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My Teacher is an Alien by Bruce Coville
Peter and Susan are in Ms. Schwartz's sixth grade class. Ms. Schwartz is the coolest teacher in the world because she reads good books in class -- not dumb textbooks and has a play every year. One day, a male substitute teacher take over the class. He makes everyone read the textbooks and puts lots of red marks on their papers. Susan follows him home one day and hears a funny noise. She sneaks into Mr. Smith's house and discovers Mr. Smith peeling off his face. She over hears Mr. Smith talking to the mirror about a plan to kidnap school children to take them back to his planet for study. Later, she and Peter (class genius) go back to Mr. Smith's house and discover Ms. Schwartz is a stasis field. Mr.Smith / Broxholm is planning to take back with him five "average" kids. When the students in the class hear this -- no one wants to act "average". Finally the band concert gives Susan a chance to unmask Broxholm. Peter helps prevent Broxholm from being captured and agrees to leave with the alien to go to the stars. Discussion Questions: What is the difference between "book smarts" and "life smarts"? Which characters have which? On page 11, Susan describes Ms. Schwartz's method of teaching reading. Who's method do YOU prefer -- Ms. Schwartz or Mr. Smith? Why doesn't Susan like the way Mr. Smith checks papers? Who would you tell if you thought your teacher was an alien? Why did you choose this person? Why do all the adults trust Mr. Smith? Susan's mother says, "Oh Edward...you seem to think that you can treat Susan the same way as you would a boy." Do parents treat boys and girls differently? Give examples. How did Susan and Peter prove Mr. Smith was an alien? What did the principal think happened to Ms. Schwartz? What makes an AVERAGE student? If you knew that an AVERAGE child would be taken to outer space by aliens -- what would you do to make sure that you would NOT be chosen? Or what would you do if you wanted to be chosen?
My Teacher Is An Alien
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