Teacher's Guide for
My Chair By Betsy James
Illustrated By Mary Newell DePalma

Pre-reading Activity:
Talk about chairs. How important are they? What are they for? How long do you think they have been around? What are they made out of?
Draw, paint or sculpt a picture of your favorite chair. Share as a group before reading the story.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your favorite chair? Why do you like it so much?
2. What types of games can you play with only a chair?
3. What is important about chairs?
4. Who do you think has the best imagination in the story? Why?
5. What does the author mean when she says, "In my chair I consider what's fair?" Do you ever have to consider that too?
6. Which illustration is your favorite? Why?
7. How can a chair eat quarters, trucks and colored pencils?
8. Why is it important that "underneath my chair is where grown-ups aren't" When might you like to go under a chair?
9. What could a chair be besides a chair
10. How is your favorite chair like others? How is it different?

Projects:

Art: Using materials found around the house and no bigger than a paper plate create a chair. Then, using the same materials reshape it into one of these other images from the book:

intergalactic zoo
horse
train
glasses
roller skater
dancing bear
forest
flower
fort
ship
plane
prison
truck
gate
cage
ocean
cave
treasure

Music:

Sing this song:to "Shortening Bread"

Everybody has a chair
Everybody has a chair
Everybody has a chair on the floor
Not on the ceiling (point)
Not on the door (point)
Everybody has a chair on the floor

See if you can make up another song about chairs (or your chair) to one of these familiar tunes:

Frere Jacques
Mulberry Bush
I'm a Little Teapot

Movement:
Play musical chairs but instead of using identical chairs (boring!) use your imagination and discover what different objects could be used as a chair. (Ex: pillow, rock, block, box, stuffed animal, or even a picture with a chair on it!) After the game discuss which chairs were the best and why.

Math:

Brainstorm the qualities you could graph in a chair (color, size, use, etc.) and then have students choose three qualities to graph all the chairs in their own home that evening.

Science:

Look at the book:

1000 Chairs Charlotte Fiell, Peter Fiell, Simone Philippi

and then these guidelines to good seating:
http://www.betterseating.org/lookfor.html

Then design a quality chair for yourself or someone in your family. You can draw it on paper or build it from sculpey or other material.

Language Arts:

Write a book inspired by My Chair about your room, bed or favorite spot.

Related Title:

A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams

Teacher's guide provided by www.TracieVaughnZimmer.com
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