Character Extension Project - Freak the Mighty

Let’s face it - everyone has pressures in their lives. True, some people’s burdens are heavier than others, but it is how we deal with these pressures that matters. Dealing with these difficulties can define us and make a difference in how we see life. When we meet these stressors head on we can learn about ourselves, others, and life in general. In Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick, Kevin has several pressures in his life, but one is so extremely difficult and yet, he deals with it so eloquently that he ends up teaching those around him life lessons.

In this book Maxwell Kane, a large, slow, kind-hearted eighth grader, meets his new neighbor, Kevin Avery, an extremely intelligent physically disabled boy (nicknamed Freak), and the two become fast friends.  Max just wants to live a normal life, while Kevin is looking to make a friend and make the best of his situation. Perhaps it is their oddities, Max’s learning disabilities, and Kevin’s physical disability- that bring them together, but these two misfits set out on many grand adventures together conquering anything put in their path. It is through the obstacles and pressures that they both face that we learn what it means to be strong.

Kevin’s has many pressure that afflict him. First of all, his father skipped out on him and his mom, the Fair Gwen, right after he was born. Loretta said, “Right after you was born. He (referring to his dad) must be a magician, because as soon as he heard the words ‘birth defect,’ he disappeared.” (pg. 71)  Another pressure for Kevin is that he struggles to make friends and is often bullied by others. When Max and Kevin are walking to watch the fireworks works on the 4th of July , Tony D and his gang start bullying them. Tony says, “Hey you! Mutt and Jeff! Frankenstein and Igor! Don’t look around, I’m talking to you, bone heads. What is this, a freak show?” (pg. 29) A third pressure for Kevin is his mother constantly worrying about him. The Fair Gwen is hugging Freak and she is saying, “I told you to stay in that car, didn’t I? Didn’t I? (pg. 134).

But those pressure are not even the worst of what Kevin has to handle. Kevin’s main pressure is that he suffers from Morquio Syndrome - a rare hereditary disease that causes deformity of the bones or skeleton and dwarfing. So how does Kevin deal with all of these pressures? He lives each day to the fullest using his imagination. It all started when Max puts Kevin on his shoulder - the two become Freak the Mighty - and go on quests slaying dragons and fools and walking high above the world(pg 40). But Kevin also creates this elaborate idea that he shares with Max. “I will enter that lab and become the first bionically improved human.” (pg 51)  After Kevin dies, Dr. Spivak explains to Max Kevin’s motivation behind the idea. She said, “I think he needed something to hope for and so he invented this rather remarkable fantasy you describe. Everybody needs something to hope for. Don’t call it a lie. Kevin wasn’t a liar.” (pg 157).
When examining how Kevin deals with these pressures, he serves as a mentor for all of us.  Even though he has a life more difficult than most can imagine, he sees the glass full and lives life to its fullest. We need to learn from Kevin and see all the possibilities life has to offer. We need to use our imagination and be the best that we can be.

Kevin's Pressures: Glogster

Max's Makeover: I-Movie

Max's Turning Points: Fakebook

Halloween Fun!

Air Ball

Personal Narrative Characteristics

After reading your personal narrative drafts, I want to review how writers choose to develop topics that are valuable or meaningful.  In other words, consider a story’s potential and why to tell that particular story.  

To do this, answer these questions:

• 

  Make sure you have all
  these characteristics
  in your personal narrative

  Which generating ideas do I have the most to say about?
• What mattered the most to me?
• Which story creates vivid images?

Let me show you how I did this with my drafts.

Which generating ideas do I have the most to say about?

• Playing basketball with Teresa - shirt/embarrassing moment
• Frank - my first love
• Richard - gingerbread houses

What mattered the most to me? Or why does this story matter?

• Frank
• Basketball - shirt/embarrassing moment

What did I learn/How did I grow from this experience? Which creates vivid images?

• Basketball - shirt/embarrassing moment

Now, I am ready to write my draft of my small moment about playing basketball with Teresa and loosing my shirt. Oh, how embarrassing!

Partner Talk

Now that we are reading the same book as our partner, it is time to talk about our books but to go beyond retelling and to really dig into our books.

In order to be successful with this we need to have the mini-lesson SOS in mind.

• Supplies - be sure to have the supplies that you need - book, reader's notebook, stickies, your log, pencil.
• On top of Reading - be sure to be on the same page as your partner. Do not read ahead!
• Something to say - be prepared with something to say. Use your stickies to make a strong claim and then find evidence (a quote) to support your claim.

Let the conversations begin. By having this in-depth conversation about your book, did you walk away with new ideas and thinking? I hope so!

Reading Responses - Stop Light Approach

When responding to our reading try using the stop light approach. Good readers respond to their reading by:

• Making strong claims
• Citing the text to support the claim
• Explaining the claim and quote in own words

In class we read "What's So Funny Mr. Scieskza?" and I provided samples of responses ( a low, medium, and high).  As you continue to write responses to your reading, use these samples to guide you. 

Low

Medium

High

About the Author

As a middle schooler, Mrs. Haas remembers getting her papers returned to her marked up in red ink clearly identifying her abuses of the written language: spellings slip-ups, grammatical gaffes and punctuation booboos.  Needless to say, author was not on her career choice list. However, encouraged by her large family of teachers (father and 7 out of 11 siblings), Mrs. Haas learned that writing is really about expressing the heart and not discovering errors. In fact, her childhood school experiences, frenzied family life, and past and current students provide her with a wealth of writing inspirations.  Some day she hopes to have her book about Third Culture Kids - Home published, but for now, she is content with her students being her audience. Mrs. Haas currently lives in Singapore with her mathematical marvel husband, Jim; gymnastic genius daughter, Taylor; and sport enthusiast son, Eli.