Rules

Rules

By: Cynthia Lord

Published by: Scholastic Inc.

Copyright: 2006

Reading Level: Grade 4-6; Lexile: 780L

Suggested Delivery: Read Aloud, Independent Read

Web Resources: 

Author's Site: This is Cynthia Lord's website where you can find out information about this text and others that she has written, as well as her own blog, and ways to contact her or set up a visit.

All You Need on Rules: This is a pdf guide that will help a teacher with chapter by chapter discussion questions, how to incorporate this book across the curriculum, before reading questions, activities, etc. If you are having trouble figuring out how to use this novel in your classroom, just look here. 

Discussion Guide: Here is a link to a very helpful discussion guide specifically for this novel.  

Key Vocabulary:

• autism
• crude
• surefire
• fray
• vinyl 
• wayward 
• anthropological
• avenger
• corridor 
• therapist
• aquamarine
• accommodate
• linoleum 
• thrashing
• cassette 
• realtor
• bowlegged 
• varmint 
• bureau
• receptionist 
• murky
• quarreling 
• flicker
• minnows
• gangplank
• acoustic
• whirr
• pry
• embarrassed

Suggestions for Activities for Students:

During/After Reading:
In a lesson guide specifically made for the book Rules, I was able to find an activity that could make a text to world connection by looking at famous or well known figures in history or in present time that have disabilities. In this guide, found HERE, there is an activity called "Remarkable People Research". Students are given a list of well known people to research. As they research their assigned person the students will fill out the given worksheet about the person. An example of the worksheet and a blank copy of the worksheet can be found on page 6 and 7 of this document. The description of this lesson is on page 2. This activity can open students' eyes to a number of other disabilities that everyday people struggle with. It can also be used across the curriculum in science and social studies.

Awards and Acknowledgements:

Newbery Honor Medal
Schneider Family Book Award
Mitten Award (Michigan Library Association)
Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan)
Maine Student Book Award
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award (Vermont)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award
Great Stone Face Award (New Hampshire)
Buckeye Children's Book Award (Ohio)

School Library Journal Review:

Grade 4-7-Twelve-year-old Catherine has conflicting feelings about her younger brother, David, who is autistic. While she loves him, she is also embarrassed by his behavior and feels neglected by their parents. In an effort to keep life on an even keel, Catherine creates rules for him (It's okay to hug Mom but not the clerk at the video store). Each chapter title is also a rule, and lots more are interspersed throughout the book. When Kristi moves in next door, Catherine hopes that the girl will become a friend, but is anxious about her reaction to David. Then Catherine meets and befriends Jason, a nonverbal paraplegic who uses a book of pictures to communicate, she begins to understand that normal is difficult, and perhaps unnecessary, to define. Rules of behavior are less important than acceptance of others. Catherine is an endearing narrator who tells her story with both humor and heartbreak. Her love for her brother is as real as are her frustrations with him. Lord has candidly captured the delicate dynamics in a family that revolves around a child's disability. Set in coastal Maine, this sensitive story is about being different, feeling different, and finding acceptance. A lovely, warm read, and a great discussion starter.-Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review: 

Gr. 4-7. "No toys in the fish tank" is one of many rules that 12-year-old Catherine shares with her autistic younger brother, David, to help him understand his world. Lots of the rules are practical. Others are more subtle and shed light on issues in Catherine's own life. Torn between love for her brother and impatience with the responsibilities and embarrassment he brings, she strives to be on her parents' radar and to establish an identity of her own. At her brother's clinic, Catherine befriends a wheelchair-bound boy, Jason, who talks by pointing at word cards in a communication notebook. Her drawing skills and additional vocabulary cards--including "whatever" (which prompts Jason to roll his eyes at his mother)--enliven his speech. The details of autistic behavior are handled well, as are depictions of relationships: Catherine experiences some of the same unease with Jason that others do in the presence of her brother. In the end, Jason helps Catherine see that her rules may really be excuses, opening the way for her to look at things differently. A heartwarming first novel. Cindy Dobrez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved