Summary: Richard Best has been held back in kindergarten and he is not happy about it. He is stuck in the same classroom with a bunch of “babies”. Richard is anxious on the first day to get outside and see his friends from last year. He skipped lunch to avoid sitting with the “babies”. Once recess began he rushed outside to play a game of baseball with his friends from last year. They were not very kind to Richard. He tried but they did not want to associated with a kindergartner. Richard was sad. He tried to lie but they didn’t believe him. From that point on he did everything he could to avoid them all. A new lady came into his classroom one day. She was the new reading teacher to take the children who were struggling. Richard and four other …show more content…
It could be a classroom/small group read. You can discuss with the students how Richards opinions about his situation change. How his character grows. You could read it to or suggest it to the parents of a student struggling with reading. A main focus in the book is Richards reading success. It mentions how happy he was when he finally was able to understand a specific concept. I think this book would do wonders for a student struggling in that area. Also you could use a Venn digram to compare the characters: Richard and Emily, Richard and Drake, Ms. Rooney and Mrs. Paris. The characters in the book are defined very well and the students would benefit from analyzing them. The book could be used to discuss being friendly, kind, and promote no bullying. Drake and several of his old classmates are very ugly to Richard, which makes him sad. Also, at the start of the book Richard dislikes Emily and Matthew but at the end of the book they become great friends! You can also take several writing prompts from the book. You can have the write about which teacher in the book is their favorite and why. Richard likes Mrs. Paris a lot the students writing can tell you what they look for in a good teacher. Students can write about how they would feel if they were Richard. They can write a letter to Richard giving him advice about what to do in his