Fig Pudding by Ralph Fletcher

Published by: Random House Children's Books, 1996


Clifford, a 5th grade boy, tells the several stories of the mishaps, laughs, and struggles of his family of six children. Through his viewpoint, we learn about each of his siblings and their stories; a brother hospitalized on Christmas, another brother who spends most of his time under the kitchen table etc. These stories draw us closer to the family and Clifford's life as the eldest. Despite the struggles, the family learns how important it is to value each other through their grief and healing.

Suggested Delivery: Independent Read

Reading Level: Lexile: 620L

Grade Level: 3-5 

Vocabulary: Retort, maniac, pulverize, gullible, skeptical, unison, consolation, boycott, frenzy, innocent, peculiar, sever, bemused, idiom. 

Vocabulary Activity: As students come across unfamiliar vocabulary in the text have them jot these words down in their reading notebooks. Students will use a dictionary to find the definition of the term. Teachers may access this website to review vocabulary terms with the class: http://quizlet.com/6958956/fig-pudding-vocabulary-flash-cards/ 

Teaching Strategies:

Pre-reading: 

Discuss with students the several issues that families deal with. Have students pair up to discuss their placement (oldest, youngest, etc) in their family and the advantages/disadvantages of this. Introduce the story telling students that the main character is the oldest of six children. 

During Reading: 

Have students complete a venn diagram comparing Cliff, the main character to himself/herself. Discuss the characters and have students take notes about each character and their character traits as they come across Cliff's siblings in the story. Have students create a family tree of Cliff's family along with these notes. 

After Reading: 

As a group have a discussion with the students about the several issues faced by the family in the story. Create a list of the problems and discuss how the family dealt with these problems. Have students create their own epilogue to the story focusing on the family one year later. 

Web Resources: 

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/fig-pudding

Teacher planning sheet: 

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:n_LH7VQ2gQIJ:www.aacps.org/aacps/boe/INSTR/CURR/comed/OIT_reading/Fig_Pudding/Weekly_Planning_Sheet.doc+Fig+pudding+ralph+fletcher+vocabulary&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari

The Author: 

Fletcher, R. (1996). Fig Pudding. New York: Random House Children's Books