TABLE OF CONTENTS
Loser
Unit Overview
............................................................ 3
Story Summary
............................................................ 4
About The Author ............................................................ 5
............................................................ 6
Chapters 1 - 4
........................................................…. 13
Chapters 5 – 7
…………………………………………… 17
Chapters 8 – 9
…………………………………………… 21
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Answer Key
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Chapters 10 – 11 …………………………………………… 25
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Chapters 12 – 14 …………………………………………… 30
Chapters 15 – 17 …………………………………………… 34
Chapters 18 – 20 …………………………………………… 39
Chapters 21 – 23 …………………………………………… 42
Chapters 24 – 26 …………………………………………… 47
Chapters 27 – 30 …………………………………………… 51
© Rainbow Horizons Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-55319-441-5
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UNIT OVERVIEW
Loser
OVERVIEW
This novel study provides teachers with a highly structured format for teaching language
arts, as students develop a love for reading longer materials, like novels. Various areas
such as reading comprehension, vocabulary development, decision-making, spelling and
writing are all entwined in this integrated approach, eliminating the need for teaching
these skills separately. Activities are divided into three main sections:
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1)
Chapter Questions
For each chapter students answer a thorough set of questions requiring answers in
complete sentences. Reading comprehension is a key as students must read and
understand the entire novel in order to answer the questions. (One major strength of the
novel study approach is that students must understand the novel or they will be unable to
do the required assignments.) The Discussion Questions allow the teacher to bring
students into a conversation about key events in the novel.
2.
Vocabulary and Language
Each chapter also includes activities dealing with such things as word meanings, use of
the dictionary and thesaurus, spelling, syllables, antonyms/synonyms/homonyms and
compound words.
3.
Writing and Creativity
In this section, students apply what they have learned about language in order to
express themselves more effectively. Creative writing is a focus of this segment,
allowing teachers more opportunity to incorporate their own ideas into developing
creative writing skills.
© Rainbow Horizons Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-55319-441-5
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STORY SUMMARY
Loser
Jerry Spinelli’s novel, LOSER, chronicles the childhood of Donald Zinkoff. Zinkoff
is one of the most unusual, endearing characters ever to grace the pages of a
novel for Young Readers. No matter what the game, Zinkoff never wins. He trips
over his own feet; constantly raises his hand without ever knowing the correct
answer; falls down laughing at the mention of any unusual word. The other kids
have their own word to describe Zinkoff, but he is too busy to hear it.
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The novel traces Zinkoffs’ journey from first to sixth grade. It details his important
friendships; marks his relationships with different teachers, and describes how he
copes with various shortcomings that everyone but he and his parents deem
terribly important.
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“Loser” is an excellent novel, which sensitively deals with the human spirit and
the importance of failure. It is especially recommended for students struggling
with acceptance among their peers, or who bear up under various negative
influences.
© Rainbow Horizons Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-55319-441-5
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©rainbowhorizons.com RHPA121
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Jerry Spinelli
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Jerry Spinelli was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He
attended Gettysburg College and John Hopkins University.
In 1991 he won the Newbery Award for his novel, Maniac
McGee and in 1998 Wringer was named a Newbery Honour
Book. He and his wife, Eileen have six children and several
grandchildren. Eileen Spinelli is Jerry’s favourite author.
Jerry Spinelli’s novels reflect the power of childhood
memories and powerfully affect his work: “Isn’t it a magical,
wonderful thing that our childhoods are not irretrievably lost
to us, like the juice squeezed forever from an orange, and that without moving so
much as an eyelash we can call back Buddy Braithwaite’s bare, rat-proof feet, or
Ginny Sukoloski’s dungaree nipping duck, or Joey Lapella’s green teeth?”
His other books include:
The Bathwater Gang
Crash
Fourth Grade Rats
Maniac McGee
Space Station Seventh Grade
Wringer
The Library Card
Who Put the Hair in My Toothbrush?
© Rainbow Horizons Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-55319-441-5
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©rainbowhorizons.com RHPA121
ANSWER KEY
Loser
Chapters 1 - 4 Questions
Answers will vary. Zinkoff was very spontaneous, easy-going, etc.
He runs away.
Small uncontrollable children.
Answers will vary.
He is not worried about his self-image at this point.
Zinkoff - loves his hat. His mother thinks that wearing the hat to school is
probably inappropriate. Miss Meeks worries that the hat-wearer might be a
discipline problem.
Chapters 1 - 4 Vocabulary and Language
Chapters 5 - 7 Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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3. remarkable 4. quiver
8. sift
9. heedless
5. unpredictable
10. agreeable
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2. instinct
7. annoy
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1. constraints
6. trolley
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Answers will vary. The teacher’s speech seems a little “old” for grade one
students.
Zinkoff is an unusual name. Perhaps he uses it to emphasize Donald’s
“unusual” personality.
The teacher is concerned that his poor penmanship might indicate a problem
with his motor skills.
The red-haired boy tells Zinkoff that the giraffe hat is actually his. When Zinkoff
agrees to this instead of “pitching a fit”, the red-haired boy’s fun is spoiled. He
saves face by the remark “First-graders are so dumb”.
Zinkoff thinks that the stars sometimes fall from the sky, and his mother goes
around collecting them like acorns.
The sound of a funny word tickles Zinkoff more than anything else. Examples
will vary (Chickamoo, Boogaloo, Kinkachoo, Pookypoo, Jabip, etc.)
Positive - good-natured, happy, loves school
Negative - problem with self-control, “I wish he were neater”
© Rainbow Horizons Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-55319-441-5
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6
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Chapters 5 - 7 Vocabulary and Language
T H R U S T
D
F
I
Z I N K O F F
R
B
I
D R
R
F
O
R
K
A
G
S
I
C
B
I L L
N
E
E
A
P T
M E E K S
R
I
F E L L
E
L
E C T L Y
T
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A C O R N
F
R
K
E
O
E
L
T
R
C
R E P R E S E N T S
E
V
Q
A D V E N T U
G R A D E
R
A
A
C
D
L
L
P
H
L
R E A L I Z E
O
I
R
C
A
P
B
E
K
D I
S A D
S
L
E
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Chapters 5 - 7 Expressing One’s Mind
1. Tintinnabulation means “the ringing or sounding of bells”. 2. Answers will vary.
3. Learning to print. 4. Jabip is just the teacher’s way of saying someplace really far away.
Chapters 8 - 9 Questions
1.
2.
b.
3.
4.
b.
5.
6.
His baby sister, Polly, and his neighbour, Andrew.
He thinks that Andrew will have to come out and see the snicker-doodle he bakes.
The boys drop the cookie and it is ruined.
Zinkoff was born with an upside-down valve in his stomach, which causes him to throw
up several times a week.
Soccer is free-for-all, where Zinkoff gets to run around.
Zinkoff doesn’t care which net he kicks the ball at. He also kicks a lot of the players.
Answers will vary. Perhaps he thought it was expected of him that he be like the other
players.
Zinkoff offers his trophy to Andrew, who was on the losing team.
© Rainbow Horizons Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-55319-441-5
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7
A-121
©rainbowhorizons.com RHPA121
Chapters 8 - 9 Vocabulary and Language
E
M
R
A
I
N
U
Q
C
R
A
A
N
D
O
M
S
I
S
D
N
E
T
N
M
I
R
A
C
U
L
O
N
K
O
F
F
S
U
H
A
P
H
A
Z
A
O
I
R
E
S
T
R
D
D
A
E
I
M
T
R
S
D
U
N
I
N
F
O
O
U
R
Word Match
Misinformed
Acquires
Intends
Intrepid
Etiquette
Random
Haphazard
Precision
Proclaims
Slapdash
U
F
U
D
T
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Q
I
T
R
E
A
M
I
M
P
R
E
S
S
E
D
C
E
C
E
E
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I
I
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O
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B
L
Q
L
E
O
O
E
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E
I
Sa
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
S
L
M
U
S
L
Y
A
Z
I
A
L
K
P
Y
C
S
I
N
S
Misled
Gets
Means
Brave
Manners
Unselected
Chance
Exactness
States
Hasty
Chapters 10 – 11 Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Zinkoff asks the teacher how many days of school are left.
Zinkoff cannot control his laughter and is always laughing at inappropriate times.
Mrs. Biswell does not seem to like children. Answers will vary.
Answers will vary. Perhaps to keep his spirits up.
Zinkoff throws up on the eraser and ruins it.
His father took him on his mail route on Sunday when there was no official mail delivery.
Act professional. No peeking in mail slots. Be friendly.
© Rainbow Horizons Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-55319-441-5
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8
A-121
©rainbowhorizons.com RHPA121
Chapter 10 – 11 Vocabulary and Language
1. rude
2. dreadful
3. pranks
4. good
5. anticipations
Compound Words
1. playground
6. baseball
2. mailbox
7. greenboard
3. everyone 4. himself
5. childhood
8. doorway
9. classroom
10. lunchtime
Chapters 12 – 14 Questions
5.
6.
7.
8.
b.
c.
d.
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3.
4.
He suggests they relax and have a chat.
A mailman has to worry about bad weather, biting dogs, wild cats, banana peels to slip
on and turtles to trip over, and if there’s escaped rhinos from the zoo.
He was waiting for his brother to return from the war in Vietnam.
The start of third grade was bad because Andrew moved away and Zinkoff has
surgery.
Zinkoff hates waiting more than anything else.
Zinkoff claims that he doesn’t sleep.
He gains an appreciation of the importance of time.
Zinkoff decides to spend time alone with the furnace monster.
He will stay there until he counts to one hundred.
Answers will vary. He is bored. To master his fears.
He was unable to meet his own criteria. He flunked his own test.
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1.
2.
2. distinct
7. immense
3. coarse
8. contrary
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1. solitary
6. convalescing
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Chapters 12 - 14 Vocabulary and Language
4. urgent 5. descending
9. critical 10. reassures
Alphabetical Order
pack packed padlocks pajamas pale particular pay pickle piece pith
Chapters 15 - 17 Questions - Cloze
In fourth grade Zinkoff is discovered. His teacher’s name is Mr. Yalowitz, the class’s first man
teacher. Zinkoff’s teacher told him that Donald was the first Z he’d ever had in his class. He
asked Zinkoff if he’d like to experience life in the first row.
Zinkoff’s teacher liked to make pronouncements like, “and the Z shall be first”. He also noticed
Zinkoff’s atrocious handwriting and says, “Thank God for keyboards”.
Zinkoff’s teacher’s attention, as well as something else hastens his discovery - new eyes. Bigkid eyes replace little-kid eyes. Little-kid eyes are scoopers, whereas big-kid eyes are picky.
The class begins to notice the stars on Zinkoff’s shirt and his atrocious hair, and the way he
volunteers for everything. They even notice the dime-sized birthmark on his neck.
When the music teacher passes out sign-up sheets for lessons, Zinkoff signs up for all eight
instruments. As a member of the orchestra, the teacher lets Donald play the least damaging
instrument, the flute.
Zinkoff, however, is most profoundly discovered during Field Day.
© Rainbow Horizons Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-55319-441-5
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A-121
©rainbowhorizons.com RHPA121
Chapters 15 - 17 Questions
1.
2.
3.
Chapter 16 introduces Zinkoff and the reader to the concept of Zinkoff being a “loser”.
Perhaps to increase Zinkoff’s self-esteem.
Zinkoff - disappointed he let his team down; Hoben - devastated his team lost; dad aims to cheer his son up.
He realizes his dad will love him no matter what.
Grade 5 was the last grade in the school, so the grade five students had the most
status.
Zinkoff picks up the nickname “loser”.
No.
Changes: grown out of many childhood beliefs; no longer wears paper stars on his
shirt; changes his laugh; no longer yells “Yahoo”; admits to sleeping. Same: still
clumsy; handwriting is still atrocious; still wants to be a mailman; says prayers at night.
4.
5.
6.
b.
7.
Chapters 15 - 17 Vocabulary and Language
Answers will vary.
1. announcements 2. horrible
6. savage
7. cast out
RATES
WON
2–T
3–T
4–F
5–F
6–F
4. unbelievable
9. old
RUNT
7–T
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1–T
CARE
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Chapters 18 - 20 Questions
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TABS
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Anagrams
TON TOW
3. exactly
8. awesome
HITS
8–T
9–F
5. idea
10. amply
SHALE
DEN
10 - T
Chapters 18 - 20 Vocabulary and Language
1. exclusion
6. importance
2. discuss
7. meant
3. finally
8. naturally
4. coming out of
5. feeling
9. plain 10. got hold of
Syllables
arithmetic - 4
geography - 4
replacement - 3
information - 4
bicycle - 3
otherwise - 3
crumb - 1
answering - 3
somebody - 3
earwax - 2
exception - 3
bottle - 2
laugh - 1
after - 2
contribute - 3
Chapters 21 - 23 Questions
1.
b.
c.
2.
3.
Zinkoff’s’ favourite sandwich is pepper and egg.
She offered him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
The old lady does not have any jelly or jam.
The old lady’s skin colour is pale like a white mouse, as well she has a pink scalp and
pink eyelids.
Answers will vary. Perhaps it reminds Zinkoff of the past - better, more innocent days.
© Rainbow Horizons Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-55319-441-5
10
10
A-121
©rainbowhorizons.com RHPA121