Slacker

Describe Cameron.

Page 1 — 13 years old; only plays video games in his free time; obsessed with them; wants to win a video game tournament; doesn’t listen to his parents when playing them so the ziti burned and the house filled with smoke

1

Give three reasons to support Cameron’s parents and their argument?

Page 9 — Cameron’s missing out on other opportunities; missing out on potential connections with other people; not growing or developing in important ways for a 13-year-old boy

9

What is the significance of the statement Pavel made at the end of the chapter, “and the Positive Action Group” might turn out to be (Cam’s) Mona Lisa.”

Page 21 — The Mona Lisa helped Leonardo da Vinci become famous after his lifetime and Cam’s made-up club may be what helps him become successful

21

What attracted Daphne to the club Cam created?

Page 22 — She wanted something she could belong to that helped people and was a positive influence in the world; she might want to have the club help Elvis the beaver

22

What do you think Cam was doing in the basement?

Listen to your child’s answer

What is Cam’s attitude towards Daphne in this chapter?

Page 35 — Dismissive; irritated; just wants her to leave and stop asking questions

35

A character uses fussbudget to describe another character. Using the text for context what’s the definition of a fussbudget?

Page 38 — A fussy, overly critical, or needlessly fault-finding person

38

Choose one word to describe Mr. Fanshaw’s reaction to learning about the new club? Explain using the text as your evidence.

Page 38 — Hopeful; excited

38

How is Mr. Fanshaw a threat to Cam’s lifestyle?

Page 47 — He’s going to hold him accountable to carry out his responsibilities in the club and he won’t be able to just play video games anymore

47

Summarize this chapter.

Page 43 — It is told from the point of view of Freeland McBeana football player at the middle school; he’s not doing well in his classes and can’t play football, but Mr. Fanshaw and the coach made a deal with him, that if he participates in the P.A.G. Club and he doesn’t fail, he can play football in the playoff season; he corners Cam and tries to encourage him to do the club, but Cam gets away

43

Contrast Chuck and Pavel and why Cam trusts Pavel more.

Page 61 — Chuck panics and is not as levelheaded or smart; Pavel is smart, down to earth, and thinks well under pressure; Cam knows his friends and observes that Pavel only worries if there’s something to worry about

61

What do you think Cam’s reaction will be when he sees the paper?

Page 72 — Listen to your child’s answer

72

Choose a word to describe what Cam is feeling as more and more attention is being brought to the P.A.G., and more people want to join. Explain.

Page 72 — Listen to your child’s answer

72

Do you think Cameron will show up to the club meeting? Why or why not.

Page 77 — Listen to your child’s answer

77

Did Cam go to the meeting?

Yes

What happened?

Page 79 — He was given the opportunity to talk about what the P.A.G. is, but didn’t have much to say; his sister along with a significant number of students were there; Mr. Fanshaw had a project lined up and ready to go; Cam won’t be able to play video games on Saturday morning

79

How has Elvis been a pest to the senior citizens?

Page 92 — He eats the vegetables in their garden

92

How would creating a habitat for Elvis stop him from eating their vegetables?

He would have his own place and be able to find his own food to eat

What action did Cam take that was heroic in this chapter?

Page 95 — He put away his phone and paid attention to what was going on around him instead of ignoring it; he noticed water coming down the stairs and followed it to an apartment; he knocked and no one answered; he ran back to get the rest of the club members for help and together, they knocked the door down, finding an elderly woman on the ground with tap water pooling around her

95

Describe Melody.

Page 99 — She is Cam’s younger sister; is in middle school with him; likes video games; sees through his fake club act; irritated that he’s getting attention for the newspaper article; her best friend is Katrina

99

Describe Cam’s interaction with Jennifer in this chapter.

Page 108 — She feels threatened that Cam started the P.A.G. Club and wants him to stop it; she needs the service projects for her own club to use on her application to Harvard and doesn’t want them going to middle schoolers; she had her friend Tony drop Cam off in the middle of nowhere and made him walk home

108

Take Cameron and compare him with an ideal president of the P.A.G. Club Mr. Fanshaw thought they would have had.

Page 117 — Cameron doesn’t want to be involved, hides, doesn’t want the attention; the ideal president would take the initiative, be enthusiastic, and be excited

117

How were Cam’s friends betraying him?

Page 121 — They really liked what they were doing as a club

121

Predict what Jennifer is going to do to stop P.A.G.

Page 130 — Listen to your child’s answer

130

What attitude did The String think Cam was having towards the Friends of Fuzzy club?

Page 136 — P.A.G. wasn’t going to stoop to their level; their club was going to be more respectable and take the moral high ground

136

What would you have done in this situation? How would you have felt if something you were working towards was ruined by someone else?

Listen to your child’s answer

What’s the main idea of this chapter?

Page 137 — Friends of Fuzzy were sabotaging P.A.G.’s hard work and giving the appearance that Paggers are troublemakers

137

What went wrong in this chapter?

Page 149 — The Friends of Fuzzy club members sabotaged the Paggers painting project

149

What went right in this chapter?

Page 152 — The high schoolers were caught and Mr. Fanshaw witnessed it

152

Is this really the end of the Positive Action Club?

Page 156 — Listen to your child’s answer

156

If you were in the club, what would you do?

Listen to your child’s answer

Take a character that has developmentally grown due to the P.A.G. Club. Compare and contrast their lives before they joined the club to who they are now.

Page 165 — Example: Xavier – he was in trouble all the time and in and out of juvie; he has never finished anything before; now he has finished things; he found purpose in each day and really liked what they club would accomplish during their service projects

165

Predict who is updating the club’s website.

Listen to your child’s answer

From the principal’s perspective, describe Cam.

Page 170 — Brilliant scheme and tactician; he thought Cam was bamboozling him

170

At the end of this chapter, what does Pavel mean when he says, “…knowing in my heart that we’d lost a lot more than just the Positive Action Group.” What else did they lose?

Page 174 — He and Cam were losing their closeness, their friendship

174

Describe a time when you could connect with The String when he said it felt like he had been punched.

Page 181 — Listen to your child’s answer

181

What action did Cam take that exhibits his growth from the club?

Page 182 — He turned off his video game in the middle of a game; he was ready to talk to and be honest with his parents but because they were so distracted he was going to write them a letter

182

Describe the plan to stop the demolition crew from tearing down the freeway exit.

Page 202 — An army of Paggers will stand on the exit ramp getting in the way of the construction vehicles

202

Do you think it will work?

Listen to your child’s answer

Predict how the Friends of Fuzzy club will ruin the Paggers’ plan.

Page 207 — Listen to your child’s answer

207

Choose a word to describe Jennifer in this chapter. Explain.

Page 210 — Listen to your child’s answer. heartless -she didn’t really care about Elvis; selfish – she only cared about herself

210

Summarize this chapter.

Page 218 — Elvis was found, and while the students were all searching for him, the demolition equipment was heard. Everyone ran to the freeway ramp and found their parents and adults from the city blocking the demolition crew; the crew left that afternoon. Everyone celebrated and Jennifer took Elvis to the vet

218

Why is Daphne happy in this chapter?

Page 227 — Elvis wasn’t hurt and loved his new habitat

227

Using the text as evidence, find two examples that demonstrate how Cam grew and developed during this story.

Page 229-230 — The Positive Action Group was the realest thing about him; Cam never would have admitted his sister was better at video games than he was

229-230

What is a theme shown throughout this story?

Unity and working together; cooperation; friendship

What did you like about this story?

Listen to your child’s answer