Unit on Mrs. Frisby and the
Rats of NIMH, Racso and the
Rats
of NIMH, and R-T, Margaret
and the Rats of
NIMH
Noelle Wauer
Spring 2005
Reason why…
• I chose to do this project partially
because I really wanted to read the
second and third book because I enjoyed
the first one so much.
• I have always enjoyed series of books so
I thought I could begin reading different
series so I would know which ones I can
recommend to my students in the
future.
• I also thought it would be interesting to
incorporate the books into part of a unit,
that is at least partially planned.
Background
Information
• This project will take place after the
class/reading group reads all three
of the books
• Each student will be able to choose
which project they would like to do
and will also be able to suggest one
if they have a different idea that
they would rather do
Background
Information
• During this unit we will read all
three of the Rats of NIMH books
and will work on many different
projects along the way
• This project is just covering the
final project that students will be
asked to complete
Background
Information
• This unit will focus a lot on comparing
and contrasting, especially between the
three books
• We will also compare the writing styles
between Robert C. O’Brien (Robert Leslie
Conly) and his daughter Jane Leslie
Conly
• In this unit we will also talk about
making predictions, both within each
book and across different books
Final Projects
Predict which rats died in the explosion
in the first book and then write a reaction
to who actually died
• This project will give students an opportunity to make a
prediction while reading the first book and then write a
reaction to what actually happened after reading the
second book.
• The reaction will most likely be pretty personal because
the students will have hopefully formed attachments to
the characters so they will be worried/relieved about
who died. This type of ending leaves the reader wanting
to read the second book to see what happened.
Final Projects
Create a timeline across all three of
the books
• This timeline would be easiest/most efficient if
it was made while the student was reading
through all of the books so this project would
have to be decided on before we started reading
• Creating a timeline will give students some
sense of the order all of the events took place in
the book
• The student should try their best to place the
dates in some type of time order and should
also include short descriptions for each activity
• This will project will also show me which events
stood out and were most important to the
student
Final Projects
Write a paper on the roles humans
play in each book
(compare/contrast)
• Humans play many different roles in each of
the books so it would be interesting to see how
students conceptualize those roles
• The difference in roles is most noticeable
between the first book and the third book: in
the first book humans were not looked upon as
being very kind to the rats and in the third
book the rats form a very strong relationship
with two young kids
Final Projects
Write a paper that compares the way
different characters are portrayed
from book to book
• Some of the characters really change
over the course of the three books so it
would be interesting if students picked
two or three characters and wrote about
how they are the same or different in
each of the books
• Racso is one of the characters who changes
the most between the second book and the
third book
Final Projects
Research the two author’s lives and
either make a timeline of their lives
or write a paper about them
• This may be interesting to students especially
since the two authors are related.
• It may be interesting to find out how much
influence Robert had on Jane’s writing style. I
found one quote from her where she talks
about how her dad always told her to eliminate
unnecessary description (which he did very
well).
Final Projects
Write a paper comparing the
difficulties that the rats face across
the three books
• The rats face many different difficulties
in each of the books so it would be
interesting to pick two or three from
each book and write about how they are
different/same and why they believe the
author chose to use those situations.
Conclusion
• I wanted to create this unit as a way for
students to be introduced to series of
books
• I included many different choices for
final projects because I want students to
be really interested and put their full
effort into whatever project they choose