Prediction Questions
For: Peak, by Roland Smith
1. Title: Peak, Based on the title, predict what you think the story will be about.
2. Read first paragraph: Did your prediction change?
(pg. 1) “My name is Peak. Yeah, I know: weird name. But you don’t get to pick your name or your parents, (or a lot of other things in life for that matter). It could have been worse. My parents could have named me Glacier, or Abyss, or Crampon. “I’m not kidding. According to my mom all those names were on the list.”
3. Read next paragraph: Predict the weather. Prove with example. What do you think Peak is doing? Can you predict where he is?
(pgs. 3-4) “My fingers were numb. My nose was running. I didn’t have a free hand to wipe my nose, or enough rope to rappel the about 500 feet to the ground. I had planned everything out so carefully, except for the weather, but now was the time.”
4. Read next paragraph: Was your prediction of the weather correct? Was your prediction correct of where Peak is? What does Peak mean by “snag”? Can you predict what will happen next?
(pgs. 3-4) “A gust of wind tried to peel me off the wall. I dug my fingers into the seam and hugged the terra cotta until it passed. I timed my moves between vicious blasts of wind, which were becoming more frequent the higher I climbed. The sleet turned to hail, pelting me like a swarm of frozen hornets. But the worst happened about thirty feet from the top. I reached up for the next seam and encountered a little snag. Well, a big snag really… My right ear and cheek were frozen to the terra cotta wall.”
5. After reading this sentence, was your prediction correct? Why not? Why do you think Peak is under arrest? Why did they need a helicopter? What do you think should happen to Peak?
(pgs. 4) “This is when the helicopter came up behind me and nearly blew me off the wall. You are under arrest!”
6. Read the next paragraph & look at picture of mountain. What does the author mean by “forced march”? Do you think taking 12 steps in one minute is fast or slow? (look up Camp Five) How do you think Peak was feeling? What do you predict the weather was like? Why do you think Peak is doing this?
(p. 215-216) “It was more of a forced march to Camp Five than a climb. We hooked on to a series of fixed ropes. I tried a regime of 12 steps a minute, a minute of gasping to recover, than another 12 steps. After an hour it was down to about eight steps, and I’m not sure how many minutes to recover.”
7. Read next paragraph: What is a corpse? This paragraph talks about the weather—was your prediction correct?
(p. 215-216) “About half an hour later we saw our first corpse. It was a woman. About fifty feet away was another corpse but I couldn’t tell what it was because it was lying face down. I had never seen a dead person, let alone a frozen person. It looked like she had died sitting up and had fallen over. She was only a few hours from her tent at Camp Four. After 5 more corpses I stopped looking.”
8. Do you think Peak will make it to the summit? (What is a summit?) Will Peak get the record for the youngest climber? Will Peak’s dad who is the leader of the group make it to the top?
9. Watch book trailer and then answer these two questions on your “Ticket Out”. (Write 1 to 2 sentences on each question.)
a. Do you think Peak will make it to the summit and set the record for the youngest climber and why?
b. Do you think you would like to read this book?