-chapter book
Nora has always known she was far more intelligent than she was "supposed to be" for her age. Three years before Kindergarten she was already teaching herself to read. She could place together puzzles faster than her sister who was 6 years older than her. Once she got to school, she was reading adult material as sophisticated as the Britannica, when other students in her class were just starting to read children books. It wasn't that her peers were behind, they were on grade-level. Nora was just born extremely talented academically, and it embarrassed her so much that she purposely tried to make bad grades so she wouldn't be classified as different. She would mimic students in her class in order to seem like she was struggling with subjects as much as a "normal" fifth grader would. Her goal was to make a D in all subjects on her report card, so she was mad when she saw that she made a C in spelling. Her parents were very concerned when they saw her report card so they went to school and talked to the administrators about what they could do to improve their child's grades. The librarian noticed that Nora had been searching multiple topics on the internet that are higher level than some adults read. The librarian called Nora to her office and told her she knew she must have been up to something. When Nora explained her reasoning, why she thinks students shouldn't care about their grades as much as they do, the librarian understood and decided to become part of the plan. Once Nora told Stephen, he passed out fliers to make all the students purposely get a zero on every test they were given that week. This made all teachers, administrators, and even the superintendent very furious and they called an assembly for everyone to attend, even Nora's parents. After a few arguments, the librarian stood up for Nora and explained her reasoning behind all of this. Nora agreed to be placed in some academically gifted classes as long as she still had some time as a "normal" student. Stephen stills gets to hang out with Nora, and even though she is a genius, he still treats her like he would any other kid, exactly what she wanted.
I would use this book as a read-aloud to read to the class as a whole before lunch each day. I think this book has many opportunities for class-wide discussions. I would ask the students "why do you think Nora feels bad to be treated differently if it's not a bad thing to be smarter than others?" I will use this book to explain why grades should not determine your future; if you get a bad grade that just means you have to work harder in a certain area, it does not mean you are dumb. Third graders can also use this book to relate to as they begin the various testings that they go through this school year.
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