The Unteachables

Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. Room 117 (Chapter 1)

2. Ms. Fountain’s mother (Chapter 4)

3. Parker (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. Kiana walks into the school and encounters the disorganized secretary who accidentally gives Kiana the wrong schedule. When Kiana enters the classroom for the first time, she finds students roasting marshmallows over a trashcan fire with pencils. Mr. Kermit, close to retirement, doesn’t react to the student’s behavior but simply puts out the fire with his coffee. (Various chapters)

2. Mr. Kermit has one more year before he can retire early. The superintendent intends to get rid of Mr. Kermit so he will not have to pay his pension. He assigns Mr. Kermit to Room 117 to teach the Unteachables—a self-contained class that is known for having various problems—with the hope Mr. Kermit will quit before he can receive his pension. (Chapter 2)

3. Aldo Braff doesn’t have anything kind to say about the students in Room 117. He doesn’t like Kiana because she interrupted him when he kicked a candy machine. He believes Mr. Kermit doesn’t like him because none of the teachers do and he dislikes the other students in the class as well. Aldo’s attitude toward his classmates indicates that he views things in a negative light, he also appears to have anger problems based on his reaction to the candy machine and punching a locker when he believes students are making fun of him. (Chapter 4)

Chapters 6-11

Reading Check

1. Squidward (Chapter 6)

2. Spirit week (Chapter 7)

Short Answer

1. Mr. Kermit realizes he will be able to rid himself of Barnstorm if he is able to get permission for him to join the pep rally. The class, believing Mr. Kermit is sticking up for them, is glad to feel as though they are part of the school. Unfortunately, one of the students makes noise with a vuvuzela and Rahim falls asleep, knocking into a girl from another class, which causes the Unteachables to be removed from the rally. (Chapter 6)

2. Though the students are in middle school, Ms. Fountain’s room has bright colors, like kindergarten, and a pet gecko. The students sit in Ms. Fountain’s room during circle time. (Chapter 7)

3. Mr. Kermit was blamed when one of his students, Jake Terranova of Terranova Motors, sold answers to the Greenwich-wide standardized aptitude test. When the students all received perfect scores, Mr. Kermit was accused of giving the students the answers. After the scandal, Mr. Kermit lost his passion for teaching and lost his fiancée, Ms. Fountain’s mother, in the process. Ms. Fountain describes Mr. Kermit as “barely alive.” (Various chapters)

Chapters 12-17

Reading Check

1. The Grinch and Yoda (Chapter 15)

2. Jake Terranova (Chapter 17)

Short Answer

1. Mr. Kermit’s admission that the stolen vuvuzelas rank sixth of all the bad things on spirit week indicates that Mr. Kermit has not had many good experiences with spirit week. This may explain why Mr. Kermit is not fond of spirit week. (Chapters 12-13)

2. The students’ decision to steal the vuvuzelas is driven by their desire to please Mr. Kermit. The students are aware from their earlier experience in a rally that Mr. Kermit does not like the noisemakers. They hope to steal the vuvuzelas to spare Mr. Kermit from the noises. They are motivated by their care for Mr. Kermit and their growing respect and loyalty to him. (Chapter 12)

3. When the students return after being suspended during spirit week, they realize Mr. Kermit has transformed the classroom so it looks like an actual classroom. Mr. Kermit looks enthusiastic about being in the classroom and Ms. Fountain has created a behavioral chart with puffy bunny stickers to motivate students to behave. They each receive a bunny tail for stealing the vuvuzelas, which makes the students proud. Mr. Kermit, when he realizes the students were loyal to him, felt inspired to put more effort into his teaching. (Chapter 15)

Chapters 18-22

Reading Check

1. With anagrams (Chapter 20)

2. An action figure (Chapter 23)

Short Answer

1. Jake feels guilty for the negative impact his cheating scandal had on Mr. Kermit. He intends to make amends by doing anything he can to make it right. Mr. Kermit, however, does not work to build a relationship with Jake and simply ignores him. Jake realizes after Mr. Kermit buys anagram books for Parker that he negatively impacted Mr. Kermit’s potential as a teacher. (Various chapters)

2. Kiana, who intends to leave the school as soon as possible, argues about the pointlessness of Barnstorm hoarding the fluffy tails because they will be in high school next year. Kiana realizes she is thinking of her future at the school and decides she needs to leave before she becomes too attached to it. (Chapter 21)

3. Mr. Kermit develops reading groups for the students to work together on improving their reading skills. He sends Rahim to a college-level program to hone his artistic skill and uses anagrams to teach Jake how to cope with his dyslexia. Additionally, Mr. Kermit inspires the students to use mechanical skills when they visit Jake’s shop. (Various chapters)

Chapters 23-29

Reading Check

1. Her shoes are on the wrong feet. (Chapter 24)

2. Mr. Kermit (Chapter 26)

3. His name (Chapter 29)

Short Answer

1. Mateo is soaking wet because he was being bullied by Barnstorm’s teammates. Parker decides to gather the students of Room 117 for backup, but the players run after seeing Elaine. When the students mention Elaine’s reputation for beating up other students, Elaine admits none of those rumors are true. It is revealed in this incident that the students of Room 117 see themselves as a cohesive group because they all agree to stick up for one another. Additionally, we learn that the reputations given to the Unteachables are often incorrect. (Chapter 24)

2. Kiana realizes that her noncommittal attitude toward Greenwich Middle School has created problems for her classmates and Mr. Kermit. Mr. Kermit needed a score that showed improvement to keep his job and likely would have shown improvement had Kiana been properly registered. Kiana understands that her attitude essentially causes Mr. Kermit to lose his job because her scores are not counted. She is determined to correct her mistake by entering the science fair. (Chapter 27)

3. Kiana remembers overhearing a conversation between Mr. Kermit and Ms. Fountain discussing that the winning class will receive 10 extra points from the science fair. Mateo draws inspiration from the flying car in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. The students decide to enter the science fair to win the extra points by reviving Mr. Kermit’s old car. (Various chapters)

Chapters 30-32

Reading Check

1. Anger (Chapter 30)

2. Room 117 (Chapter 31)

3. Greenwich (Chapter 32)

Short Answer

1. The students, upset they received second place in the science fair, tell the substitute about their disappointment and how they let Mr. Kermit down. The substitute tells her son about the incident. Her son, who works for the local newspaper, writes an article criticizing Dr. Thaddeus for firing Mr. Kermit after all the improvements in the Unteachables. The article also clears Mr. Kermit’s name when Jake admits he handed out the test scores to his peers in the scandal that happened 27 years ago. The article implores Dr. Thaddeus to remember that education should benefit students. Dr. Thaddeus, after public pressure, reinstates Mr. Kermit. (Chapters 30-31)

2. The Unteachables no longer feel ashamed of their reputation as a group of students who are forgotten by the school. The class feels proud of their accomplishments and the bond they have developed over the year. They believe their differences make them unique and intelligent in different ways. (Various chapters)