Ministock Racer
by Ian Trafford
From School Journal Story Library
Overview
This exciting recount follows Buck Trafford as he prepares for and races in the ministocks — the junior version of stock-car racing. The recount is followed by an interview and labelled photographs of safety equipment.
Suggested Teaching Purpose
Based on the information I have about my students’ learning needs, what would be an appropriate teaching purpose for this session?
Examples of an appropriate teaching purpose are listed below.
•	To support the students in developing the comprehension strategies of summarising, visualising, identifying the main ideas, and evaluating.	
Features of the Text to Consider in Context
What features of this text would support the teaching purpose?
•	The three clear sections — a recount, an interview, and a list	
•	The themes of family involvement, the thrill of competition, and safety in a dangerous but exciting sport	
•	The ways the author engages the reader and creates atmosphere in the recount, for example, the way he uses:
- Buck’s view of the events
- the present tense, as if the action is happening now
- dynamic verbs (“flying”, “ripping”, “drifting”)
- short sentences to convey urgency and build tension
- exclamation marks
- a change of pace to “slow time down” for dramatic impact on pages 11 and 12	
•	The topic-specific vocabulary, for example, “drifting”, “accelerating”, “stock car”, “speedway”, “demolition derbies”, “street stocks”, “pits”, “lap-scorer transmitter”, “bonnet”, “ministocks”, “speedway licence”, “pole position”, “safety harness”, “cockpit”, “chequered flag”, “bumper”, “fibreglass body”, “diff mounts”, “flameproof overalls”, “tear-offs”	
•	The figures of speech, for example, “There’s petrol in their veins”, “on his tail”, “It’s payback time”	
•	The supportive photographs	
•	The authentic dialogue, which often involves colloquial language	
•	The text box with extra information about the lap-scorer transmitter.	
Readability
What features of this text might constitute challenges for my students? (For example, features that may require a prompt or a brief explanation.)
•	The topic-specific vocabulary.	
•	ESOL learners may require support with the meaning of phrasal verbs, such as “ripping around”, “head to”, “checks out”, “keep their minds on”, “line up”, “puts his foot down”, “paying off”, “spins out”, “ends up”, “sneaks up behind”, “tick by”. (A phrasal verb has a meaning as a whole and usually cannot be understood by putting together the meanings of each part.)	
What prior knowledge would support my students in reading this text?
•	Their familiarity with car racing or other similar competitive sports, for example, go-carting or motocross	
•	Their experiences of noticing connections between ideas in a text (to identify main ideas)	
•	Their experiences of evaluating information and ideas in a text.	
Sharing the learning outcome and success criteria with your students
Learning outcome
I am learning to identify and evaluate main ideas.
Success criteria
I will be successful when I have:
•	summarised the information about ministock racing in the text;	
•	used information in the text to help me visualise what’s happening and understand how the characters feel;	
•	looked for connections between the ideas in the text to help me identify the main (big) ideas;	
•	identified examples of how the writer draws the reader in and makes ministock racing seem exciting;	
•	come to a conclusion about whether I think ministock racing is safe.	
A Framework for the Lesson
How will I help my students to achieve the learning outcome?
Before reading
•	Tell the students you have a book for them to read about an exciting stockcar racing event and find out what they know about this topic. Show the students the cover and discuss what “Ministock” could mean, making connections to their knowledge of the word “mini”. (Forming hypotheses; making connections)	
•	Brainstorm words about stockcar racing and start building a chart to add to during the reading. Briefly discuss the word meanings. (Making connections; building vocabulary)	
•	Share the learning outcome and success criteria with the students. “What do we do as readers to identify the main ideas in a text?”	
During reading
•	Have the students read pages 2 and 3. Discuss the meaning of “petrol in their veins” and support the students with other terms as necessary, adding any new terms to the word chart. Note that “drifting” means “doing a controlled slide when cornering”. (Building vocabulary)	
•	“What have you found out about Buck?” Ask the students to support their inferences with evidence from the text. (Summarising; inferring)	
•	Have the students work together to look for clues on these pages (in both text and photographs) about what the main ideas in this text might be. “What big ideas would you expect to see in a text about car racing? What ideas are you starting to notice again and again?” Help them to draw out the ideas of family involvement, safety, and the thrill of competing. (Forming hypotheses; identifying the main idea; analysing and synthesising)	
•	Have the students read pages 4 and 5. “Why do you think Mum grins when they arrive at the track?” (Making connections; inferring)	
•	Discuss the atmosphere at the track and the language used to create it, for example, the detailed list of tasks, the short sentences, and phrases like “the engines growl and throb”. Encourage the students to imagine the scene. “What can you hear, see, and smell? How do you think Buck and the other competitors might be feeling?” (Analysing and synthesising; visualising)	
•	If necessary, model how to pronounce “Kurtis’s”. The students could predict who Jessica might be. (Forming hypotheses)	
•	Have the students look for evidence to confirm or change their ideas about the main ideas of the text. “Talk with a partner about what has supported or changed your thinking about the main ideas.” (Testing hypotheses; identifying the main idea)	
•	Allow the students time to examine and discuss the central photograph of Buck’s car on pages 6 and 7. These pages have many clues to the meanings of technical vocabulary like “pole position”, so encourage the students to look out for these as they read. Add any new terms to the vocabulary chart. Note that page 7 clarifies that Jessica is another racer. (Inferring; building vocabulary)	
•	Discuss the references to safety on these pages and also how the drivers have fun even when they’re competing. Link these ideas back to your discussion of themes or main ideas. (Analysing and synthesising; identifying the main idea)	
•	Have the students read page 8. “How is Buck’s family involved here?” (Summarising; identifying the main idea)	
•	Have them read page 9. “How does the writer help you to imagine the scene?” Explore some of the images, in particular “His whole world is inside the hot little cockpit”. (Analysing and synthesising; visualising)	
•	Have the students read pages 10 and 11. Prompt the students to draw on their maths knowledge to visualise what it means when Buck “spins out 180 degrees”. Encourage the students to visualise Kurtis’s accident “in slow motion. How do you think everyone is feeling?” (Making connections; visualising)	
•	“Do you think Kurtis will be OK?” To help students predict this, prompt them to recall what they’ve found out about safety features. (Making connections; inferring; forming hypotheses)	
•	Have the students read page 12 and review their predictions, noting the comment that Kurtis’s dad makes about the safety features working. Also note Buck’s humorous comment about the paint, and draw out the idea that humour is often associated with relief. (Testing hypotheses)	
•	Discuss the meaning of “His mother and father can breathe again”. You could also focus on the idea of five long minutes ticking by and share experiences of how time appears to slow down in crises. If necessary, give some other examples of items made from fibreglass (surfboards and canoes). (Making connections; inferring;)	
•	Have the students read page 13. Note the reference to the “adults’ races” and make links with their experiences of participating in “curtain-raiser” sports or events. You could also chat about the “crowd of five thousand” and what this indicates about the popularity of stock-car racing. (Inferring; making connections)	
•	Have the students read the interview on pages 14 and 15. Discuss what page 15 communicates about the dangers of racing and the safety features that reduce them. (Summarising)	
•	Before reading page 16, have the students list the safety features mentioned so far, referring to the text if necessary. Then have them read page 16 and compare their list with the safety features described here. Discuss the specific reason behind each safety feature. (Summarising; inferring)	
After reading
•	Ask the students’ to review their thinking about the main ideas. Have them choose one of the main ideas and work with a partner to look for references to the idea through the text. (Testing hypotheses; identifying the main idea)	
•	Support the students in formulating main idea statements, for example:
- Ministock racing is exciting.
- Ministock racing can be dangerous, but there are safety features for cars and drivers that reduce the dangers.
- The racers compete hard but are still friends. You could draw your student’s attention to Buck’s message to his “ministock mates” on the acknowledgments page.
- Families are important in supporting the racers and keeping them safe.
(Identifying the main idea)	
•	Ask the students to share their opinions of ministock racing. “Is this sport too dangerous for young people, or do the safety precautions make it OK?” Draw on the students’ summaries of the safety features to inform the discussion. Using the text as a reference, extend the discussion to include other safety features (other than equipment), for example, how various people (family members, pit crews, race officials, and ambulance and fire officers) all play important roles in keeping the racers safe. Your students could debate this topic, perhaps comparing the dangers of ministock racing with those of sports like swimming or rugby. (Summarising; evaluating)	
•	Discuss how the author conveys the excitement and danger of ministock racing. Photocopy a section of text, for example, page 2, 4, 9, or 10 and have the students work in pairs to highlight specific features, for example, the use of the present tense, dynamic verbs, short sentences, exclamations, and repetition. You could give each pair of students a different section to analyse and then have the pairs compare their findings. Or you could focus on how the writer creates the dramatic contrast in pace between the first paragraph of page 10 and the description of Kurtis’s accident and rescue on pages 11 and 12. (Analysing and synthesising; identifying the main idea)	
•	Review the learning outcome and success criteria and reflect with the students on how well the learning outcome has been achieved. “What helped you identify the main ideas in this text?” Note any teaching points for future sessions.	
Links to Further Learning
What follow-up tasks will help my students to consolidate and/or extend their new learning?
•	Read other texts about extreme sports, such as the Story Library texts MotoX and SK8 and/or the Choices text Move It and compare the main ideas in these texts. (Identifying main ideas; making connections)	
•	During shared writing, incorporate some of the features of the text, such as dynamic verbs, repetition, and a series of short, snappy sentences to describe a dramatic event. (Making connections; links to writing)	
•	In two groups, your students could write definitions for particular racing-related words and then have the other group match the meanings to those words. (Building vocabulary)	
ISBN: 978 0 7903 2359 6