Jack Gantos
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key and other stories

|Biography and Background| |Hole in my Life| |Joey Pigza books|

Biography and Background

Jack Gantos
Reading Rockets interviews the author.

Hole in my Life

Hole in my Life by Jack Gantos
This digital booktalk — a short video — could serve as a prereading activity.

Joey Pigza books

Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos
Summary and 11 discussion questions.

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
Summary, booktalk, 12 discussion questions, and related titles.

Joey Pigza Swallowed a Key
At the end of this 3-week unit plan, students write an expository essay in which they share what they have learned about Attention Deficit Disorder. Access requires Adobe Reader or compatible application.

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key
Are you using the Four Blocks strategy? This 3-page handout might be useful. Access requires Adobe Reader or compatible application.

Make a Splash! Using Dramatic Experience to "Explode the Moment"
In this writing activity students learn to elaborate or "explode moments" in their writing by using descriptive language. After hearing excerpts from popular chapter books that use vivid, sensory language, students participate in a dramatic experience as a springboard for a shared writing activity. This activity uses Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key as a model but will also work well with other texts.

What Would Joey Do? by Jack Gantos
Summary, 4 discussion questions, and 4 activities.