I’ve taught Jerry Spinelli’s Newbery winner with several 5th and 6th-grade classes over my career as a middle school ELA teacher. It’s a particularly good pick for engaging your hard-to-reach reluctant readers. Here are the Maniac Magee novel study activities that consistently get my crew talking, from vocabulary work to the character trading cards my students LOVE.
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Here are some different activities from my Maniac Magee novel study to get students thinking about the book beyond the standard reader response questions. I hope it inspires you to try some new things with your class!
Story Overview
Maniac Magee follows Jeffrey Lionel Magee as he navigates life after his parents die in a trolley accident. He is initially sent to live with his aunt and uncle, who do nothing but argue, which leads Jeffrey to run away in an epic quest to find the best place to start his life over. It is his “running” and the adventures along the way that finally lead him to his forever home. Your students will cheer for Jeffrey at every turn as he tackles adversity and leads with his heart to help those around him.
I love this novel so much that I created my own Maniac Magee Novel Unit, available for purchase on TPT. It is a 44-page PDF with chapter-by-chapter reader response questions, vocabulary and context clue worksheets, character analysis pages, and an answer key, so you can hit the ground running.
Vocabulary, Word Work, and Context Clues
Reading comprehension is directly tied to vocabulary and the awareness of contextual clues. That is why all of my novel units include vocabulary worksheets so students can identify the meaning of words they should know at their reading level.
For my Maniac Magee novel study, I have about 40 words, and I ask students to write the sentence in which the word is used in the text. They are then asked to define the word using context clues from the same sentence or paragraph.
Some examples of the vocabulary words I highlight in Maniac Magee include “kaboodle,” “emanations,” “armory,” “robust,” “preposterous,” and “beseeching.”
This simple assignment not only helps students learn to use context clues on their own, but also creates a deeper connection between the word and the story. In some cases, we will complete the first half of each worksheet together in class, with students completing the other half on their own.
Maniac Magee Characters and Character Traits
I like to share basic introductions of key characters before students encounter them in the text. This helps them identify important turning points in the story and raises their overall awareness of the different characters within the story.
For each primary character, I ask students to identify traits using evidence from the text. This can include information such as their age, interests, wardrobe, and personality. The key is to get students to visualize each character as they read and, perhaps, imagine them standing before them today.
There are several intriguing secondary characters to discuss in this book. Here are a few of my favorites…
Amanda Beale
The East End girl who carries her books in a suitcase and becomes Maniac’s first real friend. She is fiercely protective of her books and loyal to Maniac from the start.
Mars Bar Thompson
A tough East End kid who starts out as Maniac’s rival. Tracking how Mars Bar changes over the novel is one of the strongest character arc activities in the book
Earl Grayson
An elderly park groundskeeper and former minor league pitcher. Maniac teaches Grayson to read, and Grayson gives Maniac a place to belong.
A fun character analysis activity I’ve included in my novel study is having students create “character cards” of the main figures. With this, students create a more complete biographical overview of each character and draw a portrait sketch to complete the card.
The character card trading activity was inspired by my son’s love of baseball cards. I usually bring in some of his cards to use as examples for this project. Students really enjoy creating these, and it is a great way to help them connect more deeply with the characters in the book.
Class Discussion Topics
Like all great novels, Maniac Magee has several scenes and themes that will spark meaningful classroom discussions. Depending on where you are in the book, you can use these discussions to help your students think more deeply about the story.
Here are a few discussion starters that are included in my Maniac Magee novel study:
- From what point of view is this novel written? Is the narrator first person or third person? What are some things we don’t know since the story is written from this point of view?
- How does the setting of [insert chapter setting] impact the events of the chapter? How would a different setting change the outcome?
- What characteristics does Maniac exhibit throughout the novel that you look for in a close friend?
- END: Now that Maniac has finally found his home, how do you think the rest of his life will turn out? What education or career will he pursue?
Novel Study Goals
My goal with every novel unit is to teach students the skills they need to become more independent, aware, engaged, and effective readers. Maniac Magee is the perfect book for students to connect with andĀ empathize with the main character. The ultimate goal is understanding how the setting, characters, and author’s purpose work together.
I still utilize the standard reader response questions to gauge comprehension and make sure the class is on the same pace, but what happened in the story is often just the tip of the iceberg.
In addition to the novel study activities I highlighted above, my Maniac Magee Novel Study Unit features all of the essential reading comprehension components as well as some other great activities. Here is the full listā¦
- Vocabulary & Context Clue Worksheets
- Chapter-by-Chapter Reader Response Questions
- Character Analysis Worksheets
- Story Map Activity
- Reflection Journal Prompts
- Character Trading Cards: End of Novel Activity
- 44-Page PDF Resource with Teacher Answer Key
Hopefully you found a few ideas here that will help you read this book with your class. Check out the following links for more examples of novel study activities I use with my middle school studentsā¦
