Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY 1: “Beartown Topic News Report”

In this activity, students will select a topic that appears in or is related to Beartown, research that topic, and write a news-style article about that topic.

Beartown contains many topics with which some readers may be unfamiliar, ranging from hockey to Sweden to sexual assault. Pick a topic of interest that appears in the novel and write a news-style article about that topic for a student about to read the novel.

• Pick a topic that interests you.
• Research that topic using library or internet resources.
• Draft, revise, and edit a brief article discussing that topic.
• Compile your article with those of your fellow students in a display of topics on the novel.

Share your topics with your classmates to learn about other topics that appear in Beartown. Does the added information help you to understand or think differently about the plot or conflicts of Beartown?

Teaching Suggestion: It may help to host a brainstorming session to generate research topic ideas. This is also a good opportunity to talk with students about reliable sources for information.