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PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
Teacher Man
Frank McCourt
Summary
Teacher Man, Frank McCourts third book, tells of his
experiences as a high school and college teacher in New
York.
Chapter 1: Mr. McCourt refers to his miserable childhood
in Ireland and to how hard it is to be a teacher in the
United States, especially in public schools.
Chapter 2: Mr. McCourt describes the first day of his
teaching career. There is an incident with a sandwich that
he manages really well, but the principal finds fault with
his behavior.
Chapter 3: Mr. McCourt would like to teach through
stories and music, but he is not allowed to do so, and a
comment he makes about sheep gets him into trouble.
Chapter 4: Mr. McCourt tells his students about his work
on the docks, how he chose to be a teacher and how hard
it was for him to get a job.
Chapter 5: Mr. McCourt describes his first Open School
Day. He gets into trouble again, as Norma, his student
monitor, makes comments that parents disapprove of. On
his second Open School Day, a mother blames him for
telling stories instead of teaching.
Chapter 6: Mr. McCourt describes a lesson in which he
teaches students grammar. He is very proud because he has
managed to teach students one big word.
c Pearson Education Limited 2007
of 3
Teachers notes
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
Teacher Man
Chapter 19: He supports two students who want to do
something different from what their parents expect.
Chapter 20: It is Mr. McCourts last day at school. When
he says goodbye, one of his students suggests he should
write a book.
Discussion activities
Before reading
1 Discussion: Guide students with these questions:
What can you see on the cover? What is the mans job?
Is the story fact or fiction? Is there love in this story? Is
the ending happy or sad?
Do you think youre going to like the story? Why/why not?
2 Discussion: Have students discuss these questions:
In your country, are teachers mostly men or women? Why
do you think this is so?
Compare men teachers and women teachers. Which do
you like better? Why?
Chapters 13
While reading
5 Read carefully: Have students read the last paragraph
in Chapter 1 (page 2). Ask them to add more
extraordinary ideas about the ideal life of a respected
teacher.
After reading
6 Word list revisited: Have students tick off on the list
in point 4 the words which they have found. Tell
them to add more words to their list.
7 Discussion: Have students answer these questions:
Look at the picture on page viii of the Introduction. Does
the man look like a teacher? Would you like to have him
as your teacher? Why/why not?
8 Discussion: Guide students with these questions:
Are teachers respected in your country? Is this the same
for primary, high school and university teachers? What
about other professions? Which are important
professions, and which ones are less important?
9 Discussion: You can guide students with these
questions.
Do you think Mr. McCourt solved the sandwich
situation well? Why? Think of a better way to solve it.
Think of a bad way to solve it.
10 Predict: Ask students these questions.
Is Mr. McCourt a good teacher? Why/why not? Is he
going to become traditional or is he going to use his own
methods and ideas?
11 Check: Have students go back to their predictions
based on the titles of the chapters. Would they make
any changes?
Chapters 46
While reading
12 Have students discuss the stereotypes in the last
paragraph of Chapter 4 (page 12).
What did people think about the Irish, Italian families,
dock workers and teachers? Do you agree with those
opinions?
After reading
13 Discussion: Have students discuss the following.
How important is it to learn spelling and grammar? Is it
boring? Can you learn grammar in fun ways?
14 Open School Day: Ask students to imagine their
parents have been to an Open School Day at their
school. What questions would they like to ask their
parents?
Teacher Man - Teachers notes of 3
Teachers notes
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
Teacher Man
15 Discussion: Mr. McCourts students tell him that
some words wont help them get a job. Ask your
students what words/information/abilities may help
them get a job. Does school teach them what they
need?
Chapters 79
Before reading
16 Predict: Have students discuss excuse notes.
Who writes excuse notes? When? Why? Have you or your
parents ever written an excuse note? Have you ever forged
an excuse note?
After reading
17 Make a list: What topics would students like to
discuss at school? What topics are most popular with
students?
18 Compare jobs: Have students compare a teachers job
at school and at college. Which one is more difficult,
interesting?
Chapters 10 11
After reading
19 Mr. McCourts job: Ask students to compare his job
at the different places he has worked so far. Which
one is the best? Why?
20 Discussion: Consider these questions:
Why does Mr. McCourt feel at home with the students at
Seward Park? When do his students feel comfortable at
school? What about other teachers? And you?
Chapters 1214
Before reading
21 Discussion: You can use these questions:
Are they interesting? Are they necessary? Are they better
than lessons? What can you learn?
After reading
22 Discussion: Why did Andrew keep tilting his chair?
Ask students to make a list of possible reasons. Then
have them discuss Mr. McCourts behavior. Did he do
the right thing?
23 Character description: Ask students to make a list of
characters and their description. The chart below can
help. Students then decide whether they are main
characters or secondary ones.
Name
Description
Chapters 1517
After reading
24 Compare schools: In groups, have students write
sentences comparing Stuyvesant High School and the
other schools Mr. McCourt has worked at. Ask them
to consider methods, students, parents, etc. Is this a
better job for Mr. McCourt?
25 Discussion: Have students discuss Mr. McCourts
behavior towards James. What do they think? And
how do they think Mr. McCourt and the boy felt at
the end of the conversation?
Chapters 1820
After reading
26 Discussion: Have students discuss the following:
a Do you agree with Mr. McCourts ideas on teaching?
b Of all the students mentioned in the book, who
would you like to go out with? Play sports with? Be in
class with? Why?
27 Writing: Write the word TEACHER on the board
and get students to find words which contain each of
the letters in that word to form a poem, for example:
T
E
cAre
C
H
E
R
28 Role-play: In pairs, have students imagine a
conversation between Mr. McCourt and Bobs father
or Kens and dramatize it.
29 Discussion: In groups, have students watch some of
the following movies: To Sir with Love, Dangerous
Minds, Dead Poets Society, Stand and Deliver, Mona
Lisas Smile. Have them compare the film to Teacher
Man as regards teachers, their schools and their
problems. Then ask them to choose local or
international actors to play the characters in Teacher
Man and justify their choice.
Vocabulary activities
For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to
www.penguinreaders.com.
Main or not?