Grades Taught:
6, 7, 8, 9Subjects Taught:
Social Studies, English Language Arts, Visual & Performing ArtsTaylors, SC
I have been a home educator for 15+ years and a teacher with a nonprofit afterschool program (grades 3-5) for the past 3 years. I am also a children's author/illustrator; most of my recent work has been nonfiction for libraries and schools. .
Lesson
Cricket, the main character in Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, moves into a treehouse in the woods to find her mother’s “bird room” before her mother returns. The book can be used to teach students...
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, sunset times are important for solving the clue trail. Students can use the book as a starting point to learn more about sunrise/sunset times and the rotation of...
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, the main character Cricket discovers squirrels in a nest above the treehouse. Students can use the novel as a starting point for learning more about squirrels.
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, the main character Cricket decides to live in a treehouse in the woods. She returns one afternoon to find her father’s book and her food supply destroyed by...
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, the main character Cricket finds a clue stating that she should “look like a rabbit”. Cricket later realizes that the clue means she should see the world from a...
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Using the novel Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe as a starting point, students will learn how to find the perimeter of a rectangle.
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, Cricket uses a doogaloo to open the treasure box. Doogaloos, also known as scrip, were coins created to be used as currency in some mill towns. Students will use...
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, the main character Cricket runs away to live in the woods while she searches for the Bird Room. She makes her way to the ruins of Electric City, an abandoned...
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, Cricket finds her father’s book about living off the land. In the book, he made notes about when he would teach Cricket certain skills. When Cricket was 10, he...
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, the main character Cricket finds a cricket stuck in a spider web. Cricket rescues the insect and names her Charlene. Students will use the adventures of Cricket...
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As Cricket, the main character in Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, searches for her mother, she is reminded of one of her mother’s favorite poems by Emily Dickinson, “Hope is the thing with feathers”...
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, Miss V. gives Cricket a dowser to help her find the hidden treasure box. Using the book as a starting point, introduce students to the use of dowsing and the...
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, Cricket runs away to the tree house she built with her father. Students can use the distance of the tree house from the ground to learn how to convert standard...
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Students will be able to convert the distance of Cricket’s tree house from the ground from feet to inches.
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, the main character Cricket sometimes hears coyotes howling in the woods. Students will use the novel as a starting point for learning more about a coyote’s howl...
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In Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, some of the clues direct Cricket to find a constellation. Using the book as a starting point, students will learn about constellations, their history, and how to...
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In the novel Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe, Mama uses Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex on the Flight of Birds as a reference when creating a bird design for a tombstone. Students can use da Vinci’s...
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In the novel Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe , the main character Cricket recalls the times she spent in the woods with her father. He had taught her outdoor skills, such as how to build a fire and...
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Students will demonstrate understanding of animal migration patterns by using the book Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe .
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In the novel Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe , Miss V’s dog Percy loves hearing poems by Walt Whitman. Students can use the book to learn more about Walt Whitman and his poetry.