Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

Harris and Me takes place on a farm in the early 1950s. What do you know about farm life either during this time period or in the present? How do you think farm and family life might have been different during the 1950s compared to modern times? Consider the fact that this decade followed World War II, and think of how values and technology have changed since the 1950s.

Teaching Suggestion: Some students may have little or no familiarity with life during this time period. Still, they can be encouraged to imagine what life might have been like after a war, how people might have lived, how families might have spent their time before the introduction of things like the internet and cell phones, and whether their knowledge of farming today might apply to farming of the past.

• “1950s Horse Power Farmer”: photograph showing a farmer from the 1950s using horses to pull his tractor
• “One Day on the Farm in the 1950s”: genuine footage of a day in the life on an American farm in the 1950s

Short Activity

The protagonist of Harris and Me faces new hurdles and challenges as he approaches adolescence. Write a short poem about what it is you find most exciting or most worrying about Growing Up.

Teaching Suggestion: Although Harris and Me only takes place over the course of a single summer, adventures with young Harris along with the grueling nature of farm life cause the protagonist to mature quickly. Before starting this writing activity, you may decide to have students discuss and brainstorm ideas with a partner, or you may choose to have them silently reflect instead. Students should be encouraged to be creative and use whatever poetic structure they feel most comfortable with. They can also choose whether to be metaphorical or literal in their poem.

• “Nothing Gold Can Stay” By Robert Frost: This poem by Robert Frost is about the loss of innocence that everyone experiences as they Grow Up.
• “9 Different Types of Poetry”: This resource from Penguin Books offers a variety of poetic forms students can use to generate ideas for their own writing.

Differentiation Suggestion: Visual learners and English learners might opt to create an illustration or comic of what they fear or are excited about.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

In the novel Harris and Me, the protagonist and his newfound friend, Harris, engage in a wide array of risky behavior. Can you remember a time that you did something risky? What risk did you take, and what were the consequences of it? Was it a positive or a negative risk, and why?

Teaching Suggestion: Risks are a part of Growing Up and force us to face and conquer our fears. Consider having a pre-discussion wherein the class explores the benefits and downfalls of taking risks. Encourage students to write their reflections in the narrative form.

• “Risky Play Encourages Resilience”: NY Times article discussing the inherent benefits of taking calculated risks as children (subscription may be needed for viewing)