Bud Not Buddy- Christopher Paul Curtis- Book Talk



Curtis , C. (1999). Bud not buddy . New York: Delacorte Books

How would you feel if you were an orphan and everyone called you by the wrong name? While trying to determine exactly who his really is Bud meets Deza who teaches him many life lessons and gives him his first kiss. Members of the band, Steady Eddie, The Thug, Dirty Deed, Doo-Doo and Mr. Jimmy tease Bud unmercifully, but also show him how to be a good loving person. They then buy him his own saxophone and give him a name in a secret ceremony that makes him one of them. Although Bud's mother died before the book started he still uses the many lessons she taught him to make it through his rough 10 years thus far. Bud is sent from one foster home to the next he is always called Buddy and that makes him very mad. Bud is very good at comforting other kids in the homes while always looking out for himself and his things. Bud tries make the best of situations but is always on the hunt for his father. Throughout Bud's short 10 years he has been through a lot, will Bud turn out to make something of himself, as a musician, or maybe something else.

Freak the Mighty- Rodman Philbrick

 

Philbrick, R. (1993). Freak the mighty . New York: Scholastic Press.

Freak the Mighty is a wonderful book about two children who are very different from everyone else and how they get together to make an unstoppable team. Maxwell Kane who is very big for his age but has a learning disability, lives with his grandparents because his dad is in prison for killing his mother. Kevin is a genius but was born with a birth defect that causes him to wear braces on his legs and walk with crutches. Since the two of them have been made fun of their entire lives they team up to defend the weak, and discover the mysteries about Max's past. 

Lesson Plans 

This lesson revolves around Rodman Philbrick’s Freak the Mighty. Before reading, students are guided to make personal connections with the story by jotting down words and phrases as they read the back cover. During reading, students make predictions about the text and skim recently read passages to find one sentence that stands out to them. After reading, student discuss why the author chose the title. Students connect the book to their own writing by focusing on the use of voice in one’s writing, figurative language, vocabulary development, and word study.

Find more of this lesson at:

 http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/reading-writing-workshop-freak-41.html 

This book is for students ages 10-14 or 5-8th grades. This book fits into the realistic fiction because it is a story that could actually happen. Children get picked on everyday because they are shorter, taller, smarter, not as smart, or just plain different than other students. These children show that you can stand up for yourself and make a difference. 

Questions to Ponder: 

- What would you do if someone picked on you everyday? 

- Could you ever be friends with someone that is a lot different than you? 

- Why are people mean to others? 

- Sometime in your life you have been mean to someone, how did it make you feel? Why were you mean to them? 

Reading Strategy- 

While reading this book to my class earlier in the year I had then use the symbols that were similar to the ones that are used in the strategy. I let the students have stickers that were on post its. While reading to themselves or me reading aloud to the class the students were asked to put the post its with smiley faces on places they agreed with, faces that had a frown on statements they did not agree with, a green post it on pages they needed more clarification on or a red post it on pages they thought were awesome or had good information. I combined the post it note strategy with the active reading symbols.