Silent Boy, The
Publication Information
Author:  Lowry, Lois	Illustrator:
Title:  Silent Boy, The	Date:  2003
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin	City:  Boston
ISBN, paperback:  0-618-28231-9	ISBN, hardback:
Recommended audience:
ABE/ABLE:   Yes	ESOL:
Family:	Young Adult:   Yes
Picture:
General Information:
Book Type(s):    fiction
HSE Descriptor(s):
Summary:
Katy,the young and curious daughter of a small-town doctor living in 1908, learns about life, death, and social distinctions from her family and her friend, Jacob, who is "touched."
Teaching Ideas:
The transportation, housekeeping, photography, medicine, and amusements encourage readers to compare small-town life then and now. Although Jacob's condition is never labeled, students can list his characteristics and try to decide how he would be diagnosed today (perhaps autism). The Internet provides information and history of autism. The book protrays several styles of parenting: Katy's family, Jacob's family, and the neighboring Bishop family. A matrix of events, how parents handled them, and the results would provide materials for discussion and writing on parenting. The author achnowledges that the photos are of real people, some from her family. Why does she include them and how does the reader respond to them? The story is told from Katy's point-of-view from about 6-9 years of age and as an old women. How would the story be different if told from another point-of-view? Jacob? Nellie? Peggy? Katy's father?
Teaching Strategies:
Agree? Disagree? Why?    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/agree_disagree_why.pdf
DR-TA: Directed Reading Thinking Activity    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/dr_ta.pdf
K-W-L Instruction Strategy    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/k_w_l.pdf
Matrices or Charts    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/matrices_charts.pdf
Save the Last Word for Me (Adaptation)    http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/adapt_save_last_word.pdf
Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword
Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > kindness Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > tolerance Family > children > childhood memories Family > father > father-child relationships Family > parent > parenting History > time period > 20th Century Communities > rural > small town life Family > family life Emotions-Personal Issues > personal issues > individual > curiosity Social Studies > sociology > social issues > mental illness

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