The World According to Kaley

By Dian Curtis Regan

Pre-reading:

Do you keep a journal or learning log for any of your classes? Which ones? Do you like it? Why or why not? Do you think it helps you understand the material better? What do you think a learning log should include?

Questions to consider:

1. Do you think Kaley is a good reader? Why or why not? What makes a good reader? How do you know if you’ve understood the material you were assigned to read?
2. Find five facts and five opinions in one of Kaley’s essays. How do you tell the difference between facts and opinions? Is one more important than the other?
3. Do you think Mr. Serrano is a nice teacher? Why? Do you think he is a good teacher? Can a teacher be not nice and still be good? What do you think of his assignments?
4. What’s the most interesting fact you learned by reading Kaley’s essays? How did you know which parts were true and which ones she was writing creatively?
5. Describe what else happens in Kaley’s life outside of school.
6. Which essay is your favorite? Why? Which topic would you most like to study? Which one would you least like to learn about? Why?
7. Why did Kaley lose points on her graphs? What is the purpose of footnotes? Did she do it incorrectly? Did she learn how to do it correctly? How do you know?
8. What happens that changes Kaley’s feelings about her baby brother? How does that situation turn out? What do you think would be the hardest part about having a baby in the house?
9. What did you learn about the history of medicine? Did it remind you of anything else you’ve learned or know? What?
10. Predict what you think Kaley will be like in five years? Use examples from the story to back up your predictions. What do you think she’ll decide to be when she grows up?

Across the Curriculum:

Language Arts:

Write a letter from Kaley to her baby brother about all the most important things he must know in life. You can create new information about Kaley but it should sound like her and seem believable.

Science:

 Write an essay of your own about how scientific beliefs have changed through history. Compare what they used to believe to what people believe now: Choose one of these topics or one of your own:
How people get sick.
How to stay healthy 
What to eat and what not to eat 
Home remedies

History:

Research one of the topics from the book and create a poster about what you learned. The poster should answer the five journalistic questions of who, what, when, where and why. Share your work with your class.

Sample topics:

Early civilization

Stone Age

Ice Age

New Stone Age

Nile River Valley

Pyramid construction

Greek Empire

Roman Empire

Ancient Olympic Games

The Middle Ages

The Gutenberg Press

The Renaissance

The Wright Brothers

The History of Medicine

Music:

Research the types of musical instruments that were played in one of the historical time periods mentioned in the book. Try to find a picture of it and describe how it was played. For extra credit, locate some music to share with the class in the style of the period.

Art:

Take a common composition notebook but make it your own my cutting out pictures from magazines, adding stickers and other designs to make it your own. Cover with clear contact paper to make it durable. Write and doodle at will.

Math:

Create at least two of the following: a graph, chart, table, or timeline based on the research you did for either the history or music projects. Be sure the information is labeled accurately and site the source for your work. Do not just copy a graphic from an existing text!

cont. on next page….
Fill out this KWL chart before you begin one of your research projects.

TOPIC:____________________________

SOURCE:_________________________

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