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Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You Summary

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Book Review of Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You
Summary
How does the book depict individuals with a disability or the family?
Throughout the book, DeClements portrays the main character, Helen, as the class clown resulting from her escape from reading due to her reading difficulties. Although, the school’s administration and current and past teachers have suggested evaluations for Helen’s reading difficulties, Helen’s mother insists on teaching Helen herself opposed to a special education class. Unfortunately, the assistance from Helen’s mother has not improved Helen’s reading or grades. While DeClements demonstrates Helen’s mother as the dominant figure of the family and against special education for Helen due to her above-average intelligence, Helen’s father is portrayed in a passive manner. Therefore he acquiesces to his …show more content…

Within the teaching profession, an educator could recommend Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You to students and/or parents who may be struggling with entering into special education. An additional approach to incorporate the book through teaching is have students read the book and then discuss focusing on the social skills aspect, specifically how to deal with frustration, how to ask for help and how to deal with teasing.
How would you rate this book 1 – 10 (10 being the best book)? Why?
In rating this book, Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You scores an 8. Albeit the story provided entertainment through the use of humor and illustrating realistic problems, it lacked details in the special education class and why Helen’s mother would not agree to testing for special education. In 2014, parents challenged school libraries near Twin Cities, MN to remove Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You due to the use of the word “retard”, fortunately, the request failed and the books remain in the school libraries. While, the term is now considered offensive, it was acceptable at the time the book was

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