Thursday, November 12, 2009

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
November 2009
Grades 5-7

snack: cheese sandwiches with pickles, lettuce and tomato (on a roll with a v-cut!)

1. Thumbs Up/ Down. General feelings about the book.

2. Who was Miranda named for? Are you named for anyone? What are some of your nicknames?

3. Richard ties knots to help him think. What are some things you do to help you think? (draw, knit, listen to music, exercise, etc)

Activity: Learn to tie some knots.
ehow-- links to some videos and give tips for teaching:
animated knot tying for scouts:

4. When Sal got beat up at the beginning of the book, why did you think the other kid did it? What are some things you do when you are alone on a busy street-- rules to blend in, etc.

5. This book takes place in the 1970s. What do you know about the 1970s? Do you think the year was important to this book? Why or Why not?
(could talk about their teacher not going to Vietnam and the draft-- who was exempt, how the draft worked, etc)

6. It was hard for Miranda to lose Sal as a friend. Is there anything she could have done to become friends with him again? What did she do to cope with losing him (made new friends, worked sandwich shop, helped mom with show)? What did he do (made new friends, played basketball)? How do you know when a friendship is over?

7. Why do you think Colin, Annemarie and Miranda worked at the sandwich shop during their lunch break? How did your opinion of Jimmy change from the beginning of the book to the end? Have you ever known anyone like Jimmy? What would you have done if Jimmy had insulted someone you knew, even if they weren't a friend?

8. Miranda gets in trouble for going over to Annemarie's without calling first. HAve you ever done this before? What do you think would happen? Do you have a cell phone? How do you think that chapter would have changed if Miranda had a cell phone?

9. What happened during the assembly and what changed? (Miranda watches Julie watching Annemarie the same way she watches Sal). What do Julia and Annemarie have in common? What is different?

10. Julia stopped eating her special food for a while. Why do you think she did this? Should she have told her new friends? What do your friends do that needed explaining to you (religious practices, peanut allergies, asthma, etc...) Did it change your opinion of them?

11. Who did you think was writing the notes? Did your suspects change as you got further into the book? Who did you suspect?

12. Do you think time travel is possible? Why or why not?

13. The note said the person was coming to save someone's life AND their own. We know Sal's life was saved, but how do you think Marcus saved his own life? If Miranda hadn't know who the laughing man was, how would Marcus' life have been different?

14. If you were Marcus, how would you react when you realized you were looking at an older version of yourself? Since Marcus has yet to invent time travel and make plans to rescue himself-- do you think the story will continue to change as Miranda adds details to the letter?

15. Have you read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle? Why was this book important to the story?



1 comment:

Tracey said...

A little late with this comment, but just wanted to let you know my daughter and I chose this book for our Mother/Daughter book group and we are finding the questions helpful as we prepare for our group. Thank you!