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. What social and emotional benefits do children receive from family members? What challenges result when the family structure is not consistent or present?

Teaching Suggestion: Dallas and Florida are orphans who have been physically and emotionally abused by their foster families and caretakers. As a result, the children have difficulty trusting adults. While being sensitive to students whose circumstances may resonate with the characters, students might address this prompt with silent reflection and a private response; in following up, small groups might share ideas on the importance and benefits of family relationships, and the larger group might contribute the possible impacts of a lack of family support on children in a teacher-led discussion. These resources for teachers might provide additional context, discussion points, and/or language/vocabulary.

• This article explores the connection between strong family bonds and child success (teacher-appropriate; not student-facing).
• This article discusses the benefits to spending time with family.

2. What benefits might people derive from nature? Does nature have community-building or social benefits?