Use these activities 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: “Smells Like (Pre)Teen Spirit”

“Boys and Girls” explores the intersections between growing up, seeing your parents in a new light, and learning your role in a new, if not always authentic, light. This story’s themes are relatable to children and adolescents all over the world. The themes connect us all, no matter how differently we were raised, and nowhere is this more apparent than in popular music. Let’s extend and deepen our engagement with these themes by looking at some examples of them being taken up in popular music.

(example)

SONG "Perfect" by Simple Plan

THEME the gap between how we see ourselves and how we fear our parents see us

CONNECTION to “BOYS AND GIRLS” by Alice Munro The narrator, once her father’s close helper, makes a decision that leads to what she feels is her father’s dismissal of her.

SONG

"Just a Girl" by No Doubt

"Young Dumb and Broke" by Khalid

*This song has a reference to drug use; omit or replace this song if it is inappropriate for your student demographic.