Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered

Use this activity to engage all types of learners. Ask students to refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“A Slideshow of Impacts”

In this activity, students will create a timeline of the key events of the novel to demonstrate how they helped in the transformation of the protagonist over his summer with the Larsons.

When the protagonist arrives on the farm, he is nervous and unsure of the Larsons. Throughout his time there, the protagonist takes risks, experiences emotional changes, and finds himself experiencing a true family for the first time.

• Create a digital slideshow or physical poster of the key events in the novel.
• Each point on your timeline should include a description of the event, how it connects to one or more themes, and why this event was important for the protagonist.
• Consider the entire scope of the novel when creating your timeline, beginning when the protagonist first arrives on the farm and ending with his departure at the end of the novel.
• Your timeline should have at least six key events on it, but you are welcome to add more.

After completing your timeline, present it to the class. Compare your selected events to those of your peers. How do the different timelines represent both individual and comprehensive facets of the story?

Teaching Suggestion: Before students start this activity, it may be helpful to have an in-class brainstorming discussion to ground students in thinking about which events were important and why. This activity can help gauge students’ level of understanding of the novel’s themes and how they are portrayed, and how to determine important moments in a work of fiction.