Dave is a member of the noisy, fifth grade classroom known as the Unshushables. While the rest of his classmates battle with the urge to talk continuously throughout the day Dave is intrigued by vowing one day a week to silence. His is inspired after reading about Gandhi and pledges that from now on he will dedicate a day each week to complete silence. If only Lynsey, the leader of the girls, would stay out of his way the argument in the lunchroom would have never started but in breaking his vow he must do something. This is where there bet is born. No talking will be advised for the next two days. The contest is to see who can talk less, boys or girls? Who will be the winner?
Websites
- "Author Andrew Clements is a genius. Like this one, his books are short, easy to read, and ear-to-ear-grinningly delightful. They have no villains, sex, violence, drugs, or off-color language or humor. And they are thought-provoking, funny, often moving, deeply wise, and diamond-sharp in their clarity and understanding of the world of middle-grade children." According to this testimony, checking out some of Andrew Clements other novels may be a worthwhile experience for your class. Start the search with his website.
- This guide also provides so ideas for great discussion questions and activities for you class to partake in after they have read No Talking.
Vocabulary
Students may find some of the following terms unfamiliar. Increase their understanding to foster comprehension by creating a No Talking word wall in your classroom.
- chaos
- discrimination
- hesitation
- immature
- inventive
- keen
- logical
- precise
- revolt
- solitary
- tolerance
- truce
Reading Activities
Before Reading
Create a crossword puzzle with new vocabulary words and their definitions. You may distribute photocopies to your class to be done in pairs. Once they have completed the activity, review the correct answers having them self-correct their mistakes in order for them to recognize the appropriate definitions later.
During Reading
During any sort of reading we constantly find ourselves creating vivid mental images through our own interpretations of what is happening within the story. Review with students the importance of such images. Then ask them to recreate the chapter that they are reading souly with illustrations, no words. This continues with the idea of no talking in addition to assessing their comprehension.
After Reading
The inspiration for no talking in this story comes from Mahatma Gandhi. Have students research Gandhi and other historical figures after having read this book. Once their research is complete have each student impersonate the figure that they have chosen, reflecting particularly upon something that they had done in their lifetime which students may find inspiring.