{"id":651,"date":"2018-04-30T20:43:43","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T00:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freddythepig.com\/?page_id=651"},"modified":"2018-05-01T22:09:36","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T02:09:36","slug":"teacher-resources","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/freddythepig.com\/?page_id=651","title":{"rendered":"Teacher Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Curriculum Related Discussion Questions and Activities<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Michael Cart<\/p>\n

Language Arts\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Characterization<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are more than 250 characters, animal and human, in the Freddy books. List some of your favorites and discuss why you like them. Then, based on what you learn about them from your discussion and your reading of the books, write a brief biography or autobiography of each, imagining details as necessary.<\/p>\n

2. There are a number of memorable villains in the Freddy books. List as many as you can and discuss what motivates them. How are they similar? How are they different? How many of them are animals? How many are humans? How does Freddy react to and with them?<\/p>\n

3. Friendship is a recurring theme in the Freddy books. Who are Freddy\u2019s best friends? What does friendship mean to Freddy, and what are some of the ways he helps his animal and human friends?<\/p>\n

Humor \u00a0\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Walter R. Brooks uses a number of devices to bring humor to his books. One of these is character exaggeration. For example, Charles the rooster loves to talk and give speeches. Can you think of other characters that are exaggerated for humorous effect? (Another example: Mr. Groper, the hotel manager, has a weakness for big words, or as he puts it, \u201cI\u2019m habituated to this here sesquipedalianism.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Mr. Camphor and his butler Bannister collect proverbs like, \u201cA rolling stone gathers no moss,\u201d argue about them and test them. What are some of their other proverbs? (See esepcially Freddy and Mr. Camphor<\/em> and Freddy Goes Camping<\/em>.) Discuss their meanings. What are some ways you could test them?<\/p>\n

Brooks often uses a device of humor called \u201cincongruity\u201d in which characters or events are paired in surprising and unlikely ways. For example, Freddy (a pig) rides a bicycle; Leo (a lion) enjoys going to the beauty parlor to get a permanent wave for his mane. Can you find other examples of incongruity? What makes them funny?<\/p>\n

4. Brooks enjoys word play and his books are filled with funny names. Make a list of them and discuss why they\u2019re funny. He also enjoys making up humorous expressions: Leo, for example, says things like, \u201cWell, dye my hair,\u201d and \u201cWell, paint my toenails shell pink.\u201d Make a list of some of these, discuss why they are funny, and then create some of your own for individual characters.<\/p>\n

Poetry<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freddy is an accomplished poet. Pretend you\u2019re Freddy and write a poem about how it feels to be a pig.<\/p>\n

Some of Freddy\u2019s poems are parodies of famous poems and songs. Some examples are \u201cThe Old Hotel at Lakeside,\u201d a parody of Rudyard Kipling\u2019s \u201cRoad to Mandalay\u201d (in Freddy Goes Camping<\/em>) and \u201cThe Midnight Ride of Hank the Horse,\u201d a parody of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow\u2019s \u201cThe Midnight Ride of Paul Revere\u201d (in Freddy and the Bean Home News<\/em>). Read both the originals and the parodies and discuss how Freddy has changed the original language and subject to suit his own poetic purposes.<\/p>\n

Drama<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freddy writes a play in Freddy\u2019s Cousin Weedly<\/em>. Stage a classroom production of this play or write an original play about the Freddy characters (or you might adapt scenes from one of your favorite books.)<\/p>\n

Make puppets of the Freddy characters and stage a puppet theater production.<\/p>\n

Social Studies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Politics and government provide the subjects of several of the Freddy books, notably Freddy the Politician<\/em> and Freddy and Simon the Dictator.<\/em> In them, Brooks explores the differences between two forms of government, the republic and the dictatorship. How does he define these? Discuss the differences between the two forms of government in terms of what happens on the Bean Farm.<\/p>\n

2. Freddy the Politician<\/em> is often compared with George Orwell\u2019s Animal Farm<\/em>. How do you think the two books are similar? How are they different? Which book do you like better and why?<\/p>\n

3. Brooks enjoys poking fun at authority figures like politicians, military officers, wealthy people and even school principals (Mr. Gridley in Freddy Plays Football<\/em>). What techniques does he use to make readers laugh at these characters? Is he fair?<\/p>\n

4. Many of the Freddy books involve travel. Draw a map of some of the animals\u2019 journeys, or, based on what you have learned about the Bean Farm and the nearby village of Centerboro, draw a map of \u201cFreddy country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Science and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Freddy books take place on a farm. What does the reader learn from them about farm life? Is this life treated realistically?<\/p>\n

Many of the most memorable characters in the Freddy books are animals. How true to their animal selves are they and how are they like humans? Does Brooks make them too human to be believable as animals?<\/p>\n

3. The animals in the Freddy books talk to humans. Why can\u2019t animals in the real world talk? If the animals you know could talk, however, what do you think they would say? Write an imagined conversation with one of them.<\/p>\n

4. How does Brooks feel about modern technology and inventions (think about Mr. Bean\u2019s attitude toward cars for example). Make a list of Uncle Ben\u2019s inventions (see especially The Clockwork Twin, Freddy the Pilot<\/em> and Freddy and the Space Ship<\/em>). How many of them are practical? How many even function? Make a working drawing of one of his inventions or build a model.<\/p>\n

5. Uncle Ben builds a space ship in Freddy and the Space Ship<\/em> and draws plans for a flying saucer in Freddy and the Flying Saucer Plans<\/em>. How much do you think Brooks, writing in the 1950\u2019s, knew about interplanetary travel? What mistakes does he make?<\/p>\n

6. If you were writing Freddy and the Men from Mars<\/em>, what kind of Martians would you create? Would they resemble Brooks\u2019s? Write an article about the planet Mars and our attempts to explain it.<\/p>\n

Journalism\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Freddy is a newspaper editor. Imagine that he has hired you as a reporter for The Bean Home News<\/em>, and has asked you to write a news report of one of the incidents in the Freddy books (for example: the return of the animals from their Florida vacation; the trial of Jinx the cat in Freddy the Detective<\/em>; the election fraud in Freddy the Politician<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

Write an editorial for The Bean Home News<\/em> (some possible subjects: the use of \u201cringers\u201d by the Tushville football team (see Freddy Plays Football<\/em>); why Centerboro residents should re-elect Sheriff Higgins (see Freddy and the Bean Home News<\/em>); why people shouldn\u2019t eat meat (especially bacon and ham).<\/p>\n

For the sports page, write an account of one of the football games from Freddy Plays Football<\/em> or one of the baseball games from Freddy and the Baseball Team from Mars<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Curriculum Related Discussion Questions and Activities by Michael Cart Language Arts Characterization There are more than 250 characters, animal and human, in the Freddy books. List some of your favorites and discuss why you like them. Then, based on what you learn about them from your discussion and your reading of the books, write a brief biography or autobiography of each, imagining details as necessary. 2. There are a number of memorable villains in the Freddy books. List as many as you can and discuss what motivates them. How are they similar? How are they different? How many of them are animals? How many are humans? How does Freddy react to and with them? 3. Friendship is a recurring theme in the Freddy books. Who are Freddy\u2019s best friends? What does friendship mean to Freddy, and what are some of the ways he helps his animal and human friends? Humor \u00a0 1. Walter R. Brooks uses a number of devices to bring humor to his books. One of these is character exaggeration. For example, Charles the rooster loves to talk and give speeches. Can you think of other characters that are exaggerated for humorous effect? (Another example: Mr. Groper,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-651","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nTeacher Resources - Friends of Freddy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/freddythepig.com\/?page_id=651\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teacher Resources - Friends of Freddy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Curriculum Related Discussion Questions and Activities by Michael Cart Language Arts Characterization There are more than 250 characters, animal and human, in the Freddy books. List some of your favorites and discuss why you like them. Then, based on what you learn about them from your discussion and your reading of the books, write a brief biography or autobiography of each, imagining details as necessary. 2. There are a number of memorable villains in the Freddy books. List as many as you can and discuss what motivates them. How are they similar? How are they different? How many of them are animals? How many are humans? How does Freddy react to and with them? 3. Friendship is a recurring theme in the Freddy books. Who are Freddy\u2019s best friends? What does friendship mean to Freddy, and what are some of the ways he helps his animal and human friends? Humor \u00a0 1. Walter R. Brooks uses a number of devices to bring humor to his books. One of these is character exaggeration. For example, Charles the rooster loves to talk and give speeches. Can you think of other characters that are exaggerated for humorous effect? 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