Pistes d'exploration

Before reading, discuss the title and surmise what happened to Miss Nelson. Survey the class: Do you think Miss Nelson will return?

Discuss the following: What ploy did Miss Nelson devise to get the children to work? How do you know Miss Nelson was actually Miss Viola Swamp? Was she smart or sneaky for disguising herself? Could your teacher fool you?

Why do you think the children didn't listen to Miss Nelson? What lesson did they learn? List the reasons why being respectful is important.

Imagine swapping lives with someone. Who would you trade places with for a week? Write about the things you would do as that person. 

Use a Venn diagram to compare Miss Swamp with Miss Nelson.

Compare the two types of children in the story using a class graphic organizer. Make a personal connection. In what kind of atmosphere do you learn better? 

In small groups, dramatize the story. Retell it through a Reader's Theatre or a skit. 

Mots-clés

Humour , Mystery , Picture book , appreciation , school life , teachers , tricks

Commentaire descriptif

First published in 1977, this perennial favourite about the misbehaving students in Room 207 will still strike a chord with children. In the opening scene, spitballs are stuck to the ceiling as paper planes whizz through the air. But when their good-natured teacher, Miss Nelson, doesn’t show up to work one day, replaced by a vile substitute named Miss Viola Swamp, they begin to regret their ways. The narrative effectively builds in suspense, coyly suggesting that “maybe something terrible happened to Miss Nelson.” Diction effectively differentiates the behaviours of the two teachers. The mean substitute is strict and authoritative—“she rapped the desk with her ruler”—while Miss Nelson speaks “in a sweet voice.” Cartoonish full-colour ink and wash illustrations capture the chaos of the classroom and deftly contrast the gentle blond-haired Miss Nelson with the witchy substitute teacher with black frizzy hair and long black fingernails. Readers paying close attention will cotton on to the secret identity of the mean substitute, which is subtly revealed through visual clues. This excellent back-to-school read-aloud encourages children to reflect on appropriate classroom behaviour.