ABC READER’S OUTLINE
Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
Topic
Goals
Preparing for Lesson
(45 minutes)
Conversation Starters
(5-15 minutes)
Details
 Celebrate students’ heroes.
 Recognize teachers as UPstanders and their efforts to create a caring school climate.
 Identify personal strengths to help overcome difficulties.
 Build empathy for students with learning challenges.
 Generate ways to be UPstanders when faced with cyberbullying.
 Review and practice the ABC tools learned this year.
Review lesson plan, collect materials needed, and read the book at least once.
Contact Teacher
 Welcome feedback from last lesson (Sebastian’s Rollerskates).
 Set time and date for next reading.
Prepare Parent Letter
 Make copies and sign parent letter for every child in classroom.
 Attach a copy of the ABC Student Toolkit (from the website).
 Create a short personal email to send to every parent and attach parent letter.
(Send this out as soon as the classroom lesson is over.)
Have all students put on nametags (Unless you know the name of EVERY child.).
Ask the students about last month’s book (Sebastian’s Rollerskates).
 Does anyone remember what the story was about?
 Tell the students about something new you tried in the last month. It could be
something at work, home, or anywhere else. What happened?
 Ask the students if anyone tried anything new in the last month? How did it go?
 Is there something you want to try but just haven’t had time or the courage? What
would be a first step that you can take?
Conversation Starter
1. On the board write the sentence: M krfro ips p ewoetr nxs.
2. Ask the students if they can read it.
3. Explain that the main character in this book has trouble learning to read. When she
looks at a page in a book, the letters all swim together and make no sense. She feels
frustrated and sad that she does not understand like the other kids in her class.
4. As students work through this, give them verbal encouragement.
5. Have you ever had a time when you felt like you just could not learn something?
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Introduction to Book
and Reading
(15 minutes)
Discussion Questions
(5-10 minutes
depending on grade
level)
Maybe it was jump rope, or chess or how to throw a football? How does learning
something that is hard for you make you feel?
6. Explain that all brains are not alike. The brain stores memory, like a computer, and
tells the body what to do. The girl in this story has trouble learning to read. Luckily,
someone helps her find the way her brain learns best.
For older students:
7. How do you handle the pressures of high expectations from yourself, your parents,
your teachers, your peers or others?
8. Tell about a time you challenged and motivated yourself to learn or do something that
was really difficult.
 Display ABC Year 3 Toolkit and review what was learned this year.
 Tell the students this book is based on the true story of the author’s life.
 This book is about a person with learning difficulties and her experiences growing up.
 As you read the book, think about the ABC tools in your tool belt that deal with teasing
and bullying. Think about ways you could be an UPstander, if you saw this happening
at our school.
Consider showing this story being read by an actress from the Screen Actor’s Guild:
http://www.storylineonline.net/thank-you-mr-falker/
1. How did Trisha’s family feel about reading?
2. What sweet tradition did they have to celebrate a family member becoming a reader?
3. Do you have any family traditions that revolve around reading or school?
4. How did not being able to read make Trisha feel?
5. How did Trisha’s family and Mr. Falker help her?
Continue For Older Students
6. What did Trisha’s grandma mean when she said, “To be different is the miracle of
life.”?
7. Who helps you when you struggle to learn something?
8. Why doesn’t everyone learn at the same rate or time?
9. What can you do when it is hard to learn something?
bucket fill, positive self-talk, clear thoughts, stand tall, setting a goal, director of your
feelings, do your best, tap into your positive power
10.As a result of not being able to read, what happens to Trisha at school?
11.If you were a bystander to someone being teased, what tools have you learned this
year and in past ABC years, that could have helped Trisha deal with the teasing from
the other students?
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Group Activity
Option 1:
Recommended
Grades: K-8
(10-15 minutes)
Thank You to a Caring Person
Materials: samples of thank you cards, thank you cards or paper to make thank you notes,
crayons, markers, stamps, envelopes
Ask students: (Write responses on board)
 Who are some important people who support and teach you?
 Who has helped you learn something- schoolwork, a sport, or a special skill?
 How do they make you feel?
 What do they do or say that makes you feel special?
Activity:
 Write or draw a thank you letter to this person.
 This caring person can be someone who is currently in your life or someone who has
helped you before.
 Teachers, school staff, coaches, family members, neighbors and others may not know
how much you appreciate what they have done to help you learn!
 On your note, draw a special picture or decorate your paper with meaningful words or
designs. With your writing, be specific and say exactly what they have done to help
you and how they have made you feel.
 If there is time, have students share their letters in small groups.
Preparing a poster with a sample letter will generate some ideas:
Dear ___,
I want to thank you for helping me _____.
Before you helped me, I felt _____.
While you were helping me, I felt _____.
Now I am feeling _____.
I think you are _____.
Alternative: (for younger students)
Materials: Make Copies of Bucket Grams (from website)
 Remind the students of the Have You Filled A Bucket Today book.
 Talk about actions and words that fill people’s buckets with good thoughts and
feelings.
 May is Teacher Appreciation month. Have students fill out (or help them fill out) a
bucket gram for their teacher, former teacher, or other caring adult on campus.
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Group Activity Option
2:
Recommended
Grades: 3-8
(15-20 minutes)
Three Minute Huddle
(3 minutes)
Deciphering Codes
Materials: Copies of Deciphering Codes Worksheet from website (DO NOT PRINT THESE
DOUBLE SIDED)
 Talk about codes and how they have been used to send messages.
 Explain that letters make up a code.
 READERS: READ THIS CAREFULLY
For some, like Trisha, it is hard to decipher the code. To help students understand
what it might be like to have this problem, you are going to give them something to
read without giving them the cipher to solve the sentence. Pass out the worksheet
(page 1 only). Have them try to read it. Don’t tell them that there is a decoder. Give
them 5 minutes to decipher the code quietly at their desk and not look at anyone else.
Then discuss:
 What happened? Did anyone decode the message?
 How did they feel?
 In addition to reading, what other areas of learning are hard for them—music, art,
science, math, physical activities?
Now tell them you have something that might help them!
 Divide the group into pairs and pass out the decoder.
 Have them work together to decipher the code.
 What does it say?
 How did it feel now to work with a partner?
 What is the difference between having NO deciphering tool and having the tool?
 Have students share one new thing they will commit to do to be an UPstander to
change their perception of someone.
 Pair share this with the person sitting next to them.
 Have the students choose one adult on the school campus to fill their bucket by the
end of the day!
 Pair share this with the person sitting next to them.
 If you are leaving the class at recess break, ask students to line up and give you a
high-five on the way out of class.
 Take this moment to make eye contact with and thank each of the UPstanders as they
leave for recess.
 If they are not leaving for recess, walk around the room and high five every student as
this is your last book for the year!
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