How Angle Peterson Got His Name
  Teaching Suggestion

INTRODUCTION & SUMMARY In this short-story excerpt from Gary Paulsens How Angel Peterson Got His Name: And Other Outrageous Tales About Extreme Sports, students will gain a glimpse of grow- ing up in the rural Midwest in the 1950s. They will find some similarities to being a young teen today.

OBJECTIVE Students will reflect on and relate text to their personal experiences as they read a short-story excerpt about growing up.

PRE-READING STRATEGIES Divide the class into small groups and pro- vide each with a copy of The Guinness Book of World Records (or have them visit the Web site: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com). Have students find three records that catch their attention. Ask each group what they found interesting, funny, or impressive about that record. DISCUSSION 1. What is unusual about CarlҒs reaction to the matinee? (The feature interested his friends, but Carl liked the newsreel.) 2. Why do you think Carl wanted to break the record? (Answers will vary.) 3. Does this episode remind you of any adventures youve read about or had with friends? (Answers will vary.)

EXTENSIONS Making predictions: And then… Paulsen continues CarlҒs adventure in the story from which the excerpt comes. Before students learn the realӔ ending, have them write their own. Students should answer the closing question, What does happen to Carl...?Ӕ They may write their conclusions in paragraph form, or you might try putting students in groups and challenging them to write a brief skit in script form outlining the result of Carls attempt. Encourage students to use the tone and humor Paulsen did.