Bridge To Terabithia

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA

Overview: Katherine Paterson originally wrote this book for her son David, whose best friend Lisa died after being struck by lightning. “Bridge to Terabithia” deals with several themes such as love, loss, family and friendship.

Number of classes: 3 Reading + Any 3 activities

Resource material: “Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson - Puffin Classics. 

Story summary: Jesse Aarons clearly feels out of place in his own family. His father works in Washington D.C. and is rarely ever home. He has four sisters, and his mother clearly favours Brenda and Ellie, the least helpful of them. May Belle, his second youngest sister adores Jesse and wants to be a part of everything he does.

Leslie Burke, on the other hand, is an only child who moves from Arlington, Virginia to Jesse’s town. Her parents are both wealthy, something unheard of in the small town. Jesse and Leslie soon become best friends and create an imaginary kingdom called Terabithia. On the other side of the creek near their homes, Terabithia is accessible only by swinging over with a rope. In Terabithia, they face their real life fears, like the eighth grade bully, Janice Avery.

One day, Leslie goes to Terabithia alone. The rope breaks as she swings across the creek, and despite being a good swimmer, she drowns. Jesse can overcome his grief only with the strength Leslie has given him.

Preparation for the class: Read “Bridge to Terabithia”. You might also want to read up about Katherine Paterson and why she wrote the book.

Be sure to read the chapters associated with each activity. You will need to narrate many of the events described in the book and not merely read from the book to your students.

Class description: Brainstorm with the class the characteristics of a “best friend”. Why do we need friends? What is it about them that makes all the difference in the world?

Alternately, you can show them the cover of the book, and ask them what they think it is about. You can discuss the significance of bridges. What do they think Terabithia means? Can the word be broken down to mean something?

Read “Bridge to Terabithia” to the class. Alternately, students can take turns reading it out loud. After reading, you can do some of the following activities.

We recommend reading chapters 1-3 on the first session, followed by any one of Activities 1-3. The second session can cover chapters 4-6, followed by activity 6, 7 or 8. The third storytelling/reading session can cover chapters 10-13, followed by Activity 4 or 10.

Related activities:

(Recommended - *)

Activity 1: Pictionary (Before Reading) (Class Activity) 

Review the book and make a list of words you think the students will find difficult. Discuss these words in class and familiarise the students with them.

Divide the class into two teams. You can give the teams fun names if you wish. Members from the teams sit on either side of the classroom. One member from each team goes to the board. Give them a word from the vocabulary list, and the students have one minute to get their teams to guess the word by drawing pictorial clues on the board. Letters, numbers, facial expressions and gestures are forbidden. Students can, however, use signs to denote “sounds like”. They can also break down larger words to make drawing easier.

Here is a list of words you can use:

Forte Authentic Bizarre Visionary Tenacious Captivating

Audacity Exotic Rumpus Vile Contempt Ominously

Exuded Dregs Dumbfounded Speculation Complacent Garish

Stricken Puny Primly Grit Hypocritical Stately

Activity 2: Characters – their similarities and differences (After Reading) (Individual Activity) 

There are a lot of similarities and differences between Jesse’s parents Leslie’s. Ask students to fill in the Venn diagram. They can use one circle to write about the Aarons, and the other to write about the Burkes. The space where the two circles converge can be used to record their similarities.

The second Venn diagram can be used to categorise the differences and similarities shared by Jesse and Leslie.

Activity 3: Facing Fears (After Reading) (Individual Activity followed by Class Discussion)* 

Jesse was afraid of the creek they had to swing over to get to Terabithia as he couldn’t swim. Jesse realises he might get over his fear of drowning in the creek if Leslie taught him how to swim.

Some people fear spiders or mice while others fear large open spaces. Talk to the class about what they each fear the most. Ask them to write down their greatest fear and ideas to overcome the fear. Students can discuss their fears and their ideas for overcoming them if they wish.

Activity 4: Five Stages of Grief (After Reading) (Class discussion followed by Group Activity)

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss psychiatrist, identified five general stages of grieving through which dying people and their loved ones go through. Kübler-Ross called these stages denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Denial: “This cannot be happening to me.”

Anger: “Why me?”

Bargaining: “If I do this, maybe I can make them come back.”

Depression: “I’m so sad that they are gone that I don’t want to do anything.”

Acceptance: “I understand they are gone and I am ready to move on with my life, while remembering the good times we shared.”

Not all people experience each of these stages, and some people experience them in a different order.

Read chapters 10-13 that focus on how Jesse dealt with Leslie’s death. Divide the students into groups of five. Tell them to write down the five stages of grief and next to each stage, describe what Jesse did during that stage. If Jesse did not experience it, ask them to write why they think he did not go through it.

Activity 5: A letter for Leslie (After Reading) (Individual Activity)*

Read Chapter 2 titled “Leslie Burke”. Leslie is different from the other children in her school. Not only is she the teacher’s pet, she also dresses like a boy and runs with them during recess, while the other girls play by themselves. Talk to the students about being different – is it a good thing to not conform to the norms of society? Make a list of pros and cons of being different on the board.

Ask students to write a letter to Leslie with advice – would they encourage her to try and fit in with the class or retain her individuality?  

Activity 6: The Perfect Gift (After Reading) (Individual Activity)

Read Chapter 6, “The Coming of Prince Terrien”. Leslie and Jesse get each other perfect gifts. Talk to the children about the perfect gift they have ever received or given. Can they describe the events around that day? Ask them to write a few paragraphs on the same. They can share what they have written with the class.

Activity 7: Dealing with problems (After Reading) (Individual Activity) 

Read Chapter 5, “The Giant Killers”. Jesse and Leslie escape to Terabithia, when they are faced with a problem. By learning to deal with the problem (of say, Giants) in Terabithia, they learn to cope with real life problems (Janice Avery). Ask the students to write a page on what they do when they are faced with a problem. How do they deal with their problem(s) and come up with a solution for the same?

Activity 8: My Fantasy Land (After Reading) (Individual Activity)*

If students could create a fantasy land, what would it be? What would the terrain and the weather be like? Who would be the residents of this land and what would they be like? Would the students remain the same, or would they be different in this different land? Ask the students to write a descriptive piece about their fantasy land.

Activity 9: Movie time (After Reading) (Individual Activity)

You can play the movie “Bridge to Terabithia” in class. Which version did the students like better? Why?

Activity 10: The End (After Reading) (Class Discussion)

How did the students like the ending of the story? Discuss alternate endings to “Bridge to Terabithia”.

Recommended reading:  If you enjoyed this book, you will also like:

“The Chronicles of Narnia” by CS Lewis.

“Coraline” by Neil Gaiman

Want more of Terabithia? Check out the Activities.