I have completed all roles involved in a Literary Circle while reading Cynthia Lord's Rules chapters 1-11. The roles made more sense as I completed them. They definitely helped me process the material. I am only halfway through the book. I can't wait to see where the story goes and what becomes of our Literary Circle!

• Travel Tracer-carefully track the action in words or diagrams

                              1) Mom is in the kitchen prepping burgers for tomorrow cookout (hoping the new neighbors will                                                   join)
                                  Dad is outside teaching David how to hit tennis balls
                                  Catherine is trying to invite the new neighbors to the cookout without being embarrassed by her                                                brother while doing it
                               2) Occupational Therapy Clinic(this setting has been described in the first five chapters)
                                  David and his mom are there, but the focus is on Catherine and Jason's positive interaction (which is                                         surprising, because Catherine began the 
                                  chapter eager to spend David's appointment at the park)
                               3a) Home where David is in the living room watching a section of Thomas the Tank Engine over and                                              over
                                      Mom is in her office, on the phone, working (we learn that Mom keeps a puzzle in the office as an                                             emergency distraction, because David's autism will not allow him to just leave the pieces as they                                               are. More details on page 86).
                                       Catherine is supposed to watch David, but wants to work on Jason's cards at her desk, so she props                                            a mirror so she can do both
                               3b) Kristi enters Catherine's house where the two girls spend time in Catherine's room exclusively (with                                           a couple of interrupted visits by David)
                                      (The setting of Catherine's room was described in the first five chapters.)
                               4a) Catherine goes to Kristi's house because Catherine's house is so chaotic. They go straight to Kristi's                                            room, "Kristi's room looks like a page from a catalog, the sort of shiny catalog I get in the mail and                                          can only afford a toothbrush or a poster from. But Kristi's new pink-swirled curtains match the fat                                            comforter on her bed, which matches the pink and blue rug on her floor. It's all beautiful, but what I                                          envy most is the nice row of things on her bureau. Photographs, makeup, her jewelry tree, and a long                                        row of nail polish bottles--everything out in the open, not jumbled in drawers like mine, out of                                                  David's sight" (Lord, 2006, p.90).
                               4b) Kristi's Garage/ Driveway where Kristi and Catherine play Basketball
                               5)   Catherine goes home from spending time with Kristi around dinner-time to learn Jason was                                                       disappointed she wasn't there and brought carrots for Catherine's guinea pigs.
                               6)   Occupational Therapy Clinic-The focus is entirely on Catherine and Jason this time. Catherine brings                                       her guinea pig to make up for not showing up and she gives him the cards she made and they                                                     have a nice conversation. Catherine asks to go to the mall to pick up supplies to make more                                                       cards for Jason.

• Connector-Find connections between you and the book, the book and the world

In these five Chapter Catherine deals with a lot of internal struggles. She has put a lot of hope in making a new friend next door and imagining the things they can do together. When Catherine meets Kristi she "knows she will be popular" (Lord, 2006, pp.79-80). Think causes Catherine to realize Kristi will not be the person she imagined Kristi to be in her head and she worries even more about how David acts. Catherine is excited about the opportunity to become friends with a popular girl, but deals with the internal conflict of what she will have to do differently to have such a friendship. For example, Catherine will need to be more selfish. She choose to go to Kristi's house instead of going to OT to bring Jason his new cards and she knew she was being selfish and possibly hurtful in that choice. Also, Kristi has become friends with Ryan who has been mean to David and Catherine does not like for this reason, but Catherine says nothing about this because she wants to be accepted in Kristi's world, even if Ryan is a part of it. Kristi needles Catherine on the point of if she has a boyfriend named Jason and Catherine is uncomfortable with this question, more uncomfortable than the reader would expect. Catherine lets Kristi think Jason is her boyfriend thinking they will meet, but the summer dance at the community center has been foreshadowed for the second time. 

Growing up, we all want that opportunity to live next door to our best friend and have flashlight signals through our window. I actually got to do this. I had my best friend who lives 2 streets down from me in my neighborhood. She then moved into the house next door, and her bedroom window was facing mine, so we actually could have flashlight signals. We were fifth graders at the time, so it really was the coolest thing in the world. Little did we know that this was a temporary, "stepping stone" move, where they were renting until they found a house all the way in Florida. So I was able to experience the dream situation for about 6 months but I paid a big price: my best from moved far away for good.

In a more general sense, I think everyone tries to "play it cool." We all have a deep desire to fill our sense of belonging, especially at Catherine's age. Catherine's world is different than most of her peers, and she worries about things that most people do not have to worry about. This chapter shows how frustrated that makes her. When she chooses to be selfish, she finds it to be a freeing experience, but it is likely because she knows how temporary is. Catherine never explicitly says or wonders what it would feel like to be selfish all of the time/only have to worry about yourself all of the time. I think this is because she loves her brother and takes her roles as big sister very seriously, as frustrating as it may be, she does not wish David away. Regardless, I don't think any reader is surprised by Catherine's actions or word choices when talking to Kristi as she is clearly trying very hard to fit in and be liked by Kristi. We have all been there. This is the most relatable experience in the world (I know that is hyperbolic, but it is such a relatable experience!) 

• Director-Develop questions and lead the discussion
• Can you relate to Catherine trying hard to fit-in with Kristi? How important is it to belong with the right crowd at school?
• Do you find it interesting that Kristi is the new kid in town and Catherine is the one working so hard to be friends with her? Why do you think that is?
• Catherine does not really know what Kristi likes or is like, but she guesses. Have you every done that and have gone through a lot of trouble trying to be someone else for nothing?
• Catherine is very perceptive and empathetic about a lot of things, why do you think interacting with her regular peers is a blind spot for her?
• Catherine's words for Jason are helping him have a personality. The words before helped him ask for his basic needs, but not to express himself. Catherine immediately felt that if she were in him place, she would want to be able to express herself. What are some other words you could add to Jason's book that would help him to express himself and reveal his personality? (Think about what personality is and the kinds of words that go with types of personalities...we do not know what kind of personality Jason has, so we need to give him plenty of options!)
• If you had a communication board, what would be the most important words for you to have to express yourself/people to understand who you are and what you care about (you don't need to put words for obvious daily care and needs)?

• Summarizer-summarize reading

Catherine hopes to meet her new neighbor and make a good first impression. She learns that Kristi spends some of her time with her Dad in another place (but her parents are not officially divorced, but separated/taking a break) (Lord, 2006, p.92). Catherine goes to Occupational Therapy and brings some new cards and illustrations for Jason. She also plays a song for him by letting him use her CD player but feels weird about touching his hair. They have a nice interaction and she asks to make even more cards for Jason. The next day is rather chaotic at home because Mom is in her home office on the phone working and David is watching a section of a video over and over, and Catherine is supposed to be watching David, but she also wants to work on Jason's cards at her desk. Much to Catherine's surprise, Kristi comes inside the house and introduces herself. Catherine is very nervous about David embarrassing her because Kristi is someone who "will be popular" (Lord, 2006, pp.79-80). Catherine decides to spend time with Kristi instead of going to Occupational Therapy as planned to give Jason his new cards. Catherine and Kristi go to Kristi's bedroom and then Kristi's driveway to play basketball. During that time Catherine tries hard to be the kind of person that Kristi would find to be "cool." She didn't say anything bad about Ryan because Kristi seemed to like him even though Catherine did not because he is mean to David. Kristi put Catherine in a corner and she admitted that Jason was her boyfriend because Kristi saw Catherine's sketchpad (Catherine was more rattled by this than the reader would expect). Catherine returns home around dinnertime and Catherine's mom reports that Jason was disappointed, but brought carrots for Catherine's guinea pigs. Catherine goes to the next Occupational Therapy session to see Jason, give him the cards, apologize for not coming when she said she would, thank him for the carrots, and bring in her guinea pig to show. They have a nice time "talking" and Catherine resolves she has a lot more words she would like to make Jason.

Today (Wednesday) I will continue to post on Cynthia Lord's Rules Chapter's 6-11

This time, I will take on the following roles of our Literary Circle:

• Summarizer-summarize reading
• Director-Develop questions and lead the discussion
• Connector-Find connections between you and the book, the book and the world
• Travel Tracer-carefully track the action in words or diagrams

Illustrator-draw or find pictures related to the reading
Researcher- Dig up/discover background information that is relevant to the reading

Catherine has a Georgia O'Keeffe calendar in her room. It inspires her; Catherine say her dream is "to be an artist and have people gasp when they see my paintings, like I do on the first day of each month" (Lord, 2006, p.50)

Georgia O'Keefe-Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American artist. She was best known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been recognized as the "Mother of American modernism".(Wikipedia.org)

1918 Photograph by Alfred Stieglitz/Blue and Green Music,1921/Inside Red Canna,1919 (Wikipedia.og)