1. Prepare a news broadcast from the scene of the church bombing in Birmingham. Write a scrip and be prepared to act it out. Interview both African American and white bystanders for their reactions. (Individual or pair)

2. Prepare a sales campaign extolling virtues of the car the Watsons drive to Birmingham. Look up the statistics - horsepower, gas mileage, engine, etc. What other cars were on the road at the time? Put your ad campaign on a presentation board. (Individual or pair)

3. You are a social worker who has been called in because a neighbor complained about Byron and his activities. Fill out a report on him, and discuss the probable options if he continues making the same types of choices in life. (See me for form.) (Individual)

4. Recreate Momma's notebook with the travel route, instructions, menus, and rest stops all written down (two - three pages). On a map trace the route they took from Flint to Birmingham. (Individual)

5. The climate in Flint and Birmingham is very different. Find examples of how the climate affects the Watsons. Make a poster for each city, and put the appropriate quotes on the posters. Using the Internet research the average temperatures over a year's time and chart it for each. Put your chart on the appropriate poster. How would this difference affect the lives of the people who lived there? Which place would be less expensive to live? Research and find out why so many African Americans moved north during the period following the Great Depression. (Individual or pair)

6. Write and illustrate two-three page diary entry that Rufus might have written after his first week in the new school. (Individual)

7. Write a two page internal monologue that Kenny might have while he is behind the couch. (Individual)

8. Illustrate one scene when Byron is friendly to Kenny or helps him in some way, and one scene in which he is mean. Write a paragraph explaining why you think that Byron switches from being mean to Kenny to being kind and back again. How can you both love and dislike someone at the same time? Write a second paragraph telling about a time when a person treated you like this. Are you still friends? (Individual)

9. Find a song with a similar theme to one of the ones we identified in The Watsons. Write out the lyrics and discuss the similarities and differences between the song and the book.

10. Talk to your parents or an adult who took family vacations during this time period. Write the story of one of their vacations. Where did they start? Where did they go? What differences and similarities do you see between your parents' trip and the Watsons? What would be different now? (Hint: what things have changed since then that would make a vacation easier?)