Mac+Slater,+Cool+Hunter

Cool...

Before starting to study the book we thought about some of the different meanings for the word 'cool'. Then, as they left for their next lesson, students acted out one of the three meanings:
 * some students were shivering
 * some students were swaggering and holding their heads high
 * some students had a serious expression, as if they didn't need to talk to anyone

The novel is about Cool Hunting, and inventing. A lot of useful and crucial inventions have come from Australia. Do some research on interesting inventions. Add some key points to the discussion. Eg. I found out that __invented the__ _ in. The is an important invention because ___.

Questioning
As we are reading through the text students need to formulate questions of their own. This will help their understanding of the text, and get them thinking.
 * in-your-face** questions are questions that you can answer by reading the text again - the answers are right there.
 * thinking** questions cannot be answered just by reading - you have to think too! The answers are not on the page, you have to use what you know of the characters, their personalities, interests, hopes and dreams, etc., to give your best guess.

Eg. An in-your-face question might be, 'What colour hair does Mac say Cat has?" A thinking question might be, 'Why does Mac just stand there, even though everyone else has gone to class?'

In-your-face questions
1. Dad had promised Mac that he would keep teaching him but he was busy doing what? (pg 46) 2. Who is Egg? (pg 56) 3. What colour headphones was the hip dude wearing? (pg 53) 4. What's the only problem with Mac and Paul's vehicle? (pg 51)

Thinking questions 1. Do you think that everyone could tell that Mac was sad that his dad was in jail? (pg 46) 2. What did Mac and Paul video, compared to Cat? 3. Why do you think Mac decided to open the box? 4. How do you think Cat feels about Mac also running to be a cool hunter? 5. Why do you think Chapter 8's heading is 'Just do it'?

Cool Links:
macslater.com 3D animation on buildings