Jack Crow Said Hello is about a crow with a hurt foot that Josh's grandfather brings him to raise until the bird learns to fly well enough to be returned to the grandfather's farm. Jack Crow, the name Josh gives him, lives on Josh's screened porch and besides taking care of him, Josh teaches the crow to say, "hello."
       Since the story involves children of different ethnic backgrounds living in the neighborhood where Josh raises the crow, the book offers not only information about the behavior of crows, but insights into other cultures. Josh and the neighborhood children form a baseball team they name "The Crows." As Jack is taken outside to make short flights around the neighborhood, the crow and the children share many humorous experiences. Summer friendships grow as life with Jack Crow engages Josh, his family, and the whole neighborhood in one lively adventure after another.

FOR DISCUSSION:

Friendship:  Describe how Josh shows he is Jack Crow's friend. How does Josh show that he is a friend to Bette, Patti, Spencer, and Timmy?

Kindness:  Describe how Josh's grandfather shows that he is a kind, caring man. Discuss how Josh shows acts of kindness.

Neighborhood Involvement:  Define neighborhood. Engage in a discussion on the ways Josh's neighbors show that they are involved with each another.

Taking Responsibility:  Define responsibility. Discuss ways Josh shows that he takes responsibility for the crow and for the baseball team.

Humor:  What do you think are the funniest parts of the story?

ACTIVITIES:

Vocabulary:  Try to define these words from the context of the story or find them in the dictionary. Stroked (p.8), squawk (p.10), reluctantly (p.11), gently (p.15), pesky (16), confirmed (p.34), skillful (p.46), allowance (p.57), conferring (p.59), persuasion (p.62), warbling (p.64), ventriloquist (p.65)

Prefix	- A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word to change the meaning. Look on (p.10) and find two prefixes.
Suffix	- A suffix is a syllable or syllables added to the end of a word. Look on (p.11) and find three prefixes.

Summarize:  Write a summary of Chapter 2.

Grammar:

Noun	- A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing. Look on (p.1) to find the name of a person, find the name of a place, and find a thing.
Pronouns	- A pronoun is used in place of a noun. Look on (P.1) and find three different pronouns.
Adjectives	- Adjectives describe a noun or pronoun. Look on (P.1) and find five adjectives.
Preposition	- A noun or pronoun follows a preposition, and when this combination of words occurs it forms a prepositional phrase. Look on (P.1) and find three prepositional phrases.
Adverb	- An adverb answers the questions how, where, when, how many times, and to what extent? Look on (P.3) and find two adverbs.
Verbs	- Verbs show action, being, or state of being. Look on (P.3) and find five action verbs.
Interjection	- Words that express strong feelings followed by an exclamation mark are interjections. Find an interjection on (p.3) and on (p.105).
Conjunctions	- Conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses. How many conjunctions can be found on (P.6).
Contractions	- Contractions are two words put together with one or more letters left out and an apostrophe is put in that place to show where the letters are missing.. Look on (p.10) to find four contractions and then write on your paper the letters that are missing.
Compound words	- How many compound words are on (p.30 and p.31)?

Geography:  Locate Mexico on a map. What river seperates Mexico from the United States? Name the capitol of Mexico. What states border Mexico?

Math:  How many players are on a baseball team? How many players does Josh have? Does he have more or less players than he needs? How many? How many girls are on Josh's baseball team?

Science:  Look in the dictionary and find crow. Write what it says about crows? In the biological classification crows are in what class? What genus? What family?

Questions compiled by Lynn Sheffield Simmons, B.S., M.Ed.

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