The Unteachables

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. How many different kinds of intelligence are there? What kinds of intelligence can you think of? Why might it be important to identify different types of intelligence in others?

Teaching Suggestion: The Unteachables is about a group of learners who are thrown together in Room 117 at Greenwich Middle School due to their different ability types and behavior issues. The group—deemed by the school as the “Unteachables”—may struggle with school but excel in areas such as the arts, mechanics, and other topics. Consider exploring the novel’s theme There Are Different Kinds of Smart by encouraging students to brainstorm different abilities that may not necessarily be assessed in school. The links below could help inform students of different intelligences. It could also be helpful to allow them to explore Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and why they are important to recognize. It may be helpful for students to have access to a chart of multiple intelligences to reference as they reflect on the novel.

• This 7-minute video explains the different intelligences and how they apply to individual success.
• This article explains Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and the careers associated with these intelligences.

Short Activity

In a small group, discuss the concept of a bucket filler. What do you think makes someone a bucket dipper? List 8-10 creative ways you can contribute to your classroom and the community by being a bucket filler.

Teaching Suggestion: In Chapter 4, Aldo—one of the Unteachables with anger issues—hits a locker out of frustration because he believes his peers are laughing at him. Ms. Fountain, who has a reputation for treating her students like kindergarteners, reprimands Aldo for making noise in the hall and tells him he is being a bucket dipper. This concept is explored in various places in the novel as the Unteachables learn new skills to become bucket fillers. It may be helpful to review the concept of a bucket filler and dipper to students prior to the activity: Everyone carries an invisible bucket. When the bucket is full, students are happy. When the bucket is empty, students are unhappy. Others can fill or empty your bucket depending on their behavior and actions. For example, when students receive a compliment, it fills their bucket; but when students receive a rebuke, it empties the bucket.

Students might be asked about bucket fillers and bucket dippers in previously read pieces of literature, movies, or other stories, then discuss ways in which they themselves might be bucket fillers. One way this activity may be completed is in the form of a round-robin discussion. Assign one student to begin the activity. They will describe an action or words that may fill another person’s bucket, students in the group can take turns speaking around a circle but are only permitted to speak during their turn. After the discussion, consider creating a t-chart for the class where they can record bucket-fillers and bucket-dippers they identify in each chapter section.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Have you, or someone you know, ever been unjustly labeled? What might be some effects of labels on individuals? How might labels impact the way a person behaves?

Teaching Suggestion: When the students and staff of Greenwich Middle School label the students in Room 117 as “unteachable” it has a damaging effect on the students’ self-esteem and understanding of their own intelligence. Students may have strong feelings about labels and how they impact individual performance; it could be helpful to begin the discussion with private journaling, before discussing as a class.