Loser

This flexible-use quiz is designed for reading comprehension assessment and activity needs in classroom, home-schooling and other settings. Questions connect to the text’s plot, characters, and themes — and align with the content and chapter organization in the rest of this study guide. Use quizzes as pre-reading hooks, reading checks, discussion starters, entrance/exit “tickets,” small group activities, writing activities, and lessons on finding evidence and support in a text.

Depth of Knowledge Levels: Questions require respondents to demonstrate ability to: 

1. Recall and Understand Content (e.g., who, what, where, when) 
2. Apply and Analyze Ideas (e.g., how and why)

1. Why does Donald Zinkoff run so much?

A) He’s trying to escape from home.

B) He does it for the joy of it.

C) He wants to impress others.

D) He’s always in a big hurry.

2. In elementary school, what is Donald especially good at?

A) nothing

B) running

C) all sports

D) arithmetic

3. How does Donald feel about school?

A) He hates it.

B) He tolerates it.

C) He loves it.

D) He fears it.

4. Donald’s first-grade teacher utters a made-up silly word, “Jabip.” How does Donald react?

A) He bursts into tears and runs all the way home.

B) He laughs and can’t stop for days, causing turmoil.

C) He throws up and gets sent to the nurse’s office.

D) He writes a story about the adventures of Mr Jabip.

5. What happens when Donald bakes a giant snickerdoodle cookie and presents it to his new neighbor, Andrew?

A) Together, they eat the whole thing and throw up.

B) They race around, hurling pieces at each other.

C) It falls apart and Andrew stomps away angrily.

D) Andrew’s mother kicks Donald out of the house.

6. For the following question, write a one-sentence response based on details in the story. When Donald has a good day, what does his mother give him?

Discussion Suggestion: What are the character traits that make Donald so unique? How can someone be bad at school and yet still enjoy it so much? If Donald were in your class, would you like him or not, and why?

7. When Donald’s soccer team defeats Andrew’s team for the championship and Andrew sulks, what does Donald do?

A) He bakes him another big snickerdoodle cookie.

B) He tells Andrew that he’ll win the trophy next year.

C) He convinces Andrew to join Donald’s soccer team.

D) He gives Andrew his soccer championship trophy.

8. When Donald vomits on his second-grade teacher’s favorite blackboard eraser, what does she NOT do?

A) tell him to leave and never come back

B) tell him his illness is a character flaw

C) buy him a yellow bucket to barf into

D) let him return to her class the next day

9. Donald spends an entire day delivering make-believe letters to residents along his father’s mail route. What does his father warn him not to do that he does anyway?

A) He peeks through the mail slots into people’s homes.

B) He throws away mail that he can’t deliver successfully.

C) He gets into fights with two kids who make fun of him.

D) He delivers envelopes while eating a messy sandwich.

10. For what reason does Donald miss three weeks of school?

A) He has surgery to repair a stomach valve that makes him vomit.

B) He’s so disruptive at school that the principal suspends him.

C) He runs and runs one day, gets lost, and lives alone in the woods.

D) He worries about his kid sister’s health and won’t leave her side.

11. What fearful thing does Donald try to do?

A) play baseball in front of the other students

B) face the Furnace Monster in the basement

C) sleep in his bedroom with the lights out

D) run on the street with his eyes closed

12. For the following question, write a one-sentence response based on details in the story. Why does the Waiting Man stare all day out his window?

Discussion Suggestion: Should people only do things they’re good at? Should they be told not to do things they’re bad at? What activities does Donald like to do that suggest he might someday be a hero? 

13. Mr Yalowitz tries to help Donald by putting him in the front row of class and praising him often. How do the other students respond to this?

A)     They begin to like and admire Donald.

B)     They notice everything Donald does wrong.

C)     They hate Donald and start to taunt him.

D)     They vote Donald president of the class.

14. During the Field Day relay race, Donald’s teammates give him a huge head start before he runs the final leg. What happens next?

A)     Donald, though a slow runner, just squeaks out a win, his first.

B)     Donald gets a tie but the umpire gives the win to another team.

C)     Donald loses but his team wins the championship on points.

D)     Donald comes in last and his team loses the championship.

15. When Donald rides past on his bicycle, a neighbor kid, Claudia, always does what?

A)     blows him a big kiss

B)     gives him rocks or gum

C)     shouts, “Loser, loser, loser!”

D)     begs him to stop and play

16. The old lady with the walker invites Donald in, makes him a sandwich, and does what that helps him greatly?

A)     She listens while he talks about his struggles.

B)     She tells him how to make and keep friends.

C)     She tells him that someday he’ll be famous.

D)     She promises to help him any way she can.

17. At graduation, what does Donald realize he’ll miss about school?

A)     his teachers, but not the students

B)     soccer and orchestra, but not racing

C)     everything, including the bad stuff

D)     nothing, because bullies ruined it

18. For the following question, write a one-sentence response based on details in the story: During fifth grade, what does Donald decide he needs?

Discussion Suggestion: Why does Donald enjoy talking to the old lady with the walker? Why does he like Claudia? Why is he so interested in the Waiting Man? 

19. At middle school, Donald wants to play basketball and tries to get chosen for after-school pickup games. What always happens?

A) He’s the last player to be chosen.

B) He’s never asked to play on a team.

C) The team that loses the toss gets him.

D) Donald plays referee but he’s ignored.

20. Where does Donald believe Claudia may have gone?

A) to the park where kids bike and run during summer

B) to Donald’s school, where she feels like a big person

C) to a neighbor’s house where she likes to play

D) to an alley, because local kids love to play there

21. Late that night, trying to help with the search for Claudia, Donald sees emergency lights at the end of an alley. Why aren’t the emergency personnel where Donald thinks they should be looking?

A) They’re searching for Claudia’s mother, who’s now missing.

B) They’re searching for Donald, who’s now believed missing.

C) They’re re-questioning everyone on Claudia’s entire block.

D) They’re at the place where Claudia finally was discovered.

22. Why is Donald suddenly a hero in Claudia’s rescue?

A) He figured out where she was hiding when no one else could.

B) He was the hardest worker in the door-to-door search for her.

C) He heard her cries and pulled her from a flooded storm drain.

D) He searched for her in the alleys for many hours and nearly died.

23. For the following question, write a one-sentence response based on details in the story: Donald the hero tries to get chosen for a pickup football game after school. What’s the result?

Discussion Suggestion: What makes Donald’s foolish search for Claudia so heroic? What traits in Donald’s character push him to make the search?