The month of April, we will explore the book
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes and Louis Slobodkin
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes and Louis Slobodkin is a Newbery Honor award winner and a classic children's book in the genre of realistic fiction.
The story's main character Wanda Petronski, a Polish-American girl from a poor family, is teased by classmates at school for being different and for saying she has one hundred dresses at home while she is wearing the same faded dress to school every day. Only after Wanda's absence from school do Maddie and Peggy find out the true story about the one hundred dresses and try to make amends.
To begin a unit, invite your homeschooler to PREDICT what will happen in the book just by looking at the cover and by reading the short description above.
There are no wrong answers and answers can be long or as short, but make sure you don't skip this step!! It's important in your journey through the book.
Further discussion topics for before reading:
• Has anyone ever made fun of you? How did that feel?
• Have you ever seen anyone get made fun of or called names?
• Do you know any children that wear the same clothes over and over again? Why do they do that?
Discussion topics for during/after reading:
• Why did Peggy make fun of Wanda?
• Why did Wanda make up that story about the dresses?
• Why did Maddie stand by and not do anything?
• What would you have done instead? Do you think you would have done anything different?
• What can you do when you should have done something, but you didn?t, and now it?s too late?
Craft ideas:
• Write the letter Maddie should have written.
• Have a contest for designing dresses and motor boats.
Further Activities and Lesson Plans: