Forget Me Not
Written by Ellie Terry & published by Feiwell and Friends, ©2017
​
Grade Level: 4-6 Small Group Read
Lexile Score: HL670L Accelerated Reader: 4.1
​
Calliope June has never stayed in one place too long. When her mother decides to move their small family again, Calliope must enroll in a new school, becoming the new kid, for the tenth time. Being the new kid comes with its own set of challenges for Calli because she has Tourette Syndrome. While Calli navigates finding new classes and making new friends, her neighbor, Jinsong, seems to be the only one who understands her. Finally, as she begins to settle in to her new town and find her place, Calli learns she might be moving again, away from what she has just begun to love.
Key words/phrases: Tourette Syndrome, family, new kid, challenges, & growth
Suggestions for the Classroom
This video, from HiHo Kids, features elementary and middle school age children meeting a woman with Tourette Syndrome. This video can be shown to students before reading the text because it provides a strong, student-friendly information on Tourette Syndrome.
This image links you to a kidshealth.org page that provides student-friendly information about the tics that come with Tourette Syndrome.
click the image to be linked to the website
click the image to be linked to the website
This image links you to a free PDF resource for educators about poetry for students. Forget Me Not is written almost entirely in free verse poetry, and this resource provides information about free verse and other poem types.
SUGGESTED COMMON CORE STATE STANDARD:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.5
Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall
structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.
KEY VOCABULARY
Billow: to move as a large cloud
Intrusive thoughts: unwanted or uncontrollable thoughts that cause stress or fear
Jerk: a quick and sudden movement
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): a condition that causes people to have unwanted
thoughts, feelings, and fears called obsessions To relieve these obsessions, people often
complete behaviors called compulsions (like cleaning, or checking/re-checking things)
Tic: an uncontrollable movement or sound that is made suddenly
Tourette Syndrome: a condition that causes people to have tics, like blinking over and over
again or clapping hands
COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES
Before Reading: Complete a read aloud of the short book Tic Talk: Living With Tourette Syndrome, A 9 Year-Old Boy's Story in His Own Words written by Dylan Peters. As suggested by the title, this is a book written by a nine year old boy with Tourette Syndrome. The book tells Dylan's story, from being diagnosed with Tourette's to where he was at the time he authored the book. Reading this text with students will help provide them with background knowledge on Tourette Syndrome and scaffold their reading of Forget Me Not.
During Reading: Divide students into pairs for the reading of the book. Periodically throughout the text, have the students individually write a letter that (1) quickly summarizes what happened in that section of the text, and (2) states their thoughts on and interpretations of the events that occurred. The students will then share their letter with their partner and compare/contrast how their thoughts differed from their partner's thoughts.
After Reading: Instruct students to write a letter from Calli's point of view to Jinsong or vice versa. Students should use what they have learned about both of these characters to craft the letter in a style that their chosen character may have written in. Then, using Voki, a free website for educators and students, have students create their character and record a reading of their letter.
WRITING ACTIVITY FOR INFERENTIAL COMPREHENSION:
After reading the text, have students craft letters to the author, Ellie Terry. These letters can include a variety of things, like the students' thoughts on and interpretations of the text, what they've learned from reading the book, their favorite part, questions they have regarding the events and/or characters, and more! Make sure to send the letters when students finish.