The Fourth Stall

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-6

Reading Check

1. What is Mac’s real name?

2. Who is Fred, Mac’s new client, afraid of?

3. Who attacks Mac in the bathroom because he protects Fred?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is the fourth stall the ideal location for Mac’s business dealings?

2. What does Mac do as part of his business dealings? What are some examples of the types of services he offers?

3. What makes Staples a dangerous adversary for Mac?

Paired Resource

“The Five Types of Psychological Power”

• This 11-minute video explores power dynamics and where power comes from.
• Shared themes include A Combination of Talents Provide Insurance for Success.
• What are the types of psychological powers? What kind of power does Mac have? How does Mac use power dynamics to influence students in his school?

Chapters 7-12

Reading Check

1. Where does Mac live when he first begins his business dealings?

2. What does Matt Murphy need to get from Mac?

3. Who does Jacky Boy say is the leader of Staples’s bookies?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Mac’s business begin? Why is his reputation important for his business dealings?

2. What inspires Mac to take out Staples, and what is Mac’s strategy for overcoming his influence in the school?

3. How do Vince’s and Mac’s perspectives differ on the strategy to take down Staples?

Paired Resource

Quality Friendships

• This 4-minute video explores healthy and unhealthy friendships.
• Shared themes include Trust, Loyalty, and Betrayal Among Group Members and The Dichotomy Between Innocence and Immortality.
• What are the aspects of quality friendships? How do Mac and Vince have a quality friendship?

Chapters 13-18

Reading Check

1. How does Mac describe the car that follows him home from school?

2. To whom does Mac’s mother give Oreos and milk?

3. What is missing from the lockbox Mac keeps in the bathroom trash can?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What goal do Vince and Mac wish to achieve, and why do they differ on how to achieve it?

2. What does Vince believe is Staples’s motivation? How does Vince make a personal connection to Staples’s motives?

3. What are the indications that Staples targets Mac?

Paired Resource

“How Poverty Changes Your Mind-Set”

• This article explores the connection between scarcity, problem-solving, and mental fatigue.
• Shared themes include Trust, Loyalty, and Betrayal Among Group Members.
• How do abundance and scarcity change the brain? In what way might scarcity hinder Vince’s thought process?

Chapters 19-23

Reading Check

1. Who does Mac agree to work with after his business fails?

2. What is Staples’s real name?

3. Who does Mac assign to surveil Staples’s house?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How is Mac and Vince’s relationship altered by Mac’s mistrust of Vince?

2. Who does Mac suspect of betraying him? Why?

3. What surprises Mac about Staples, how he lives, and the person he appears to be?

Paired Resource

“Should You Trust Your First Impression?”

• This 5-minute video explores the brain’s assessment of first impressions and changing those impressions.
• Shared themes include The Dichotomy Between Innocence and Immorality.
• How does the brain work to update first impressions? What factors influence those impressions of people? How does his observation of Staples’s parents change Mac’s impression of Staples?

Chapters 24-29

Reading Check

1. Who is the “snitch” in Mac’s group?

2. Who sprays Staples’s phone, preventing him from calling the principal on Mac?

3. Which team loses their game, causing Vince and Mac to decide they don’t want to attend the World Series?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Mac threaten Staples, and what motivates him to remove him from school?

2. What do Staples’s henchmen find immoral about Staples’s actions toward Mac? Why do they eventually abandon Staples’s scheme?

3. Why does Vince feel a connection to Staples? What does it help Mac realize about Vince?

Recommended Next Reads

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

• This novel is about a boy who moves to Alcatraz Island during the Great Depression.
• Shared themes include Trust, Loyalty, and Betrayal Among Group Members and A Combination of Talents Provides Insurance for Success.
• Shared topics include underhanded dealings, mistrust, and teamwork.
• Al Capone Does My Shirts on SuperSummary

Spy School by Stuart Gibbs

• This novel is about a middle school student recruited to take part in a CIA espionage academy.
• Shared themes include Trust, Loyalty, and Betrayal Among Group Members and A Combination of Talents Provides Insurance for Success.
• Shared topics include mystery, investigations, and teamwork.
• Spy School on SuperSummary