Need help with book discussion….

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  • January 10, 2014 at 10:22 pm
    greenebalts
    Participant

    Our dd is in a book club and I’ve been asked to lead the discussion this month.  The girls read Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield.  Does anyone have suggestions for an activity or discusison questions?  The girls range from about 1st to 4th grade…..8 years old seemed a majority age.

     

    Thanks in advance,

    Melissa

    http://reflectionsfromdrywoodcreek.blogspot.com/

    January 10, 2014 at 11:56 pm
    Karen
    Participant

    I remember the part of the book where it said that they gave serious thought to Betsy’s toilet…..we all (my four girls and I) dissolved into laughter!!! The author meant cleaning up and what she’d wear.  My girls were thinking the porcelain furniture in the smallest room of the house.

    So, perhaps the girls could give examples of words/phrases that aren’t commonly used any more and what they meant in those days.

    Maybe the girls have had similar experiences where they were with someone who assumed they could (had the ability to do this or that) and the girls found out that they indeed could do something.

    We really enjoyed that book.

    January 11, 2014 at 1:26 am
    sheraz
    Participant

    They could make butter in litte baby food jars by simply shaking the jar while you discuss those “toilet” issues. LOL

    January 11, 2014 at 2:50 am
    Angelina
    Participant

    Loving and chuckling about the comments above on “toilets”…

    Slightly more serious note – when I read this with my children (just two months ago…and it was truly LOVED…they still miss little Betsy) there was often discussion around our table as to whether Betsy was “spoiled” OR whether Betsy had been raised “wrong” by Aunt Francis.  There were times (in the beginning of the book) where my kids were disgusted with Betsy at being so “spoiled”…then, as the book progressed, they started to love Betsy and “blamed” Aunt Francis for having made Betsy what she was back before she arrived at Putney Farm.  Not sure if this is a firm enough book group question for you (sorry if I’ve made it muddy)…. but thought I would mention it in case it helps you introduce the ideas/steer a discussion on how children can be influenced by their surroundings and by the perspectives of their caregivers.

    Have fun leading the group!  Blessings, Angie

    January 13, 2014 at 12:10 am
    greenebalts
    Participant

    Thanks ladies….all good ideas! 

     

    Sheraz….our dd suggested making butter as well 🙂

     

    Any other ideas for questions or discussion?

     

    Thanks,

    Melissa

    http://reflectionsfromdrywoodcreek.blogspot.com/

    January 13, 2014 at 1:13 am
    Angelina
    Participant

    How about the scene where Betsy and Molly got left behind at the Fair – a discussion on all the critical thinking and creative ideas it took to find their way home.  Better yet – How would the girls in your group deal with this situation if it happened today…if they somehow got separated from their parent or caregiver at a Fair, at the mall, at the beach…anywhere.  What would they do to solve this for themselves… and how does the approach they would take today differ from that which a child of 100 years ago.  It could make a really neat discussion on the difference in life today versus then (my boys found that scene truly amazing….  no phones, no internet, no customer service counter or lost child services center, no mention of police officers walking the ground……they were just a couple of kids who had to figure it out!)

    Blessings, hope this helps!

    Angie

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