Listen to loser audiobook by jerry spinelli and steve. Zinkoff spends field day with the old lady because he wants to avoid the persecution from his classmates on field day for not being a superb athlete pg. Donald zinkoff what happens in the book loser answers. Students deal with the concept of the human spirit and the importance of failure. May 01, 2018 loser is the story donald zinkoff as he moves from the first through the sixth grades. They are asked to think about character motive and character traits in a. The reason i didnt give the book 3 stars is because of the main characters in the book. His giraffe hat, his love for school, his uncontrollable giggles, his belief that he runs so fast. Sep 04, 2018 the part about the daughter isnt relevant to the family who ate cheese. See more ideas about 5th grade reading, middle school reading and teaching. Although the book never says so outright, many people have thought that the character had to be. Through figurative language how does the author use figurative language to describe the characterthis isnt direct as it requires inference.
Notorious for the nicknames they have awarded the people in their school, they are quick to dub their new teacher, mr. He is that kid who is clumsy and slow and who other kids just feel the need to pick on. But donald doesnt really notice, for he is blessed with an abundant amount of love and acceptance from his family. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of loser by jerry spinelli. You cant help but feel as though you are cheering for the underdog as you follow donalds mishaps and misadventures from the time he is just starting school all the way to a nail biting. He wears a large giraffe hat to school, much to the chagrin of his mother.
Madison skelly charcterization summary donald zinkoffs story lived on as everybody around the school heard about what he had did. Loser spinelli, jerry 0060540745 at internet 4 classrooms. Loser by jerry spinelli now has a character map for the main character, donald zinkoff. What does the author mean when he says, not yet, on page 7 of the. From the very start, its clear that zinkoff, as he is called, is rather different. Loser jerry spinelli is an american author who likes writing novels for children on their adolescence and early adulthood stage. The novel opens with a narrator noticing a kid in the distance.
Loser by jerry spinelli by jonathan galang on prezi. The part about the daughter isnt relevant to the family who ate cheese. In the early grades, zinkoff may be a little odd but his peers have not yet learned how and why to exclude certain children. He won my students over and they empathized with him.
Other than that, i couldnt find a description of donald zinkoffs features such as hair coloreye color, just that he wore a giraffe hat. The main character is a kid named donald, but my favorite character s are polly and a guy that donald calls the waiting man. Jerry spinellis novel, loser, chronicles the childhood of donald zinkoff. Zinkoff is not like the other kidsraising his hand with all the wrong answers, tripping over his own feet. Hewants to sit in that first seat in class, and yet his last name dooms him to the last seat in the last row. The book starts with donald zinkoff in first grade, and takes him up until sixth grade. The character was invented by kari korhonen and was the first donald duck character invented in finland. The doe boys are a pair of crooks created by dick kinney and al. Loser by jerry spinelli by teacher julia teachers pay teachers. Jerry spinelli now has a character map for the main character, donald zinkoff.
Donald is not allowed to go to work with his father on the real take your kid to work day so he gets his own take donald zinkoff to work day. Loser by jerry spinelli interactive notebook interactive notebooks. Explain the nature of competition and whether or not there is such a thing as healthy competition. Donald zinkoff zinkoff is a spunky with an awkward personality. When zinkoff enters the first grade, his sloppiness and excessive enthusiasm are immediately noted by his teacher, miss meeks. Until fourth grade, zinkoffs uncontrollable giggling in class, sloppy handwriting, horrible flute playing, bad grades, clumsiness, and ineptitude at sports go largely unnoticed. In this book donald zinkoff is a placeholder, just an exaggerated concept or a colorful construct.
During those years, he changes and yet remains the same, as do all young people. Loser quiz jerry spinelli this study guide consists of approximately 38 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of loser. May 01, 2002 donald zinkoff is a wonderful character. His sister is polly, the girl on the leash is claudia, the moms name is katie, and his friend is andrew drewand. The doe boys are a pair of crooks created by dick kinney and al hubbard. He is awkward and seemingly unaware of social norms at school. The old woman becomes friends with donald and when donald runs away from school because he. Loser by jerry spinelli, character traits, donald zinkoff, character map, novel study. The character of donald duk is central to chins vision of the chinese american experience. See more ideas about minecraft crochet, diy carnival games and big brother little sister. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Loser novel study guide grades 5 to 6 ebook lesson.
This gave him a difficulty to deal with the other kids. Jerry spinellis book loser is a comingofage tale about donald zinkoff, known to other kids simply as zinkoff. Students describe zinkoffs selfimage as it appears in the novel. Donald zinkoff is one of the greatest kids you could ever hope to meet. Analyze emotions of a main character grade level by date, after. The author recounts zinkoffs storya case study of sortsin short sentences from a deliberately reportorial point of view, documenting the first years of the boys life and his evolution into a loser. In his other books spinellis message character stargirl, maniac magee, the wringer kid is reasonably well developed as a character, with a recognizable personality and some depth and subtlety. Loser is a tender story about donald zinkoff, a young character who demonstrates great selfacceptance and who is not afraid to fail. Add in some good but missing plot and his stories would be really near perfect, the storys really not worth reading. The novel follows the protagonist, donald zinkoff, through his early life. Attribute web by now you probably know a great deal about donald zinkoff, the main character of this novel.
Acclaimed author colleen oakley delivers a heartwrenching and unforgettable love story. This characters central trait in his personality is his kindness, which also could be described as his ability to love. From renowned newberywinning author jerry spinelli comes an incredible story about how not fitting in might just lead to an incredible life. The author recounts zinkoff s storya case study of sortsin short sentences from a deliberately reportorial point of view, documenting the first years of the boys life and his evolution into a loser. For example, on bring donald zinkoff to work day, which is a sunday, his dad, a mailman, decides to let zinkoff deliver one hundred handmade letters to the houses in their neighborhoods.
Just like other kids, zinkoff rides his bike, hopes for snow days, and wants to be like his dad when he grows up. Loser is unique for being written in the second person. Which character in the book is the author describing in the first chapter. This character is an old woman who lives on willow street, and. Students give their impressions of the teachers speech on zinkoffs first day of school. Loser is a tender story about donald zinkoss, a young character who demonstrates great selfacceptance and who is not afraid to fail. But donald doesnt really notice, for he is blessed with an.
Summary the novel is all about a young boy named donald zinkoff. Donald zinkoff your job as character sketcher is to identify a character s actions traits and explain prove these traits, identify the character s goal which is what the character wants to do or accomplish, identify the problem and solution in the reading, and complete a sketch or illustration of the character. Because of his offbrand sense of humor and his lack of demonstrable ability in sports, academics, or social skills, hes an outcast at school. Loser is a tender story about donald zinkoff, a young character who demonstrates great self acceptance and who is not afraid to fail. Donald zinkoff he is a very hyper child who always loses at things, hence the title loser, and hates to sit still.
Which character in the book is the author describing in t. On his first day of school, for example, he wears the giraffe hat his dad bought for him at the zoo. Zinkoff the main charaters father andrew the neighbor boy cladia a little girl that zinkoff meets who absolutely loves him lets talk. Zinkoff is one of the most unusual, endearing characters ever to grace the pages of a novel for young readers. Hughes, the former highschool football coach with a booming voice and cando attitude, mr. By doing this donald mets an old woman who uses a walker. He laughs easily, he likes people, he loves school, he tries to rescue lost girls in blizzards, he talks to old ladies. In fact, in the book, loser, by jerry spinelli, the characters donald zinkoff and. This characters central trait in his personality is his kindness, which also could be described as his. When he blows a race for his team, however, his transition to loserdom is complete. This character s central trait in his personality is his kindness, which also could be described as his ability to love. Loser is the story donald zinkoff as he moves from the first through the sixth grades. In this scene, he is expressing how much he loves delivering mail to door slots because he loves the positive reactions from people inside when they receive mail. With the encouragement of his family, he learns to approach life with a positive spirit and to enjoy all that it has to offer.
Jun 28, 2015 zinkoffdonald is constantly being a good person thought the book. Loser is a coming of age young adult novel first published in 2002 by american author jerry spinelli. Loser a book by jerry spinelli lets talk about the characters. Other kids have their own word to describe him, but zinkoff is too busy to hear it. A detailed description of loser characters and their importance. Fill in the blanks below with words and phrases, which describe how a character acts, feels, looks and what he says.
Zinkoff never told his parents that he was being bullied even though he wanted to. This is modeled after a mebox, but it is for the main character, donald zinkoff. They appeared for the first time in a story featuring 0. When he blows a race for his team, all of his all of his previously ignored quirks become a focal point and brand him as a loser. After failing horribly in a track and field race, hes branded loser which kinda sticks with him for years, even into middle school.
Loser, by jerry spinelli, is one of my favorite fiction novels. It details the growth of donald zinkoff, who is branded a. What happens in the book loser when zinkoff is in the fifth grade. Loser by jerry spinelli character map teachers on point. It details the growth of donald zinkoff, who is branded a loser by his classmates due to his clumsiness, poor performance in school and athletics, and sometimes clueless enthusiasm. Loser by jerry spinelli by cortney and lilly r total babes. Loser grades 4 to 7 ebook lesson plan rainbow horizons. Loser by jerry spinelli, character traits, donald zinkoff, character map, novel studyloser by jerry spinelli now has a character map for the main character, donald zinkoff. Loser is the story about the childhood of a young boy who never wins at games, trips on his own feet, raises his hand without ever knowing the correct answer, and falls down laughing at any unusual word. Loser 2002, by american author jerry spinelli, is a coming of age novel. Loser by jerry spinelli by teacher julia teachers pay. The novel traces donald zinkoffs journey from first to sixth grade. Sb9 when is a sailboat the standon vessel in relations to a recreational power boat.
But zinkoff also raises his hand with all the wrong answers, trips over his own feet, and falls down with laughter over a word like jabip. Jaana kapula is a police officer who appears in the donald duck stories where donald was still a small boy, living with his grandmother. Until the 4th gradewhen his teacher seats him in the first row. On the first day of first grade, donald shows himself to be a peculiar child. Donald zinkoff, the main character, is beginning first grade when the novel opens, and he is in. Donald is an under achiever at best, yet he has a heart of gold. The characterization of the zinkoff family is excellent. In essence, it is the story of how winners and losers are created. Jerry spinelli creates a memorable and awkwardly adorable character in donald zinkoff. This project requires students to think back to what they read throughout the whole novel and to pick items that truly represent donalds personality, likes, dislikes, and quirks. This novel study provides a teacher and student section with a variety of activities, discussion questions, crossword, word. Create a comic strip to highlight a brief incident from the story. This character is an old woman who lives on willow street, and uses a walker.
Understand the idea of unconditional love and its value in a parentchild relationship. Donald personifies the anguish and the disconcerting experience of a selfconscious young boy growing. Your job as character sketcher is to identify a characters actions traits and explain prove these traits, identify the characters goal which is what the character wants to do or accomplish, identify the problem and solution in the reading, and complete a sketch or illustration of the character. Despite zinkoff s quirks, miss meeks works to instill confidence in him. An attribute web is designed to help the reader gather clues as to what a character is like. This handout outlines the requirements for students to make a zinkbox.
It shows how open zinkoff is to people and how willing he is to listen to them and spend time with them. Guest post tools and tips for world readaloud day the. The main plot of the story is that donald zinkoff has horrible handwriting, is clumsy, and is a loser to everyone else. He complies with a teachers request to take the hat off. Oct 5, 2018 loser by jerry spinelli character map for donald zinkoff. Use this fun and engaging activity to get students thinking more deeply about character traits, motive and action. Presumably if loser makes one child view a different kid as a threedimensional character, spinelli will consider his book successful. Donald writes one hundred letters and delivers them. When the fourth grader steals zinkoffs hat, how does zin. Although zinkoff is continually rejected by the people around him, hes a loyal fellow. The main character is a kid named donald, but my favorite characters are polly and a guy that donald calls the waiting man. Donald zinkoff, the main character, is beginning first grade when the novel opens, and he is in sixth grade when it ends. Donald duck is one of the famous ducks we all know and love. Grade 46wiley and jeff have been best friends for all of their 11 years.