BDA: Down the Rabbit Hole

Here are some Before, During, and After activities for Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams:

Before You Begin Reading…
Complete one of the following activities.

1. What do you know about the book Alice in Wonderland? Who are the characters? What happens to Alice? Write at least half a page.


2. What sports do you play? Describe a great moment you had competing in a sport. Describe a disappointing moment. Complete at least half a page.


3. Describe any problems you have had getting along with your brothers or sisters. Why do you think you have trouble? Write a minimum of half a page.


4. Have you ever kept a secret? How did it feel to keep the secret? Were you tempted to share the secret? What was the secret about? Is keeping a secret always the best thing to do? Why or why not? Write at least half a page.

While You Are Reading…
Complete one of the following activities.

1. Ingrid likes to notice “the trifles” about people. Keep track of specific details about each character as you read the book. What do you think each trifle might mean?
   
   • Character Name
   
   
   • Trifles (details) about the character
   
   
   • What the trifles might mean


2. Fill out a chart with the following information as you read the story:
   
   • Vocabulary Word
   
   
   • How does the word relate to the story?


3. As you read the story, keep a Clue Journal. Make a list of all the clues. Then, at the end of each chapter, write at least a paragraph about what you think the clues might mean. Explain your reasoning.


4. Pretend you write for the school newspaper. Write stories for at least 7 important events/issues in the book. You can write about sporting events, local mysteries, school issues, local events, etc.


5. If you were in Ingrid’s position, would you choose to do the same things that she chooses? At the end of each chapter, describe the problem Ingrid is faced with. What would you have done if you were in the same situation?

When You Have Finished Reading…
Complete one of the following activities.

1. Investigate one of the following topics and create a poster, give an oral report, or write a report.
   
   • Sports and Pressure to Perform
   
   
   • Why Art is Important to My Community
   
   
   • Sherlock Holmes
   
   
   • Commercial Development vs. Natural Environment: Pros and Cons to Development
   
   
   • Socioeconomic Issues in My Community


2. Write an alternate ending to the book. Write your own chapters 29 and 30.


3. Research the poems used in the book. Make a display that answers the following questions for each poem:
   
   • What is the name of the poem?
   
   
   • Who is the author?
   
   
   • When was the poem written?
   
   
   • What is the poem about?
   
   
   • Why do you think Peter Abrahams used this poem in the book?
   
   
   • Did you learn any other interesting facts about the poem?


4. Write a letter to one of the main characters discussing what you think about one of the following issues:
   
   • Commercial Development
   
   
   • Money Issues
   
   
   • Sports Pressures
   
   
   • Rules


5. Pretend you are the producer/director of the movie adaptation of this book. Choose actors to play each role. Choose locations for shooting the movie. Make at least 2 movie poster mock-ups. Write a short paper describing why you chose the actors and locations that you did.

Metaphor Mystery Poem

How to write a metaphor mystery poem:

1. Pick a thing to describe. This is the title of your poem.


2. Brainstorm. Write down as many things as you can that are like your subject in some way. Think about how the things are similar.


3. Pick at least 5 of the things you wrote down during the last step.


4. Create the lines of your poem from the five things.


5. Now, you can read the lines of your poem to people and see if they can guess the mystery subject, the title of your poem.

Examples: (See if you can guess the subject of each poem. The answers are below, written backwards.)

Poem 1:

Cotton balls
Fuzzy rabbit tails
Grandfather's whiskers
Spun sugar
White paint spattered on a workman's blue jeans

Poem 2:

Heartbeat
Steady drummer
Metronome
Ticking bomb
Rooster crow

Poem Example 1: SDUOLC
Poem Example 2: KCOLC