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Maine Samplers Part II Strider by Beverly Cleary |
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Morrow, 1991 Summary: Leigh Botts, the diarist from Dear Mr. Henshaw, finds a stray dog on the beach. Barry Brinkerhoff and Leigh work out the ownership of the dog, and Leigh finds that Strider provides the companionship he needs after his parents' divorce. At high school, Leigh makes friends and joins the track team. Theme:
Activities and Discussion Questions: 1. The Brinkerhoff girls were proving that popcorn has memory (p8). Practice this same experiment. Does it work? Look for food experiment books by Vicki Cobb. Predict in writing the outcome of 3 experiments. Demonstrate these experiments for your family. Which is the most fun to do? How did the outcomes relate to your predictions? [Thinking Skills: knowledge, synthesis, evaluation/Information Skills: location, access, communication] 2. Leigh and Barry decide that joint custody is a way to share Strider. Discover what this legal term means from a book on divorce. Write down some feelings boys and girls have when the custody is shared? How do some families resole the problems which arise from joint custody? See the resource books by Jill Krementz and Eda LeShan. Explore fiction and non-fiction books about divorce. List 2 fiction and 2 non-fiction books that you'd recommend to someone you know who is experiencing a family divorce. [Thinking Skills: comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation/ Information skills: accessing, interpretation, communication] 3. Invent a dog posture dish (p.32). Sketch it first and then make it out of scrap lumber. Photograph a dog eating from it. Was it successful? Modify it if necessary. What changes did you have to make? [Thinking skills: synthesis and evaluation] 4. Leigh liked the spaghetti wall at the Brinkerhoff house (p.37). Cook and throw strands of spaghetti at a suitable moveable background. Does it look like modern art? Check with an art book. Compare your design with the painting of a known artist. Find out more about the artist and his work. Display your wall in the school library together with a report on your chosen artist. [Thinking skills: comprehension, application, synthesis, evaluation/Information skills: skimming, scanning, access, interpretation, communication] 5a. Leigh's father was a driver of a tractor trailer. Interview a trailer truck driver in your community. Take questions, clipboard or tape recorder with you. Where does he/she go? What kinds of loads are transported? Write a description of life on the road. Mark the trips on an outline map of North America. [Thinking skills: knowledge, application, synthesis/Information skills: inquiry, communication] 5b. Find out from the produce manager at the local supermarket how fresh fruits and vegetables are delivered to your community. On a world map, show the origin of at least a dozen items of fresh produce. After consulting with the school librarian, file your report in the vertical file. [Thinking skills: knowledge, application, synthesis/Information skills: inquiry] 6. At the thrift store, Leigh buys a great shirt which had been owned by Kevin Knight (p.69). Pretend that you have donated a favorite piece of clothing to a drive for disaster relief. Who buys/receives the clothing? What is the disaster? Hurricane? Earthquake? Fire? Flood? Famine? Write diary entries based on the disaster in which the clothing is crucial to survival/ [Thinking skills: synthesis, evaluation/Information skills: communication] 7. Scan the pet column from the daily newspaper. Develop a short story, suitable for first and second graders, involving two different kinds of pets from the classified ads. Use short sentences and simple dialog. Illustrate with drawings, paintings or photographs. Read to a young friend. Tell of the friend's reaction. [Thinking Skills: application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation/Information Skills: interpretation, skimming and scanning] 8. Both Leigh and Geneva persevere with their training to keep their places on the track team (pp.108, 126). Interview a track or field participant in your community. Find out how the athlete was introduced to the sport and her/his subsequent training. With a partner make a video and present it to your class. Circulate a copy of the tape in the school library. [Thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation/Information skills: inquiry, planning, communication] 9. Mrs. Botts sometimes has trouble juggling home/job responsibilities. Does your mother work at an outside job? What are some of her problems? Compare then to Mrs. Botts’ problems. What do you do to help out? Search for helpful books in the library, list 3 ideas you got of other things that you can do. Make a bibliography which would be useful for other students in a similar situation. Consult with the librarian on the format/placement of the bibliography. [Thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation/Information skills: access, location, interpretation, organization, selection] 10. Leigh and his father find that building a fence together for Strider leads to better communication between them (p.138). List 3 do-it-yourself manual or environmental project books. Organize a cooperative project with your friends or family. Recycling? Clean up a stream? Pull weeds? Paint a fence? Then write a description of your activity for the local/school newspaper. [Thinking skills: comprehension, application, synthesis, evaluation/Information skills: organization, communication] Resources:
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