The written preparation students bring to the discussion group can be assessed informally by monitoring which students complete their written preparation. The literature circle discussions can also be assessed informally by observation. A simple checklist or rubric works well here. Did all students participate? Did one or more students monopolize the conversation? Were students respectful of each other during the discussion? Were students respectful of other discussion groups in the room? A simple “3+1 Big Ideas” sheet can be filled out by each group at the end of their discussion where the group lists three big ideas or topics of conversation for that day plus one statement that clarifies how well the group worked together that day. A whole class debriefing after literature circle discussions also can be used to informally assess each group’s discussion for the day. Formal Again, possibilities are many. Students can be asked to write an after-the-discussion journal entry that records the groups’ discussion and dynamics for the day. Or students can be asked to take an idea from one of their journal entries and develop the idea with support from the novel. The group-sharing projects also serve as formal assessment. Students should have input on how their final product should be evaluated, and this should be determined prior to the completion of the assignment. The quality of the product as well as the presentation of the product should be taken into consideration.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Book Summaries with Reading Levels Absolute Pressure by Sigmund Brouwer—Ian loves scuba diving and working in his uncle’s dive shop in Key West, Florida, at least until someone tries to kill him—twice. (RL 3.2) All-Star Pride by Sigmund Brouwer—In Russia with the WHL all-stars, Hog finds there is plenty of money to be made...if he’s willing to pay the price for it. (RL 3.8) Blazer Drive by Sigmund Brouwer—When someone starts killing cattle on Josh’s family’s ranch, he puts his future on the line, both on and off the ice. (RL 3.8)

orca sports

Boarder Patrol by Erin Thomas­—Ryan wants to be a professional snowboarder, but when he has to choose between promoting his own career and saving his cousin’s life, he does the right thing, despite the loss of a great opportunity. (RL 3.2)

Chief Honor by Sigmund Brouwer—WHL goaltender Joseph Larken investigates possible steroid use on his team. (RL 3.1) Cobra Strike by Sigmund Brouwer—Ray stumbles on a deadly secret, and it may cost him his best friend and his football future. (RL 4.0)

Crossover by Jeff Rud—Kyle is a rising basketball star, but his interest in theater causes huge problems both on and off the court. (RL 4.0) Dead in the Water by Robin Stevenson—Simon gets a crash course in foul-weather sailing, teamwork and environmental protection. (RL 3.1)

The Drop by Jeff Ross—When Alex and three other snowboarders find themselves in trouble in the remote mountains of British Columbia, Alex must confront his fears and lead them to safety. (RL 2.8) Fly Away by Nora Rock— Marnie is forced into a leadership role on her competitive cheerleading team, but it’s harder than she imagined to keep the Soar Starlings—and herself—aloft. (RL 3.9)

Flying Feet by James McCann—Jinho wants respect for his skill at tae kwon do, but when he meets an unscrupulous mixed martial arts trainer, he turns his back on his sport’s code of honor. (RL 3.8) Gravity Check by Alex Van Tol—Jamie and his brother Seth stumble upon a marijuana grow-op when they go mountain biking in the backcountry. (RL 3.0) Hitmen Triumph by Sigmund Brouwer—Nolan is pumped to be playing on the same hockey team as his brother. And then he finds out that Nate is involved in some very dangerous things. (RL 3.2) Hurricane Power by Sigmund Brouwer—In a new town, David is all alone. When he joins the track team, he is pulled into a school-wide web of secrecy and danger. (RL 3.2) Jumper by Michele Martin Bossley—Desperate to save a band of wild mustangs from the slaughterhouse, Reese finds herself in danger. (RL 3.2)

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Kicker by Michele Martin Bossley—Why does someone want Izzy’s team out of contention? (RL 3.8) Maverick Mania by Sigmund Brouwer—Matt investigates the disappearance of his soccer team’s leading scorer and becomes entangled in a possible kidnapping. (RL 4.1) Oil King Courage by Sigmund Brouwer—When a pond-hockey tournament takes Gear and his best friend Reuben to communities across the Arctic, Gear helps his friend solve a family mystery and connect to his Inuit heritage. (RL 4.1)

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Paralyzed by Jeff Rud—A football tackle gone wrong puts a boy in hospital and leaves star linebacker Reggie Scott feeling confused, guilty and alone. (RL 4.0) Powerslide by Jeff Ross—Complications arise when Casey gets hired as a skateboarding double and a competitor challenges him to a series of dangerous tricks. (RL 3.0) Razor’s Edge by Nikki Tate—Travis and his friends train and race horses at a harnessracing track. When someone starts hacking off the horses’ tails, Travis must solve the mystery before he loses everything he has worked for. (RL 3.1) Rebel Glory by Sigmund Brouwer—A string of accidents threaten to knock the team out of the playoffs. (RL 3.0) Scarlet Thunder by Sigmund Brouwer—Trenton suspects that someone is sabotaging the documentary about stock-car racing that he is helping his uncle film. (RL 4.1) Slam Dunk by Kate Jaimet—When his star point-guard goes missing, sixteen-yearold Slam Amaro finds out that coaching a girls’ high school basketball team isn’t the slam dunk he thought it would be. (RL 4.2) Squeeze by Rachel Dunstan Muller—On a caving trip with his older brother, Byron discovers a new cave but has to make some life-or-death decisions when his brother is seriously injured. (RL 3.6) Thunderbird Spirit by Sigmund Brouwer—Spin-off racial hatred takes hockey players Keats and Dakota into a web of violence and deceit that makes winning this year’s league title the least of their concerns. (RL 4.0) Tiger Threat by Sigmund Brouwer—Terrified of confrontation, Ray is forced to stand up to danger—both on and off the ice. (RL 2.4) Titan Clash by Sigmund Brouwer—With his father in jail and his mother in hospital, Jack may lose more than a basketball career. (RL 3.8) Two Foot Punch by Anita Daher—Free-running feels like flying, and Nikki must use all her skill to stay ahead of danger and save her brother. (RL 3.2) Venom by Nikki Tate—Spencer is sure someone is doping the racehorses at the stable where he works, but no one will listen to him until he gets some proof. (RL 3.4) Winter Hawk Star by Sigmund Brouwer—Tyler discovers his inner superstar after volunteering at a local youth home. He also finds himself in more danger than he imagined. (RL 3.8) Orca Book Publishers • www.orcabook.com • 1-800-210-5277

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Books Grouped by Sport Basketball Crossover Slam Dunk Titan Clash Caving Squeeze

Equestrian Jumper Football Cobra Strike Paralyzed Hockey All-Star Pride Blazer Drive Chief Honor Hitmen Triumph Oil King Courage Rebel Glory Thunderbird Spirit Winter Hawk Star Horse Racing Razor’s Edge Venom

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Mountain Biking Gravity Check Parkour/Free-Running Two Foot Punch Sailing Dead in the Water Scuba Diving Absolute Pressure Skateboarding Powerslide Snow Boarding Boarder Patrol The Drop Soccer Kicker Maverick Mania Stock-Car Racing Scarlet Thunder Track and Field Hurricane Power

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Competitive Cheerleading Fly Away

Martial Arts Flying Feet

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

orca sports

Book Titles with Keywords Absolute Pressure

scuba diving, synesthesia, illegal immigrants

All-Star Pride

hockey, Russia, crime

Blazer Drive

hockey, suspense, farming

Boarder Patrol

snowboarding, loyalty, drug dealing

Chief Honor

hockey, steroid use, loyalty

Cobra Strike

football, environmental responsibility, tolerance

Crossover

basketball, homophobia, peer pressure

Dead in the Water sailing, poaching, environmental responsibility The Drop

snowboarding, self-confidence, crime

Fly Away

competitive cheerleading, leadership, loyalty

Flying Feet

tae kwon do, respect, mixed martial arts

Gravity Check

mountain biking, brothers, drugs

Hitmen Triumph

hockey, sibling rivalry, crime

Hurricane Power

track and field, illegal immigrants, cyber crime

Jumper

equestrian, animal welfare, crime

Kicker

soccer, teamwork, fraud

Maverick Mania

soccer, domestic violence, kidnapping

Oil King Courage hockey, Inuit traditions, the North Paralyzed

football, sports injuries, guilt

Powerslide

skateboarding, competition, peer pressure

Razor’s Edge

horse racing, gambling, racism

Rebel Glory

hockey, bullying, sabotage

Scarlet Thunder

stock-car racing, film-making, sabotage

Slam Dunk

basketball, domestic violence, teamwork

Squeeze

caving, brothers, crime

Thunderbird Spirit hockey, racism, anger management Tiger Threat

hockey, organized crime, overcoming fear

Titan Clash

basketball, parental pressures, fraud

Two Foot Punch

free-running/Parkour, gangs, grief

Venom

horse racing, doping, family loyalty

Winter Hawk Star hockey, ADD, responsibility

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Absolute Pressure Sigmund Brouwer

orca sports

Reading level: 3.2 978-1-55469-130-2 pb AR Quiz # 129562

Book Summary For years seventeen-year-old Ian has been spending his summers on Key West, Florida, helping his Uncle Gord at his dive shop and spending as much time as he can underwater. When he’s not diving, he’s admiring Sherri, the beautiful girl who works at the dive shop. He wonders how she would feel if he told her his secret: he’s got a disorder that makes him experience the world in very unusual ways. For instance, every time he sees her he tastes blackberries. But romance isn’t the only thing that’s worrying Ian. A series of near-fatal accidents leads him to believe that his uncle is in grave danger. Whatever his uncle is involved in—finding sunken treasure, drugrunning—Ian is determined to help the man who has been a father figure to him. But the truth turns out to be more complicated and terrifying than he could ever have imagined. Prereading Ideas •• Research synesthesia. What is it? How many people does it affect? What happens in the brain of someone who has it?

•• Scuba diving is a very popular sport, but it can be dangerous if divers don’t follow the rules. Find out what kind of training you need to go scuba diving. What are some of the dangers involved?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Theme One of the themes of Absolute Pressure is the importance of trust in relationships. Ian knows that “lying is not right” but he justifies it by saying that he and his uncle lie to each other in order to protect each other. He also has a lot of anger towards his father, who lied to Ian and his mother. Near the end of the book, he says, “...worse than dying was thinking that someone I’d trusted had betrayed me.” Have students form small groups to discuss the following questions:

orca sports

1. Is there ever a time when lying is okay? Provide reasons and examples to back up your point of view. 2. Uncle Gord tells Ian a very complicated lie. Is a simple lie more effective than a complicated one? Do details make it easier or harder to “sell” a lie? 3. Is there any way to tell if someone is lying? Get students to make two simple statements to their group—one a lie and one the truth. See if the other students can tell which is which. 4. Is there really any “science” to lie-detection? Are TV shows like Lie to Me based on truth or lies? Have students write a brief report. Similes The author of Absolute Pressure uses similes to make the underwater scenes in the story more vivid. For example: “...like a rag doll shaken by a giant.” “...like a pinball bouncing off flippers.” “...like a piano falling through the air.” Ask students to write a brief paragraph on a familiar scene (a family dinner, a day at the beach) using similes to enliven the story. Encourage humor and creativity. Connecting to the Curriculum Vocabulary One of these words is not like the other. The following words all relate to scuba diving, but only one has a single meaning. Have students figure out the multiple definitions in order to find the word that has only one definition. gauge weight mouthpiece tank mask buoyant bends flipper pressure off the wall guideline valve wreck shark reef dive Answer: valve Orca Book Publishers • www.orcabook.com • 1-800-210-5277

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Orca Sports Resource Guide History •• Ian does research on the Spanish kings of the 1700s. What is he trying to find out and why? Have students research the history of the Spanish in Florida. Then have them do research on the Native Americans who lived there before the Spaniards arrived. How do place names in Florida reflect the state’s history? •• It’s estimated that 30% of immigrants in Florida are illegal. Uncle Gord is part of a scheme to get Cuban criminals into the country. How do most illegal immigrants get to Florida? What happens to them when they get there? What would happen to the economy if there were no illegal immigrants?

orca sports

Science •• Shark attacks. Have students research the myth and the reality behind shark attacks.

•• Artificial reefs. Ian dives into the hull of a ship that was sunk to make a reef. Have students debate the pros and cons of man-made reefs. •• Extreme weather. Hurrricanes are a fact of life for Floridians and other coastal dwellers. Uncle Gord claims that a recent hurricane had moved some valuable coins on the ocean floor. Is such a thing possible? Get students to research the effects of hurricanes and write an emergency plan to help people who live in hurricane zones. Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Ian has never talked about his “condition” with anybody. Why does he hide it? And why does he decide to confide in Sherri and Judd? 2. Why does Ian spend his summers with Uncle Gord?

3. Who are the men that Uncle Gord goes out on the boat with at night? What are they doing? 4. Is Uncle Gord a hero or a bad guy? Or both? Why?

Author’s Note The neural condition that Ian experiences in this story is rare but real. There are people who feel, taste and hear color. Synesthesia is a neural condition in which two or more senses intertwine. To scientists, however, the cause is still a mystery. Some wonder if all of us experience this as infants, before our brains learn to separate the senses, so that when we are very young, we not only hear our mother’s voice, but see it and smell it too.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources Theme www.blifaloo.com/info/lies.php www.howtodothings.com/family-relationships/how-to-tell-if-someone-is-lyingto-you www.forbes.com/2006/11/03/detecting-lies-trust-tech_06trust_cx_ee_1103 lies.html www.signsoflying.com/signs-of-lying-4-hidden-tells

orca sports

History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Florida www.floridahistory.com www.native-languages.org/florida.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_American www.usimmigrationsupport.org/cubaimmigration.html Science www.sharkattacks.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_attack www.bigshipwrecks.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_reef http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Florida_hurricanes www.nhc.noaa.gov Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

All-Star Pride Sigmund Brouwer

orca sports

Reading level: 3.8 978-1-55143-635-7 pb AR Quiz # 34966

Book Summary The all-star team, made up of the WHL’s young hockey players, is one short step away from the NHL. Their goal is to beat the Russian all-stars in a best-of-seven series to be shown as a television special. Hog Burnell, one of the biggest and toughest players in the league, is happy to be part of it. He could use the money that would come with a series win by the WHL all-stars. At the very worst, it’s a free vacation to Russia. It doesn’t take Hog long to discover there’s plenty more money to be made along the way...if he’s willing to pay the price for it.

Prereading Ideas •• Sometimes a person wants something so much, it doesn’t matter to them how they get it. Is it right to do something bad to accomplish something good? Does the end ever justify the means? •• The expression “Money is the root of all evil” is actually a misquote from the Bible. The actual quote is “The love of money is the root of all evil.” What is the difference? Why is it important to use the correct quotation?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot •• Writers use three main techniques to advance the plot of a novel: exposition (the author tells the reader what’s going on) and dialogue (characters talk about what’s going on) and action (which shows what is happening). Have students choose passages from All-Star Pride that advance the plot in one of these three ways; then get them to rewrite the scene using one of the other methods. For example, rewrite some dialogue as exposition, exposition as action, etc.

orca sports

•• Make a graph of the plot of All-Star Pride giving page references for where the action rises, climaxes, falls and concludes. Character •• Hog, the narrator of All-Star Pride, describes himself as poor, proud and polite. Find examples in the story of each of these traits. What other character traits does he exhibit? Find examples of these and write a short description of him. •• Show not tell. Hog tells us what Chandler and Nadia look like, but it is their behavior that reveals who they really are. Write brief character studies of Chandler and Nadia based on what their behavior “shows” the reader. Connecting to the Curriculum History •• Hog’s team travels to a Russia that has changed since the breakup of the Soviet Union. The world he describes is one of hunger, poverty and mistrust. Is this an accurate portrayal of life in Russia in the twenty-first century? Have students research modern-day Russia and write a brief story imagining what life must be like for Russian teenagers. •• Hog’s father hates Russians and calls them “Commies.” What do Communists believe in? Who are/were their leaders? Why did many Americans hate and fear them? What kind of government has replaced communism in Russia? •• The Nazis looted many European works of art during World War II; after WW II, the Soviet Union and the United States looted Germany. Some works of art were returned to their rightful owners (repatriation), others made their way into the black market. Have students research the controversy surrounding the repatriation of looted art and write brief paragraphs in support of or against the practice.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Economics According to Chandler, “Inflation is killing this country [Russia].” How can a country be “killed” by inflation? Use an inflation calculator to see out what has happened to inflation in your own country. For instance, in Canada, it would now take over $700 to buy what cost $100 in 1960.

Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Hog has a volatile temper. Does it help or hinder him? 2. After realizing that he couldn’t trust Nadia, why does Hog try to save her?

orca sports

Social Studies Russian hockey fans whistle instead of boo. Have students research cultural differences and write a short scene where two characters misunderstand each other because they use hand gestures rather than words to communicate.

3. Hog’s size and strength are used to intimidate the other team. Is this common in other sports besides hockey? 4. Is there anything real about reality tv? 5. Is there ever such a thing as getting something for nothing? 6. Is it all right for someone as big and strong as Hog to use threats of violence? 7. Should hockey violence be banned?

Author’s Note The Western Hockey League is one of the major junior ice-hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. It was founded in 1966 as the Western Canada Junior Hockey League, and then Western Canada Hockey League. In 1978, it became known as the Western Hockey League. The league is often referred to as the “dub.” Teams are located throughout western Canada and the northwestern US.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looted_art http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_761594938/art_theft_and_forgery.html Economics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/inflation_calc.html

orca sports

Social Studies www.culturalsavvy.com/index.htm http://international.ouc.bc.ca/cultureshock Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Blazer Drive Sigmund Brouwer

orca sports

Reading level: 3.8 978-1-55143-717-0 pb AR Quiz # 34969

Book Summary When Josh Ellroy, left-winger for the Kamloops Blazers, and his dad find more than a dozen dead cattle on the family ranch, Josh has some serious decisions to make. On one hand, the Western Hockey League playoffs are ahead, plus a chance to play in the National Hockey League. On the other hand, there’s a beautiful and interesting girl who believes more prize bulls will be killed. Josh is afraid of what will happen if he gets involved. As he learns more, he’s afraid of what will happen if he doesn’t.

Prereading Ideas •• Think about the expression “There’s no I in TEAM.” Then think about what Michael Jordan said: “There’s no I in TEAM but there is in WIN.” Is there any place on a team for players’ egos? Some people say, “There’s no I in TEAM, but there is an M and an E.” What happens when teammates believe different things about teamwork? And how can coaches and leaders value individual strengths on a team? •• How many times should you turn the other cheek? Is it always the right thing to do?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Foreshadowing The first chapter of Blazer Drive begins and ends with foreshadowing. Have students find other examples from the book and write a paragraph discussing what it accomplishes and whether it works.

orca sports

Character and Plot •• Josh is a very good person. He almost always responds well under pressure, does the right thing and doesn’t allow himself to be provoked. Have students rewrite a scene from the book, changing Josh’s behavior from good to bad. Then ask them to describe how the change in his behavior would affect the plot. •• After students have written about “bad” Josh, ask them to write the same scene with Josh being a combination of good and bad. Is he a stronger character or a weaker one? More realistic or less? How does this change affect the plot? •• Stephanie and Josh investigate a crime on their own. Ask students to consider the wisdom of their actions. Are they acting as vigilantes or as concerned citizens? How might the story have been different if they had called the police right away? Connecting to the Curriculum Social Studies Cattle Ranching •• Josh’s father is a rancher and Josh hopes to be a rancher after a career in the NHL. Losing a prize bull is an enormous blow to a rancher. Have students research what else threatens modern ranchers.

•• Cattle ranching can be environmentally devastating. Divide students into small groups and have each group study the ranching practices of a particular country and then give a brief report to the class. •• Is there actually a black market for prize bulls? Physics How do hot–air balloons work? Explore the science of hot–air balloons and discuss whether they could actually be used the way they are in Blazer Drive. Psychology •• Luke has an irrational fear of livestock. Is bovinophobia an actual phobia? Ask students to discuss when/how a fear becomes a phobia.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• People deal with conflict in different ways. Look for examples in Blazer Drive of how conflicts are resolved and ask students to pick a scene and write about a different way of resolving the conflict. For example, Josh’s coach deals with the conflict between Josh and Luke by telling them to solve it themselves. What other approaches could he have used? Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. What takes more courage—hitting back or walking away?

orca sports

2. How do practical jokes on other players on the team build up or tear down team spirit? 3. If someone you don’t like apologized to you for something bad he or she did to you, how would that change the way you feel about that person? 4. Is there ever a time when violence is the right way of dealing with a situation? Resources Social Studies www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/cattle-ranching-biggest-driver www.fao.org/newsroom/EN/news/2005/102924/index.html

Physics www.physics.ubc.ca/outreach/phys420/p420_08/Karen%20Schmelcher/PowerK_ files/v3_document.htm Psychology http://constantfear.blogspot.com/2008/01/bovinophobia-fear-of-cattle.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_resolution

Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Boarder Patrol

orca sports

Erin Thomas

Reading level: 3.2 978-1-55469-294-1 PB AR Quiz # 137572

Book Summary Ryan is driven. He’s going to be a professional snowboarder, and nothing’s going to get in his way. He learned the hard way that doing the right thing doesn’t always pay off. Ryan lives with his aunt and uncle now and spends all his time at the ski hill. He volunteers with the Junior Safety Patrol to cover the cost of his lift pass. When Ryan’s board is stolen, he discovers that his cousin, Kevin, knows more than he should about the ongoing theft problem at the resort. Upon further investigation, Ryan learns that drugs are involved—and Kevin’s in over his head. Ryan has no choice but to get involved. As Ryan prepares for the video shoot that could be his big break, he learns that Kevin’s in danger. Ryan has to choose between career and family, and hope that, for him, doing the right thing will pay off. Prereading Ideas •• Every sport has its particular culture and ideals. Have you tried snowboarding? What are your preconceptions about the sport? •• Have you ever gotten into trouble for doing the right thing? Think of a story or movie where one of the characters gets into trouble for standing up and doing what’s right. •• What do you love doing so much that you could see yourself one day going “pro”? •• When do you think it’s a good idea to keep a secret? Orca Book Publishers • www.orcabook.com • 1-800-210-5277

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot •• Ryan’s cousin, Kevin, is involved with a group that steals equipment and deals drugs on the ski hill. Ryan becomes suspicious because Kevin always seems to have money and is keeping secrets from Ryan. What would you do if you suspected that a relative or a close friend were mixed up in something dangerous?

orca sports

•• Ryan finds instructions online telling him how to use a coat hanger to break into a car. Do you think that information that might potentially be used for illegal activities should be publicly available? What are some arguments for it? What are some arguments against? Arrange students into teams of two; have them debate the pros and cons.

•• Make an overhead of the following list. Discuss with students some of the things that make a good story: ŠŠ a plot that is exciting, suspenseful, baffling or extraordinary ŠŠ interesting situations that are well explained and believable ŠŠ characters you care enough about to make you want to keep reading

ŠŠ characters you can relate to and who change and grow as they make decisions to solve problems ŠŠ descriptions that make you feel like you’re there ŠŠ a variety of settings ŠŠ a fast start—action, danger, humor

ŠŠ situations that provide an emotional response and give you something to think about ŠŠ a good ending with problems solved and characters getting what they deserve Using these criteria, have students write a critical review of Boarder Patrol. Students should ensure their review touches on a number of the criteria with examples and reasons for their assessment.

Character •• When his family moved away, Ryan chose to stay behind to pursue his dream of becoming a professional snowboarder. Olympic athletes sometimes have to leave home early to be billeted with families in cities where the training facilities that they need are available. In a reading response journal, have students consider and respond to the following questions: How far would you go to pursue your dream? Would you be willing to leave home? Do you think that Ryan made the right choice?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• Part of making your characters believable is writing realistic dialogue for them. If a character says things that you know nobody would say in the real world, then the story just won’t work. Have students select several passages from Boarder Patrol where the dialogue is particularly strong or convincing. They should be prepared to explain their choices to the group. Did any students select the same passages? What makes these passages realistic?

orca sports

Theme •• One of the themes of Boarder Patrol is the power of courage. Provide examples from the book where Ryan has to draw on his courage. How does the story move forward each time he faces his fears and takes on a challenge? •• Another theme in the book is that there is often a cost attached to doing the right thing. Ryan learns this first through his father’s experience, then through his own. Ryan’s father did something that he felt was right, although it had consequences for their family. If you discovered something that was harmful to others, but knew that reporting it would make your own life difficult, what would you do? Do you think that Ryan is right to be angry with his father, or not? •• Twice in the book, Kevin asks Ryan for help at a time when it’s difficult for Ryan to help him—once because Ryan has to leave the competition awards ceremony, once because he has to leave the video shoot. In the first case, it turns out that Kevin didn’t need his help after all. Read the fable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Discuss with students: how is that story similar to this situation? Why do you think Ryan acted as he did? •• Do you think Ryan was right to keep Kevin’s secret, once he knew what Kevin was involved in? He could have gone to Kevin’s parents or to the police. Why didn’t he? What would you do in a similar situation?

Point of View The story is told from Ryan’s point of view. As a reader, do you think that he is always right about what’s happening? Example of when he’s right: suspecting that his cousin is mixed up in something dangerous or illegal. Example of when he’s wrong: assuming that Jamie deliberately sabotaged him by taking his place for the magazine interview. Have students write a section of Boarder Patrol from the point of view of a character who either is wrong about what’s happening, or is deliberately lying to the reader. Then have students write the same story in the form of a factual report, stating what really happened. What details did their narrator change or get wrong? Why did the details come out differently?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Vocabulary Snowboarding has its own unique vocabulary. Have students read the definitions for the following words. Assign students to choose a number of words and use them in a sentence. Can they use five of the following terms in a short paragraph about snowboarding? backside rodeo: a spin and a back flip executed at the same time; the “backside” part of the name means that the rider starts off the jump with his or her heel edge

goofy: a style of riding a snowboard with the right foot in front of the left patrol: usually the first-aid and hill-safety organization at a ski resort rail: a long bar or rail, often metal, embedded in the snow, usually parallel to the direction of the hill so that riders can slide down it on their skis or board regular: a style of riding a snowboard with the left foot in front of the right switch: riding a snowboard in the opposite direction to what the rider is used to, for example someone who usually rides “goofy” riding “regular” instead tabletop: a jump with a flat top terrain park: an area or a run at a ski hill, which has been built up and groomed with jumps, banks, rails and other “obstacles” tree well: an area of loose snow that collects around and under a tree. A tree well is dangerous because a person can become trapped in it and may suffocate. whistleblower: someone working for or within an organization who reports something that the organization is doing wrong, usually because it’s dangerous to the public Connecting to the Curriculum

orca sports

chair lift: a mechanical device that carries people up a ski hill. On a chair lift, people sit on a bench-style seat, side by side. A safety bar holds them in place as the bench travels through the air, suspended from a cable, to the top of the hill.

English •• Explore with students how to write a screenplay. Watch a section of Stand By Me, E.T. or Edward Scissorhands. Discuss setting, dialogue and the importance of stage direction. Have students choose a section of Boarder Patrol and adapt it for a screenplay.

•• Study several magazine profiles of people the students know well (politicians and celebrities are good for this exercise). Discuss journalistic integrity and impartiality in preparation for students to tackle this assignment. Have students choose a sports figure they admire and write a feature magazine profile about that person. Be sure to include biographical and historical information, as well current events in the subject’s life, and quotes from the subject.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• This novel is set on a fictional mountain in British Columbia. The mountain doesn’t exist, but British Columbia’s mountains are home to many famous ski resorts such as Whistler and Blackcomb. Have students find a brochure or online advertisement for a real ski resort in British Columbia. What selling points does the advertisement use to promote the ski resort? Who are they aimed at? Why? •• Create an advertisement for Ryan’s ski resort, Salmon Valley, using points from the book.

orca sports

Social Studies Off-trail boarding is important in this novel. The main character, Ryan, sometimes chooses to board in the wooded areas of the mountain, or out of bounds. The “back 40” is a name sometimes given to the ungroomed part of a mountain. There are dangers attached to riding off-trail. Discuss with students: What might be the dangers of riding off-trail? (Avalanches, getting lost, tree wells.) Why would a person choose to ride off-trail? Why would they choose not to? What precautions should a person take before riding off-trail? Health/Personal Planning Ryan finally ends up asking Jamie and Ted Travis for help. What resources are in place for kids who have a problem but don’t have anyone to talk to? (Discuss Kids Help Phone and other community resources.) Science •• Have students research hypothermia, and construct a timeline showing hypothermia’s progressive effects on the human body. •• As a class, investigate tree wells. How do they form? What makes them so dangerous? •• Research and discuss different types of lifts used at ski resorts: T-bars, gondolas, chair lifts, etc. What kinds do students have experience with? What are the pros and cons of each kind? (This could tie into a science lesson on pulleys or mechanics.) Investigate the safety concerns and considerations of each type of lift mechanism. Physical Education •• Ryan volunteers as part of a fictional first-aid patrol at his resort. Many ski resorts employ the services of the Canadian Ski Patrol System or the National Ski Patrol System, or create their own patrol. The job of a patroller is to help keep skiers and boarders safe on the hill, and to respond to accidents when they happen. First-aid training is an important part of the job description, as is the ability to move an injured person off the hill. Has anyone in the class had any first-aid training? Why is it important? What sorts of accidents might happen on a ski hill? (Possible tie-in to physical education unit on first aid.)

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• A snowboard is made up of one piece, like a surfboard or skateboard. Once the snowboarder’s feet are attached to the board, he or she can’t move them in relation to the board. The snowboarder controls the board by shifting his weight and turning. Have students pretend their feet are attached to the floor. Which ways can they still move? Can they touch their toes? How far can they bend their knees without lifting their feet or losing their balance? •• Investigate injuries caused by snowboarding (usually these involve the wrists, knees and concussions). How do these injuries differ from skiing injuries? How can students guard against them?

orca sports

Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions

1. Both Ryan and his dad took risks to do the right thing. What are some of the risks that might be involved in doing what’s right? Why do we feel so good when we take those risks and do the right thing? 2. Have you been in a situation where you’ve started to drift away from someone you’ve known for a long time? Why does this happen sometimes? 3. Ryan’s father left town and found a job in a new city because he reported something that his company was doing wrong. This resulted in the plant he worked for closing down. At the beginning of the book, Ryan resents this and thinks that if his father had kept his mouth shut, their family could have gone on as normal. Are some things worth a sacrifice? Would you put your family’s well-being ahead of everything else? 4. Ryan’s ambition is to become a professional snowboarder. He spends most of his free time at the ski hill, practicing and preparing. Do you have an ambition that you work toward?

5. What do you think will happen after the story ends? Will Ryan become a successful snowboarder? Is that a realistic goal for a teenager? Research and give examples of professional athletes that you admire. How did they get where they are today? 6. Ryan and Jamie are rivals as well as friends; will the fact that they compete with one another on the hill affect their friendship?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources Writing Screenplays www.screenwriting.info

orca sports

Skiing and Snowboarding http://wapedia.mobi/en/List_of_snowboard_tricks www.csps.ca www.nsp.org www.britishcolumbia.com/ski www.canadasnowboard.ca www.snowpro.com www.casi-acms.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowboarding Books Ryan, Kevin. The Illustrated Guide to Snowboarding Smith, Jim. The Art of Snowboarding: Kickers, Carving, Half-Pipe, and More Author Biography A mediocre skier with exceptional first-aid skills, Erin Thomas spent five years as a ski patroller, before giving it up to focus on her writing and primary schoolteaching. Erin lives with her family in Whitby, Ontario. Author Website http://erinthomas.ca

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Chief Honor Sigmund Brouwer

orca sports

Reading level: 3.1 978-1-55143-915-0 pb AR Quiz # 34968

Book Summary Lauren Cross is the first female player on a WHL team—goaltender Joseph Larken’s team, the Spokane Chiefs. For Joseph, the prospect of a season in the publicity shadow of a new female goalie promises to be a nightmare. Joseph has a medical condition that causes him to feel very little physical pain, but the only way he can deal with the emotional pain of his father’s betrayal is to build a wall of anger. When a steroid scandal knocks Lauren off the team, Joseph is relieved at first and then enraged by the accusations Lauren directs at one of the team’s coaches, a man Joseph reveres. After an injury sidelines Joseph, he and Lauren form an unlikely team to discover the truth about Coach Al. Prereading Ideas •• What kinds of challenges do female players face when they play on teams that are mostly male? Why would a girl prefer to play on a team with other girls? •• Steroid use is a serious problem is sports. How is it controlled in amateur and professional sports?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Character Appearances can be deceiving. You can’t judge a book by its cover. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. These clichés all contain some truth. In Chief Honor, Joseph is called Gump, after Gump the Grump, a goalie with a bad-tempered look on his face. Joseph constantly refers to himself as stupid and ugly. Lauren says he is just like his father. With this in mind, answer the following questions:

orca sports

•• Why does Joseph hate himself so much? Find instances in the book where Joseph runs himself down and then find evidence that supports another view of him. For example, he calls himself stupid, but then he figures out a plan to save Lauren and Al. •• Joseph feels betrayed by his father and refuses to visit him in jail. How has his father’s behavior changed him? Have the changes been positive or negative? •• When Joseph rejects his father, he also rejects his faith. What effect does this have on him? How does it contribute to his self-image?

•• Joseph may have abandoned his faith, but he still has a code of honor. Find examples throughout the book of ways in which Joseph acts ethically. Theme One of the main themes of Chief Honor is forgiveness. Joseph is unable to forgive his father, and as a result he is unable to move on with his life. •• Ask students to think about a time when they have found it hard to forgive someone. Or when they did something that someone else couldn’t forgive. Then ask them to imagine that one of their prized possessions (a car, a guitar, a piece of electronics) is stolen or vandalized. What would it take to forgive the person who stole or vandalized your possession? An apology? The passage of time? True remorse? Get students to write and act out a short skit in which they show the sequence of events, from the initial act to forgiveness. •• Research what different faiths believe about forgiveness. For example, Buddhists believe that forgiveness prevents harmful thoughts from causing havoc on one’s mental well-being. In a class discussion, talk about whether it is necessary to have faith in order to forgive.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Plot Answer the following questions about the plot of Chief Honor: 1. Why is Lauren the target of a prank during her first game with the WHL? What happens to her? 2. Why is Joseph’s father in prison? Why doesn’t Joseph want to visit him? 3. Why was Eddie cut from the team? 4. Who planted drugs in Laurel’s duffel bag and why? 5. Where did Steve Haliburton get the steroids and who did he use as smugglers?

orca sports

Connecting to the Curriculum

Science •• Joseph suffers from a mild case of syringomyelia. What is syringomyelia and how does it affect people? •• Slap shots are relatively new to hockey. Investigate the physics of slap shots and other hockey shots.

Media Studies •• Joseph has perfected a routine that he uses when he is being interviewed in chapter 3. Have students discuss the wisdom of his approach. Is he making things worse or is he right to protect himself by stonewalling? •• Celebrities complain about the unwanted intrusion of the paparazzi and yet they seem to feed off the attention. Ask students to imagine that they are followed by photographers every time they leave home, and get them to write a paragraph on how it makes them feel to have no privacy. Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions

1. Lauren is discriminated against because she is female. Sexism in sports is well documented. Have students research the history of their favorite sport in terms of gender differences. Then ask them to write a brief report on a famous woman athlete in the sport they have chosen. 2. Lauren says, “It’s horrible to be blamed for something you didn’t do.” Joseph agrees. Being convicted of a crime you didn’t commit is an extreme example of this. Get students to research wrongful conviction and its consequences. 3. Lauren argues with Joseph and he says, “Don’t get married. You’ll be doing your future husband a favor.” Lauren apologizes for arguing, even though Joseph has insulted her. Should Lauren have apologized? Or should she have stood up for herself? Ask students to reverse the roles and act out a scene where Lauren insults Joseph and he responds. Does he apologize? What does his response say about gender roles? 32

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources Theme www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories/katy-hutchison-ryan-aldridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgiveness www.guidetopsychology.com/forgive.htm

orca sports

Women in Sports www.megaphonemagazine.com/images/sexism_sports_women_continue_be_ treated_secondclass_athletes.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_sports Science www.syringo.org www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/syringomyelia/detail_syringomyelia.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syringomyelia www.thephysicsofhockey.com www.exploratorium.edu/hockey Wrongful conviction www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/08/06/f-wrongfully-convicted.html www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Cobra Strike Sigmund Brouwer

orca sports

Reading level: 4.0 978-1-55143-725-5 pb AR Quiz # 40648

Book Summary Something is wrong in Johnstown, the small Kentucky coal-mining town where Roy Linden plays football for the Johnstown Striking Cobras. When small animals and birds start dying on his grandmother’s land, Roy’s investigation uncovers a scandal that threatens the town, his family and his football career. Roy, whose stutter often makes him the target of cruel jokes, forms an alliance with his team’s new star quarterback. Together they figure out a way to shut down the polluters without jeopardizing their families’ lives or their own futures. Prereading Ideas •• Why is difference so threatening? What kinds of things help to make people more understanding and tolerant of difference? What are some examples of differences that make us uncomfortable? •• Is activism on a small scale effective? Can one person make a difference?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Imagery Spot the simile. The author of Cobra Strike uses lots of similes. Find five similes and explain what they mean and why they are (or aren’t) effective. Character •• Cobra Strike is set in Kentucky coal-mining country. Some of the characters use very vivid expressions when they talk. What do these characters have in common? Does the way they talk make them more real or does it make them seem ridiculous?

orca sports

•• Choose a character from Cobra Strike and write a brief paragraph discussing whether or not the character is a stereotype. If you decide the character you choose is a stereotype, suggest something that would make the character less of a stereotype and more a real person. Theme •• Tolerance. Roy’s stutter has made him a target of cruelty in his small town. Does being the target of intolerance make him a more tolerant person? What other responses might he have? What part does intolerance play in Roy’s activism? •• Faith. Roy’s grandmother leads a faith-based life that allows her to be very certain of her moral decisions. Is it necessary to have faith to lead a moral life? Connecting to the Curriculum Geography/Geology Mammoth Cave National Park in south-central Kentucky has the world’s longest known cave system. Have students research other famous caves such as the Carlsbad Cavern or the Lechuguilla Cave. Caving has its own vocabulary. Match up the word with its definition. 1. Spelunker 2. Sinkhole 3. Littoral 4. Talus 5. Troglobite 6. Troglodyte 7. Helictite 8. Stalactite

a) animals that live their entire life cycle within a cave. b) knotted or twisted shapes due to slowly seeping water c) a cave formation that develops from the cave floor and protrudes upward. d) a cave formation that develops from the cave ceiling and hangs downward e) a sea cave f) openings between rocks that have fallen down into a pile g) terrestrial sedimentary rock h) bowl-shaped depressions that are created by the collapse of an underground cave

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Orca Sports Resource Guide 9. Stalagmite 10. Travertine

i) a human cave dweller j) a person who enjoys exploring caves

Answers: 1j, 2h, 3e, 4f, 5a, 6i, 7b, 8d, 9c, 10g

orca sports

Chemistry •• Roy performs some lab tests on the water from Gram’s property (ch.4, ch.8). What technique does he use to determine whether there are toxins in the water? Are his findings scientifically accurate? What methods can people without access to chemistry labs use to find out whether their water contains toxins? •• Is bottled water better for you than tap water? Have students research and debate the pros and cons of drinking bottled water.

Literature •• When Roy recites from Hamlet he doesn’t stutter. He also admires Shakespeare’s insight into human nature. Waymen’s sister Elizabeth thinks Shakespeare got it wrong (ch.9). Have students rewrite Hamlet’s famous soliloquy as if Hamlet believed that the “undiscovered country” was heaven. •• Foreshadowing vs. cliffhangers. Have students read the last line of each chapter and discuss whether they are foreshowing or cliffhangers. What is the difference? Why do authors use these techniques? Are they effective? Environmental Studies •• Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) is a pollutant that enters the environment though both use and disposal. What industries are known PCB polluters? How did the public come to know about the pollution? What has been done to clean up? •• Mines are notorious polluters. What parts of mining cause the pollution?

•• Whistle-blowers are people who expose the illegal activities of large corporations. Some recent movies have dramatized whistle-blowing. Ask students to watch Erin Brockovich, The Insider or Silkwood and then write an initial scene for a movie of Cobra Strike. Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Coach Pitt harasses Roy about his stutter. Would a coach at your school be able to get away with that kind of behavior? 2. Is there any difference between harassment and bullying? What can you do if you are being harassed or bullied? 3. Roy’s stutter is very noticeable, but Waymen’s dyslexia is hidden. Which would be hardest to live with and why? 4. Roy and Waymen both think of sports as a way out of their small towns. Why is it so important to them to get football scholarships? 36

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources Stuttering www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/stutter.htm www.westutter.org

orca sports

Water Quality www.insidethebottle.org/us-bottled-water-vs-tap-water http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0224_060224_bottled_water. html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3739/is_200511/ai_n15847258

Pollution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychlorinated_biphenyl www.scorecard.org Caves http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave www.jenolancaves.org.au www.nps.gov/maca Coal Mining http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_coal_mining www.pollutionissues.com/Br-Co/Coal.html Activism www.campusactivism.org www.greenpeace.org/international www.slac.com/tree/links.html Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Crossover Jeff Rud

orca sports

Reading level: 4.0 978-1-55143-981-5 pb AR Quiz # 122443

Book Summary Kyle Evans believes he’s got his high school life all figured out. He’s a star basketball player and he hangs out almost exclusively with the popular athletes at Sainsbury High School. But Kyle’s outlook begins to change when he runs into Lukas Connor, a former friend from elementary school, who encourages him to try out for the school theater production of Oliver! Kyle doesn’t take the suggestion seriously—and even resents Luke for making it—until he discovers his girlfriend Jenna is also in the production and wants him to try out too. What begins as a lark turns into something Kyle discovers that he enjoys—maybe even as much as basketball. His attitude toward non-jock kids at the school also changes as, despite their differences, Kyle quickly makes some good friends within the theater crowd.

But trouble is looming. Kyle’s coach is not at all understanding about his role in Oliver! and his teammates—particularly the bully Ben Stillman—think acting is just plain weird. When Stillman and a couple of other teammates vandalize the Oliver! sets with homophobic slurs aimed at Lukas Connor, Kyle has to take a stand even if it means the basketball team will suffer.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Prereading Ideas •• Have students identify stereotypes in their own school. Are there identifiable groups like “jocks,” “band geeks,” “theater nerds,” etc.? What are the dangers of labels such as these? Are they really accurate? What can be done to break down such stereotypes? •• Explore a social justice theme with regard to homophobia. What are the causes of homophobia? What are the dangers? Who are the victims? What is being done to end homophobia in your school?

orca sports

Connecting to the Text Title •• A good title should draw readers to the book and give them a hint of what the book is about. Is Crossover a good title? What does it convey about the book? •• Have students brainstorm alternative titles and vote on which title works best. •• If the photo on the cover didn’t feature a boy and a basketball, would the title Crossover still work? Plot and Theme •• Most novels have a main plot and a few subplots. Get students to write a list of Crossover’s plots and subplots. •• Repeat the process, this time concentrating on themes. Discuss whether there is any crossover between plot and theme. •• Have students compare their lists of themes and decide which theme is the most important. For instance, is the theme of tolerance more important than the theme of teamwork? Or is justice more important than doing the right thing?

•• On graph paper, have students chart the action of the novel. Where is the height of conflict? Where is the resolution? Point of View Crossover is written from Kyle’s point of view. Ask student’s to pick a scene and rewrite it from Luke’s or Jenna’s point of view. Connecting to the Curriculum Math What are the dimensions of a regulation NBA basketball court? If a player stands under the backboard and a foot away from the rim (ch.7) and moves back 18” (45 cm) every time he sinks a shot, how many steps will it take him to reach the free throw line? How many steps to reach the center-court inner circle?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Literature • The musical Oliver! is taken from the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Have students research Dickens’ life. Which character in Oliver is semi-autobiographical? • Many other Dickens’ novels have been adapted for movies and television. Get students to answer the following questions: 1. Who directed the latest movie version of Oliver Twist (2005)? 2. Who starred as the young David Copperfield in the 1999 television series of the same name? 3. Who played Estella in the 1998 movie adaptation of Great Expectations?

orca sports

Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Kyle is lectured about commitment by both his coach and the drama teacher. He worries that he will be unable to fulfill their expectations. Discuss whether it’s possible to commit 100% to two different things.

2. Teamwork isn’t something that exists just on sports teams. Discuss other activities where teamwork is valuable. What kinds of things don’t benefit from a team approach?

3. Kyle’s principal tells the assembly that there is zero tolerance at the school for hatred and vandalism, yet Kyle’s teammates use words like fag, homo and queer. What does zero tolerance really mean? Is it enforced at your school? Does it work?

4. Lukas has a very unselfish response to the way he is treated by Stillman and his buddies, but he recognizes that other people might not respond as well. What would you do if someone treated you that way? What would you do if it was happening to a close friend? Author’s Note Stereotypes in school—and in society in general—keep a lot of people from getting to know each other. All of us are guilty of making snap decisions about people based on their appearance or their interests. I wrote about this subject because I believe everybody should be encouraged to look beyond stereotypes.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources Charles Dickens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/473285 Homophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophobia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_tolerance_%28schools%29

orca sports

Basketball courts www.betterbasketball.com/basketball-court Author Biography Jeff Rud is the author of ten sports-related books, including five books for Orca Book Publishers. Crossover was his first book in the popular Orca Sports series. Jeff was a journalist in Western Canada for nearly thirty years, working for a variety of newspapers. For the first twenty-three years, he was a sports writer, covering a wide range of sports, including the NHL, CFL and NBA. Aside from his fiction, he has written two biographies of Canadian basketball star Steve Nash, and a history of the Vancouver Canucks. For the final six years of his newspaper career, Jeff was a political journalist, covering politics in the British Columbia Legislature. He now works in communications for the BC government. He is married to Lana, a middle school teacher. The couple lives in Victoria with their two children, Maggie and Matthew, and their two black Lab-crosses, Otis and Joker. Jeff coaches youth basketball and baseball and is the manager of his son’s hockey team.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Dead in the Water Robin Stevenson

orca sports

Reading level: 3.1 978-1-55143-962-4 pb AR Quiz # 122444

Book Summary Simon Drake is determined to become a long-distance sailor. Despite his father’s opposition, he has saved his hard-earned money and signed up for a week-long liveaboard sailing course which will take him and three other students around northern Vancouver Island.

Simon is eager to do well, but things don’t get off to a smooth start. Two of his fellow crew members, brothers Joey and Blair, look like the junior version of the wealthy yacht clubbers his father despises. The other crew member, Olivia, is a contrary vegetarian who hates sailing. On their first day out, Simon earns the nickname “Spacey” when he mistakes a man-overboard drill for the real thing, and Patrick, their instructor, lectures him for not being a good team player. And if all that wasn’t enough, as soon as the wind picks up, Simon gets embarrassingly seasick.

Then real trouble begins. The group anchors for the night in a quiet bay, and Simon and Olivia get curious about a nearby cabin cruiser. They decide to do a little snooping around and stumble upon an abalone poaching operation. A group of men are illegally harvesting a threatened species of shellfish, and there is a lot of money at stake. Simon has always believed that the only person you can count on is yourself, but when he and Olivia are captured and their lives are in danger, he realizes that they will have to work together if they are to survive.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Prereading Ideas •• Northern abalone has been designated a threatened species of shellfish, and any harvesting in BC waters is prohibited. Despite this, poaching continues and a number of individuals have been arrested for possession and selling of abalone. Research this problem and see what information you can find. How serious is the threat to the species? What is being done to combat the problem of poaching?

orca sports

•• Most people are concerned about environmental issues. Many take small but important steps to benefit the environment; some get involved in lobbying and protests; and a few are even willing to put their lives on the line to protect a species or a habitat. What examples can you find of individuals or groups taking extreme actions to protect a threatened species or to draw attention to an environmental issue? How far would you be prepared to go to protect the environment? Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Simon’s father has always told him that the only person you can count on is yourself. How might his father have come to hold this view? How do you think this has influenced Simon? What events change his opinion? 2. At first, Simon dismisses Joey and Blair because of their apparent wealth. What assumptions does he make about them? Where do his attitude and beliefs come from? How do these change over the course of the novel? 3. Olivia is convinced that the men on the cabin cruiser are poachers and she is desperate to stop them, but she has trouble convincing the rest of the crew. Why do the others tease Olivia instead of taking her seriously? Do you think that gender and sexism play a role here? 4. “I hate how people only care about animals that are cute,” Olivia says. What does she mean by this? Are some issues more appealing to the public than others? What other examples can you think of? 5. At the end of the book, Simon says of Patrick: “Maybe he tried to do the right thing, but I wasn’t convinced.” What positive and negative qualities do you see in Patrick’s character? Were his loyalties to his students, the poachers or to himself? Do you believe he is telling the truth when he says he wouldn’t have hurt Simon?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

orca sports

Author’s Note I am a sailor myself and so I decided to write an adventure story about sailing, set in the waters around Vancouver Island. I was mulling over possible plot ideas when I heard about the problem of abalone poaching from my mother, who had been in the northern BC town of Prince Rupert when some arrests were made. I researched as much as I could about the issue online, and then made some phone calls to learn more. I spoke to a biologist at an abalone research station, and I had a very helpful conversation with an employee of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans who had been directly involved in a number of investigations into abalone poaching operations. With my sailing experience and this research to draw on, the story came together quickly and was a great deal of fun to write. Resources The course Simon takes is based on a Canadian Yachting Association (CYA) course called Intermediate Cruising. Information about sailing and about CYA courses is available on the CYA website. www.sailing.ca/home.php

You can read about Northern Abalone and Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) on the website of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Read more about Abalone research and conservation. http://oceanlink.island.net/Conservation/abalone/BHCAP/Nisga/ncw.html www.marinematters.org Author Biography Robin Stevenson is the author of a number of books for teens. She lives on Vancouver Island and loves sailing. A number of years ago, she took a week-long live-aboard cruising course rather like the one in this story, only without the abalone poachers and the life-or-death boat chase. You can visit her website for more information. She loves to hear from students! Author Website www.robinstevenson.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

The Drop

orca sports

Jeff Ross

Reading level: 2.8 978-1-55469-392-4 pb AR Quiz #143874

Book Summary Alex’s goal in life is simple: to snowboard all day, every day. His ultimate dream is to be part of the Backcountry Patrol, an elite group of snowboarders who patrol the ungroomed slopes of British Columbia. But first, he and three other young hopefuls (Dave, Bryce and Hope) must endure a series of tests, which takes them to remote and dangerous terrain. When Bryce disappears, the teens are left with Sam, their dubiously qualified instructor, and no links to the outside world. As Alex and Hope scramble to find out what happened to Bryce, they must confront their own fears of the whiteout conditions and the ominous, mysterious drop. Prereading Ideas •• What do you know about extreme sports? Are you a fan? Are you a participant? •• Is there a sport or activity that you enjoy so much that you think you could do it forever? •• Would you risk your life for someone you barely know?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot •• The first few lines of The Drop are exciting and full of action. They make the reader want to read more! ŠŠ Go over the first few paragraphs with students, discussing what the author does to set the scene up in such an exciting way. ŠŠ Have students examine a piece of their own creative writing. How can they change the first few paragraphs to engage the reader quickly—perhaps with action, dialogue or an immediate problem?

orca sports

ŠŠ Have students revise their writing.

ŠŠ After revising, ask students to switch their stories with a partner, providing both the “before” and the “after.” Have students provide constructive feedback about the changes and then incorporate this feedback.

•• Have students sketch the sequence of events at the beginning of chapter 2, as Alex takes the drops. Discuss with students how the clear writing makes it easy to picture what’s happening in the story. They can sketch the sequence in several panels, like a comic strip. Encourage them to attribute thought-bubbles to Alex: What might he be thinking as he comes into the second drop too fast? What is he thinking as he sets up for the final drop? What is he telling himself? •• Discuss with students: The Drop seems to move from one exciting event to another, with each challenge that the characters face being even harder—and scarier—than the last. ŠŠ Have students cite examples from the text to support this observation.

ŠŠ As a class, using the SMART Board or overhead projector, create a graphic organizer or graphic representation of how this happens. For example: ŠŠ Divide students into pairs. Task each pair to come up with an original plotline where things go from bad to worse to worse to an eventual resolution. Invite them to use familiar characters, if they like: Red Riding Hood, Harry Potter, Dora the Explorer or even Spongebob. •• Make an overhead of the following list, or put it up on the SMART Board. Discuss with students some of the things that make a good story: ŠŠ a plot that is exciting, suspenseful, baffling or extraordinary ŠŠ interesting situations that are well explained and believable ŠŠ characters you care enough about to make you want to keep reading ŠŠ characters you can relate to and who change and grow as they make decisions to solve problems ŠŠ descriptions that make you feel like you’re there ŠŠ a variety of settings ŠŠ a fast start—action, danger, humor

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Orca Sports Resource Guide ŠŠ situations that provide an emotional response and give you something to think about ŠŠ a good ending with problems solved and characters getting what they deserve Using these criteria, have students write a critical review of The Drop. Students should ensure their review touches on a number of the criteria with examples and reasons for their assessment.

orca sports

Character •• Through dialogue, narrative, and his characters’ reactions to each other, the author creates clear pictures of his characters. Have students choose one character from The Drop and make a character web for that person. Include such things as appearance, personality traits, fears and desires, and actions. •• Part of making your characters believable is writing realistic dialogue for them. If a character says things that you know nobody would say in the real world, then the story just won’t work. Here’s a strong bit of dialogue from The Drop, before Dave takes on a nerve-wracking challenge in chapter 1: “Just go, Dave,” Hope said. “I’m going. I’m going.” “Then goooooooo.” Discuss with students the fact that this short exchange illustrates the characters’ feelings about each other. Can you see Hope’s impatience in her words? Can you hear Dave’s hesitancy? Have students select several passages from The Drop where the dialogue is particularly strong or convincing. They should be prepared to explain their choices to the group. Did any students select the same passages? What makes these passages realistic?

•• What makes a book interesting to read is seeing how the characters grow and change as they work their way through the main problem and other, smaller issues. How does Alex’s perception of Sam and the other Backcountry Patrol hopefuls change as the story evolves? Have students create a “character evolution timeline,” starting from the beginning of the book and ending at…the end. Along the timeline, have them make notes on how Alex perceives each character and how those perceptions change throughout the story.

•• Conflict is what keeps a story moving along. It’s what makes things interesting! Typically, plots follow one of four basic patterns of conflict: ŠŠ Person against nature. Tension comes from the character’s battle against strong forces of nature. ŠŠ Person against person. Tension comes through the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide ŠŠ Person against society. Tension comes from the main character’s struggle against some societal factor that must be overcome. ŠŠ Person against self. Tension is created as the protagonist faces internal conflict; the hero has two or more courses of action and must decide which course to take. Guide students in a discussion of the kind of conflict pattern in The Drop. Is there more than one, depending on which part of the story you look at? Which one predominates? •• The characters in The Drop often speak to each other using sarcasm. Take, for example, this excerpt from chapter 10, where the group is trying to figure out who could have kidnapped Bryce:

orca sports

“We have to find out who took Bryce,” Hope yelled. “Someone took him over the drop.” Sam squinted at her. “Why would you say that?” “We found tracks out there. The only place they could have gone was over the drop.” “What kind of tracks?” “Yeti,” I said. “Snowmobile, what else? You do know how rich Bryce’s family is, right?”

How does the use of sarcasm add to this exchange between the characters? How does it hint at the characters’ emotional states? Theme •• One of the themes in The Drop is that people aren’t always who they first appear to be. Provide examples from the book where this is evident. Can they think of a fable, story or other book where first impressions are misleading? •• Challenge students to think of two or more themes that run through the book.

Point of View •• The Drop is told from Alex’s point of view. Have students write a scene from the story from the point of view of a different character. Try writing as Sam in the scene where he discourages the group from going out to look for Bryce; as Hope in the scene where she decides which spot to take the drop; as Dave as he flees the gun-wielding Sam down the mountainside. •• Ask students to consider how the story would be different if it was told in the third person point of view. What are the advantages or disadvantages of using the first person? Third person?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

orca sports

Vocabulary Snowboarding has its own unique vocabulary. Have students read the definitions for the following words. Assign students to choose a number of words and use them in a sentence. Can they use five of the following terms in a short paragraph about snowboarding? binding: a plastic strap that encircles a boarder’s boot and secures the boot to the snowboard bounce turn: in deep powder, you ride like the ground beneath you is a giant trampoline. You need to push down and jump out of the powder to turn. This ends up making boarders look like they are bouncing down a mountain. carve: to turn quickly and with control on a snowboard chute: a narrow opening that runs between two or more obstacles (rocks, trees, etc.) extreme verts (vertical drops): a very steep incline face-plant: falling on one’s face or front side after being pitched forward or falling half-pipe: almost exactly what it sounds like; similar to an empty swimming pool with a curved bottom. Half-pipes are popular spots for skateboarders, snowboarders and BMX bike riders to perform tricks. heli-boarding: using a helicopter to get to spots where lifts and gondolas don’t go; most often done on the backside of a mountain incline: a hill or slope outcropping: a place where the rocks or trees jut out from the side of a mountain patrol: the first aid and hill safety organization at a ski resort rail: a long bar or rail, often metal, embedded in the snow, usually parallel to the direction of the hill so that riders can slide down it on their skis or board sapling: a young tree Yeti: also known as the Abominable Snowman; a huge, mythical, white, ape-like creature that poses grave risks to humans

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Curriculum English •• Authors know they can move a story along with strong verbs. Briefly review verbs with your class. Introduce them to verbs that show action in a descriptive way. For example, here’s the first line of The Drop: “The helicopter pitched forward, almost tossing me out the open door.” Discuss how the story is enriched by using strong verbs. Have students find a dozen other sentences in The Drop where the author uses strong verbs. Make an organized list of these sentences and underline the verbs that really make them come to life!

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•• Explore with students how to write a screenplay. Watch a section of Stand by Me, E.T. or Edward Scissorhands. Discuss setting, dialogue and the importance of stage direction. Have students choose a section of The Drop and adapt it for a screenplay. •• Browse employment listings on your local newspaper’s website. Invite students to use these listings as a guideline in creating a job posting for Backcountry Patrollers, using points from the book.

•• Put students into groups of three or four. Give them fifteen minutes to figure out a list of “Big Questions” from The Drop. Model effective discussion moderation for the students, then invite each group to lead a class discussion about one of their “Big Questions.”

Health/Personal Planning •• Fear is a natural feeling that we all experience from time to time. It’s there for a reason—to help keep us safe. Alex and Hope are correct to feel fear in tackling the Drop to try and find Bryce.

•• Discuss with students: Do you think they’re right to set their fear aside to try and save their groupmate—or are they taking stupid chances? What would you do in a similar situation? •• Have students team up in pairs or in groups of three to create a Feeling the Fear chart. On a large piece of paper, create two columns. In one column, brainstorm situations where fear is helpful to our self-preservation and safety. In the second column, brainstorm situations where our fear prevents us from taking the risks we need to take in order to grow. Science •• Have students research hypothermia, and construct a timeline showing hypothermia’s progressive effects on the human body. •• Learn about avalanches. Start at the National Snow and Ice Data Center: http://nsidc.org/snow/avalanche. Divide students into groups or pairs, and have each group become experts on one of the following subareas of avalanches: ŠŠ Why avalanche awareness? (2 people) ŠŠ Who gets caught in avalanches? (2 people) ŠŠ When and where avalanches happen (3 people) 50

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Orca Sports Resource Guide ŠŠ Anatomy of an avalanche (2-3 people) ŠŠ Avalanche factors: what conditions cause
an avalanche? (4-6 people) ŠŠ How to determine if the snowpack is safe (2 people) ŠŠ Avalanche gear (2-3 people) ŠŠ Tips for avalanche survival (3-4 people) ŠŠ Avalanche danger scale (2 people) ŠŠ Avalanche quick checks (2 people)

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Using the jigsaw learning strategy, have each small group learn about their selected portion of avalanche knowledge. Allow about twenty minutes for students to assemble and organize their information. Then each group takes a turn presenting what they’ve learned to the class, using visual aids or even dramatizations where appropriate. Physical Education •• Alex and his groupmates all want to be part of the Backcountry Patrol. Whether in the backcountry or on the hill, the job of a patroller is to help keep skiers and boarders safe on the hill, and to respond to accidents when they happen. First-aid training is an important part of the job description, as is the ability to move an injured person off the hill. Has anyone in the class had any first-aid training? Why is it important? What sorts of accidents might happen on a ski hill or in ungroomed areas such as the forest?

•• Off-trail boarding is a significant part of The Drop. But there are dangers attached to going off-trail in the backcountry. Discuss with students: what might be the dangers of riding off-trail? (Avalanches, drops, getting lost, freezing to death, suffocating in deep snow.) Why would a person choose to ride off-trail? Why would they choose not to? What precautions should a person take before riding off-trail? •• A snowboard is made up of one piece, like a surfboard or skateboard. Once the snowboarder’s feet are attached to the board, he or she can’t move them in relation to the board. The snowboarder controls the board by shifting his weight and turning. Have students pretend their feet are attached to the floor. Which ways can they still move? Can they touch their toes? How far can they bend their knees without lifting their feet or losing their balance? •• Investigate injuries caused by snowboarding (usually these involve the wrists, knees and head). How do these injuries differ from skiing injuries? How can students guard against them?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. When Alex finds himself stuck in the snow near the Drop, he begins to panic. Write about a time when you’ve been in a similar situation, where you had to call upon your wits to keep you safe. 2. After Alex carries Keith Richards down the mountain, Hope doubts she’ll be able to do the same with a similar dummy the next day. But Sam interrupts, reminding her how important it is not to say that you can’t do something. Saying can’t means you won’t be able to, he tells them. Do you agree? How does your ability and willingness to believe in your ability to do something affect the outcome?

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3. Sam drinks while he’s in charge of the Backcountry Patrol hopefuls. He’s also quite slack in terms of making sure the group remains safe. Discuss how this behavior puts the group at risk. What should Sam be doing differently? 4. Alex sometimes listens to a corny old song called “Oh, What a Feeling.” Explain about a song that has special meaning for you. Why do you like it? What does it remind you of? 5. How does Alex’s impression of Hope change as the story unfolds? Discuss a time when you or your friends jumped to similar conclusions about someone’s personality without having the full facts. How were you wrong in your impressions?

6. When Dave says he doesn’t like Bryce, Alex corrects him, saying that really, he’s intimidated by Bryce. What does it mean to be intimidated by something or someone? Think of a time or situation when you have felt intimidated. Were you able to conquer the feeling? Or did it get the better of you? 7. In the hospital, Sam tells Alex it’s never worthwhile to try to be someone other than who you are inside. “People have to accept that they are who they are,” he says. As you see it, what is the wisdom in this observation?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

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Author’s Note Dear Reader, I had been skiing for eight years before I first strapped on a snowboard. The next day I sold my skis, bought a snowboard, and have never skied again. I have nothing against skiing, it just doesn’t, for me, have the same sense of freedom which snowboarding does. I think it has something to do with holding onto poles, as well as the wobbly look skiers get when one ski decides to shoot off in its own direction. Snowboarding is a culture as well. Having started in the sport when it was relatively young, I have been able to watch it progress in popularity, skill and technology. When I first began snowboarding, the bindings were little clamps attached to the board and the board itself was only rounded and raised at the front. We had to fight to ride even on the major ski hills; backcountry boarding was a staple as these were often the only places we could go. Everything has changed now and snowboarders are as common as skiers. There are even ski patrol snowboarders. I wrote this book based on the experiences I’ve had backcountry boarding, and the sense of freedom I found in the wild, strapped to a sheet of fiberglass. I hope you enjoy it. Jeff Ross Resources Writing Screenplays www.screenwriting.info Skiing and Snowboarding Avalanche safety and information www.avalanche.ca/cac National Snow and Ice Data Center http://nsidc.org/snow/avalanche Canadian Ski Patrol www.csps.ca National Ski Patrol www.nsp.org Crazy backcountry heli-snowboard footage! www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6rQ1yB6rj8&feature=related Canadian Snowboard Federation www.canadasnowboard.ca Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors www.casi-acms.com Snowboarding backgrounder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowboarding

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Author Biography

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Books Basich, Tina and Kathleen Gasperini. Pretty Good for a Girl: The Autobiography of a Snowboarding Pioneer Brouwer, Sigmund. Wired Echols, Jennifer. The Ex Games (Romantic Comedies) Gustaitis, Joseph Alan. Snowboard (Winter Olympic Sports) Hart, Lowell. The Snowboard Book: A Guide for All Boarders Kalman, Bobbie and Kelley MacAulay. Extreme Snowboarding (Extreme Sports No Limits!) McNab, Neil. Go Snowboard: Read It, Watch It, Do It (CD book) Reed, Rob. The Way of the Snowboarder Ryan, Kevin. The Illustrated Guide to Snowboarding Smith, Jim. The Art of Snowboarding: Kickers, Carving, Half-Pipe, and More Thorpe, Holli. Snowboarding: The Ultimate Guide (Greenwood Guide to Extreme Sports) Withers, Pam. Peak Survival (Take it to the Extreme)

Jeff Ross has been hurtling himself down mountains on a piece of fiberglass and hoping for the best for as long as he can remember. He grew up near Collingwood, Ontario, where he learned to ski, snowboard, skateboard and injure himself in fantastic and unique ways. Jeff lives in Ottawa, Ontario, where he teaches English and Scriptwriting for Television and Animation at Algonquin College. He is humored on a daily basis by his wife and two sons. The Drop is his first novel. Author Website http://jeffrossbooks.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Fly Away

orca sports

Nora Rock

Reading level: 3.9 978-1-55469-313-9 pb AR Quiz # 138921

Book Summary After a member of her competitive cheerleading team is injured in practice, sixteenyear-old Marnie is asked to be a flyer—the most coveted role in cheerleading. The Soar Starlings have a real shot at the provincial championship, and Marnie has only a few weeks to prepare. While she scrambles to polish her lifts and throws, Marnie’s personal life begins to unravel, and she realizes that, to be a leader, you have to let go of old alliances to make room in your life for new ones. Prereading Ideas •• When you think of cheerleading, what comes to mind? Did you know that the competitive sport of cheerleading is very different from the style of cheerleading you see performed, for example, during an NFL football broadcast? •• Did you know that some studies suggest that in terms of likelihood and severity of injuries suffered, cheerleading is the number one most dangerous women’s sport? •• Did you know that competitive cheerleading teams are now only rarely associated with a school or community sports team? Modern competitive cheerleading is a sport in its own right, with its own competitive structure. •• Have you ever studied dance, gymnastics, or figure skating? Many cheerleaders participate in these other sports before trying cheerleading. •• Did you know that boys and men can be cheerleaders too? Many competitive teams have male members, and boys and men join school-based teams too, though mainly in the US.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot •• Discuss with students the idea of a book’s premise. The premise is a one-sentence summary of the main idea of the story. It’s a statement of what happens to the characters as a result of the actions in the story. It’s a bit different than plot, which is a listing of the events in the story. It takes a bit of practice to figure out the premise of a story. You might want to start by discussing the premise of some familiar stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, Toy Story or Cinderella. Divide students into pairs and see whether they can develop a clear statement of the premise of Fly Away.

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•• Have students write an epilogue for Fly Away. They should address Arielle’s decision (does she stay with Benedict or leave?) and look ahead at how and whether Marnie and Arielle’s friendship develops. Students may also want to write about how Marnie and Liam go forward. •• Make an overhead of the following list. Discuss with students some of the things that make a good story: ŠŠ a plot that is exciting, suspenseful, baffling or extraordinary ŠŠ interesting situations that are well explained and believable ŠŠ characters you care enough about to make you want to keep reading

ŠŠ characters you can relate to and who change and grow as they make decisions to solve problems ŠŠ descriptions that make you feel like you’re there ŠŠ a variety of settings ŠŠ a fast start—action, danger, humor

ŠŠ situations that provide an emotional response and give you something to think about ŠŠ a good ending with problems solved and characters getting what they deserve

Using these criteria, have students write a critical review of Fly Away. Students should ensure their review touches on a number of the criteria with examples and reasons for their assessment. Theme •• An important theme in Fly Away is “growing out of” sports participation. There are very few opportunities for competitive cheerleaders over the age of nineteen, just as there are few opportunities generally for adult women to play sports. What, besides an easy way to stay fit and healthy, do women lose when they “grow out of” team sports?

•• Why does Marnie feel so betrayed when Arielle abruptly leaves the team? Do you think Arielle’s departure makes Marnie question whether cheerleading is a valid activity for serious girls? •• What is the message of Fly Away? 56

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Character •• What do you think of Marnie in the first few chapters of the book, especially when she is feeling sorry for herself for losing first Liam, and then Arielle? Is Marnie too dependent on her friends? While it’s difficult to lose a close friend, how do these losses impact our independence? What do we learn about ourselves when we cope with the loss of a friend? •• Arielle has some excellent leadership qualities. Complete a character sketch of Arielle that shows all of these skills. Include other aspects of her personality, such as her dedication to her art. What do you think is Arielle’s strongest quality? Why?

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Point of View •• Fly Away contains a mystery, and is told from Marnie’s point of view. Would it still work as a mystery if it were told from the point of view of an “all-seeing” narrator? •• Have students rewrite a selection from Fly Away from another person’s perspective. One good scene for this activity is where Shona and Marnie come upon Arielle watching tv in Benedict’s house. Another is where Marnie and Arielle argue about how Liam treated Marnie by leaving her on the side of the road. Connecting to the Curriculum English •• Explore with students how to write a screenplay. Watch a section of Stand By Me, E.T. or Edward Scissorhands. Discuss setting, dialogue and the importance of stage direction. Have students choose a section of Fly Away and adapt it for a screenplay (see Resources, below, for information about writing screenplays). •• Study several magazine profiles of people the students know well (politicians and celebrities are good for this exercise). Discuss journalistic integrity and impartiality in preparation for students to tackle this assignment. Have students choose a sports figure they admire and write a feature magazine profile about that person. Be sure to include biographical and historical information, as well current events in the subject’s life, and quotes from the subject. Social Studies •• Most police forces consider young people to be adults when they reach the age of eighteen. When eighteen-year-old Arielle disappears, the search that follows is much less intensive than the search that would be conducted for a missing child. Do you know any eighteen-year-olds? Do you consider them to have the same judgment as adults, even in dangerous circumstances? Why might even a sensible teenager struggle more than an adult would in an unfamiliar situation? •• Why do some cheerleaders get teased about being silly, or too girly, or dumb? Which aspects of the sport of cheerleading do you think help support these criticisms? What could a cheerleader or a cheerleading team do to help counter these criticisms?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• How does competitiveness in stunt-based sports boost the rate of injuries? Is there anything unethical about rewarding dangerous stunts with high marks? At one point in the story, when the team is short on members, Marnie suggests reducing the numbers in the stunt groups from four to three because it “looks less cluttered.” Smaller stunt groups are also less safe. Do you think that taking risks in order to win is an acceptable part of serious competition?

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Health/Personal Planning •• Body size can be a sensitive issue for many teens these days. There is no room for discrimination based on body size in activities such as music, or debating, for example. In cheerleading, however, being the “wrong” size has practical and safety consequences: if a flyer is too heavy, it is difficult to throw her; if she’s too tall, she may not get enough height to complete rotations. If a base is too short or lacks strong legs, she may not provide enough support to her teammates. For this reason, cheerleading is sort of like football: there is an optimum size for each position. What are the positive and negative implications, self-esteemwise, of sports that “sort” participants based on body size? •• Do the uniforms worn by cheerleaders discourage larger girls’ participation? Should they? Physical Education •• Cheerleaders face a high rate of injury. What do sports organizers do to try to limit injuries in sports?

•• Visualizing is a powerful way for athletes to prepare themselves for competition. Why do athletes do this? How is it helpful? In Chapter Ten, Marnie concentrates on her moves, ignores the images of Emma falling—and has a great routine as a result. Have you used visualizing to prepare yourself for an athletic event? Try it next time you’re about to do something that makes you a bit nervous. Write about your experience, explaining whether your prior visualization helped. Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions

1. Marnie has difficulty acing her stunts once she’s made flyer. It’s frustrating to her that, no matter how much she practices, she just can’t master it. Have you had a similar feeling, where you just weren’t able to nail something no matter how hard you tried? Explain. 2. Marnie’s boyfriend breaks up with her by abandoning her by the side of a country road in winter. Should she ever take him back as a boyfriend? Why or why not? 3. On her way to the championships in Toronto, Marnie muses that if you want top marks, you’ve got to try the toughest stunts. She says you need to take the risks if you want the glory. How has this been true in your own life? 4. Do you agree with Marnie that it’s more important to focus on being part of a team than it is to focus on your own performance? What are the advantages of each approach? 58

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Orca Sports Resource Guide 5. Arielle felt that the only way she could get what she wanted—a mentorship with Trey Benedict—was to conceal her plans from her parents and her best friend. Do you agree that this was Arielle’s only option? What would have happened had she tried to negotiate permission to get what she wanted? Do older teens have an obligation to negotiate their life choices with their parents, or can they, as legal adults, do whatever they want? 6. If you disappeared shortly after your eighteenth birthday, and the police told your parents that they would conduct only a limited search because you left of your own volition, how might your parents feel?

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7. Near the beginning of the story, Shona Bart acts like the only thing that matters to her is being a provincial champion. Do you believe that this is the only thing that matters to Shona? What else do you think matters to her? Does her bravado conceal any insecurities? Have you ever acted competitively or aggressively to conceal fears or doubts? 8. How would you react if you learned that your best friend had been keeping a huge secret from you for months? Author Note Dear Reader, When I was thirteen, a friend asked me to try out for cheerleading with her because she didn’t want to go alone. I made that team, and stayed in cheerleading for five years, eventually competing in the “second annual” edition of the Great Lakes Championship mentioned in this book. As a straight-A student and the daughter of a feminist mother, I was teased a lot about being a cheerleader. Back then, and to some extent now, people thought cheerleading was a non-sport, and that cheerleaders are airheads. Of course, anyone who has ever tried this sport knows differently. I’ve even read that cheerleading is the number one most physically dangerous “women’s sport.” When I went to a regionals competition last year, it seemed like every single team had at least one member watching from the sidelines in a cast! But what I remember most about cheerleading was not the stunts or the competitions; it was being a member of a team. Just like in any other sport, a cheerleading team depends on every member to work hard, and hold up her end of the pyramid! One girl’s bad day can mean another girl’s broken arm, or the whole team’s loss; and so you learn how to be dependable and put your problems aside when the time comes to perform. “Team thinking” is an important life skill. I’ve noticed that after college, very few women play team sports of any kind, and that’s too bad. Maybe if we treated girls’ sports participation with more respect, adult women would be more likely to demand opportunities to play sports. Nora Rock

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources Writing Screenplays http://www.screenwriting.info Writing Critical Book Reviews http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/bookrev

Books Carrier, Justin. Complete Cheerleading Gassman, Julie A. Cheerleading Really is a Sport McElroy, James T. We’ve Got Spirit: The Life and Times of America’s Greatest Cheerleading Team Mullarkey, Lisa. Cheerleading Stunts and Tumbling Scott, Kieran. Ultimate Cheerleading Wilson, Leslie. The Ultimate Guide to Cheerleading: For Cheerleaders and Coaches

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Cheerleading Provinces of Canada: Cheerleading Associations http://www.ocfcheer.com http://www.bccheerleading.ca http://www.sca.ca http://www.cheerquebec.com http://www.nsclubcheer.com http://www.nlcheerleading.com Cheer Alliance http://www.cheeralliance.ca

Author Biography Nora Rock is a freelance writer and a college professor. She’s an avid fan of hockey and football, both the professional kind and the kind her sons play. Nora played highschool football herself and was a cheerleader for many years. She lives in Ajax, Ontario, with her husband and two sons.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Flying Feet

orca sports

James McCann

Reading level: 3.8 978-1-55469-290-3 PB AR Quiz # 137573

Book Summary After losing yet another tae kwon do tournament, Jinho gives in to his anger and breaks his opponent’s fingers. While this gets him barred from competing at his dojang, it also gets him scouted by Austin, a trainer for an underground mixed martial arts club. At first the prospect of fighting without boundaries appeals to Jinho, but the more involved he gets, the more disturbing he finds it and the harder it is to find a way out. Unlike legal MMA, which has rules and regulations, underground MMA is a free-for-all: there are no weight classes and no referees to stop the fight should it go too far. When Jinho is set up to fight a guy known as The Ripper, he realizes that he doesn’t belong in this world. The only thing that can save him is the ancient code of tae kwon do. Prereading Ideas •• What do you know about mixed martial arts (MMA)? Do you watch it on TV? Do you think it’s exciting, or just plain crazy? Does it represent “true” martial arts to you? •• Have you ever wanted to ditch tradition and do things your own way? How did it turn out? For what reasons do we have traditions? •• Is there a sport that you excel at or that you would like to learn? What is it? •• WWE turned itself into a show with villains and heroes, and now is rife with rumors that all the fights are staged. Do you see MMA heading in that direction, or is it there already? •• When you get in over your head, do you reach out for help or do you try to figure stuff out on your own? Does it depend on the circumstances?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot Teach students about plot elements (see web link in Resources, below). These include exposition, rising action, conflicts, climax, falling action and resolution. Working in pairs, have students map out the plot using these elements to guide their writing. Have each pair create a poster showing the plot elements of Flying Feet.

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Theme •• In chapter 13, Jinho admits to his conflicted feelings. On one hand, he feels badly about lying to his mother and skipping school to train, but on the other hand he’s exhilarated to be part of Austin’s fast, dangerous world. This struggle between the good/the expected and the bad/the forbidden is not new. In fact, it’s a common theme for authors. Ask students to brainstorm a list of other books and movies where they have encountered the same kind of conflict. Where do they see examples of it in their own lives? •• Another theme in Flying Feet is power. Jinho wants it but doesn’t think he has it. He is impressed by other people who seem to possess power. Ask students to explain how Jinho’s struggles eventually show him that he already has all the power he’ll ever need inside of him. •• What is the “big idea” in Flying Feet?

Character •• Part of making your characters believable is writing realistic dialogue for them. If a character says things that you know nobody would say in the real world, then the story just won’t work. Have students read the fight scene at the end of chapter 14, where Jinho and Craig go at it on the basketball court. This is Jinho’s breakout moment—the moment where he realizes he’s not afraid of Craig anymore. The action and dialogue at the end of the chapter serve to quicken the pace of the story and show Jinho’s victory over Craig. Divide students into pairs and have them search through the text for several other instances of realistic dialogue. Can they find any examples of words that a teenager or his trainer perhaps wouldn’t use in real life? •• Have students create a scene where Jinho talks about his last fight with Sara. What would they say to each other? •• Jinho is an interesting, layered character. Have students draw a character map of Jinho that details his personality characteristics, his fears, his weaknesses, his physical traits and his beliefs. Use this as a springboard to teach students how to write a full character analysis (see web link in Resources, below).

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Point of View •• Flying Feet is told from Jinho’s point of view. Have students write a scene from the story from the point of view of a different character. Try writing as Dragon from the first fight in the book; Ripper during the last fight; or as Austin when he’s going head to head with the biker. •• Ask students to consider how the story would be different if it was told in the third person point of view. What are the advantages or disadvantages to using the first person? Third person?

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Vocabulary •• Mixed martial arts shares a lot of words with other fighting sports. Have students find and record definitions for the following words. Where else have they seen these words used? Assign students to choose a number of words and use them in a sentence. Can they use five of the following terms in a short paragraph about fighting? dojang execute face off

knockdown lunge pivot

rookie scout spin kick

submit tap out

•• The following words are part of the code of tae kwon do. What do they mean? courtesy integrity perseverance self control indomitable spirit

Connecting to the Curriculum English •• Good writers use strong verbs. Strong verbs excite the reader and keep the story moving forward. Here are some examples of how James McCann uses strong verbs to enhance his story: ŠŠ The stranger leaves the ring but keeps his eyes locked on me. ŠŠ I see Dragon’s hips twist, and I know he’s going for another spin kick. ŠŠ I yank myself away, throw off the padding and try to remain calm. Have students go through one chapter of the book and find as many examples of strong verbs as they can. Discuss as a class how verbs can change the feel of a passage and how they can be effective at showing the characters’ emotions. Select a passage to rewrite using plain, run-of-the-mill verbs. See who can come up with the most boring, flat passage!

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• A simile is a comparison using the words like or as. A good simile conjures an image in the reader’s mind. Here are examples of two similes from Flying Feet: ŠŠ “I mean to slam [the car door] to get the biker’s attention, so that I’ll appear unafraid, but I wind up closing it so silently that it is almost like an apology.” ŠŠ Philip stares at me as though I just insulted his girlfriend. Why are these similes effective? Have students create five similes of their own. Can they come up with a funny one? •• Assign students to imagine that they are Jinho. Write a series of blog posts as Jinho describing what’s going on in his life.

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•• Put students into groups of three or four. Give them 15 minutes to figure out a few Big Questions from Flying Feet. Model effective discussion moderation for the students, then invite each group to lead a class discussion about one of their Big Questions.

•• Have students imagine that they are Jinho. Write a letter or email to his tutor or his master, explaining what’s been going on, and what Jinho plans to do differently in the future. In his note, Jinho should address the fact that he has let his tutor/ master down and that he has been dishonest. Social Studies •• Tae kwon do has a code, as Jinho shows us. What other martial arts have codes? From which countries do they hail? Divide students into groups and assign each group to learn about a different martial art and its importance to its native culture. Judo, karate, aikido, tae kwon do, hapkido and tai chi are just a few—but there are other fighting arts from places like West Africa, India and Brazil. •• Jinho didn’t want to get kicked out of Canada. In groups, in pairs or individually, have students investigate visa and immigration processes in Canada. Why do some people want to come to Canada? How do people from abroad gain access to this country? How long does it take to become a resident? A citizen?

•• Mixed martial arts has gotten off to a rocky start in Vancouver. Have students comb through Google News to find a selection of articles that provide details about the progress of MMA’s acceptance into legitimate sport. Have them summarize the status of this news item in a well-written paragraph. This is a good opportunity for you to teach students how to assess the reliability of news sources. Google News offers up news items from established sources, such as The Globe and Mail and The Vancouver Sun, as well as from smaller or less known publications. Discuss with students the importance of reading with a critical eye and selecting pieces that come from reputable sources. Discuss the usefulness of Google News as a fairly basic tool to weed out websites that may present biased or incorrect information. •• Have students research the bylaws in your area. Do they outlaw prize fighting, or is there a provision to allow organized fighting sports? Debate the pros and cons of having such laws.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• Have students debate whether mixed martial arts is a sport or just senseless violence. Consider: MMA’s effects on community (perceived increase in violence and gambling); its usefulness as a way to reach out to kids who are prone to anger (gyms taking in at risk youth to give them structure), etc.

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Health/Personal Planning •• Craig is a bully, and other kids are afraid of him. Even teachers, like Mr. Kelly, are intimidated by this kid. In chapter 3, Craig harasses Jinho in math class, but Mr. Kelly pretends not to see. For what reasons do you think the teacher turns a blind eye? Do you think sometimes teachers do this for real? Under what conditions would it be better for teachers to intervene? When might it be worse? •• Jinho is frustrated by the disconnect between what he learns at the dojang and how he behaves in real life. He doesn’t feel confidence and spirit. Instead, he feels timid, and afraid of Craig. Discuss the word ideals. What are they? What are the ideals expressed in the code of tae kwon do? Why do we have ideals? Why is it so hard to live up to our ideals? Have students discuss instances where they, too, have had difficulty applying themselves to what they know to be the right path in life. •• In chapter 15, Jinho puts on Austin’s black cotton robe before entering the cage. As soon as he puts the robe on, he feels something change inside him. He feels like a fighter. Discuss with students how what we wear and how we present ourselves to the outside world affects the way we think about and therefore conduct ourselves. Can they think of examples that relate to their own lives? How do they feel when they get dressed up for a performance or a special event? When they’re bumming around in dirty sweats? When they’re geared up for a major competition in their sports uniform? Film Studies Choose from the following selection of films to enhance your students’ experience of reading Flying Feet. Leave plenty of room for discussion! Karate Kid—Teenager moves from quiet town to California, where his training in karate winds up gaining him respect from the local bullies. Fight Club—A dual-personality man who is feeling emasculated by society creates a special club where men fight each other to regain a sense of manhood. Blood Sport—Based on the true story of Frank Dux, who competed in a secret, underground mixed martial arts competition. Lots of controversy if this was a true story. Never Back Down—Very similar to the Karate Kid, except that the “kid” in this movie is in trouble with the law and is seeking revenge.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Jinho has quite a temper. Sometimes, like when he kicks out at his opponent and breaks the guy’s fingers, his temper gets the better of him. What are the risks of having a temper and acting on impulse? Why is it almost always a better idea to wait? 2. In chapter 3, Jinho’s friends dare him to call Austin to prove that the older man actually did invite Jinho to train with him. Even though he doesn’t want anything to do with Austin, Jinho feels like he has something to prove to his friends. Have you ever been in a situation where you did something you weren’t ready to do because you wanted to prove something to your friends? Discuss.

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3. In chapter 5, Austin counsels Jinho about what it really means to fight and be a winner. “Walk away from a fight,” says Austin, “and that kind of shame lives with you the rest of your life.” Do you agree with his statement? Why or why not? Do you think, at the end of the story, that Jinho agrees with it? 4. Have you ever respected someone simply because you feared them? How else do people get your respect? Is there someone in your life whom you respect deeply, but for whom you feel no fear? 5. Have you ever found one of your rivals to be the perfect ally?

6. What bugs you most about Jinho? What bugs you most about Austin? What about Craig? Explain your reasoning. 7. What are some of the qualities of Jinho that you admire?

8. In chapter 12, Philip is starting to figure out that Jinho is involved in MMA. He leads Jinho in a meditation session, with a focus on integrity. What does the word integrity mean? Why does Jinho not care about it right now? Who’s right—Philip or Jinho? Author’s Note

Dear Reader, At the time this book was written, there was a big controversy over whether or not MMA should be made legal in Vancouver. Technically, all martial arts tournaments are illegal under the prize-fighting law—only boxing is exempt. I wanted to write a book that shed some light on the fact that by not regulating the sport, we are allowing it to flourish underground. In legalized MMA tournaments, there are rules against dangerous moves, a doctor must be present and fighters are held accountable to a licensing board. Underground, fighters can break the rules with little consequence, and doctors may or may not be present. The discussion of whether or not to allow MMA in our community should be less about the morality of violent sport, and more about how we can make the sport less about violence and more about talent. James McCann 66

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources Tae Kwon Do http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taekwondo www.barrel.net www.wtfcanada.com/home_e.html www.wtf.org/wtf_eng/main/main_eng.html

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Martial Arts www.itatkd.com www.warriorpages.com/terminology/MixedMartialArts/index.html Mixed Martial Arts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_arts www.sportsnet.ca/mma www.grapplearts.com/Mixed-Martial-Arts-1.htm http://twitter.com/SunMMA www.vancouversun.com/mma Character Analysis http://high-school-lesson-plans.suite101.com/article.cfm/teach_the_character_ analysis_essay Plot Elements http://middle-school-lesson-plans.suite101.com/article.cfm/plot_element_lesson Author Biography James McCann grew up on the icy plains of Manitoba, where he spent most of his teenage years reading comics and training in tae kwon do. In 2002 he came to the West Coast, where he’s worked as a bookseller and a workshop leader, mentoring youth in creative writing. When he isn’t writing books for teens, McCann is practicing tae kwon do or going on hikes with his shih tzu, Conan. James lives in Coquitlam, British Columbia. James is a member of CWILL BC, The Federation of BC Writers and the Writer’s Union of Canada. Author Website www.jamesmccann.info

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Gravity Check Alex Van Tol

orca sports

Reading level: 3.0 978-1-55469-349-8 pb AR Quiz # 143870

Book Summary Jamie is determined that nothing—not even his annoyingly popular younger brother Seth—is going to spoil his fun at a mountain-biking camp in the backcountry. Nothing but stumbling on a giant grow-op in the woods, that is. And watching their fellow campers get captured by violent drug dealers. And working with Seth to figure out a way to save them…without getting caught themselves. Prereading Ideas •• How does a crisis force people to work together?

•• Discuss with your class what you know about illegal drugs and the extent of the drug trade in North America (and possibly the world). Adjust and monitor the discussion for the age of your students. As you see it, is the production and distribution of narcotics dangerous to society’s functioning?

•• Have you ever been faced with a difficult decision, where there didn’t seem to be very good options? How do you figure those kinds of problems out? •• Is there an outdoor sport you have tried or would like to try? •• When things go wrong do you panic, or are you able to focus on finding solutions?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot •• Teach students about plot elements (see web link in Resources, below). These include exposition, rising action, conflicts, climax, falling action and resolution. Working in pairs, have students map out the plot using these elements to guide their writing. Have each pair create a poster showing the plot elements of Gravity Check. •• Make an overhead of the following list. Discuss with students some of the things that make a good story:

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ŠŠ a plot that is exciting, suspenseful, baffling or extraordinary ŠŠ interesting situations that are well explained and believable ŠŠ characters you care enough about to make you want to keep reading ŠŠ characters you can relate to and who change and grow as they make decisions to solve problems ŠŠ descriptions that make you feel like you’re there ŠŠ a variety of settings ŠŠ a fast start—action, danger, humor ŠŠ situations that provide an emotional response and give you something to think about ŠŠ a good ending with problems solved and characters getting what they deserve Using these criteria, have students write a critical review of Gravity Check. Students should ensure their review touches on a number of the criteria with examples and reasons for their assessment. Start here for some tips: http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/bookrev

Theme Like plot, setting and characters, theme is an important literary element in any novel. Theme is an idea or message about life revealed in a work of literature. It’s not really a moral, but it’s kind of a guiding message all the same. Break your class into small groups and have them discuss what they understand to be the theme of Gravity Check. Are there more than one? Is one theme stronger than the others? Character •• Part of making your characters believable is writing realistic dialogue for them. If a character says things that you know nobody would say in the real world, then the story just won’t work. Have students read the scene in chapter 7 where the group arrives in camp and gets busy setting up. Is the dialogue realistic? Does it reveal some of the personality traits of the characters? Divide students into pairs and have them search through the text for several other instances of realistic dialogue. What sounds true to life? Can they find any examples of words that teenagers wouldn’t use in the real world? Orca Book Publishers • www.orcabook.com • 1-800-210-5277

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• In chapter 5, at the pump track, Seth and Jamie are keen to go…but Nolan’s a little hesitant. Have students read the following sentence: Nolan sticks up his hands, palms out, and shakes his head. “You go, Rico,” he says. “I’ll watch you.” How does the author use words to show the reader how Nolan is feeling? What clues can you find that tell us how nervous he is? Why is this more effective in telling a story than simply saying, Nolan was scared?

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•• People sometimes speak to each other using sarcasm. Take, for example, this excerpt from chapter 19, where the group is figuring out their escape plan: “Let’s head ’er,” agrees Chase. “If we ride now, we’ll be back at the campsite by the time that Deuce guy gets here.” “What if he’s got infrared scanners in his helicopter?” asks Nolan suddenly. “If he does, he’ll be able to find us in the bushes, no matter where we are. We’d need a bunker to be safe.” This thought scares me. Seth gives off a little moan. “What makes you so sure he’ll come in a chopper?” Rico asks. “Well,” Nolan says, “he’s a bigtime drug trafficker, right? Do you think a busy guy like that is going to hike in to his grow-op on foot?” He cocks his head and blinks at Rico. “Or maybe he’ll ride in on a purple unicorn, Rico.” If I wasn’t so scared I’d laugh. How does the use of sarcasm add to this exchange between the characters? How does it hint at the characters’ emotional states? •• Have students draw a character map of Jamie that details his personality characteristics, his fears, and his strengths and weaknesses. Use this as a springboard to teach students how to write a full character analysis (see web link in Resources, below).

Setting Read the description of the camp lodge at the beginning of the second chapter. Have students make a list of words and phrases that help to create a picture in the reader’s mind. Instruct them to sketch the scene as they see it. Point of View •• Gravity Check is told from Jamie’s point of view. Have students write a scene telling the story from another character’s perspective. For example, try writing from Nolan’s perspective as he’s watching the others on the pump track; from Seth’s point of view when the brothers are stuck waiting for the others at the campfire; or from Chase’s perspective when he sets off to find Nolan and Rico. •• Ask students to consider how the story would be different if it was told from the third person point of view. What are the advantages or disadvantages to using the first person? Third person? Which do they prefer?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Vocabulary •• Create a Gravity Check lexicon. Have students use a print or online dictionary to find and write definitions for the following words. •• Choose a few of the following words and use them in a sentence. •• Challenge students to use ten of the following terms in a short paragraph describing a mountain-biking experience.

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adrenaline cord (of wood) overtake berm devour hydration captor momentum rapt coniferous negotiate stoke

subpar transition petulantly suppress terrain traction

•• Just for fun, invite students to create a Wordle™ using some of the mountain biking terms in Gravity Check. Head to www.wordle.net. All you do is enter some text into the box, hit create and voila! Your very own Wordle! You can change the font style, the colors, the layout…the sky’s the limit. While it’s fun to Wordle a dozen words, it’s even better when you’ve got more. Try for anywhere between fifty and one hundred. Students can team up to make it even more fun! Connecting to the Curriculum English •• Authors often use strong verbs. Strong verbs excite the reader and keep the story moving forward. Here are some examples of how the author of Gravity Check uses strong verbs to enhance the story: I swing my leg over the crossbar and crank on the pedals. I shoulder my bike and we hoof it back up through the trees to the main trail. We blaze along the path, bumping over roots, catching air on little lifts and slogging through more muddy pitches ŠŠ Have students go through one chapter of the book and find as many examples of strong verbs as they can. ŠŠ Discuss as a class how verbs can change the feel of a passage and how they can be effective at showing the characters’ emotions. ŠŠ Select a passage from Gravity Check to rewrite, but only using plain, run-of-themill verbs. See who can come up with the most boring, flat passage!

•• Task students to take a scene from Gravity Check and create a Readers Theater for it. Have them work in groups of three or four. Use teacher Aaron Shepherd’s website for some tips on how to script a Readers Theater: www.aaronshep.com/rt/sheets.html

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• A simile is a comparison using the words like or as. A good simile conjures an image in the reader’s mind. Here are examples of two similes from Gravity Check: He straightens and wipes his brow with his gauzy arm bandage, like he’s just chopped a cord of wood. My chest is tight, like someone has wrapped it in thick rubber bands. Why are these similes effective? Have students create five similes of their own. Can they come up with a funny one?

•• Divide students into groups of three or four.

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•• Invite students to write a different ending to Gravity Check—maybe one where Nolan “saves the day,” or where the police never show up. Or maybe even an ending where Jamie and Seth never leave the campground, but choose to wait for Chase to bring the rest of the group back. ŠŠ Have them choose a scene from Gravity Check and create a graphic story (kind of like a comic or graphic novel) based on that scene. (It might be helpful to share some samples with them—see Resources below for a few suggestions.) Students can use the scene as the beginning, middle or end of their story. They could even build their story around a specific detail that’s in the scene! Whatever they choose to do, they must include the basic elements of a short story: setting, characters, conflict (problem) and resolution (how the problem is solved). ŠŠ Remind students to include captions, speech bubbles, sound effects, detailed pictures…all the things you typically find in a comic or graphic novel. ŠŠ As a group, have students plan and illustrate their story, doing a rough sketch for the first draft and a final copy on posterboard to be shared with the class.

Social Studies Working with a partner or in a small group, have students create a “map of the action” in Gravity Check. Include the campsite, the trail leading into the forest, the grow-op, the cabin, and the hill where Jamie takes Warren on a wild ride. Include a legend, title and scale. Science •• What makes a pump track work? Investigate and discuss the mechanics and physics with students, starting with a visit to YouTube to watch the following clip of pumping in action: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fofuwA2iOfE

•• At the pump track, Rico says to Nolan: “Your speed determines the nature of the obstacle.” How is this true? Divide students into pairs and have them do a quick brainstorm of where this is true in the world of sports. Can any of them think of how this quote might apply to life itself?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Health/Personal Planning •• Jamie observes Nolan during the first meal at camp. While he realizes the kid seems to be a total geek, Jamie’s not the kind of person who needs to be unkind to someone just to make himself feel better. ŠŠ Discuss this as a group. What is it that compels some people to torment, tease or bully others?

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ŠŠ Discuss: How can bystanders intervene to shut down a bully? Why don’t more people do it? What are some strategies for handling bullying—for victims and bystanders alike? ŠŠ Challenge students to do a role-play in small groups, where one person takes on the role of the bully, one person plays the victim and the other plays the bystander.

Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Write about a time when you’ve felt jealous of someone. Why were you jealous? How did you manage these feelings? Were you able to get past them to a place where you could work with that person and not feel resentful? Why do we get jealous? 2. Jamie loves the feeling of freedom and challenge that mountain biking provides. Write about an activity you enjoy doing that makes you feel the same way. 3. When Seth and Jamie go biking in the trees on the first night of camping, Jamie decides not to give Seth trouble when he leaves the main path, because he’s having fun on the trails. As you see it, is this an irresponsible decision? 4. Have you ever made a decision that placed you in a dangerous or life-threatening situation? What saved you? What would you do differently if you could go back in time? Have you ever seen someone else take a risk that could have resulted in serious harm? What should you do in such a situation? 5. Can you think of another story you’ve read that involves sibling rivalry? Write a brief summary of that story. How did it turn out? 6. Are you calm under pressure, or do you crack? Write about someone you know who keeps their wits about them when everything is falling apart. 7. Mitch turns out to be a very different guy than he seems to be initially. Write about another character you’ve read about who puts forth a false front only to be discovered later on.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

3. I have seen bears at close range. 4. Jamie is a mix of several of my students. 5. Everything else in Gravity Check? Pure fiction. Alex Van Tol

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Author’s Note Dear Reader, Would you believe it if I told you that Nolan’s epic wipeout on the rock stairs was inspired by my own…uh…embarrassing gravity check a few years back? I used to be the director of the Outdoor Education program at the school where I worked. One sunny Saturday in May, a group of students and I met up with a mountain-biking guide at a provincial park for a day of fun on the trails. We learned all sorts of cool things, like how to skid, how to stop, how to climb and how to descend. Apparently the group also learned how to go down a big flight of stairs, although what I was doing at the time the guide explained the bit about staying off your front brakes, I can’t tell you. At any rate, being the good teacher, I let all the kids have at ‘er first before I took to the stairs. I felt pretty confident that I knew what I was doing. I even felt a bit show-offy. After all, I’d been an outdoor director at a summer camp a few years back and had done tons of mountain biking in the Alberta foothills. But I’d never taken on a set of stairs. I’d explain the way things went, but if you’ve read about Nolan’s fall, well, that’s pretty much how it all went down (minus the package of Kleenex and the bleeding chin). Ugly. And definitely not something you want your students to witness. Lucky for me, I survived to tell the tale—literally. A few other things you should know: 1. I have eaten trail mix. Lots and lots of trail mix. 2. Seth is based on one of my favorite students ever.

Author Biography Alex Van Tol lives in Victoria, British Columbia, where she bikes along a very flat pathway to the ice cream store and back again. She will not take her bike down any stairs. Ever. Again. She hopes to write many, many more books for teens, and maybe one day, some books for adults. Alex is one of the lucky ones who gets to do what she loves for a living. Visit her in the ether at www.alexvantol.com. Better yet? Join her Facebook fan page and send her a message!

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

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Resources Mountain Biking Whistler Mountain Bike Park www.whistlerbike.com/index.htm North Shore mountain biking www.nsmb.com Mountain biking tips a) bunny hops www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G8C7QMDbO8&feature=list_related&playn b) taking big drops www.youtube.com/watch?v=f00f0Qtjf5Q&feature=relmfu c) riding steep terrain www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNXxu33dx9Q&feature=related Plot elements http://middle-school-lesson-plans.suite101.com/article.cfm/plot_element_lesson Books Crowther, Nicki. The Ultimate Mountain Bike Book: The Definitive Illustrated Guide to Bikes, Components, Technique, Thrills and Trails Davis, Don and David Carter. Mountain Biking Friel, Joe. The Mountain Biker’s Training Bible Lopes, Brian. Mastering Mountain Bike Skills (2nd edition) Nealy, William. Mountain Bike! A Manual of Beginning to Advanced Technique —Mountain Bike Way of Knowledge: A cartoon self-help manual on riding technique and general mountain bike craziness Overend, Ned. Mountain Bike Like a Champion Weintraub, Aileen. High Interest Books: Mountain Biking (Extreme Outdoors) Withers, Pam. Adrenalin Ride Worland, Steve. The Mountain Bike Book (2nd edition) Zinn, Lennard and Todd Telander. Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance Graphic Novels O’Donnell, Liam and Mike Deas. Media Meltdown —Ramp Rats —Power Play —Food Fight —Soccer Sabotage —Wild Ride Film Fundamentals Mountain Bike Technique DVD Overend, Ned. Performance Mountain Biking DVD

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Hitmen Triumph Sigmund Brouwer

orca sports

Reading level: 3.2 978-1-55143-873-3 pb AR Quiz # 119489

Book Summary Left winger Nolan Andrews thinks it’s great that he can play hockey in Calgary, where his identical twin brother, Nathan, is a star center for the Hitmen. When Nolan finds out that a lot of things about Nate’s new life in Calgary don’t make sense—or might not even be legal—Nolan has to make some difficult and dangerous choices that will affect him and his brother for the rest of their lives. Prereading Ideas •• Family relationships can be difficult when there is conflict. Ask students to think about what they would do if they suspected a family member was involved in criminal activity. How far would family loyalty go? •• Where does the expression “Am I my brother’s keeper?” come from? What does it mean?

•• Which of the senses produces the most powerful memories for you? Why do you think that is?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Character •• Nolan and his brother Nate are identical twins. How does the author of Hitmen Triumph make sure that readers understand both their similarities and differences? •• Have students make a list of all Nate’s and Nolan’s characteristics. Are they more alike than not? •• Would the story change if Nolan and Nate were brothers but not twins?

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Plot The plot of Hitmen Triumph depends on the use of technology. If the technology (specifically all Nolan’s hearing devices) was taken away, how else could the author tell the story? Theme One of the main themes in Hitmen Triumph is the importance of trust in a relationship. Ask students to write a personal journal entry about trust in their own lives: have they ever betrayed someone’s trust, or been betrayed themselves? How did it feel? Setting Some people say that the setting is like another character in a novel. Is this true of Hitmen Triumph? What features of the city of Calgary are important to the plot and why? Could the book be set in another city? Ask students to pick a key scene and rewrite it, setting it in their own town. For example, the scene where Nolan is placed on the railroad tracks or the scene by the “drowning machine.” Connecting to the Curriculum Geography/Environmental Studies •• Nolan mentions that there are plans to change the weir on the Bow River to make it safer. Have students research the current state of the Bow River Weir and write a brief report on any changes that have happened since the book was published (2007). •• Have students create a map of Calgary using the descriptions in the book. Science/Psychology •• Ask the students to purchase inexpensive ear plugs; then get half the class to wear them in class one day and the other half the next day. Discuss how it felt to be partially deaf.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• Nolan wears cochlear implants. Have students research what cochlear implants are and how they work. Why would a deaf person not want a cochlear implant? •• Many deaf people use both sign language and lip reading. Have half the class learn some basic sign language and practice it on each other; have the other half practice lip-reading and lip-speaking. Which is easiest to learn? •• Nolan doesn’t think deaf people or people with other disabilities should get special treatment, but he supports the Special Olympics. Is this a contradiction, or are the two things different? Have students debate the issues.

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Media Studies •• DVD piracy is an issue in Hitmen Triumph, which came out in 2007. How has the issue of piracy changed since then? Have students stage a mock trial in which someone is charged with downloading movies and music from the Internet. •• Get students to write a brief newspaper article about organized crime, based on the events in Hitmen Triumph. Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Is Nolan’s approach to bullying (ch.2, ch.11) smart or stupid?

2. How would you go about winning back someone’s trust after you have betrayed them? 3. Is it ever ethical to spy on other people?

Resources Calgary www.harviepassage.ca www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/06/11/weir.html www.viewcalgary.com/panorama/vBVinNW10.htm www.srd.gov.ab.ca/fishwildlife/fisheriesmanagement/bowhabitatstation/pearcees tateparkinterpretivewetland.aspx www.ucalgary.ca/map/map_calgary.html Sense Memory www.wisegeek.com/what-is-sense-memory.htm

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Disabilities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant www.lipreading.net http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Sign_Language www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/asl.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Olympics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_rights_movement

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Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Hurricane Power Sigmund Brouwer

orca sports

Reading level: 3.2 978-1-55143-865-8 pb AR Quiz # 40651

Book Summary When David’s family moves from northern Ontario to Miami, Florida, it takes him less than a day to discover how out of place he is in his new neighborhood. Everything is different in Miami—for one thing, there’s no hockey. For another, David’s family lives in a rough area of town and his doctor father works in a clinic for underprivileged people. David joins his school’s track team, hoping to make new friends, but soon he is pulled into a schoolwide web of secrecy and danger. David has no experience of gangs, sabotage and violence, and the one person who can help him keeps running away. Prereading Ideas •• Moving is one of the most stressful things you can do, especially if it’s far away from everything you’re familiar with. Ask students to consider what they would miss most if they had to move and how they would cope with a new place. Have any of them already faced this particular challenge? If so, ask them to share their experiences. •• Intolerance cuts across all levels of society. Ask students if they have ever witnessed intolerance—racism, homophobia, religious bigotry. How did it make them feel and what did they do about it?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot and character •• Ask students to write down a list of all the things they find out in the first two chapters. Then ask them if the author uses exposition (telling) or action (showing) to impart the information. For example, the narrator tells us he has a little brother and that he has recently moved to Miami, but he shows us that he is a fast runner. •• How is suspense created in Hurricane Power? Is it effective as a way of keeping the plot moving? Would it help to know some things sooner?

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Connecting to the Curriculum History •• David has recently come to Miami from Canada. When he goes to his American History class, he hears about the War of 1812 from a different perspective. Have students consider whether historical events are always open to interpretation, and if so, can we ever know the truth about the past? •• The “Star Spangled Banner” was composed by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812. Have each student pick a country and research its national anthem. Ask them to read a stanza or two to the class and talk about when it was written and by whom. Social Studies •• David says that in Canada, “people don’t get shot at much.” Is this true? Compare the gun laws in Canada and the US. Is “the right to bear arms” an old-fashioned concept or does it still have relevance? •• David seems surprised that Carlos and his family are illegal immigrants. Is illegal immigration a problem in Canada? Or is David just naïve? •• Ask students to research how many illegal immigrants are thought to be living in the US. Have them debate whether illegal immigrants benefit or harm a country. •• Is it racist to remark on or imitate someone’s accent? Have students find two instances in Hurricane Power where characters comment on each other’s accents. Are the comments racist or not? Computer Science David and Carlos uncover a ring of computer hackers. How do companies and organizations protect themselves against computer hackers? How can the public feel confident that their personal information is safe? Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. What harm, if any, is there in giving kids toy guns (even water pistols) to play with? Are violent video games simply the technological equivalent of playing with toy guns? Orca Book Publishers • www.orcabook.com • 1-800-210-5277

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Orca Sports Resource Guide 2. What can you do when you are confronted with the unfairness of life? For example, when David realizes that he and Carlos have been born into different worlds, he tries to help him any way he can. 3. What is the appropriate response when someone insults your faith or beliefs? Why do some people go to war over religion and other don’t? 4. Is it ever okay for a young person to be in charge of his family’s welfare, the way Carlos is? How much responsibility is too much?

orca sports

Resources History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Scott_Key http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star_Spangled_Banner www.warof1812.ca www.visit1812.com

Guns www.panda.com/canadaguns http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Canada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_the_United_States www.lehighvalleylive.com/today/index.ssf/2009/08/toy_guns_that_look_ realistic_c.html http://kids-toys.suite101.com/article.cfm/toy_guns_violence_and_parents www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR20070223 01749.html Immigration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States http://computer.howstuffworks.com/hacker.htm www.marvquin.com/blog/top-five-5-best-criminal-computer-hackers-all-time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_theft

Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Jumper

orca sports

Michele Martin Bossley Reading level: 3.2 978-1-55143-620-3 pb AR Quiz # 110748

Book Summary Reese loves horses and longs to be a competitive show jumper. When the leased horse she rides is sold, she is left riding the orneriest horse in the stable. She decides she must find a horse of her own. Her parents can’t afford a trained horse, so she decides to buy a wild horse at auction.

She bids on her favorite horse, a beautiful chestnut mare she first saw running wild on the prairie, but she is outbid by an unpleasant local rancher. Reese is horrified to learn that he plans to sell the horses to a slaughterhouse, even though it is illegal. Determined to save the horse from a terrible fate, she enlists her grandfather’s help and finds herself in more danger than she ever could have imagined. With the help of a girl she’s never much liked, Reese saves the horses and finds herself the proud owner of Prairie Rose, the chestnut mare. Prereading Ideas •• Ask students to research wild horses. Write a brief history of wild horses in North America. Ask students to answer the following questions: Why is it considered unethical to slaughter horses while other livestock is routinely used for meat? Are there places where horsemeat is more acceptable? Why? •• Why are people from different socio-economic backgrounds often antagonistic towards each other?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot How important is conflict to a plot? Ask students to identify all the conflicts in Jumper and write a brief paragraph that imagines the book without one of the conflicts. What happens to a book when conflict is removed? Vocabulary •• Reese refers to something called a “martingale” in Jumper. Other unusual words that relate to equestrian sports are:

orca sports

dressage quirt crupper hackamore surcingle cavesson honda cavalletti gymkhana tapaderos romal capriole oxer bradoon

Divide students into groups and assign each group one of these words. Get students to find out what the words mean and then get them to make up fake definitions as well. One student from each group will present both definitions to the rest of the class. Have the students vote on which is real and which is fake. •• Every sport has its own unique vocabulary. Have students choose a sport and list and define some of the words used in that sport. Connecting to the Curriculum Math •• Horses are measured in hands. How big is a hand? Figure out (in inches or centimeters) how tall a horse of sixteen hands would be.

•• Research the history of measurements such as hands, feet, leagues, fathoms, yards, furlongs, gills, stones and cords. Ask students: 1. What is the distance between your house and your school in furlongs? 2. What is your weight in stones? 3. What is the size of a regulation soccer or football field in yards? 4. How deep is an Olympic-size pool’s deep end in fathoms? 5. How many gills is a can of Coke? 6. How many leagues can you walk in three hours? Science •• Reese believes that horses are very intelligent. Does research bear this out? •• How do behavioral scientists measure animal intelligence? •• Which is thought to be smarter—a dog or a dolphin? 84

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Most people in North America find the idea of eating horsemeat distasteful. Why is eating cow meat or pig meat okay, but not horsemeat or dogmeat? 2. Kayla helps Reese even though they don’t like each other. Have students discuss whether they have ever reached out to help someone they don’t like.

orca sports

Author’s Note While Reese’s story is fictional, the events surrounding this novel are based on a real incident. On January 25, 1994, a military-sanctioned roundup began on Canadian Forces Base Suffield of over 1,200 feral horses. Those horses were called feral instead of wild because they were originally domesticated horses that escaped or roamed, forming a herd that bred and became untamed. True wild horses have never been tamed, but for the purposes of this story, I have referred to them as wild. I have also fictionalized the actual roundup for my story. The Suffield wild horses roamed the military land for more than fifty years. In the early 1990s, arguments were made that the horses were destroying fragile grasslands, and the roundup began. Animal rights activists opposed the roundup, fearing that the horses might be mistreated or sold for meat. While the Canadian military put rules in place to try to protect the horses, there were later allegations that many of the horses, which were supposedly adopted legitimately, were slaughtered for profit. While these allegations were never proven, this scandal was the basis for Reese’s story. Resources Food and Culture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_meat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo_food www.foodreference.com/html/arthorsemeat.html Horses www.localriding.com/glossary.html http://northernhorse.com/wildhorses www.canadiangeographic.ca/Magazine/ma05/indepth

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Animal Intelligence www.animalintelligence.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_cognition www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=intelligence-evolved Measurements www.onlineconversion.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement

orca sports

Author Biography Michele Martin Bossley is the author of numerous books for children and teens, including titles in the Orca Sports series and the Orca Currents series. Michele lives with her family in Calgary, Alberta.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Kicker

orca sports

Michele Martin Bossley Reading level: 3.8 978-1-55143-706-4 pb AR Quiz # 114175

Book Summary Izzy and Julia have been on the same soccer team for years. Izzy is frustrated that Julia spends too much time cherry-picking and getting all the credit when they score. But when someone starts threatening the team and their home field is sabotaged, the friends must work together to find the answers. Why would someone threaten their star player? And what is the connection to a century-old train robbery and the rumor of buried treasure? Izzy and Julia put themselves in danger as they get closer to the truth, and Izzy starts to understand the true meaning of teamwork and the importance of friendship. Prereading Ideas •• Which environmental issues are of most concern in your students’ communities? •• Is it difficult for best friends to play on the same teams or do the same activities? Is competition between friends positive or negative?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text

Plot What is the meaning of the term “red herring”? Is there one in Kicker? If there is one, what does it accomplish in the plot? Creative Writing Write a newspaper article about the events that happen in Kicker. Include brief quotes from imaginary interviews with Izzy, Julia and Drew.

Science

orca sports

Connecting to the Curriculum

Izzy wrecks Drew’s science project on viscosity (ch.3). He says he is using gelatin and colored water. Ask students to try and reproduce his experiment.

Law •• There are numerous criminal activities in Kicker: vandalism, uttering threats, cyberstalking, fraud and breaking and entering. Have students describe each crime and research the possible legal repercussions of each. •• Which crime is committed by Izzy and her friends? How do they justify their behavior? Are they right?

•• Environmental laws are broken in many ways, sometimes by large companies (chemical pollution) and sometimes by individuals (putting old paint in landfills). Find examples of some of the big offenders—oil companies, mining, pesticide use, nuclear waste disposal. How have their crimes been dealt with? Should we be fining private citizens for not recycling or for over-watering? Media •• Izzy threatens to call the media when the city parks department won’t give her information. What is it she is threatening to expose?

•• Is alerting the media an effective way for citizens to make their voices heard? Have students search in their local papers for stories that have originated with concerned citizens.

History •• Izzy and her friends find the treasure in an underground storage area from the last century. In days before refrigeration, there were many ways of preserving food. Ask students to research some of these methods and write a brief description of how they might keep the contents of their refrigerators and freezers from going bad if the power went out. •• Bank robbers often become folk heroes. Ask students to research famous bank robbers and discuss why they were often admired.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Izzy says that vandalism, including graffiti, is “sending a message of rebellion to the world.” Is this always true? What other reasons might make someone become a vandal. Is graffiti vandalism or art? 2. Is winning more important than teamwork?

orca sports

Resources Pollution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution

Plot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring_%28idiom%2

Graffiti www.fullspectrumottawa.com/exposure/exposure_graffiti.html http://painting.about.com/b/2006/05/01/is-graffiti-art-or-vandalism.htm http://socyberty.com/subcultures/graffiti-art-or-vandalism History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_cellar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_storage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bank_robbers_and_robberies

Author Biography Michele Martin Bossley is the author of a number of sports books for young readers. She is also the author of Swiped, Cracked and Bio-pirate in the Orca Currents series and Jumper in the Orca Sports series. Michele lives with her family in Calgary, Alberta.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Maverick Mania Sigmund Brouwer

orca sports

Reading level: 4.1 978-1-55469-047-3 pb AR Quiz # 40654

Book Summary If the Mavericks win just a few more games, they’ll make it to the national soccer championships. There’s only one problem: their star player, Caleb Riggins, has disappeared. With the championship on the line, sixteen-year-old sweeper Matt Carr is determined to solve the mystery of Caleb’s disappearance. What he doesn’t realize is that playing detective will involve vicious attack dogs, a mysterious golden bridge, stolen identities, attempted murder and a long swim in a cold, dark lake. Prereading Ideas •• How easy/hard is it to assume someone else’s identity? Has technology made this more difficult or easier? •• Is it ever a good idea to take the law into your own hands?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text

Plot •• A mystery novel is about discovering the answers to questions. What are the main questions Matt is trying to answer in Maverick Mania? •• A good mystery usually involves two stories—what appeared to happen (the surface story), and what did happen (the real story). Get students to write a brief description of the surface story and the real story. Then ask them to examine if and when the stories overlap.

orca sports

•• Mysteries usually focus on the crime, the criminal and the victim. Ask students if they think this is true of Maverick Mania. •• At the end of chapter 24, Matt is in the water, crying. Chapter 25 opens at a soccer game and goes on to explain what happened. Have students write an alternate explanation of what happened in between the chapters.

Vocabulary On page 66, Matt says that fine is the one word that means just the opposite. Is it the word that means the opposite or is it the way it’s used? Have students suggest other words that can be used to mean their opposite. For example, sick or bad.

Theme

•• One of the themes in Maverick Mania is the importance of family. Matt is embarrassed by his family’s behavior, but he eventually learns to appreciate their eccentricities. Ask students whether Matt would be different if he had a more “normal” family. •• Have students write a journal entry listing five things they don’t like about their family and five things they think are great. Connecting to the Curriculum

Science

•• Matt knows that sound travels very clearly over water. Why does this happen? •• Lake Havasu City, Arizona, is on the shores of a man-made lake. Get students to research the dams, the lakes they created and the effects on the surrounding ecosytems.

••

Matt’s dad has a classroom zoo. Larry the boa constrictor is one of his pets. Petey the Parrot is another. Have students debate the pros and cons of keeping exotic animals and birds as pets.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Business •• Lake Havasu City was developed as a planned community in 1964 by Robert P. McCulloch. Have students research McCulloch’s business history and his influence on the city. •• What are some other examples of planned communities? How are they different from the communities the students live in? Are all planned communities company towns? •• Robert McCulloch bought London Bridge in 1968 and had it disassembled in London and reassembled in Lake Havasu City. Why? How much did it cost? How long did it take?

orca sports

Law

•• Matt wonders why parents can get away with doing whatever they like to their children. Do children have any legal rights? Should they? Have students stage a mock jury trial where a child accuses a parent of physical abuse.

•• Matt’s mother wants to be a detective. What is the difference in education and training between a police detective and a private detective? What are the pros and cons of each position? •• If someone realizes that a child is being abused, do they have to go to the police? Should they?

•• Some children emancipate themselves legally from their parents. Find out if/how this can be done in your community.

•• Matt’s mother is a police dispatcher who has someone in the police run a license plate for her and do a credit check. Is this an abuse of her position? Is she breaking privacy laws? Should criminals have a right to privacy? •• What are the consequences when private citizens take the law into their own hands? Which adults in Maverick Mania cross the line into illegal behavior?

Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. At what point does parental strictness become parental abuse? Do parents have the right to do anything they want with their children? Who should intervene? Friends? School? Social service? 2. Matt’s goal in life is to be normal. What does he mean by that? Ask students to discuss whether there is any such thing as “normal.”

3. Matt’s dad is a teacher who thinks that “the world is a lot less innocent now.” Ask students if they think more kids get abused now or do abused kids feel safer telling someone what’s happening?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources

Vocabulary www.fun-with-words.com/nym_autoantonyms.html

Plot

www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20modern/fb/20031118a

orca sports

Science

www.school-for-champions.com/science/sound_over_water.htm http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/boa-constrictor.html http://yesmagazine.org/issues/whose-water/864 www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1636

Business

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Havasu_City,_Arizona http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_town

Law

www.wisegeek.com/how-can-a-child-become-emancipated-from-her-parents.htm www.peoples-law.org/children/emancipation/emancipation%20home.htm www.amnesty.ca/themes/children_overview.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_rights www.bls.gov/oco/ocos160.htm www.bls.gov/oco/ocos157.htm

Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Oil King Courage Sigmund Brouwer

Book Summary

orca sports

Reading level: 4.1 978-1-55469-197-5 pb AR Quiz # 133962

When the Edmonton Oil Kings discover that Reuben Reuben has a hockey game as unforgettable as his name and his Inuit heritage, life changes in a hurry for him and his best friend Gear. When a wealthy business man sponsors a three-on-three pond hockey tour across the western Arctic, Rueben and Gear soon find out the tournament is not what it seems. In order to have any future in hockey, they’ll have to solve the mystery of the secrets that Reuben’s family has kept hidden for more than half a century. Prereading Ideas

•• What are some of your family’s traditions? Where do they come from? Are they culturally based or faith-based or both? •• Are tools like Google Maps an invasion of privacy or a great resource?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Theme One of the themes of Oil King Courage is the importance of tradition. What do Gear and Reuben learn about Inuit tradition, and how do they apply what they learn to their lives? Ask students to interview the oldest person in their family and write a brief paragraph about what they learned about family tradition.

orca sports

Setting The landscape is a major part of Oil King Courage. The author provides a lot of information about the Northwest Territories and moves his characters around a lot. Ask students to discuss the importance of setting in this book, and then get them to write a brief description of a place they think would make a great setting for a novel. Character Reuben and Gear meet with members of many First Nations as they travel around the NWT. Ask students to research the First Nations of the NWT and discuss how their communities have changed as more non-Native people come into the area. Creative Writing Grandma Nellie buries clues for Gear and Reuben in her letters. She uses a variation of a word puzzle called an acrostic. Have students research what an acrostic is, and then have them write an acrostic poem using the title of the book. Connecting to the Curriculum Geography •• Have students draw a map of the NWT, showing all the details from the route Gear and Reuben follow. •• The Arctic has some very unusual geographic elements, such as pingos. Get students to write a brief description of how pingos are formed and what they are used for. Art A.Y. Jackson was a very famous Canadian painter who was part of the Group of Seven. Ask students to find out who the other members of the Group of Seven were and get them to write brief biographies and descriptions of their work. History Oil King Courage is full of the history of the NWT (Bern Will Brown, the Canol trail, the Franklin expedition, etc). Get students to choose one person, place or event and write a brief paragraph describing its importance in the North’s history. Math Gear tries to figure out the percentage of population attending a hockey game. Find out the capacity of the largest venue in your community and then figure out what percentage of your community’s population would be there if it was full. Orca Book Publishers • www.orcabook.com • 1-800-210-5277

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Science Grolar bears are a cross between a grizzly bear and a polar bear. How common are they? Are there other animals that have mixed their DNA to produce a new hybrid? Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. What is the best way to help a friend with a phobia? 2. Is racism a problem in your school? If so, what should be done to deal with it? If not, what has been done to make your school a tolerant place? 3. What do small communities have to offer that big ones lack?

Acrostics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrostic www.readwritethink.org/Materials/ACROSTIC Grolar bears http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4766217.stm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly%E2%80%93polar_bear_hybrid

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Resources

NWT www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1A TA0005818 www.ece.gov.nt.ca/Divisions/kindergarten_g12/History_TimeLine/NWT_ History/NWT_History.html Group of Seven www.groupofsevenart.com www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1AR TA0003476 First Nations www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1AR TA0004040 www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/arp/ls/brt/ihc-eng.asp Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and young adults. He has contributed to the Orca Currents, the Orca Sports and the Orca Echoes series. He lives in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author’s Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Paralyzed

orca sports

Jeff Rud

Reading level: 4.0 978-1-55469-059-6 pb AR Quiz # 126188

Book Summary Reggie Scott is a hard-hitting senior linebacker for the Lincoln High School football team—a standout defender who prides himself on his toughness. But after an accident on the field results in the temporary paralysis of an opponent, his world is shaken. Even though the accident is not Reggie’s fault, the player’s mother and the opposing team blame Reggie for the injury. Worse yet, he starts to second guess and blame himself, resulting in difficulties on the football field and at home. Reggie’s coaches and parents force him to sit out the biggest game of the year and want him to see a sports psychologist to help him overcome the problems that have resulted from the accident. Reggie is resistant and afraid of what people might think of him seeing a psychologist until his father confides that he has needed counseling himself to overcome some much more serious mental health issues. Reggie eventually comes to realize that the accident was not his fault but rather the result of poor tackling technique by the injured boy. But along the way he learns a lot about himself, and his attitudes toward mental health are changed forever.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Prereading Ideas •• If somebody breaks an arm or a leg, they automatically go to the hospital for treatment. But is someone has a mental illness, it’s a different story. Often, the person who is suffering is resistant to seeking treatment because of the stigma involved. What can be done to change the misconceptions about mental illness? •• Like any contact sport, football can be dangerous if proper technique is not used. Find out what the sport is doing to reduce the number of spinal injuries on the football field.

orca sports

Connecting to the Text Character Choose a character from Paralyzed and list five character traits (positive or negative). Then find examples in the text that show these traits. For instance, Reggie is physically tough and emotionally vulnerable. Point of View •• Paralyzed is written from Reggie’s point of view. Have students pick another character and rewrite the first chapter from that person’s point of view. •• Writing in the first person (using I) can be very effective, but it can also be quite limiting. Ask students to think of what those limitations are and whether the book might be told better from an omniscient (all-seeing) point of view. Connecting to the Curriculum Writing Reggie sees a therapist after he is involved in the accident that injures another player. Journaling is one of the techniques that therapists use with clients. Ask students to write a few journal entries as Reggie, then a few as Nate.

Journalism •• Reggie gets written about in the paper a few times. The first article (ch.3) is fairly factual, but the second article (ch.9) upsets Reggie a lot. His father says it’s a “terrible piece of journalism.” Why does he think this? Ask students to write an accurate news story about what happened to Reggie and Nate.

•• Tabloids often use misleading headlines to get people to buy their papers. Find an example of this in Paralyzed and get students to write a sensational headline for a routine event. For example, Headline: High School Principal Takes Drugs. Story: Fearing that he will have a stroke, Principal Jones has started to take medication for his high blood pressure. •• Discuss the difference between ethical journalism and tabloid journalism.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Psychology •• Reggie’s mother says, “Sometimes stress does strange things to people.” Have students research the effects of stress on humans. Is there such a thing as good stress? •• Anxiety disorders can be crippling. Reggie’s dad gets treatment that helps him cope. Are anxiety disorders rare or common? What are some of the treatments used to help people with anxiety?

orca sports

•• When Reggie sees his therapist, he finds out that the therapist used to play football. This makes Reggie trust him. Ask students to consider how a therapist gains a client’s trust when they have nothing in common Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. How does it feel when you are blamed for something you didn’t do? What is the best way to react? 2. Many homeless people are also mentally ill. Ask students to discuss the connections between mental illness and homelessness and what can be done to help. Why are people with mental illnesses often resistant to seeking treatment? 3. Coach Clark benches Reggie for an important game. Did he make the right decision or was it completely unfair? Resources Point of View http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_mode www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-point-of-view-in-literature. html Journaling www.ehow.com/how_2240063_journal-therapy.html Journalism www.stinkyjournalism.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism_ethics_and_standards Psychology www.medicinenet.com/stress/article.htm www.cmha.ca/bins/content_page.asp?cid=2-28 www.cmha.ca/bins/content_page.asp?cid=3-94

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Author’s Note I wrote about this subject because I believe that mental illness is widely misunderstood and that it can strike anybody at any time. Although Reggie doesn’t have a serious mental illness himself, through this incident he discovers his father has suffered from severe anxiety disorder. The incident helps change his mind about mental illness. I think it is important to let young readers know that the stigma attached to mental illness must be broken down if people are to receive treatment and live healthier, happier lives.

orca sports

Author Biography Jeff Rud is the author of ten sports-related books, including five books for Orca Book Publishers. Crossover was his first book in the popular Orca Sports series.

Jeff was a journalist in Western Canada for nearly thirty years, working for a variety of newspapers. For the first twenty-three years, he was a sports writer, covering a wide range of sports, including the NHL, CFL and NBA. Aside from his fiction, he has written two biographies of Canadian basketball star Steve Nash, and a history of the Vancouver Canucks. For the final six years of his newspaper career, Jeff was a political journalist, covering politics in the British Columbia Legislature. He now works in communications for the BC government.

He is married to Lana, a middle school teacher. The couple lives in Victoria with their two children, Maggie and Matthew, and their two black Lab-crosses, Otis and Joker. Jeff coaches youth basketball and baseball and is the manager of his son’s hockey team.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Powerslide

orca sports

Jeff Ross

Reading level: 3.0 978-1-155469-914-8 pb AR Quiz #147069

Book Summary Casey Finnegan is a talented skateboarder. He lives to skate. At the end of his final year of high school, Casey is wondering what to do with his life. He hasn’t applied to any colleges, and other than skateboarding he doesn’t believe he’s good at much of anything. When a young movie star contacts Casey and offers him a job as a stunt double in an upcoming skateboarding movie, Casey is stoked. It’s his dream job, and Casey jumps at the opportunity. But when word gets out about Casey’s new gig, a local skater has other ideas about who would make the best stunt double. What price will Casey pay to realize his dream? Prereading Ideas •• What do you know about extreme sports? Are you a fan? Are you a participant? •• What do you know about skateboarding? Have you ever been to a skate park or inside a half-pipe? •• How is it freeing to participate in an activity that much of society frowns upon? •• Do you ever completely lose yourself in an activity? Where the rest of the world just...drops away? •• How far would you go to prove yourself to be the best at something?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot •• Teach students about plot elements (see web link in Resources, below). These include exposition, rising action, conflicts, climax, falling action and resolution. Working in pairs, have students map out the plot using these elements to guide their writing. Have each pair create a poster showing the plot elements of Powerslide.

orca sports

•• Discuss with students the idea of a book’s premise. The premise is a one-sentence summary of the main idea of the story. It’s a statement of what happens to the characters as a result of the actions in the story. It’s a bit different than plot, which is a listing of the events in the story. It takes a bit of practice to figure out the premise of a story. You might want to start by discussing the premise of some familiar stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, Toy Story or Cinderella. Divide students into pairs and see whether they can develop a clear statement of the premise of Powerslide. •• Make an overhead of the following list. Discuss with students some of the things that make a good story: ŠŠ a plot that is exciting, suspenseful, baffling or extraordinary ŠŠ interesting situations that are well explained and believable ŠŠ characters you care enough about to make you want to keep reading

ŠŠ characters you can relate to and who change and grow as they make decisions to solve problems ŠŠ descriptions that make you feel like you’re there ŠŠ a variety of settings ŠŠ a fast start—action, danger, humor

ŠŠ situations that provide an emotional response and give you something to think about ŠŠ a good ending with problems solved and characters getting what they deserve

Using these criteria, have students write a critical review of Powerslide (see Resources below for a great link that walks students through the process of writing a review). Students should ensure their review touches on a number of the criteria with examples and reasons for their assessment. Character •• Provide students with a graphic organizer that will guide them in creating a character sketch for one of the main characters in Powerslide. Have students augment their character sketches by writing a short passage explaining which character in the story they would most like to spend the day with.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• Conflict is what keeps a story moving along. It’s what makes things interesting! Typically, story plot follows one of four basic patterns of conflict: ŠŠ Person against nature. Tension comes from the character’s battle against strong forces of nature. ŠŠ Person against person. Tension comes through the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist.

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ŠŠ Person against society. Tension comes from the main character’s struggle against some societal factor that must be overcome. ŠŠ Person against self. Tension is created as the protagonist faces internal conflict; the hero has two or more courses of action and must decide which course to take. Guide students in a discussion of the kind of conflict pattern in Powerslide. Are there more than one, depending on which part of the story you look at? Which one predominates?

•• Part of making your characters believable is writing realistic dialogue for them. If a character says things that you know nobody would say in the real world, then the story just won’t work. Divide students into pairs and have them search through the text for several examples of realistic dialogue. Can they find any examples of words or phrases that teenagers wouldn’t use in real life? •• In chapter 15, Casey and Jack realize that Goat has been lying to them all this time; he’s being paid by Casey’s agent to stir up trouble! Have students think of other stories they have read (or seen) where the characters’ lives are shaken up by the realization that they can no longer trust someone in their midst. •• Toward the end of the book, the relationships between some of the characters have changed. Have students choose two characters and explain how their relationship evolves over the course of the story. Theme Like plot, setting and characters, theme is an important literary element in any novel. Theme is an idea or message about life revealed in a work of literature. It’s not really a moral, but it’s kind of a guiding message all the same. Break your class into small groups and have them discuss what they understand to be the theme of Powerslide. Literary Devices A simile is a comparison using the words “like” or “as.” Similes are an effective way to show action or mood in a story. Ask students to consider the following simile about how the crowd reacts to Jack Coagen’s celebrity status: He got about two steps away before he was engulfed by a crowd of girls. They all had pieces of paper, Sharpies in their hands and a look in their eyes as if someone was handing out free puppies. What makes this a good simile? Have students find four more examples of similes in the story.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Vocabulary Skateboarding has its own unique vocabulary. Have students read the definitions for the following words. Assign students to choose a number of words and use them in a sentence. Can they use five of the following terms in a short paragraph about skateboarding?

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180°, 360°, 540°, 720°: spinning tricks. These are described in relation to how many times the skateboarder rotates in the air. One hundred and eighty degrees is half a spin, where as seven hundred and twenty is two complete revolutions. backside 360°: grabbing the board behind your back while completing a full rotation coping: a piece of tubing at the top of a half-pipe that helps the skateboarder launch into the air or perform grinding and sliding tricks fakie: landing backwards after performing a trick goofy: riding with your right foot on the nose of the board heel flip: flipping the skateboard backwards with your heel once you have performed an ollie ollie: the act of snapping the tail of a skateboard onto the ground and jumping at the same time in order to launch into the air powerslide: when travelling with speed, a skateboarder will push the tail end of the skateboard out so that the board is travelling sideways rather than forward. With enough speed, a good skateboarder can slide a long way using this technique. Also used for slowing down on longboards. switch: riding the opposite way than you normally do tail slide: sliding along a ramp or obstacle on only the tail of the skateboard truck grind: riding on the edge of a ramp or obstacle on the trucks of the skateboard Connecting to the Curriculum English •• Vivid writing is key to holding an audience’s interest. Have students read the following passage from Powerslide:

I landed on the vertical part of the ramp, leaning far enough forward to get the speed I would need for my next trick. I was tightly coiled, ready to explode, when I hit the other side. As my front wheels came up to the coping, I pushed on my back foot, brought the board up, then launched. I grabbed the nose of my board, took my feet off, and managed to get three full swipes in the air to perform an airwalk. After the airwalk, I put the board back under my feet and landed fakie on the vert. As I came up the other side, I did a fakie backside grab, before finally shooting up and hopping off onto the deck.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Ask students to circle or note words that contribute to the power of this passage. Have them underline the strong verbs. In pairs, invite them to rewrite this passage using less vivid language. Have each pair read their rewrite to the class. Who can come up with the most boring rewrite? Challenge students to find other passages in Powerslide where the author uses vivid writing. •• Explore with students how to write a screenplay. Watch a section of Stand by Me, E.T. or Edward Scissorhands. Discuss setting, dialogue and the importance of stage direction. Have students choose a section of Powerslide and adapt it for a screenplay.

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•• Good writing involves calling on the five senses. Descriptive writing like this helps to really put readers into the scene. Here’s a selection from Powerslide: Goat stared at me from the other side of the ramp, his long dreads whipping around in the wind. A hush descended on the crowd, and I could hear a camera shutter clicking. Have students discuss the effectiveness of having Casey hear the camera shutter clicking. Invite students to write about a banal school-day task (such as changing class or recording homework in their notebooks) using sensory description. What kinds of things do they hear? See? Smell? Feel?

•• Showing a character’s emotion is more effective than simply telling the audience how he or she is feeling. Have students read this selection from chapter 4: “What’s going on over here?” McNaughton said, resting a hand on Rebecca’s shoulder. She cringed and shifted away. What does Rebecca’s cringe and shift indicate to students about how she’s feeling about Danny McNaughton? Have students locate ten other examples of showing instead of telling.

•• Have students ever heard the word colloquialism? It’s similar to a “saying,” or a “figure of speech,” except it refers to terms that are relatively recent in a society’s language. Here’s an example from chapter 7, where Casey arrives at the beach, ready for Goat’s next challenge (the colloquialism is underlined): My shin felt five times larger than normal. I cringed every time I put weight on that leg. But I would have to suck it up. Ask students: what does “suck it up” mean? Can they think of three more figures of speech that mean the same thing? As they see it, why do these kinds of sayings evolve? •• In chapter 7, Sara tells Casey the world won’t end if he doesn’t get the gig with Jack. “Life wasn’t so bad way back then, was it?” she asks. Imagining that they are Casey, have students write a day in Casey’s journal from before he met Jack Coagen. Then have them write a day from when he’s involved with Jack. Finally, have students write a journal entry one year after having met Jack. How has Casey’s character grown over that length of time?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Science •• Casey knows it’s pretty dumb to be skateboarding down Beacon Hill at speeds of up to sixty miles an hour without any sort of protective gear. Have students look up the reasons why motorcyclists are advised to wear helmets and protective outerwear. Why is leather such a common choice? Invite them to design a protective outfit for Casey that will keep him safe in the event of a crash.

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•• When Goat goes off a cliff, Casey finds himself out in the woods at nighttime, without any sort of safety equipment. Discuss with students: what are the dangers in being in the woods at night? What is Casey doing right? Divide them into groups; challenge each group to come up with a list of items that could be carried in a lightweight emergency/survival kit each time an individual were to head into the woods. Health/Personal Planning •• Casey feels like he’s been handed the opportunity of a lifetime in being selected to be Jack Coagen’s stunt double. Invite students to write or speak about their dream career—the one they really would like to pursue, outside of what parents and other caring adults have pushed them toward! What is it that makes this career seem so alluring, or to be such a good fit with each student’s personality and abilities?

•• Choosing to do the right thing when we’re feeling the pressure of our friends and peers around us is really difficult. But sometimes it can be done. Discuss with students what advice they would give to Casey as he imagines skating in Mr. Henderson’s empty pool. What makes it so hard to do the right thing when you’re surrounded by friends? •• As Casey and Goat have their skate-off in the pool, we can see that each guy has a strategy for how he’s going to defeat the other. Having a strategy or a plan of attack is a valuable tool for many situations, not just skate contests. Discuss with students what kinds of events require strategy and planning ahead (examples: games like chess or checkers; managing certain friendships; managing relationships with parents or siblings).

•• When Mr. Henderson discovers the boys skating in his pool, he’s furious. Have students role-play an exchange between Mr. Henderson and one of the police officers who arrive to investigate the scene. What does Mr. Henderson say about the pool and its significance? How does he describe the boys? What sorts of emotions is he experiencing? •• Casey thinks everything is a game to Jack Coagen—that the guy has no idea how hard it is to make a life for oneself. “Everything had always been handed to him,” reflects Casey in chapter 13. But is Casey seeing all sides of the story? Discuss with students: how is it important for us to try to understand things from other people’s points of view? Why do things always seem so much easier for other people—and so hard for us?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Physical Education •• Casey and Goat begin Powerslide by playing S.K.A.T.E. Have students play the same sort of elimination game, focusing on ball-handling skills. •• Have students learn about the powerful technique of visualization. Research how and why elite athletes use visualization, and how they feel it helps them achieve better outcomes in their chosen sports. Challenge students to choose a sport that they like to participate in (or use the one you’re teaching currently) and visualize a sequence of movements that will lead to success. Try to allow time for students to practice visualizing as they learn and apply new skills.

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Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Casey feels like anything is possible while he’s in the air performing a trick. Is there a sport where you feel similarly? Where time almost slows down, you feel in control and you can execute each move perfectly? 2. In chapter 3, Casey reflects that Ian Holmes is the “kind of guy that would always have your back.” Write about a friend in your world who would do the same for you. Who would you stick up for, no matter what? 3. Skateboarding has a real culture surrounding it. What other sports share a similar feeling? 4. At the skate park, while Casey is planning his tricks, he reflects that part of winning any competition is that you have to believe in yourself and in your abilities. How is this true for other parts of life that don’t necessarily involve competitions? 5. Casey realizes that maybe his gig with Jack Coagen isn’t a sure thing after all. Write about a time when you thought you had something in the bag…but then it turned out you didn’t. 6. As the competition between Goat and Casey wears on, Casey admits to Sara that he feels he has no choice but to keep going through with all the crazy stunts Goat wants to do. But Sara’s not having any of it: “You always have a choice. You can say no,” she tells Casey. Except for Casey, it’s just not that simple. Why not? Why do we sometimes feel compelled to keep going—and that quitting is just not an option? When is this kind of thinking helpful in meeting our goals? When does this kind of thinking become dangerous? 7. At the top of Beacon Hill, Casey has the opportunity to quit—and possibly save his own life in the process. Yet he perseveres. As you see it, is he right in doing so? What is the value of perseverance?

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Jeff Ross Resources Writing Screenplays www.screenwriting.info Plot elements http://middle-school-lesson-plans.suite101.com/article.cfm/plot_element_lesson Writing Book Reviews http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/bookrev/index.htm Skateboarding Great Skateboarding Tricks www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qjzlG79ViY Tony Hawk 900 www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4QGnppJ-ys&feature=related Peer Pressure http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/friend/peer_pressure.html www.thecoolspot.gov www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=243&id=2184&np=295

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Author’s note Dear Reader, I think as adolescents we often forget that we always have choices. In Powerslide, I wanted to show how one guy deals with the choices he is faced with. A lot of what happens in Powerslide is directly related to people being jealous of what Casey has. To become successful at any sport takes a combination of talent, skill and dedication. Casey has got to where he is by practice and believing in himself and his abilities…whereas Goat sees the need to cheat and cut corners to try and take something away from someone who has earned it. I believe that if you put all your energy into whatever you love, whether it’s school, sports, an art or even something as out there as skateboarding or snowboarding, that it will, eventually, pay you back. By this I mean that it’s foolish to do something because you think it will make you rich and famous. The people who really do well in their chosen field are those who do what they do because they love it.

Books Bell, William. Death Wind Cherniss, Hilary. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Surviving Peer Pressure for Teens Choyce, Lesley. Skate Freak Davis, James. Skateboarding is Not a Crime: 50 Years of Street Culture Desetta, Al. The Courage To Be Yourself: True Stories by Teens About Cliques, Conflicts, and Overcoming Peer Pressure Gifford, Clive. Skateboarding Hawk, Tony and Sean Mortimer. Tony Hawk: Professional Skateboarder 108

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Humphrey, Sandra McLeod. Hot Issues, Cool Choices: Facing Bullies, Peer Pressure, Popularity and Putdowns Mason, Paul. Skateboarding: The World’s Coolest Spots and Techniques O’Donnell, Liam and Mike Deas. Ramp Rats Sohn, Emily. Skateboarding: How it Works (Sports Illustrated Kids: The Science of Sports) Stutt, Ryan. The Skateboarding Field Manual Walters, Eric. Grind

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Author Biography Jeff Ross grew up near Collingwood, Ontario, where he learned to snowboard, skateboard and injure himself in fantastic and unique ways. Jeff lives in Ottawa, Ontario, where he teaches English and Scriptwriting at Algonquin College. Powerslide is his second novel for the Orca Sports series. Author Website http://jeffrossbooks.com

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Razor’s Edge Nikki Tate

Book Summary

orca sports

Reading level: 3.1 978-1-55469-167-8 pb AR Quiz # 133963

Travis and his best friends, Ryan and Jasper, live for the thrill of watching their horses race. When a thief starts hacking off the tails of Standardbred horses stabled at Blackdown Park, suddenly the track isn’t such a great place to hang out. Things get even more unpleasant when a troubled girl threatens to ruin everything the three boys have worked so hard to achieve. Travis has to make some tough choices, but how can he stand by his friends when he no longer trusts them? Prereading Ideas

•• What is the difference between a Standardbred horse and a Thoroughbred horse? •• What kinds of jobs can a teenager do at a racetrack?

•• Betting on horses has its own rules and regulations. What are they? Is online betting safe? Is organized crime involved in racetrack betting?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Vocabulary Horeseracing has its own unique vocabulary. Have students define the following words and identify which words have multiple meanings: Sulky Filly Dressage Tack Mucking Hock Lines Crossties Halter Paddock Stall Gait Hopples

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Theme One of the major themes of Razor’s Edge is loyalty. Ask students to write two brief opinion pieces, one about loyalty as a positive force, one about it as a negative force. Point of View Razor’s Edge is written from Travis’s point of view. Ask students to choose a scene and rewrite it from a different character’s point of view. Connecting to the Curriculum Business •• Travis and his friends run a small business. Divide students into small groups and have them create a business plan for a small business they would like to run. Then have one student from each group make a presentation to the class, as if their classmates were potential investors. •• How do the makers of instrument bows get hair for their bows? How is this connected to the trade in horse meat? Science Sassy has to take her cat to the vet because it has eaten chocolate. Get students to research what other human foods are poisonous to animals. Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Jasper says, “Keeping your mouth shut is nearly as bad as saying ignorant stuff yourself.” Have students discuss whether they think this is true; ask them to come up with examples to support their views. 2. What can or should a friend do when he/she sees someone getting involved in an unhealthy relationship? 3. Sassy makes racist remarks about Jasper to Travis. How could he have handled it better?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources Small Business www.tenonline.org/sref/jg1.html Bows www.vannbows.com

Toxic Foods www.wisegeek.com/which-foods-are-toxic-to-cats-and-dogs.htm Author Biography

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Horses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardbred_horse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoroughbred www.horse-smart.com/definitions.htm http://horseracing.about.com/od/helpfornewfans/a/aaquickbets.htm

Nikki Tate has written many books for children and young adults in a variety of genres. She shares her home on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, with a collection of goats, ponies, dogs, cats and assorted feathered friends. Author Website www.nikkitate.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Rebel Glory

orca sports

Sigmund Brouwer

Reading level: 3.0 978-1-55143-631-9 pb AR Quiz # 34967

Book Summary Seventeen-year-old Craig McElhaney likes his chances of making it as a pro hockey player, at least until a string of accidents threatens to knock his team out of the playoffs. His promising career now in question, Craig begins to wonder if the accidents are more than a coincidence. If he wants his team to win and his hockey career to continue, Craig must overcome his natural standoffishness and join forces with a new friend to set things right. Prereading Ideas •• Community sports teams need a lot of local support to survive. Have students come up with ideas to promote a home team. For instance: fundraising ideas, posters, banners, etc. •• What is the difference between bullying and harassment? Do techniques for dealing with bullies also work if you are being harassed?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text

Character •• How important is it for a main character to change in a novel? In Rebel Glory, Craig changes quite a bit. What would the novel be like if he had refused to change? •• Craig’s coach describes Craig as a loner. Find examples in the book to back up the coach’s opinion. What are the reasons for Craig’s behavior? •• The coach also thinks Craig could be a leader. Can you be both a loner and a leader? Find examples from the text to back up your argument.

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Vocabulary

•• Homonyms. Some hockey words, such as icing, shooting and passing also have other meanings. Make a list of all the hockey homonyms you can find in Rebel Glory. Write sentences that use both meanings of the word. For example: I heard the train passing outside the arena, just as I was passing the puck. •• Homographs and homophones are similar to homonyms. Have students research the difference and see whether they can find any homographs or homophones in Rebel Glory.

Theme

One of the themes of Rebel Glory is the importance of living a full life. Craig focuses so much on hockey that he has no friends. Why is he like that? Connecting to the Curriculum

Business

•• In Rebel Glory, someone is trying to buy the team. Buying and selling sports teams is big business. Have students research the pros and cons of owning a team. •• Is owning a team an investment or a hobby? Have students choose a well-known team and research who owns it now and who has owned it in the past.

Science

•• Craig and his team have an allergic reaction to uniforms that were washed with fiberglass insulation. What is fiberglass made of? Is it safe to use as a building material? •• Cockroaches are one of the hardiest insects on the planet. They have a much higher resistance to radiation than humans (although not as high as the fruit fly). Ask students to research why cockroaches are so hardy and how to get rid of them without using poisonous chemicals. •• The Rebels almost lose a game because someone tampers with the ice temperature at the rink. What is the science behind what happens in chapter 21?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Many players on WHL teams are billeted in the community. Would this be a difficult adjustment for a young player to make? 2. Craig is afraid of playing like an idiot and then falling apart on the ice. He is so concerned about failing that it almost becomes a phobia. What is the difference between a phobia and a fear? When does a fear become a phobia? 3. Craig’s teacher has some serious problems. If a teacher is verbally attacking a student, what is the best thing for the student to do?

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4. Craig says, “I knew I could never beat up a girl”. Does that mean he thinks that beating up a guy is okay? Is this is sexist remark or not? 5. Craig’s teacher says that only fools buy into religion. Craig has a different opinion (ch. 3). Which one of them presents a better argument? Resources

Business http://ca.askmen.com/sports/business_200/220_sports_business.html http://ca.askmen.com/top_10/sports_100/149_fitness_list.html http://ca.askmen.com/fine_living/how_to/6_how_to.html www.teenanalyst.com/business/sportsteam.html www.intelligentspeculator.net/investing_commentary/is-owning-a-sports-team-aninvestment-or-a-hobby

Science http://basementtransformationtechnologies.com/Environmental-MedicalAdvantages/Facts-About-Fiberglass.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockroach http://exploratorium.edu/hockey/ice1.html http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/ice-rink4.htm

Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Scarlet Thunder Sigmund Brouwer

orca sports

Reading level: 4.1 978-1-55143-911-2 pb AR Quiz # 40659

Book Summary Trenton Hiser is trying to walk in the footsteps of his uncle, Mike Hiser, a successful Hollywood director. During Trenton’s summer vacation, he goes with his uncle to film the inside story of Scarlet Thunder, a top-level stock-car racing team. As they film the action, too many things go wrong, deadly mistakes are made and Trenton finds out that much more than the races is at stake.

Prereading Ideas •• Why is it so satisfying to see arrogant, unpleasant people fail or do something stupid? •• What are the pros and cons of hiring or working with someone in your own family? •• When is ambition a negative thing?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text

Plot The author of Scarlet Thunder chooses to use the first three chapters to describe events that seem to have little to do with the rest of the book. Have students discuss what purpose those chapters serve. Make a time line out of the following events: •• Trenton and other members of the crew get poisoned •• Ken Takarura interviews Sandy

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•• Hunter Gunn freaks out

•• Trenton calls home •• Trenton spies on Tim Becker •• A tire comes off Sandy’s car and nearly hits Trenton and Tim •• Tim holds Trenton hostage with a ballpoint pen •• Trenton uses Tim’s phone to trace a call

Vocabulary The following words are all used in stock-car racing. Find out what they mean in racing and then use the word’s racing meaning and its ordinary meaning in a single sentence. For example, “I lost the race because of the marbles, but I lost my marbles because of the race.” groove happy hour firewall drafting marbles silly season spoiler stick toe wedge drag Connecting to the Curriculum

Science

•• Take the stock-car science quiz at http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/ stock-car-science-quiz. •• In Scarlet Thunder Trenton and the film crew are poisoned by raw elderberries. Ask students to research and write a brief report on other common toxic plants such as azaleas, daffodil bulbs and hemlock.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Film Studies/Fine Arts •• Trenton says, “[Documentary] directors aren’t supposed to care about their subjects. They are just supposed to observe.” Tim accuses him of having ice in his veins. Someone else calls him a vampire. Get students to debate whether documentarians need to be detached from their subjects to make good films. •• Ask students to watch a documentary and write a brief report on the director’s point of view. Some good choices: Bowling for Columbine; Hoop Dreams; Step Into Liquid; Super Size Me. Then ask them to consider the previous question again.

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Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions

1. Research how stock-car racing differs from other kinds of car racing. What kind of racing is the most dangerous? 2. Find out why there are so few women on the NASCAR circuit. 3. Documentary filmmakers need to know a lot about their subjects. Ask students to find a topic they would like to make a film about and then do a bit of research into that topic. 4. Who is Tim Becker and why is he so determined to sabotage Trenton’s uncle’s film shoot? 5. Trenton asks Could there be anything better than fame and fortune in Hollywood? Have students discuss whether they think he is right. Resources Physics of Stock-Car Racing www.amazon.com/Physics-NASCAR-Steel-Rubber-Speed/dp/0525950532 www.buildingspeed.org Stock-Car Racing www.nascar.com/2002/kyn/nascar_101/02/02/glossary/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_car_racing

Women in NASCAR http://www.stockcarracing.com/featurestories/scrp_0604_nascar_female_drivers/ index.html

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Poisonous Plants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poisonous_plants www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/protect_your_pet_from_common_household_ dangers/common_poisonous_plants.html When Others Fail… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude

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Documentaries www.hawkeye.cc.ia.us/faculty/cpost/Roger%20Ebert%20on%20Documentaries. htm http://topdocumentaryfilms.com Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Slam Dunk Kate Jaimet

orca sports

Reading level: 4.2 978-1-55469-132-6 pb AR Quiz # 129569

Book Summary Salvador “Slam” Amaro is the assistant coach of the girls’ basketball team. Sounds like an easy gig for the talented sixteen-year-old. Show up, run a few drills and pad his resumé so he can win a spot on the Ontario Under 17 men’s team. But Slam hasn’t bargained on the girls’ head coach and the star point guard going missing. With the girls facing playoff elimination, Slam has to solve the mystery of their disappearance and take over as head coach of the team, while battling some tough competitors for his own place on the Ontario squad. Prereading Ideas •• We often think that good deeds are rewarded, but are there times when doing the right thing leads to a punishment or a setback? Is it always necessary to do “the right thing,” or are there times when it’s acceptable to do something else—or just to do nothing—in order to avoid negative consequences? Does someone who always does the right thing come out ahead in the long run? •• Some athletes are brilliant individual players. Others are “team players” who don’t rack up a lot of points, but are critical to helping the team win. Which is better? Discuss the pros and cons of each type of player.

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Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. At the beginning of the tryouts for the provincial team, Slam thinks he knows more about basketball than Coach Donovan does. What experiences make Slam more humble and help him realize that he still has a lot to learn about the game? 2. Inez and her mother leave Inez’s father after he hits them during an argument one night. Are there any clues about what caused Inez’s father to become abusive? Is he a completely unsympathetic character, or does he have a “good side” as well as a “bad side”? 3. After finding out about the abuse, Slam decides to confront Inez’s dad. Is this a smart decision or a foolish one? 4. Inez and Slam share a common background: their parents are both immigrants from Chile. But their parents were on opposite sides of the conflict in Chile. Inez’s father was one of Pinochet’s men, while Slam’s parents opposed Pinochet’s rule. Will this make it more difficult for Slam and Inez to have a relationship, or are the historical conflicts of their parents irrelevant to young people’s lives? 5. Describe Slam’s character at the beginning and at the end of the book. Has he changed? If so, what experiences changed him? What do you like best about Slam? What do you like least? Resources Chilean History www.geographia.com/chile/chilehistory.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Pinochet Domestic Violence www.helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects. htm www.womensweb.ca/violence/dv/effects.php Teamwork http://echeblahblah.blogspot.com/2006/05/how-to-win-basketball-game-team work.html www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcD7MkgUbMk

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Author’s Note Mystery novels, especially of the “whodunit” variety, usually feature intelligent criminals with complex motives, who use great cunning and subterfuge to plot their crimes and cover up their tracks. The reality I’ve seen as a daily news reporter is quite different. A lot of the criminals turn out to be underachievers, often with substance-abuse problems. In the case of women who are the victims of violent crime, the perpetrator is most often (sadly) a husband or boyfriend. I wanted my book to reflect this reality. However, I did not want to leave the impression that all men are bad, abusive or violent. I tried to balance Mr. Ramirez’s violence toward his wife and daughter with Slam’s gallantry and basic human decency.

A short note on Chilean history: General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte became the dictator of Chile on September 11, 1973, when a military coup ousted the socialist government of President Salvador Allende. Over the course of his rule, which lasted until March 11, 1990, thousands of people were killed, imprisoned, tortured or mysteriously “disappeared” as a result of Pinochet’s crusade to crush all socialist, communist and left-wing opposition. In 1998, Pinochet was charged with humanrights abuses before a Spanish court, but he avoided facing the charges on the grounds that he was medically unfit to stand trial. He died on December 10, 2006, at age 91. Author Biography Kate Jaimet was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on June 30, 1969. In high school, her life outside of the classroom revolved around the basketball, volleyball and soccer seasons. She played on all three teams, until a torn knee ligament in grade 12 quashed her competitive sporting ambitions. After high school, she studied literature at the University of Toronto and went on to complete a degree in journalism at Ryerson University. For over a decade, she has worked as a newspaper reporter, first at the Edmonton Journal, then at the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, and finally at the Ottawa Citizen.

Kate lives in Ottawa with her husband and two beautiful daughters. She enjoys canoeing, kayaking, biking and yoga, and recently took up hockey, which she plays in a women’s recreational league. Author Website www.katejaimet.com/katejaimet/Welcome.html

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Squeeze

orca sports

Rachel Dunstan Muller Reading level: 3.6 978-1-55469-324-5 pb AR Quiz # 140395

Book Summary Byron is thrilled to be invited on a weekend caving expedition with his older brother, Jesse, and two of Jesse’s friends. Their original plans go sideways when they discover that the entrance to their cave has been buried by a collapsed riverbank. The weekend is saved when Byron discovers the opening to a new cave. Caving is always dangerous, but things get out of control when the water in the cave starts to rise, and Jesse’s girlfriend accuses his college roommate of committing a crime. When the accused tries to make a break for the surface without the others, Jesse gets injured. It’s up to Byron to figure out how to get his brother and his brother’s girlfriend out of the cave before they succumb to hypothermia or drown. Byron has to make some life-or-death decisions, and every second counts. Prereading Ideas •• What do you know about caving? Have you ever been inside either a “show” cave (on a commercial tour, for instance) or a “wild” cave? •• What do you think the potential dangers of caving are? (i.e., falling, getting stuck, getting lost, drowning, hypothermia, getting struck by rocks) •• What fears/phobias might prevent someone from wanting to cave? •• Is there a high-risk (extreme) sport you have tried or would like to try? •• How important is it to trust the people you’re with when you’re participating in a high-risk sport? •• When things go wrong do you panic, or are you able to focus on finding solutions?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot •• Teach students about plot elements (see web link in Resources, below). These include exposition, rising action, conflicts, climax, falling action and resolution. Working in pairs, have students map out the plot using these elements to guide their writing. Have each pair create a poster showing the plot elements of Squeeze.

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•• Discuss with students the idea of a book’s premise. The premise is a one-sentence summary of the main idea of the story. It’s a statement of what happens to the characters as a result of the actions in the story. It’s a bit different than plot, which is a listing of the events in the story. It takes a bit of practice to figure out the premise of a story. You might want to start by discussing the premise of some familiar stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, Toy Story or Cinderella. Divide students into pairs and see whether they can develop a clear statement of the premise of Squeeze. •• Make an overhead of the following list. Discuss with students some of the things that make a good story: ŠŠ a plot that is exciting, suspenseful, baffling or extraordinary ŠŠ interesting situations that are well explained and believable ŠŠ characters you care enough about to make you want to keep reading

ŠŠ characters you can relate to and who change and grow as they make decisions to solve problems ŠŠ descriptions that make you feel like you’re there ŠŠ a variety of settings ŠŠ a fast start—action, danger, humor

ŠŠ situations that provide an emotional response and give you something to think about ŠŠ a good ending with problems solved and characters getting what they deserve

Using these criteria, have students write a critical review of Squeeze. Students should ensure their review touches on a number of the criteria with examples and reasons for their assessment.

Theme •• In the first chapter Byron admits that while he is the youngest person in the group, he doesn’t want to be seen as the weakest. How big a part does peer pressure/pride play in Byron’s decisions? Does it get him in trouble, or does it push him to test his limits in a positive way? •• Conquering fear is another important theme in Squeeze. Is there such a thing as good fear and/or bad fear? Does it depend on what’s at stake?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Character •• Part of making your characters believable is writing realistic dialogue for them. If a character says things that you know nobody would say in the real world, then the story just won’t work. Have students read the scene in chapter 4 where Byron and his companions discover that the entrance to the cave they intended to explore has been buried. Is the dialogue realistic? Does it reveal some of the personality traits of the characters? Divide students into pairs and have them search through the text for several other instances of realistic dialogue. Can they find any examples of words that teenagers wouldn’t use in real life?

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•• Have students create a scene where Byron tries to talk Michelle into giving caving another try. What would he say to convince her? How would she respond? •• Have students draw a character map of Byron that details his personality characteristics, his fears, his weaknesses, and his physical traits. Use this as a springboard to teach students how to write a full character analysis (see web link in Resources, below). Point of View •• Squeeze is told from Byron’s point of view. Have students write a scene telling the story from another character’s perspective. For example, try writing from Cole’s point of view when he cuts Jesse’s rope at the waterfall, from Jesse’s perspective as he’s being carried through the cave on a makeshift stretcher, or from Michelle’s perspective when she learns that the way out is flooded.

•• Ask students to consider how the story would be different if it was told in the third person point of view. What are the advantages or disadvantages to using the first person? Third person? Vocabulary Cavers and climbers use some of the same vocabulary, while some expressions are unique to caving. The following words are taken from the glossary at the end of Squeeze. Have students choose a set number of words and use them in a sentence. Can they use five of the following terms in a short paragraph describing a caving experience? anchor bombproof breakdown chimney crawlway jug lead push rappel scoop stalagmite survey squeeze traverse vadose Connecting to the Curriculum English •• Explore with students how to write a screenplay. Watch a section of Stand By Me, E.T. or The Karate Kid. Discuss setting, dialogue and the importance of stage direction. Have students choose a section of Squeeze and adapt it for a screenplay (see Resources, below, for information about writing screenplays).

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• Good writers use strong verbs. Strong verbs excite the reader and keep the story moving forward. Here are some examples of how Rachel Dunstan Muller uses strong verbs to enhance her story: ŠŠ I jam my toes into the ground and push off. ŠŠ Michelle practically sails down when it’s her turn to rappel. ŠŠ I grope my way to the end of the crevice walls and descend a little farther.

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Have students go through one chapter of the book and find as many examples of strong verbs as they can. Discuss as a class how verbs can change the feel of a passage and how they can be effective at showing the characters’ emotions. Select a passage to rewrite using plain, run-of-the-mill verbs. See who can come up with the most boring, flat passage! •• Assign students to imagine that they are Byron. Write a blog post describing the ordeal in the cave. •• A simile is a comparison using the words like or as. A good simile conjures an image in the reader’s mind. Here are examples of three similes from Squeeze: ŠŠ I’m on my belly, stretched out like a piece of spaghetti. ŠŠ The droplets sparkle like little jewels. ŠŠ I’m like a mole on steroids, clawing the earth out of my way.

Why are these similes effective? Have students create five similes of their own. Can they come up with a funny one? •• Have students imagine that they are Byron. Have them write a letter to his mother trying to convince her to let him go caving again. Social Studies •• Caving is an extremely dangerous sport. Have students google caving accidents, and summarize one or more recent incidents in a paragraph. •• Have students search online for the nearest caving club or “grotto.”

Science •• There are caves in many parts of North America, and all across the world. Have students research the geological conditions that are required to produce different kinds of caves (vadose, phreatic, lava tubes, blue holes). Are there caves in your region? How were they formed?

•• Caves are very fragile environments with unique ecosystems. Formations that formed over hundreds or thousands of years can be destroyed in an instant by vandals or careless explorers. Have students research the subject of cave conservation, and write a paragraph or short essay explaining its importance.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• Byron owes his escape from the cave partly to Michelle’s good planning and packing. In her backpack, she carries a tarp. Later in the story, Byron finds extra flashlights and duct tape too. Have students plan an emergency supply kit for caving. Discuss emergency preparedness with students. Investigate your province or state’s emergency preparedness website. Then have them plan an emergency supply kit for their own families in case disaster strikes.

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•• Global Positioning Systems (GPS) is a relatively new technology. For years, cavers relied on more traditional ways to figure out their locations. But for all its convenience, GPS isn’t without its flaws. Assign students to learn more about GPS and report back to the class with what they have learned. Health/Personal Planning •• Cole belittles Byron and Michelle whenever he gets the chance. Given how important it is for cavers to trust each other underground, was it wise for the others to include Cole on their caving trip? To what extent does Cole’s presence influence the decisions of the others, especially Byron? How do negative comments from people like Cole affect you? •• Byron and his companions get into some serious trouble underground. Was this danger avoidable? What could or should they have done differently? •• Michelle is suspicious of Cole’s behavior, and does some “investigating” to find out what he’s doing. Is her spying justified? Would you have confronted Cole if you had the same information? Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Byron is proud of his skills as a caver, and this motivates him to go places that would terrify many people. Do you have an interest or talent that motivates you to take risks or go the extra mile? How far would you go to pursue your interest? 2. Have you ever made a decision that placed you in a dangerous or life-threatening situation? What saved you? What would you do differently if you could go back in time? Have you ever seen someone else take a risk that could have resulted in serious harm? What should you do in such a situation? 3. Michelle is determined to find out what Cole is carrying, and to confront him with her suspicions. Have you ever had information that someone you knew was involved in an illegal activity? What did you do? 4. Byron has to leave Michelle and Jesse in the cave in order to get help. If he fails, they will die. As you see it, how would you feel about knowing that the lives of two other humans depended entirely on your actions? 5. Byron thinks that Doug Wizer (Digger) is good in emergencies. He’s “solid” and “in control.” What about you? Are you level-headed when things start to go sideways? Or do you freak out? Give an example of a time where you were faced with an emergency. How did you handle it?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide 6. Byron’s dad goes into the cave to assist with the rescue. But he relinquishes the lead to Digger, who reserves the right to make any final—and perhaps difficult—decisions. Imagine you were a parent. How hard would it be to accept that someone else might be the one to make a life-changing call that concerns your child? 7. If you had gone through everything that Byron experienced, would you want to return to the same cave?

Rachel Dunstan Muller Resources Caving Caving in Canada www.cancaver.ca Caving in the U.S. www.caves.org International Caving www.cavediggers.com/caving.html Cave Conservation www.cavern.org/acca/accahome.html

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Author’s Note Dear Reader, Squeeze was inspired by the adventures of my friend Barry Lewis, an avid caver who helped survey the longest cave in Canada a few years ago. He had to cross-country ski several hours just to get to the entrance of the cave in the Rocky Mountains, and his team remained underground for six days straight. Barry has had some close calls over the years, but he keeps going back for more. Caving is not for the faint of heart. I can’t think of a more extreme sport. What other activity combines rappelling, rock-climbing, and slithering through impossibly small, mucky spaces, all in the pitch dark? I’ve been inside a few small caves, but I don’t see myself ever doing any “serious” caving. I love to hear and read about the adventures of underground explorers, but I’m too claustrophobic to venture very far myself. Writing a book about caving was exciting enough for me! I hope you enjoy reading it.

Writing Screenplays www.screenwriting.info Character analysis http://high-school-lesson plans.suite101.com/article.cfm/teach_the_character_ analysis_essay Plot elements http://middle-school-lesson-plans.suite101.com/article.cfm/plot_element_lesson

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Writing Book Reviews http://middle-school-lesson-plans.suite101.com/article.cfm/plot_element_lesson Emergency Preparedness www.getprepared.gc.ca/index-eng.aspx

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Books Brucker, Roger W. Grand, Gloomy and Peculiar: Stephen Bishop at Mammoth Cave Burger, Paul. Cave Exploring: The Definitive Guide to Caving Technique, Safety, Gear and Leadership Ferris, Jean. Underground Howes, Chris. Radical Sports: Caving Palmer, Arthur. Cave Geology Palmer, Arthur N. and Margaret V. Palmer. Caves & Karst of the USA Swart, Peter. Caving Tabor, James. Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth Waltham, Tony. Great Caves of the World Wisshak, Max. Inside Mother Earth: Magic Caves Yonge, Charles. Under Grotto Mountain: Rat’s Nest Cave Author Biography Rachel Dunstan Muller lives on the edge of a small Vancouver Island community with her husband and five children. When she’s not writing, Rachel likes to explore the rugged forest and mountain trails near her home. She recently built a wooden kayak in her basement, and took it paddling around the Broken Islands. Rachel is an oral storyteller as well as an author. She is a member of CWILL BC and the Writer’s Union of Canada.

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Thunderbird Spirit Sigmund Brouwer

orca sports

Reading level: 4.0 978-1-55469-045-9 pb AR Quiz # 34965

Book Summary Hockey stars Mike “Crazy” Keats and his Cree friend, Dakota Smith, are caught in a web of violence which makes winning this year’s hockey league championship the least of their concerns. Mike’s new to the Seattle Thunderbirds; he left his last team, the Saskatoon Blades, on bad terms, and he’s angry all the time. Dakota seems like a good guy to have as a friend, but unfortunately not everyone accepts Dakota’s aboriginal heritage, and racial hatred leads Mike and Dakota into a life-threatening situation. Mike’s usual response to conflict has been violence, but getting to know Dakota changes everything for Mike. Prereading Ideas •• Some people believe that everyone has racist thoughts and feelings—that they are part of who we are as humans. Consider whether you have ever made an assumption based on someone’s ethnicity.

•• Do bad things that happen to you as a child excuse bad behavior later in life? In what circumstances can negative events have positive results?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Characters •• Mike is a deeply flawed narrator—angry, hostile, secretive. How does the author make him into a sympathetic character? Have students find examples of what makes him a character readers can relate to. •• Dakota is a much more sympathetic character than Mike. How does the author keep the reader from feeling that Dakota might be a better protagonist than Mike? •• Kendra appears fairly late in the story. What is her function in the novel? What would happen without her?

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•• Which character changes most in Thunderbird Spirit? Plot Suspense is a big part of the plot of Thunderbird Spirit. Ask students to find the clues to the two mysteries: What happened to Mike in Saskatoon? What is Dakota involved in? Connecting to the Curriculum Geography • People in Seattle find the names Saskatoon and Saskatchewan amusing. Research the origins of those place names, as well as the name Seattle. Are there any similarities? • Have students research the Terzaghi Dam and answer the following questions: 1. Who is the dam named after and why? 2. What river does it dam? 3. What is the name of the lake formed by the dam? 4. How high is the dam? 5. What kind of environmental impact has the dam had?

History •• Have students research native land claims in the BC interior area where Dakota’s grandparents live. Ask them to write a brief paragraph taking one side of the debate about Native land claims. •• Dakota refers to the rebels’ desire to start a race war. Ask students what they think constitutes a race war. Were the Watts riots of 1965 a race war? What about the riots in the southern USA during the civil rights movement? The LA riots in 1992? Or the Oka Crisis in 1990?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Think about appropriate and inappropriate ways to express anger. Is there ever a good reason to use violence when you are angry? Do anger management programs work? 2. Racism is mentioned in Thunderbird Spirit, but it turns out that Dakota is more in danger from other Natives than from white people. Ask students to discuss whether they think this reflects reality. If not, what do they think is the reality for Native North Americans, blacks, Hispanics, south Asians, etc.

Resources History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oka_Crisis www.histori.ca/peace/page.do?pageID=343 www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/mr/is/info106-eng.asp www.chiefseattle.com/history/chiefseattle/chief.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_riots_of_1992 www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRDvY_anJdc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Riots www.gov.bc.ca/arr/firstnation/lillooet/default.html Geography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terzaghi_Dam

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3. For a long time, Mike refuses to tell the truth about what happened to him in Saskatoon. Who is he trying to protect, and why is he willing to take the fall for someone else?

Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Tiger Threat

orca sports

Sigmund Brouwer

Reading level: 2.4 978-1-55143-639-5 pb AR Quiz # 110756

Book Summary Ray Hockaday plays center for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Hockey League. He’s spent his hockey career hiding something from the world. When his new Russian roommate shows up, Ray is assigned to help Vlad get used to life in Canada. What Ray doesn’t know is that Vlad is hiding something that could get them and the rest of their team killed. Ray, the son of a famous NHL tough guy, finds out that there are much scarier things than a hockey brawl. Prereading Ideas •• Many hockey players from Europe and Russia come to North America to play. Have students research what kind of travel visa or work permit is required to play in the WHL or a comparable league. •• Have students answer the question: What would be the hardest part about coming to a new country? •• Fans are divided on the subject of hockey violence. Have students debate the issues before they read Tiger Threat.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot •• Have students write a one-sentence summary of each chapter. Then have them put their summaries together and see if the story makes sense. •• The plot of Tiger Threat involves the Russian mafia, a lot of money and some nasty dentistry. Have students write a short paragraph discussing whether the plot is realistic or far-fetched. •• The ending of Tiger Threat wraps up a lot of loose ends. Have students write two alternate endings, one open-ended and one that resolves the plot in a new way.

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Character •• Is Amanda an important character? Ask students to rewrite their plot summary (above) without Amanda. Would the plot still work?

•• Ray is afraid to get into fights on the ice. Does that make him or more or less sympathetic character. How has he changed by the end of the book? Is the change for the better?

Connecting to the Curriculum Language At first, Vlad appears not to be able to speak English. He pretends to learn by watching cartoons. Ask students to find the answers to these questions: •• At what age is it easiest to learn a new language? •• How is learning a second language different from learning a first? •• What is chunking theory? •• At what developmental stage does a baby begin to recognize the sound and speech patterns of its mother’s voice? •• Who is Noam Chomsky and what is his theory of language acquisition?

Geography •• Vlad and Ray set up a meeting with the Russian mobster at the Saamis Teepee, the world’s largest teepee. What is the significance of the teepee? Why was it relocated from Calgary to Medicine Hat? •• What does the name Medicine Hat mean? What other place names have similar origins?

•• Have students research “big things” in their country and plan a road trip to visit at least five monuments. The road trip should take one week or less.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Science/Psychology •• Ray’s dentist tells Ray to focus on the pain and welcome it so that it won’t hurt as much. Ask students to research whether this is a medically recommended way of coping with pain. •• Pain is classified as acute or chronic. Which kind does Ray experience? Are there different methods for managing the different kinds of pain?

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•• Many pregnant women learn breathing techniques (Lamaze) to cope with the pain of childbirth. Why does it work? Does the Lamaze technique help with other kinds of pain? History •• Ray runs afoul of the Russian mafia in Tiger Threat. Have students research the history of the Russian mafia and its growth into other countries. What are the mob’s main sources of income?

•• Compare the history of the Russian mafia with the more well-known Italian mafia. What North American cities have the biggest problems with mob influence? What other countries have their own distinct mob culture? Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Vlad is having a hard time adapting to life in a new country. What does Ray do to make his transition easier?

Resources Hockey Violence www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1AR TM0012139 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_in_ice_hockey www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/594510 Language Acquisition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_acquisition www.timothyjpmason.com/WebPages/LangTeach/Licence/CM/OldLectures/L1_ Introduction.htm

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Geography www.bigthings.ca http://ezinearticles.com/?Take-a-Tour-of-The-USAs-best-Worlds-LargestLandmarks&id=531946 www.worldslargestdoc.com Science www.healthpsychology.net/Pain_Management.htm

Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and young adults. He has contributed to the Orca Currents series (Wired, Sewer Rats) and the Orca Sports series (most recently Winter Hawk Star, Hurricane Power and Hitmen Triumph). He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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History www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1u2PrPqdUc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Mafia http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Titan Clash

orca sports

Sigmund Brouwer Reading level: 2.4 978-1-55143-639-5 pb AR Quiz # 40668

Book Summary Jack’s dad is tough on him, but he has learned to live with it. For the most part, he has it pretty good. Jack is a star player on his high school basketball team with everything going for him—scoring records, popularity and an easy path to a college scholarship. Almost as fast as the crash that put his mom in the hospital, everything Jack believes in starts to crumble. His only hope is to discover what’s really going on, and quickly. If he doesn’t, Jack may lose much more than a basketball career. Prereading Ideas •• It’s very easy to jump to conclusions about someone based on gossip or half-truths. If it’s true that there are two sides to every story, how do you make sure that you don’t let other people lead you to the wrong judgment about a situation? •• How does if affect a child when a parent is critical and unable to express emotions?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text

Language The author of Titan Clash uses similes to make his writing more vivid. Find examples of some of the similes in the book and then finish the following sentences, trying to avoid using cliches: •• His head was a bald as... •• The realization of what I had done hit me like… •• She looked as delicious as… •• The trombone solo sounded like…

Title •• Does the title Titan Clash suit the book? Ask students to write a brief paragraph defending their point of view. •• Who were the Titans in Greek mythology? How many were there? What was the original Titan Clash? •• Have the students choose a Titan and write a brief paragraph describing who they are and where they fit in the pantheon of Greek gods.

Plot What information do you learn in the first two chapters of Titan Clash? How important is that information to the plot of the book? Would the book make sense without those chapters? Connecting to the Curriculum

Literature •• Jack’s friend is named Tom Sawyer, like the character in Mark Twain’s novel of the same name. In what way is Jack’s friend like the Mark Twain character? Is Jack at all like Tom’s friend Huckleberry Finn? •• Jack get’s an anonymous phone call from someone who quotes the Bible (ch. 9). What part of the Bible is the quote from and how is it relevant to the story?

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•• The smell in the locker room was like…

Law •• The law says we are innocent until proven guilty, but the “court of public opinion” often judges a person before there is a trial. Ask students whether they have ever made up their mind about a person’s guilt or innocence before all the facts were known.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• Jack describes the jail his dad is in as “a place of no hope.” Have students research how many people are in jail in their country and how many of them are habitual re-offenders. What, if anything, is being done to reform the prison system and give hope to prisoners?

Philosophy/Religion Jack asks a lot of questions in Titan Clash. What ethical issues does he struggle with? What answers does he discover? Who helps him?

orca sports

Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Jack’s dad tells Jack that being a man means acting like a man and standing on your own (ch. 8). Ask students to discuss whether this is a good definition of being a man or whether it’s a gender stereotype. Then ask them if standing on your own as a man means you have to be critical and emotionally distant (ch. 18). 2. Is it true that “anytime you understand a person, it’s a lot easier to be friends” (ch. 9)? 3. If someone you love and trust was accused of something terrible, how would you deal with it? What if all the evidence pointed to their guilt? 4. Can a nickname that starts as an insult become a term of affection? Resources

Title http://n.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_%28mythology%29

Law www.prisonreform.org

Literature http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tom_Sawyer

Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Two Foot Punch Anita Daher

orca sports

Reading level: 3.2 978-1-55143-876-4 pb AR Quiz # 119138

Book Summary Nikki blames her brother, Derek, for their parents’ death in a house fire, but when Derek gets involved with a gang, Nikki knows she is the only one who can save him. Enlisting the help of a girl named Rain, who uses her athletic abilities to carry out acts of petty thievery, Nikki uses all her gymnastic and free-running skills to stay ahead of the gang and keep her brother from being killed. Prereading Ideas •• Tragedy affects different people different ways. Ask students whether they can think of examples of this; for instance, Oprah Winfrey grew up poor and abused but she has become hugely successful. Others in similar circumstances are still living lives of poverty and despair. Is there a right or wrong way to respond to painful life events? •• What are some examples of using the power of money for good? For evil? •• If someone needs your help but doesn’t want it, should you leave them alone?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text

Setting •• The setting of Two Foot Punch is crucial to the plot. Ask students to write a brief explanation of why they think this is true or false. •• The descriptions of landmarks in Winnipeg are very vivid. Get students to create a short piece that would promote tourism to Winnipeg for people their age, using the places mentioned in Two Foot Punch.

Vocabulary

orca sports

Match each parkour term with its meaning: 1. Tic-tac 2. Vault 3. Wall-flip 4. Two foot punch 5. Traceur/traceuse 6. Cat-leap 7. Precisioning

a) Static or moving jump from one object to a spot on another object. b) A parkour athlete c) A jump to vertical or near vertical object where your feet absorb the impact before your hands catch the top. d) Done off a wall to change direction or to clear an object that couldn’t be cleared from the ground. e) A way to pass over an object where both hands are placed on the object and it is approached straight on. f) Approaching a vertical face, taking one or more steps up the wall, pushing off into a back flip, and landing. g) Sprint towards obstacle, take a large hop off one foot, then land on both feet together before diving into a vault

Answers: 1d, 2e, 3f, 4g, 5b, 6c, 7a

Theme

•• One of the themes of Two Foot Punch is the importance of forgiveness. Who does Nikki need to forgive and why? How would it change the book if she couldn’t forgive? •• Another theme is trust and how relationships fail without it. Nikki has to trust Rain, even though she thinks Rain is untrustworthy. What effect does this have on Rain?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Curriculum

Law •• Derek tells Nikki it’s legal for an eighteen-year-old to drink alcohol in Manitoba. Ask students to see if they can find out why the legal drinking age varies from province to province in Canada and why the legal drinking age is the same in all American states. •• Have students debate the pros and cons of raising the legal drinking age (in Canada) to lowering it (in the US).

Computer Science

orca sports

•• “Graffiti is revolutionary, in my opinion,” says artist Terrence Lindall, “and any revolution might be considered a crime. People who are oppressed or suppressed need an outlet, so they write on walls—it’s free.” Have students look at the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring as well as other anonymous graffiti artists, and then discuss what is vandalism and what is art.

The plot of Two Foot Punch relies very heavily on the use of technology. How does GPS work? Would Nikki and Rain have been able to save Derek without the use of technology?

Business

Spinner says that “cash flow is good for a neighborhood” and that his grow-ops are revitalizing the downtown core of Winnipeg. Could there be any truth to his statement? How can businesses be part of legitimately revitalizing a neighborhood?

History

•• The name Winnipeg, which means muddy water in Cree, was first used in 1866. Ask students to find out what the town was called before that and who settled there. •• What is the significance of the Red River Rebellion?

•• Winnipeg is at the longitudinal center of North America. What are its coordinates? •• How many major floods have occurred in Winnipeg? How is flooding controlled? Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. What recent movies have featured parkour? 2. Ask students to consider whether they use parkour or freerunning moves in their daily life. For example—a somersault, a handstand, jumping over an obstacle. 3. Nikki says, “There’s a fine line between parkour and trespassing.” When does parkour become trespassing? 4. Is it ever a good idea to take the law into your own hands?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources Parkour http://parkourpedia.com www.urbanfreeflow.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour Winnipeg www.winnipeg.ca/clerks/docs/pathways/PWYHistory1874.stm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg

orca sports

Law www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html http://safety-council.org/news/archives/should-we-raise-the-drinking-age-to-21 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti www.graffitihurts.org/community_resources/working_with_police.cfm www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/08/23/calgary-shaw-millennium-parklegal-graffiti.html Author Biography Anita Daher has written many books for children and teens, including numerous titles in the Orca Young Readers series. Anita lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with her husband, two daughters, one basset hound and a Westfalia camper named Mae. Author Website www.anitadaher.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Venom

Nikki Tate

orca sports

Reading level: 3.4 978-1-55469-071-8 pb AR Quiz # 129680

Book Summary Sixteen-year-old Spencer loves his job at the local racing stable, but when he becomes convinced that someone is drugging the racehorse Lord of the Fires, no one believes him. By refusing to turn a blind eye, Spencer risks losing those he cares most about, including Em, the stable owner’s niece. Prereading Ideas •• Find out about famous racehorses—where and when they raced, who owned them and who trained them. Watch the movie Seabiscuit for some great racing scenes.

•• Jockeys are very small. Research what it takes to be a jockey—how long do they work? Do they have eating disorders? How often are they injured? Are there any female jockeys?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Theme •• One of the themes of Venom is the importance of trust in relationships. Have students pick one of Spencer’s main relationships (Em, Grandma, Mom, Scampy) and find examples from the book of how trust (or the lack of it) shapes those relationships. •• Family is another important theme in Venom. The only person in Em’s family that is ever mentioned is her Uncle Scampy. Have students write a couple of character sketches that imagine what the rest of her family is like.

orca sports

•• Spencer’s family has been fractured by his father’s death and his mother’s problems. Ask students to write a short scene between Spencer and the ghost of his dead father. What would Spencer say to him?

•• Spencer asks, “Is it so bad to die doing something you love?”. His father had a passion for horses, but then he was killed by a horse. What would Spencer’s life be like if he had turned his back on his passion for horses after his father died? Setting Most of the action in Venom takes place at the track. Many readers will never have been to a racetrack, so it’s very important for the author to provide enough detail so that readers are not confused. Ask students if the author has done a good job describing the setting. Language Thoroughbred racing uses a particular system for naming racehorses. Ask students to research the rules behind the names and suggest a name for a horse. Connecting to the Curriculum Math •• Do you have to be good at math to gamble? Betting on racehorses is big business and a lot is at stake. How do people decide which horses to bet on? What are “odds” and how do they work? •• What is handicapping and how does it work? Science •• Spencer refers to horses as “prey animals.” What does this mean? What other animals are prey animals and how does it affect their behavior? •• Horse are thought to be very intelligent. Ask students to research how intelligence is measured in animals. Which animals are the most intelligent? Which the least? •• What drugs are horses tested for after a race? Are they similar to performanceenhancing drugs for humans? Do they have negative side effects?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide •• Spencer says, “There’s nothing like a jolt of adrenaline to wake a guy up.” How and why is adrenaline released in your body and what effect does it have? •• What kind of snake venom produces the effect of the one in the story? How would someone get their hands on snake venom? Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions

Resources Horses http://horseracing.about.com/od/breeding/a/aanameingtb.htm www.horse-races.net/library/links-famous.htm http://horseracing.about.com/od/famoushorses/Famous_Race_Horses.htm www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=horse.htm www.ehow.com/how_2189006_train-become-flat-racing-jockey.html www.jockeysroom.com/msg4.htm www.guidehorse.org/intellig.htm http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Intelligence-of-the-Horse www.helium.com/items/320183-what-happens-when-race-horses-get-injured www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=13622778252&topic=9556 Science www.causeof.org/adrenal.htm Math www.ildado.com/horse_racing_rules.html http://horseracing.about.com/cs/ht.htm

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1. Spencer’s grandma loves to bet on the horses. She doesn’t have a lot of money, but she gambles all the time. When does gambling become an addiction? Is she addicted? 2. Is Spencer’s grandma behaving responsibly when she allows Spencer to be so involved at the track? Would he be better off with his alcoholic mother? 3. What happens to horses after their racing days are over? Are there animal rights group that protect them?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide

Winter Hawk Star

orca sports

Sigmund Brouwer

Reading level: 3.8 978-1-55143-869-6 pb AR Quiz # 34964

Book Summary Tyler is a good, solid hockey player, but not a great one. That honor belongs to the obnoxious Riley, a sixteen-year-old spoiled superstar who makes Tyler’s life miserable. When Tyler and Riley are sent to volunteer at a local youth program, Tyler uncovers a sinister plan by an unscrupulous drug company to exploit needy kids and their families. In the process he finds the passion and commitment he needs to step up his game on ice—and off. Prereading Ideas •• Sometimes people who are really good at something can be pretty arrogant about it. But often even the most arrogant people are often hiding some insecurities. Ask students to think about the most obnoxious person they know and consider whether anything about them is likeable. •• Is it true that the only way to get anywhere in life is by taking risks? •• Recent research has shown that kids raised by a single parent in a stable home are no more likely to experience problems growing up than their counterparts with two parents. Ask students to discuss why it’s still widely believed that it’s always better to have two parents.

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Connecting to the Text Plot/Character 1. Answer the following questions: ŠŠ Why are Tyler and Riley sent to volunteer at Youth Works ŠŠ Whose brother is kidnapped and why? ŠŠ How do Riley, Sam and Tyler end up in the trunk of a Cadillac? ŠŠ Who drugged the Kool-Aid and why?

orca sports

2. One of the ways to create tension in a plot is to throw together two characters who are very different. Ask students to write a brief paragraph describing the effect Riley has on Tyler and viceversa. How do their differences help to create an exciting plot? 3. Tyler isn’t ambitious. He likes having no pressure and nothing to fear. He likes being invisible. How does the author keep him from being a dull character? 4. Have students write the book’s first scene from Riley’s point of view and in his voice. What does he think of Tyler? How would the story be different if Riley was the narrator? 5. Stereotypes weaken novels. In Winter Hawk Star, the author talks about stereotypes: the big, dumb hockey player (ch.9) and the negligent single mother (ch.11). How does he avoid turning his characters into stereotypes?

Connecting to the Curriculum Psychology •• ADD/ADHD is a serious problem for some people. How is it diagnosed and treated? Does everyone agree on how it should be treated? What happens if it goes untreated? •• Tyler notices that Sam blinks when she lies. Does everybody have a “tell”?

•• Tyler’s coach asks him where his inner fire is. Is there a difference in the psychological makeup of a good athlete and an elite athlete? Can a good athlete learn to become an elite athlete or is it something you’re born with?

•• What kind of state do athlete’s refer to as being “in the zone”? Is it simply a state of super-concentration and focus or is it something else? Connecting to the Students—Discussion Questions 1. Have you ever become friends with someone that you initially disliked? What had to happen to make friendship possible? 2. Would you quit doing something you loved if you couldn’t be the very best at it? 3. Can you succeed at anything if you want to badly enough? 4. Have you ever been treated as a stereotype? For example, dumb blond, stupid jock, nasty rich girl, violent head-banger, anti-social geek, etc. How did it make you feel?

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Resources Stereotypes www.associatedcontent.com/article/276956/high_school_stereotypes_explained_ pg2_pg2.html?cat=25 http://remember.org/guide/History.root.stereotypes.html

orca sports

Psychology www.caddac.ca/cms/page.php?2 www.add-adhd-infoplus.com http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0846/is_2_23/ai_108112339 www.mindtools.com/page11.html Author Biography Sigmund Brouwer is the bestselling author of many books for children and teens. He has contributed numerous titles to the Orca Currents series, the Orca Echoes series and the Orca Sports series. He and his family live in Red Deer, Alberta, and Eagleville, Tennessee. Author Website www.rockandroll-literacy.com

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Appendix A: Lexile Levels The leading HL stands for the Hi-Lo (high interest, low vocabulary) designation given to these books.

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Absolute Pressure Brouwer, Sigmund HL570L All-Star Pride Brouwer, Sigmund HL730L Blazer Drive Brouwer, Sigmund HL560L Boarder Patrol Thomas, Erin HL580L Chief Honor Brouwer, Sigmund HL550L Cobra Strike Brouwer, Sigmund HL700L Crossover Rud, Jeff HL670L Dead in the Water Stevenson, Robin HL660L The Drop Ross, Jeff HL540L Fly Away Rock, Nora HL610L Flying Feet McCann, James HL710L Gravity Check Van Tol, Alex HL600L Hitmen Triumph Brouwer, Sigmund HL600L Hurricane Power Brouwer, Sigmund HL520L Jumper Bossley, Michele Martin HL700L Kicker Bossley, Michele Martin HL620L Maverick Mania Brouwer, Sigmund HL690L Oil King Courage Brouwer, Sigmund HL630L Paralyzed Rud, Jeff HL670L Powerslide Ross, Jeff HL570L Razor’s Edge Tate, Nikki HL660L Rebel Glory Brouwer, Sigmund HL700L Scarlet Thunder Brouwer, Sigmund HL650L Slam Dunk Jaimet, Kate HL710L Squeeze Dunstan Muller, Rachel HL640L Thunderbird Spirit Brouwer, Sigmund HL660L Tiger Threat Brouwer, Sigmund HL580L Titan Clash Brouwer, Sigmund HL670L Two Foot Punch Daher, Anita HL570L Venom Tate, Nikki HL680L Winter Hawk Star Brouwer, Sigmund HL660L

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Orca Sports Resource Guide Appendix B: Fry Reading Levels This list is in reading level order. To look up Fry Reading Levels by title, please see the book summaries in the Resource Guide.

orca sports

Tiger Threat Brouwer, Sigmund 2.4 The Drop Ross, Jeff 2.8 Rebel Glory Brouwer, Sigmund 3.0 Gravity Check Van Tol, Alex 3.0 Powerslide Ross, Jeff 3.0 Chief Honor Brouwer, Sigmund 3.1 Dead in the Water Stevenson, Robin 3.1 Razor’s Edge Tate, Nikki 3.1 Absolute Pressure Brouwer, Sigmund 3.2 Boarder Patrol Thomas, Erin 3.2 Hitmen Triumph Brouwer, Sigmund 3.2 Hurricane Power Brouwer, Sigmund 3.2 Jumper Bossley, Michele Martin 3.2 Two Foot Punch Daher, Anita 3.2 Venom Tate, Nikki 3.4 Squeeze Dunstan Muller, Rachel 3.6 All-Star Pride Brouwer, Sigmund 3.8 Blazer Drive Brouwer, Sigmund 3.8 Flying Feet McCann, James 3.8 Kicker Bossley, Michele Martin 3.8 Titan Clash Brouwer, Sigmund 3.8 Winter Hawk Star Brouwer, Sigmund 3.8 Fly Away Rock, Nora 3.9 Cobra Strike Brouwer, Sigmund 4.0 Crossover Rud, Jeff 4.0 Paralyzed Rud, Jeff 4.0 Thunderbird Spirit Brouwer, Sigmund 4.0 Maverick Mania Brouwer, Sigmund 4.1 Oil King Courage Brouwer, Sigmund 4.1 Scarlet Thunder Brouwer, Sigmund 4.1 Slam Dunk Jaimet, Kate 4.2

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