Theme: PROBLEMS OF GROWING UP
Grade: 6-12
Text: Phillip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe by B. Greene
Subjects: Literature, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science
Time: 4-6 class periods
Learning Objectives
- Analyze characterization, setting, dialect, and point of view in a novel.
- Distinguish dialect and accent from errors in formal academic writing.
- Use mathematics to analyze a realistic financial goal.
- Research a health or environmental question using reliable sources.
- Communicate literary understanding through writing, presentation, and creative work.
Procedure
1. Literature Study. Students read selected chapters and maintain a reading journal. Record important events, character decisions, setting details, and questions that arise.
2. Dialect and Language. Examine selected passages for dialect, accent, vocabulary, and syntax. Discuss how an author's use of dialect can communicate setting and character. Students may write a short fictional scene using a clearly defined speech pattern, then revise the same scene into formal academic prose. Emphasize that dialect is a legitimate form of language and that formal writing uses conventions appropriate to its purpose and audience.
3. Point of View. Students rewrite a short scene from another character's perspective and explain which details changed and why.
4. Financial Mathematics. The original lesson asks students to graph a plan for raising money for Beth's college costs. Replace the outdated year-specific premise with a teacher-supplied financial scenario. Students calculate a target amount, possible contributions, time period, and rate of progress. Older students can compare simple savings assumptions and explain that real college costs vary.
5. Visual Response. Teams create a chapter display, digital presentation, or one-page visual summary. Require specific textual evidence rather than decoration alone.
6. Health Research. Students may research allergies as an independent health-science extension. Cover common allergy triggers, basic prevention, symptoms that require adult attention, and the importance of following medical advice. Do not ask students to diagnose themselves or classmates.
7. Setting and Survival. Students identify the region where the story takes place and research realistic environmental conditions. Discuss shelter, water, weather, navigation, and communication as survival considerations. A supervised state-park visit may be used as an extension.
8. Movement Extension. The original relay-race activity can be retained as a physical-education extension, but it should not be presented as a substitute for literary analysis.
9. Cross-Age Extension. Older students may prepare a short dramatization or read-aloud for a younger class. Students should adapt vocabulary and content to the younger audience and explain which part of the original text they are representing.
Assessment
- Reading journal with textual evidence
- Dialect/point-of-view response
- Financial mathematics model
- Research summary
- Final presentation or written analysis
Teacher Notes
The original lesson contained several useful activities but presented them as separate “intelligences.” The revised lesson keeps the strongest activities while organizing them around literature, language, mathematics, science, and communication objectives.