Rate this book

Because Of Mr. Terupt (2010)

by Rob Buyea(Favorite Author)

4.31 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

038573882X (ISBN13: 9780385738828)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Delacorte Books for Young Readers

series

Mr. Terupt

review 1: When I first thought of reading this book, I thought it would be a great way for students to relate to the characters – little did I know that I would have such a great connection with it because Mr. Terupt is a first year teacher in a 5th grade classroom – which is the grade level I was having my experience in when I read it. The fact that it can reach so many audiences is a testament to the book’s power. The book covers a year in the life of Mr. Terupt’s fifth grade class, and Mr. Terupt is a first year teacher. One cool thing about the story, however, is that it isn’t told by the teacher, but rather through the eyes of the kids. There are seven different children that narrate the story, and they are all just as different as kids we will find as teachers in our... more actual classrooms. Each student has different internal struggles: from weight, to shyness, acting out, grief, poor decision making and social status. Family problems are discussed, issues with friends, and many other things that come up when you put a bunch of 10 and 11 year olds together in a classroom and try to get them all to not only get along, but learn. You see Mr. Terupt’s actions through the student’s eyes, and they all become very attached to him. He has a way with helping each very different issue the students are going through, in a way that doesn’t make them feel over-prodded or ostracized, that is useful for teachers to read. The students want to do well for Mr. Terupt because of the respect and affection they have all grown for him. They are doing so well at one point in the book, that the students go outside to play in the snow as part of their reward day, and what begins as a fun and lighthearted snow-ball fight ensues. However, it takes a bad turn as Mr. Terupt gets hit in the head with an icy snowball that knocks him unconscious. Mr. Terupt has a history of concussions, and this blow to the head actually causes him to go into a coma. The students go through a very hard time of missing Mr. Terupt and feeling guilty for what happened. However, the values and internal changes that Mr. Terupt has instilled in them already cause them to continue to grow and change for the better even when he is not there – as if growing from the seed he planted within them from the beginning of the year. And at the end of the story, Mr. Terupt comes out of his coma, and arrives back at school – and the students discover that Mr. Terupt will be their teacher again in sixth grade – which none of them could be any happier about. This book is realistic fiction because it isn’t a non-fictional/true story, but rather the elements of it are such that it could have been.I think this book would lend itself well to character mapping. Because the book is told by various students that are different in many ways as well as all going through very different things, I think this book would work well for teaching students how to pick out character traits and do character mapping. I also think that because the students are the ones narrating, rather than adult characters, that they will feel a deeper connection and interest in character mapping them.I think this book would work well in a 4th or 5th grade classroom in terms of interest level and reading difficulty. I also think it would work well with the standards involving drawing specific information from the text to make conclusions.
review 2: Because of Mr. Terupt is a very good book. This book follows seven fifth grade students over the course of their school year. Each of the seven students although very different, have a love for their new teacher Mr. Terupt because he cares for them on a deeper level than just academics. He teaches them kindness and shows them support. Then an accident occurs that turns the class upside down. The theme of this book is kindness and change. An activity that could be done in the classroom using this book is that students can write in the style of a particular character about their first day of sixth grade. less

Download links for: Because of Mr. Terupt

Advertising