Summary

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Reading Strategies ~ Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey

Prior Knowledge
Ask students before reading if they always tell the truth.  This can lead to a discussion about honesty (if they say, “No”) and telling “white lies” (if they say, “Yes”).  Ask students what they would do in a difficult situation where they wanted to tell the truth, but didn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings (ex: they got a gift from an aunt they didn’t like, their friend’s mom made something to eat for dinner that they didn’t care for, etc.)

Vocabulary to preview:

• trudged

• commenced

• sashayed

• quivered

• flounced

• victim

Phrases to discuss

• I declare

• older than black pepper

• tell the truth and shame the devil

• old flea-bitten swayback

• “…the lie slid easily out of her mouth, like it was greased with warm butter”

• “Libby’s stomach felt like she’d swallowed a handful of chicken feathers.”

• "The truth is often hard to chew.  But if it is sweetened with love, then it is a whole lot easier to swallow.”

After discussion, have students use one of these phrases in a sentence and illustrate the phrase.  Discuss other
situations where they could use one of these phrases. 

Synthesizing

Have students take turns retelling the major events in the story in sequence.  Encourage them to go beyond just stating the event and tell more about it (ex: where the characters were (setting), how the characters in that scene were feeling and why, etc.) and to possibly extend into sharing background knowledge or extension of overall message (ex: Ruthie Mae was upset with Libby because she told everyone about the hole in her sock and that wasn’t nice because…/that reminds me of the time that…).

Inferring activity

• Discuss the “truths” Lucy is telling the next day at school.  Create a prediction chart with students.

                I predict that:                          I think that because:

       ____________________                                        ____________________

        ____________________                                        ____________________

        ____________________                                        ____________________

        ____________________                                        ____________________ 

• Why are all of Libby’s friends upset with her?  (ask before you read page where Lucy’s mom is sewing)

• Why were Mama’s words suddenly clear to Libby after Virginia made fun of Ol’ Boss?

Create a prediction chart about what you think Lucy will do next:

                I predict that:                          I think that because:

       ____________________                                        ____________________

        ____________________                                        ____________________

        ____________________                                        ____________________

        ____________________                                        ____________________ 

Readers’ Theater Activity

Divide students into small groups. Ask each group to re-write the story into a reader’s theater script. If your students are not familiar with reader’s theater, model for them the important pieces: simple, descriptive script, simple props if necessary and minimal or no scenery. 

Making Connections

Talk about when telling the truth helps & when it hurts.  Encourage students to make Text to Self Connections about a time when they told a lie or a time they told the truth and it hurt someone’s feelings. 

To help students make Text to Text Connections you can read other books about telling the truth or other titles by Patricia McKissack. 

Questioning

Thoughtful readers ask questions not only while they are reading, but before and after reading.

Create a questioning chart with students:

Asking Questions Before, During, and After Reading The Honest to Goodness Truth

Writing Strategies ~ 6+1 Traits of Writing by Ruth Culham

“The truth is often hard to chew.  But if it is sweetened with love, then it is a little easier to swallow.”  Libby Louise learns this very valuable life lesson in this wonderful story by Patricia C. McKissack.  Ruth Culham praises The Honest-to-Goodness Truth for simplifying a “complex subject to the core level where it really works for readers.”  Honesty is the topic of this warm and relevant story, and Libby Louise learns how to be honest without hurting her friends’ feelings.

Here are a few definitions that will help your students to better understand the story...

• commence – to start, begin
• quiver – to move with a slight shaking motion
• own up – to take responsibility
• trudge – to walk with much effort
• sashay – to glide
• victim – a person harmed by another

* Teaching Ideas* 

In her story, Patricia C. McKissack tackles a “big idea” and breaks it into a series of smaller pieces, giving the audience a well-developed topic that is accessible and clear.  Teaching our students to do the same – to support their topic with relevant examples – will help them to master the trait of Ideas.  As we follow Libby through her day, we cringe each time she tells the truth, knowing full well that she’s going to make someone else mad!  Ms. McKissack uses each of those situations to further develop Libby’s character and illustrate her struggle with too much honesty!  Those awkward moments are the real story!  And that’s a lesson for our students – the story is in the details! 

Teaching Ideas:  “Catch Phrase” ~ Elaborating on the Ideas

1. Early in the story, we hear Libby’s mama say, “Speak the truth and shame the devil.”  For the rest of the story, we get to watch Libby’s commitment to the truth make everyone around her very upset!  But where did that phrase come from, and what does it mean?
2. Go to www.phrases.org.uk/meanings and look up a few phrases for your students to use!  Then assign each student a saying, and ask them to write about a few scenarios that would illustrate the meaning of that phrase. 
3. For example, you might choose “Heard it through the grapevine.”  Allow your students, or help them, to look up the meaning and origin of the phrase (in this case, “a piece of information was obtained via an informal contact”).  Then ask them to use that phrase in a short story that includes two or three scenarios when a character “obtained information from an informal contact”.  We all know how often that happens in real life!  These stories could get really interesting!
4. Here are a few others you might try…
   • “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”
   • “Bad hair day”
   • “Barking up the wrong tree”
   • “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
   • “Between a rock and a hard place”
   • “The early bird catches the worm.”
   • “Three strikes and you are out.”

Teaching Ideas:  “Ask Me a Question” ~ Elaborating on the Ideas, 6+1 Traits, p. 64

1.        Divide students into groups of three. 

2.       Each student tells the group a short story of a memorable event that happened to him or her.  The listeners cannot comment during or after the story.

3.       Instead, they write on a piece of paper three questions for the storyteller, and then hand the questions to the storyteller.

4.       That way, the storyteller becomes aware of details he or she might have left out, which can be included next time the story is told, either orally or in writing. 

Teaching Ideas:  “Leave It Out” ~ Elaborating on the Ideas, 6+1 Traits, p. 64

1.        Rewrite a familiar story – a simple story that your students have read and enjoyed before.  Take out some of the juicy details, ones that are important to the central idea of the story.

2.       Share the story as you rewrote it and ask students what is missing.

3.       Now read the original.

4.       Discuss which version makes more sense, is more interesting, and why.  Help students discover that taking time to elaborate and fill in the banks for the reader is an important step in making their ideas clear. 

Additional Ideas

Teaching Word Choice:  “The Ugly Truth”

1.        “The truth is often hard to chew.  But if it is sweetened with love, then it is a little easier to swallow,” Miz Tusselbury explains to Libby.  This lesson will allow your students to practice “sweetening” the truth, and selecting words that convey their message without offending their audience!

2.       Begin by making a chart, divided into two columns.  Label the columns as follows.  You may want to create a handout that matches your chart so that the students can work independently later in the lesson.

3.       In the left column, list Libby’s “ugly truths”, and on the right, work with your students to reword those statements so that they are more appropriate and kindly spoken. 

4.       Finally, ask your students to think of several other “ugly truths” that they have heard or spoken themselves, and then work independently to rewrite them to be a little sweeter! 

• The Writers' Workshop from the Scholastic website gives students an opportunity to write a biography along with Patricia McKissack and her husband, Frederick McKissack.  They use an example from one of their first collaborative efforts, a biography of Frederick Douglass, to demonstrate the difference between fact-telling and story-telling.  There is even a link that students can publish their work online!

• Click on the link to find a Word Search about honesty.  Ask the students which actions Libby displayed during the book.

• Designed for First Grade students, this website presents different scenarios and then asks the students to select the honest response.  The text is read aloud to the students and can be used by other grade levels.

• Have the students create an "Honesty" recipe!  Model the format for recipe writing and then talk about the "ingredients" that are necessary to be an honest person.  Encourage the students to be creative as they add measured amounts of truth, kindness, etc.

• Watch the video, Honesty (PRO 170.44 HON) from the The Book of Virtues series.  During the video, Zach tries to coverup that he broke his father's camera. Plato helps him understand the importance of being honest by telling him the stories.

• For a funny and outrageous tale of what can happen when the truth is not told, share the book Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big (E BRE) with your class!

• Use this website on Honesty to find simple definitions and an assortment of quotes that can be used as discussion starters.  The site includes a list of activities plus a book list of other books on honesty to support the topic!

• Here is another list of quotes about honesty.  Let your intermediate students select one as a story starter!

• Intermediate students will enjoy making decisions in It's My Life - To Cheat or Not to Cheat!  Students will follow a day in the life of an undersea school student!  Students will choose their own answer and find out the consequences!

• Tie this book of the month into your classroom study of Abraham Lincoln when you read the book Learning About Honesty From the Life of Abraham Lincoln (BIO LINCOLN).  Suitable for kindergarten and primary students.