A Note To Teachers:

Thank you for assigning There Are No Words to your students. I’d like to give you a brief background into the book and why I wrote it for the middle grade and young adult age group.

My son was diagnosed with autism (Asperger’s Disorder) in the fall of 2000 when he was in the first grade. Generally accepted and if not understood, tolerated, by his classmates, he thrived in elementary school. The day he stepped foot into middle school, he wore a “kick me” sign on his back and received the nickname “Retard.” You should understand that my son is a straight A student, participated in the Talented and Gifted Program, and his IQ measures one point below a genius. This was a troubling development for our family.

We encouraged our son to finish his sixth grade year at the school. We simply will not allow our boys to quit something once they start. You might say that he had a full year of character development. That year was tough, and I promised my son that together, we would turn that rotten year into something positive.

The last day of school, I gave my son two choices. He could either change schools or be home schooled for the following year. He chose home schooling, and I began researching curricula for middle school.

We spent two lovely years together, learning, laughing, traveling and advancing academically. (He wasn’t one of those home schooled kids who finish up at noon.) In addition to his regular curriculum, he took a variety of coursework on the college level, and if he finished before 2:30, I had plenty of extra work he could do. He is self-motivated, and we got along fine.

Ninth grade arrived, and my son went back to school. Uneventfully. Happily. He’s second in his class of 440.

During my two years at home with my son, I started thinking about students with disabilities. Every kid knows it’s bad form to pick on someone in a wheelchair or another visible disability. Somehow, though, “invisible disabilities” are still fair game.

One child in every 150 births has some form of autism. I’m not sure the statistics on other developmental disabilities, but I think I would be safe in saying that there are more students with developmental disabilities than physical disabilities in any school system today. The time to begin educating neurotypical peers is now.

I realize that you are severely limited in your time, and that is why I’ve done my homework. Using the content standards and objectives required by your state board of education, I’ve created a curriculum guide that will help you meet or exceed what is required of you in Language, English, Social Studies, and to a lesser extent, Science and Art.

Feel free to use this guide with your students in the way that best suits your classroom. Below you will find just one suggestion of how this guide might be used.

1. Teachers should assign the section for reading listed under each chapter heading.

2. Students should write down or underline words they don’t know in the chapter. They should look up each word and create a notebook of vocabulary for the book. Teachers may assign students to write sentences using these new vocabulary words. I have included definitions of the words within the curriculum guide for each chapter. The words appear in the curriculum guide in the same order they appear in the book.

3. Many states require seventh and eighth-grade students to begin identifying Latin and Greek roots. If you require your student to identify these roots, you will find that most all of the vocabulary words also include the etymology for that word. My hope is that this will save you a lot of time. If your students are not required to identify Latin or Greek word roots, using word roots is a great way to identify new vocabulary. This guide will help them do that.

4. Most all states require students between fourth and eighth grade to begin looking for literary elements and figurative language within the books assigned to them. I have sifted through each page of There Are No Words for you, and have indicated in this curriculum guide the page number and paragraph of literary elements, figurative language and points to highlight. Should you be unfamiliar with the literary terms listed, please go to http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/2715.html to review.

5. Students are asked to compare and contrast characters. This process becomes easier when students keep a notebook page about each character. They should write down important physical characteristics and personality traits.

6. Students are asked to interpret information in the book and make connections to themselves, the text and the world.

7. Students are asked to create timelines and label them as the story progresses. Labeling diagrams and using resource materials, such as technology and computers are standards and objectives for every state and every school system. This guide incorporates these standards and objectives where possible.

8. Students are asked to write narratives in several places throughout the curriculum guide. These assignments can help you see whether the book’s main points are being understood. Please feel free to make up your own writing assignments or alter those suggested to better fit your age group and classroom. Wherever possible, students should use the five-step writing process. If you choose to have me come to your school to talk to your class, I will discuss the writing process with students.

9. My pet peeve with the curriculum guides I’ve seen is… they try to spoon feed all the answers to teachers and students. The purpose of my book is to encourage students to think… really think… about the world in which they live. Therefore you will notice that not all the questions asked in the guide are answered. I’d rather they be discussed in your classroom than marked “right” or “wrong.” The terms “right” and “wrong” are, after all, relative terms based on the society in which we live. There are parts of this book that illustrate very “wrong” behaviors, but because of the historical context in which they occur, they were considered “right” at the time.

I hope you enjoy reading There Are No Words with your students. I’d love to hear from you. Often I can arrange to speak to your class, if my schedule allows. Nothing makes me happier than talking to a group of students about writing. You can contact me at www.marycalhounbrown.com to schedule a visit.

Read pages 11-20

1. Identify vocabulary- Students should look up words listed below and use them each in a sentence of their own. Older students should be able to identify Latin and/or Greek roots.

2. Page 11, paragraph 1: identify simile: “like a fly looking down.”

3. Page 11, paragraph 2: go over description of carpet.

Author is comparing carpet to time and people.

“folding back against itself” describes what time will do in this book.

The carpet is “singular, yet connected to all the others,” refers to people and time.

“Or they don’t notice it at all” shows that Jaxon is ignored.

4. Page 11, paragraph 3: The description of the oil painting shows that it will be an important element in the book. Foreshadowing.

5. Page 11, paragraph 4: She really has to stare at the painting before you notice the white and black. In this section, the author is pointing out that you have to really get to know someone before you can appreciate them. Symbolism.

6. Page 12, paragraph 2: This passage gives a tiny glimpse into how everyday occurrences can affect someone with autism.

7. Page 12, paragraph 2: “It makes me want to cry, but I don’t cry anymore.” This shows that Jaxon has experienced loss.

8. Page 12, paragraph 3: “I am a very good listener,” alludes to the fact that Jaxon does not speak.

9. Page 12, paragraph 4: “I belong here,” this statement foreshadows Jaxon’s choice at the end of the book.

10. Page 13, paragraph 1: “eyes are the windows of the soul,” Metaphor.

11. Page 13, paragraph 1: “He looks like a completely different person without his glasses,” evidence that Jaxon might not recognize her grandfather without his glasses.

12. Page 13, paragraph 3: “Grandpa talks to me all the time even though I can’t talk back to him,” evidence of being nonverbal.

13. Page 14: Begin a comparison study in a notebook between Jaxon’s mother, Jaxon’s grandmother and Sarah’s mother. Have students write down observances about each character on a separate page.

14. Page 15, paragraph 1: “like particles of dust dancing in the sunlight of early fall,” Simile.

15. Page 15, paragraph 2: “None of it is in color,” and “I close my eyes and run my hands…..Both sides feel exactly the same.” What do these passages say about race from Jaxon’s perspective?

16. Page 16, paragraph 3: Students should research Eleanor Roosevelt and her family.

17. Page 16, last paragraph: How can you tell the newspaper is old?

18. Page 17, paragraph 1: The four pieces of the newspaper represent the 4 main characters.

18. Page 17, paragraph 1: The word “broken,” standing alone, foreshadows the train.

19. Page 17, paragraph 4: Evidence of autism

20. Page 17, paragraph 5: “I jump,” foreshadowing.

21. Page 17, last paragraph: Add the descriptions of Jaxon’s grandmother to your notebook. Two places in this paragraph foreshadow Sarah… whistling an unrecognizable tune, and wearing a ring she never removes. Also, there is a section about Jaxon’s grandmother’s weight which shows why Jaxon does not recognize Sarah as her grandmother.

22. Page 18, paragraph 2: What kind of house is this? Sorority house?

23. Page 18, paragraph 2: “like little mice” Simile.

24. Page 18, last paragraph: onomatopoeia.

25. Page 19, first paragraph: “trouble of landing” foreshadowing

26. Page 19, first paragraph: “grunt” indicates being nonverbal.

adjective

Etymology: ME plyande < MFr, prp. of plier: see pliable

adjective

Etymology: ME < MFr or L: MFr regal < L regalis < rex (gen. regis), a king, akin to regere, to rule: see right