Ramona Quimby the Big Ideas

TEACHER RESOURCE GUidE NIN IN G T -W H D E R A T A E W R A Inside this guide: Before the Play About: The Show, Author and Playwrights ............ 2 Activity: Map Your Milestones...................... 9 What important firsts or milestones does Ramona Quimby The Big Ideas ................................... 3 experience during the series? How is this different or similar Common Core Connections........................ 3 to what your students experience? Create a class timeline for students to reflect on the milestones and firsts they’ve cele- Questions for Discussion and brated during their school year. Quick Classroom Connections...................... 4 Online Resources ............................ 10 Activity: Portland Maps ........................... 5 Ramona websites, information about Beverly Cleary, Portland Use the included map of Ramona’s neighborhood in NE neighborhoods and more. Portland to work with students on mapping skills, geographi- Reading List ................................ 11 cal knowledge, math skills, and knowledge of their own Provided by Multnomah County Library SchoolCorps. neighborhoods. Activity: Introductions and Monologues ............. 8 Using Beezus’ opening monologue to the play as an example, students write introductions to their own lives – homes, schools, neighborhoods – directed towards an imagined audience. Teacher Info & Important Dates Friday, March 20, 2015: Full balance due, last day to Based on the book series Ramona Quimby by Beverly reduce seats Cleary, adapted by Len Jenkin. Directed by Betsy Richard. Friday, May 8, 2015, 7 p.m.: Teacher preview Teacher Resource Guide by Allison Davis. Length: 60 minutes Location: Newmark Theatre About The Play available to her to be quite boring and uninteresting. As an adult, she made it her life’s work to create interesting and Ramona Quimby lives on Klickitat Street with her older sister, wonderful books for young readers about people just like Beezus (Beatrice), her mother and father, and their elderly them. Cleary’s books appear regularly on lists of recom- cat. Ramona is eight years old and starting third grade as this mended reading compiled by both students and librarians. story opens. Although the Quimbys lead everyday lives, the problems that each member of the family faces are instantly Mrs. Cleary received Newbery Honors in 1978 and 1982 for recognizable and relatable to an audience. The adults in the Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8, as well family are worried about money, especially after Ramona’s as the 1984 Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. In 1984, father loses his job. Ramona finds that everything in her life she was the United States author nominee for the Hans is changing. In this play, which incorporates scenes from mul- Christian Andersen Award, and in 2003, she was awarded tiple books in the Ramona Quimby series, Ramona deals the National Medal of Art from the National Endowment for with unfairness, change, and growing up. Her imagination the Arts. The Library of Congress named her a ‘Living leads her into wonderfully funny situations, especially when Legend’ in 2000 in honor of her invaluable contributions to she tries to solve the family’s problems herself. children’s literature in 2000. Her books appear in more than twenty countries and have been translated in over fourteen Note: The play Ramona Quimby is adapted from multiple different languages. Ramona books. Although Ramona is many different ages in Beverly Cleary’s novels, the play follows her during her year Klickitat Street is in Northeast Portland, so children and adults alike in third grade, drawing on many different incidents from the in the city feel a special connection to Ramona and her neighbor- books below. hood. There is a sculpture garden in Grant Park dedicated to Cleary’s characters, Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins. • Beezus and Ramona • Ramona the Pest The Playwright • Ramona and Her Father Len Jenkin is a playwright, screenwriter and director. His plays include Dark Ride, Pilgrims of the Night, My Uncle Sam, • Ramona the Brave Careless Love, Limbo Tales, Poor Folk’s Pleasure, Like I Say • Ramona and Her Mother and The Dream Express and his adaptations of Ramona Quimby and The Invisible Man. His films include Blame It on • Ramona Quimby, Age 8 the Night, Welcome to Oblivion, Nickel Dreams and American Notes. His works have been produced throughout the United • Ramona Forever States as well as in England, Germany and Japan. Jenkin also writes for television and the print media. His novel, New Jerusalem, was published by Sun and Moon Press, and his The Author children’s book, The Secret Life of Billie’s Uncle Myron was Beverly Cleary was born in McMinnville, Oregon, and until published by Henry Holt & Co. He has been the recipient of she was old enough to attend school, lived on a farm in many honors and awards including three Obie Awards for Yamhill. Her family later moved to Portland, where Cleary directing and playwriting, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a nomi- lived in the same neighborhood where she later set her nation for an Emmy Award, and four National Endowment for Ramona Quimby books. In her early grade school years, the Arts Fellowships. He is currently a professor in the Dramatic young Beverly struggled with reading and found the stories Writing Program, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. 2 Language Arts: Reading: Literature: Integration of Knowledge The Big Ideas and Ideas Anchor 7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in • Adults can sometimes let you down. diverse media and formats, including visually and quan- • Being a grown-up can be hard. Being a kid who’s titatively, as well as in words. trying to become grown up is even harder. 4.RL.7 • Families who love each other still have conflicts. Anchor 9: Analyze how two or more texts address simi- • Sometimes our emotions can seem overwhelming lar themes or topics in order to build knowledge and too big. or to compare the approaches the authors take. • Everyday life can be hard and filled with worry but it 3.RL.9 also can be filled with family, love, and community. Writing Text Types and Purposes Common Core Connections Anchor 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well- Ramona Quimby is recommended for grades 1-4 and aligns to chosen details and well-structured event sequences. the following Common Core Language Arts standards. 1.W.3—4.W.3 Language Arts: Reading: Literature: Key Ideas and Details Anchor 4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropri- Anchor 2: Determine central ideas or ate to task, purpose, and audience. themes of a text and analyze their Language development; summarize the key sup- Arts 1.W.4 – 4.W.4 porting details and ideas. 1.RL.2—4.RL.2 Anchor 3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. 1.RL.3—4.RL.3 Language Arts: Reading: Literature: Craft and Structure Anchor 6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. 1.RL.6—3.RL.6 3 Questions for Discussion and Quick Classroom Connections Discussion Questions 10. Aunt Bea is a glamorous woman who Beezus and Ramona admire very much. Do you have a special relative or other 1. If students are familiar with the Ramona books, they will adult that you admire? What makes them a special person? experience the play differently than students who are not familiar with the Quimby family. Students may note, when 11. There are many books about Ramona Quimby at various seeing the play, that Mrs. Griggs and ‘seemingly perfect ages, from age four all the way to fourth grade. The play Susan’ are part of Ramona’s first grade experiences in Ramona Ramona Quimby is based on a year in the life of the the Brave, and Mr. Quimby’s job loss occurs when she is in Quimby family. Do you think the play will be able to second grade in Ramona and Her Father. Howie’s Uncle contain all of the scenes from the Ramona books Hobart is a character from a later book, Ramona Forever. (remember, the play is only about an hour in length)? Make some predictions about which events from the book Before attending the play, discuss these differences with you think you will see on stage. students and compare and contrast a play with a series of novels. Discuss why they think the playwright chose events from different books and different years of Classroom Connections Ramona’s life and condensed them into a year. Language Arts: Characters, Plot, Adaptation: Discuss 2. Ramona experiences many firsts in the Ramona books – favorite episodes or chapters from one of the Ramona books. first days of school, her first lost tooth, her first ride on the First, list the characters in the scene, and then make a timeline school bus. What is a ‘first’ that you have experienced in of what happens in the beginning, middle, and end. In small your past? How did it make you feel? What is a ‘first’ that groups, write a short script based on those events, with lines is coming up in your future? for each of the characters in the scene. 3. How does Beezus feel about Ramona? List three adjectives Social Sciences: Cause and Effect: Ask students to think you think Beezus would use to describe her younger sister. about unemployment and its effects. Mr. Quimby loses his job during the play. What happens if several people lose 4. List some of the reasons that Ramona’s family is stressed. jobs at the same time? How might their community be What are some ways that they try to make things better? affected? For example: People would need to spend less money, so they would buy fewer things from stores.

Load more