We all remember them: the books about a unique woman who defines "silly". Who hasn't rolled their eyes or laughed out loud at the absurdity of the infamous Amelia Bedelia? Well, we went back and read one of the humorous books and it was just as silly reading it as an adult. In fact, it even reminded us of a character on a popular t.v. show, New Girl. Zooey Deschanel plays Jess, an offbeat young woman who is, as portrayed in the meme below, a lot like Amelia Bedelia...
“What a beautiful farm,” said Mr. Rodgers.
“Yes,” said Amelia Bedelia.
“And what a nice bunch of cows.”
“Herd of cows,” said Mr. Rodgers.
“Heard of cows?” asked Amelia Bedelia.
“Of course I have heard of cows.”
“No,” said Mr. Rogers. “I mean a cow herd.”
“So what if a cow heard?” said Amelia Bedelia.
“I didn't say anything bad.”
Ah yes, we just love Amelia. In this particular story, Mr. Rogers offers to ride with Amelia Bedelia to visit her cousin's house because Amelia hasn't driven a car in a long time and may be out of practice. Little does he know, he's in for the ride of his life (see what we did there?). Their conversation, Mr. Rogers directions, and Amelia's understanding of things get them into some trouble, but they eventually make it to her cousin's house.
This piece of contemporary realistic fiction would be a useful book to introduce a lesson on directions or maps, like for social studies. It would be especially helpful to introduce or use for examples a lesson about homonyms, like in our excerpt of "herd" and "heard." Of course, there is the lesson about friendship, kindness, and community in the story, like when a tow truck worker sees Amelia on the side of the road with a flat tire and stops to help her (Mr. Rogers left her to go find help). The book is considered contemporary realistic fiction because the plot has a distinct order: build up to conflict, climax of conflict, and resolution. It has characters that have been developed through other books in the series, like Amelia, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, and even her cousin. The story has a distinct setting, namely a country road to her cousin's house. Last, but not least, there is a protagonist and an antagonist; interestingly, they are one in the same in this story, Ms. Amelia herself.
If you'd like a little taste of the fun and silliness of Amelia Bedelia, you can follow this link to part of the book we read: http://browseinside.harpercollinschildrens.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780688133580 .
I have never read Amelia Bedelia, but you make it sound interesting. I am sure kids will love this book because of the randomness and humor. I also like how this book teaches different forms of grammar like homonyms, which is an important concept for children to learn.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Novak
I have read most of the Amelia Bedelia books, including this one. I have to say that I have never thought of this as being a part of a Social Studies lesson, however, I agree that it could be a great book to intergrate into a lesson on directions; what a great idea. This book can be used for multiple subject areas and makes reading fun while learning.
ReplyDeleteI love Zooey Deschanel ! Y’all picked a great person who portrays Amelia Bedelia! I use to love reading Amelia Bedelia books and when y’all wrote a piece of the book in your blog it reminded me of how silly they were and why it grabbed my attention! I really liked how y’all said we could use part of this book to teach about homonyms! This would be a way to get the students attention instead of using an English or a Reading book! Great post guys!
ReplyDeleteI remember this book. Amelia Bedlia always makes me giggle. Really good job on your blog. If I had never read any of the stories this blog would have made me go check out the book. Also, thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to Amelia Bedlia, because all of my friends say that I take things way too literally! A fiction book like this is a great way for students to relate to the story. I would have the students write a list of different types of literal sayings to write their own short story version of Amelia Bedlia.
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