PENGUIN READERS
Teachers notes LEVEL 1
Surfer!
Paul Harvey
Summary
Surfer! is about a sixteen-year-old boy named Nick,
who wants to go to Australia to compete in a surfing
competition before he starts college in England. However,
his parents want him to go to college first.
One day in July, Nick goes surfing. He catches a big wave.
An Australian girl named Janelle watches him surfing on
the big wave, and she is very impressed. However, her
boyfriend, Brian, isnt impressed at all.
Janelle encourages Nick to enter a local surfing
competition, which has a first prize of 1,000. Nick gets
sponsored by a surf shop, which gives him a new surfboard
to use for a week.
During the competition, Brian hits Nick with his
surfboard. Nick falls off his surfboard and hurts his arm.
He believes he has lost the competition but then a
judge tells him that he has won because Brian has been
disqualified!
After the competition, Nicks father appears on the beach
and congratulates him on winning first prize. He gives
Nick permission to go to Australia for three months. He
even agrees to pay for Nicks plane ticket. Nick is very
happy!
Background and themes
Dreams: Nick has a dream, and he pursues it. It isnt easy,
but he works hard, and eventually his dream comes true.
Jealousy: Brian is jealous of Nick. His jealousy leads
him to knock Nick off his surfboard, and in the end, it
causes him to lose the competition and perhaps even his
friends.
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
Teacher Support Programme
Danger: Surfing is dangerous. Nicks parents dont want
him to be a surfer because they are afraid he will get hurt.
However, Nick doesnt see surfing as dangerous he sees it
as exciting.
Discussion activities
Pages 113
Before reading
1 Discuss: Ask students to look at the picture on the
cover of the book. What can you see? What is the boy
doing? What do you think the story is about?
2 Pair work: Get students to work in pairs and ask each
other the following questions:
What do people need to go surfing?
Where do people go surfing?
What are surfers usually like?
Why is surfing dangerous?
After reading
3 Research: Get students to research Australia on the
Internet. When they have finished, they should share
their information with the class.
4 Role play: Get students to work in pairs and role play
the scene on page 10.
Pages 1426
Before reading
5 Guess: Ask students to predict what will happen to
Nick. Will he win the competition? Will he be friends
with Brian? Will he go to Australia?
After reading
6 Write: Why doesnt Brian like Nick? Get students to
write a short paragraph to answer this question.
7 Discuss: What will happen to Nick in Australia? Get
students to work in groups and think of answers to
this question.
Vocabulary activities
For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to
www.penguinreaders.com.
Surfer! - Teachers notes  of 1