Cog looks like a normal twelve-year-old boy, but his name is short for “cognitive development”. He is robot prototype designed to learn about the world around him and to teach other robots what he has learned. As a prototype, Cog lives with Gina, the scientist who built him. She introduces him to the human world as a way to build a set of behavioral rules. Cog gets damaged, and as a result the corporation who owns him moves him to their high security headquarters. As Cog learns about other robots, he begins to question the plans of the corporation and forms alliances with five other robots. The group breaks out of the facility in an attempt to escape the corporate power that wants to control them.
Additional Book Information:
Copyright: 2019 by Greg Van Eekhout
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publishing Date: October 1, 2019
Reading Level (Accelerated Reader): 4.9
5 key words to describe this book:
Action-packed
Futuristic
Exciting
Intriguing
Unique
ELA CT Common Core Standard that might be met by reading this book:
RL.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Suggested Delivery:
Independent Read or Small Group
Electronic Resources:
https://www.writingandsnacks.com/
Show students this website prior to reading Cog to teach them about the author, Greg Van Eekhout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJwT-KqCffk
Play this video for students prior to reading text to introduce discussion of the book's plot and to encourage curiosity about the story.
Video to Build Schema:
ELA Teaching Suggestions:
Key vocabulary that may have to be taught for students to better understand the text:
Artificial Intelligence: the ability for a computer to think and learn like humans
Cognitive development: the development of the ability to think and reason
Corporation: a group that is legally able to carry on an activity
Autonomy: the ability for one to manage on their own with everyday tasks, be independent, and make their own decisions
Prototype: an original type or form of some thing
Programming: a group of instructions for a computer/machine to process and execute
Reading strategy suggestions to increase literal and/or inferential comprehension:
Before Reading
Use the following link to build students; background knowledge on Artifical Intelligence.
https://kids.kiddle.co/Artificial_intelligence
During Reading
Students will create a "booksnap" of at least one of the book pages. Learn more about how to create booksnaps here:
https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-104/building-a-buzz-with-book-snaps/
Booksnaps can be made on the following website:
After Reading
Make a poster advertising the book so someone else will want to read it.
Writing activity that requires students to demonstrate inferential comprehension:
Ask students to write about what they thought was the most interesting part of the book and why.