The Higher Power of Lucky

The Higher Power of Lucky

The Higher Power of Lucky

By: Susan Patron

Illustrated by: Matt Phelan

Copyright: 2008

Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

2007 Newbery Award

Genre: Fiction

My rating:

Grade Level Equivalent: 5.5

Lexile Measure: 1010L

Lucky, age ten makes the rock-bottom choice of leaving Hard Pan, California, with a population of only 43, the only choice she has.  She is left with no one after her mother dies after a storm and her father calls his ex-wife, Brigitte to fly from France to take care of the child.  She worried that Brigitte is tired of being her guardian and their life in the small town in California that she tries to get some control in her life.  She is searching for her Higher Power with her restocked survival kit.  Lucky eavesdrops on the various 12-step meetings that are held in Hard Pan, hoping to find Higher Power.  Will she ever find the Higher Power she is looking for?  Find out in this powerful and charming fictional novel.  

Suggested Delivery:

Small groups, Individual

Words to Describe book:

Simple

Grieving

Powerful

Charming

Innovative

Useful Electronic Resources:

Discussion Question Guide 

This resource is great and provides many different innovative and thought-provoking discussions for students to think about and discuss.  The questions allow the students to pose their own response and opinion while also giving them the opportunity to find key parts of the text to refer to and back their responses up. 

Suggested Activities

This resource provides teachers with many different activities for students to participate in to expand their learning from the text.  The activities that are provided are from many different content areas ranging from Language Arts to Geography/ Social Studies as well as Science and Art.  The activities given are very interactive and expand the students beyond the text and the novel to explore the novel further. 

Book Trailer 

Great book trailer that students can watch to build their schema before reading the novel.  The trailer is a cartoon version of the novel to get the students motivated to read the novel and find out what happens. 

Teaching Opportunities:

Key Vocabulary:

Splendiferous (2)- Extraordinarily or showily impressive

Antivenom (4)- A serum, which acts the effects of venom

Pension (23)- A regular payment made during a person’s retirement from an investment fund to which that person or their employer has contributed during their working life

Commodities (35)- A raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold

Evolved (54)- Develop gradually, especially from a simple and more complex form

Secretions (68)- A process by which substances are produced and discharged from a cell, gland, or organ for a particular function in the organism or for excretion

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

Pre-Reading Strategy

Read-Write-Pair-Share- Students read a passage, write their impressions of reactions to the text or answer a specific question, students turn to a partner and talk about what they’ve written, whole group discussion.

This strategy would work well for this text.  The teacher could read the first few pages of the novel to the students and the students could then write their reaction to the text.  The students can then turn to a partner and share what their reactions were and then come to the whole group and discuss their thoughts.  This activity will help build the students schema as well as their motivation to reading the text. 

During-Reading Strategy

Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA)- Guides students in asking questions about a text, making predictions, and then reading to confirm or refute their predictions.

D= Direct: Students will be guided to look at the next section of the novel by looking at the heading/ chapter title and the illustrations that are in the chapter/ section.  Students then make a prediction about what they think will happen in that section/ chapter

R=Reading: Students will read the passage/ chapter and then they will evaluate their predictions as they read along

T=Thinking: Students go back through the text and think about their predictions and the teacher can ask questions, such as “what do you think about your predictions now?”, “What did you find in the text to prove or refute your predictions?” or “What did we read in the text that makes you want to change your predictions?”

Post-Reading Strategy

Exit Slip- Students will answer the question: “Do you think Lucky found her Higher Power? What do you think it was?” The students will use examples from the text but not direct quotes, as the book will not be provided to them.  This questions asks students to reflect on the book as a whole and think about the character of Lucky and what a Higher Power might be, which is a central theme in this novel. 

Writing Activity

Do you think that Lucky lives up to the name she is given?  In what ways is Lucky lucky?  Why do you think the author decided to name the main character Lucky?  Cite examples from the text to support your response.