Counting by 7s

Counting by 7s

Counting by 7s

By: Holly Goldberg Sloan

Copyright: 2014

Published by: Puffin Books
2014 Teacher's Choice List
Genre: Diversity Experience

My rating:

Grade Level Equivalent: 5.6

Lexile Measure: 770L

Twelve-year-old, Willow Chance, is a genius with nature and medical obsessions, and is comforted by counting by 7s.  She always had trouble relating to others except for her adoptive parents but she still led a happy life.  Suddenly, the only people that relate to Willow die in a car accident, leaving her an orphan and all alone in the world.  This story is about a brave girl who beats all odds and stays happy throughout her grief dealing with the awful tragedy. 

Suggested Delivery:

Independent reading, small discussion group

Words to Describe book:

Emotional

Triumphant

Inspirational

Shocking

Extraordinary

Useful Electronic Resources:

Counting by 7s Sections

This resource is a layout of every section of the book with discussion questions and writing prompts.  There are also extension activities to expand on the topics of the section per section, as well.  The discussion questions and extension activities relate to the CCSS so they easily convert into a full lesson plan.  The questions are thought provoking and engaging to answer and most allow the reader to find concrete evidence from the text.  The extension activities are well planned and thought-out and are creative for the students to participate in. 

Other Domain Activities(Pages 33-34)

This resource provides extended activities to connect this novel with other domains, such as literacy, service-learning science, and art.  There is also many different discussion questions that are engaging and can help students start a discussion.  Finally, there are other novels that the students can read and look at if they enjoyed this book listed. 

Holly Goldberg Sloan Webpage

Holly Goldberg Sloan has her own personal website with a tab dedicated to Counting by 7s.  The page has 7 facts about the novel and some insight into some of the choices she made for writing the book.  There is a lot of information about this book and other books that she has recently published if the students enjoyed her writing style or content.  Very interactive and fun webpage!

Teaching Opportunities:

Key Vocabulary:

Syndrome- a pattern of symptoms indicative of some disease

Pathology- branch of medical science that studies diseases

Deficiency- lack of an adequate quantity or number

Psychosis- severe mental disorder in which contact with reality is lost

Gifted- someone who demonstrates abilities that show superior intellectual, creative or specific academic capabilities

Empathy- Understanding and entering into another’s feelings

Reading Strategy Suggestions to increase literal and/ or inferential comprehension:

Pre-Reading Strategy

Word Scavenger Hunt- Students hunt for the information about the important terms in this novel.  The students or teacher can create clues using the vocabulary words from this novel. 

Teacher explicitly teaches the key terms that are necessary for comprehending the book and students break off into teams and begin the scavenger hunt.  Helps to build motivation and build schema before reading. 

During-Reading Strategy

Jigsaw- students become experts in one specialized aspect of a topic with their group members.  The students meet with other groups to give them information about their topic so all groups are able to get the information and become experts on all the topics at the end of the activity. 

Post-Reading Strategy

Readers Theatre Script

The students can participate in a Readers Theatre production of Counting by 7s.  They can use the script provided or expand or create their own script of a specific scene from the novel or the whole novel.   

Writing Activity

Students will think of the theme of family in the novel while responding to the discussion question:

Define family.  After reading Counting by 7s, does your definition of family change?  If so, how?  How important is family to Willow?  Conversely, how important is family to you?  How would you feel if you were put in the same position that Willow was put in with the loss of her family?   Use evidence from the text to support your answer.