Wayside School is Falling Down (Wayside School #2) Comprehension Questions & Reading Journal

Wayside School is Falling Down (Wayside School #2) questions by chapter

We know the book, its characters, setting and story, but not what happens in each chapter. So every question is written for this book, and any of them works wherever your reader has just stopped. One question per chapter, across all 30 chapters, and every one is editable before you print. The example answers under 3 of the chapters are the ones printed at the front of the booklet.

1. Chapter 1

   What is the most unexpected thing that has happened at Wayside School so far? Explain what happened and why it surprised you.

2. Chapter 2

   How has Mrs. Jewls or another character responded to a student's problem so far? What does that response show about the character?

3. Chapter 3

   How does Wayside School's unusual building affect something you have read so far? Use a detail to explain your thinking.

4. Chapter 4

   Based on the surprises you have read so far, what unusual thing might happen next at Wayside School? Explain what gave you that idea.

   Example answer: I predict that Mrs. Jewls will turn another ordinary classroom object into a surprising lesson. She uses a computer to teach gravity by pushing it out the window instead of using it the usual way. That makes me think her next lesson could surprise the students too. I will watch for something that seems normal at first but gets used in a strange way.

5. Chapter 5

   Which Wayside student do you understand best at this point? Describe an action or feeling that helped you understand that student.

6. Chapter 6

   Choose a moment when something seems sensible to a Wayside character but silly to you. How might the character explain it differently?

7. Chapter 7

   Describe something in your reading that made you pause or feel confused. What is your best explanation for it now?

8. Chapter 8

   Find an interesting or unfamiliar word in your reading so far. What do you think it means, and which clues helped you?

   Example answer: I chose the word "gravity." I think it means the force that pulls things toward the ground. The computer falls down instead of floating when Mrs. Jewls pushes it out the window. That action helps me understand the word because I can picture the force at work.

9. Chapter 9

   Which detail has made you laugh or smile so far? Explain how Louis Sachar makes that detail funny.

10. Chapter 10

    What part has an adult played in the events you have read so far? Explain how that adult helped, complicated, or changed a situation.

11. Chapter 11

    Choose a Wayside student's action from your reading so far. What feeling might be behind that action, and what evidence supports your idea?

12. Chapter 12

    Would you enjoy being a student at Wayside School, based on what you have read so far? Explain one attraction and one concern.

    Example answer: I think I would enjoy visiting Wayside School, but I might not want to stay every day. Mrs. Jewls's gravity lesson would definitely get my attention, and I like lessons that are easy to remember. However, pushing a computer out a window would make me worry about anyone below. I would want a classroom that is exciting without making me nervous.

13. Chapter 13

    Where have you noticed kindness, fairness, or a lack of either at Wayside School so far? Explain why that moment matters.

14. Chapter 14

    Pick an event from your reading so far and trace its cause and effect. What started it, and what happened because of it?

15. Chapter 15

    When has this book led you to expect one thing and then shown you something different? Describe how that surprise affected your reading.

16. Chapter 16

    How would you describe the storyteller's voice so far: serious, playful, calm, or something else? Support your choice with a short phrase or detail.

17. Chapter 17

    Which rule or decision at Wayside School would you question so far? Explain your concern and suggest a different approach.

18. Chapter 18

    What ordinary school experience has reminded you of something at Wayside, even if the book makes it much sillier? Explain the connection.

19. Chapter 19

    Looking back at an earlier guess you made about this book, how would you change or strengthen it now? Use something you have read as evidence.

20. Chapter 20

    What connection can you make between the title Wayside School Is Falling Down and your reading so far? Explain whether you think the title sounds literal, playful, or both.

21. Chapter 21

    Compare a Wayside student you have met with yourself or someone you know. What important similarity and difference do you notice?

22. Chapter 22

    If you could ask Mrs. Jewls one question about something you have read so far, what would you ask? Explain why her answer would interest you.

23. Chapter 23

    Whose choice has had the biggest effect on someone else in your reading so far? Explain the choice and its effect.

24. Chapter 24

    What idea about learning, friendship, or being different could a reader take from the book so far? Support your idea with a specific moment.

25. Chapter 25

    Which scene from your reading so far can you picture most clearly? Describe the details that help you imagine it.

26. Chapter 26

    What unanswered question are you carrying into the next chapter? Explain which details made you wonder about it.

27. Chapter 27

    Choose a moment you have read and imagine it from another character's point of view. How might that character describe it differently?

28. Chapter 28

    Select a word or phrase that helps make Wayside School seem unusual. What would change if the author replaced it with more ordinary wording?

29. Chapter 29

    How has your opinion of one Wayside character changed or grown stronger so far? Compare your first impression with what you think now.

30. Chapter 30

    Which moment from your reading so far would you save in a class scrapbook? Explain what it reveals about life at Wayside School.