Hello, Universe

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. In what ways do people primarily communicate with others? What would be important to remember when communicating with someone who is deaf or has severe hearing loss?

Teaching Suggestion: Valencia, a major character in the novel, is deaf. She experiences bullying about her deafness and ultimately stands up to her bully. Learning more about the experiences of people in the Deaf community could guide students to more thorough analysis of the reading and increased compassion. After studying the resources here, students might brainstorm other related questions they have and continue researching.

• This 4-minute video from the BBC offers suggestions for communicating with people who are deaf.
• This brief resource from the National Association of the Deaf includes answers to some common questions. 

2. What might cause someone to bully others? How can someone be an upstander if witnessing bullying?

Teaching Suggestion: In the novel, Chet bullies multiple people, as does his father. While Valencia and Virgil stand up to Chet later, guiding students to reflect on this topic early can not only lead to higher levels of analysis during reading, but also increase classroom community. Students might expand this question into an activity taking an action against bullying in the school community. StopBullying.gov offers additional resources on different aspects of the topic.

• “Why Some Youth Bully” from StopBullying.gov presents peer, family, emotional, and school factors that can lead to someone bullying.
• This 6-minute video from PBS presents a scenario with and discusses bullying, then replays the scenario with a different outcome. 

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Reflect on the friendships in your life. What makes someone a “friend,” and how do friendships develop? What advice would you give to someone who wishes to befriend another person?

Teaching Suggestion: This question connects to the theme of Communication Challenges; some students may also see connections between this question and Cosmic Intervention. Encouraging students to focus on specific examples may help them strengthen their understanding of this abstract concept. You might consider asking the class to compile a list of ways people become friends. Students might also discuss the difference between friends and acquaintances. Later, when reading, the class might discuss the different characters and friendships that develop in the novel. Analyzing the poem “Sudden Friendship” would provide a chance to interact with a shorter text with related insights.

• “Sudden Friendship” by Elsa Gidlow explores the mystery of becoming friends.

Differentiation Suggestion: Auditory processors and students with musical talents might write or perform a song for this prompt. They could also choose a song on this topic to share with the class to analyze. Students with artistic learning styles or talents could create a drawing, painting, or graphic design about friendship and how it occurs.