Two Hands Together by : Diana Kidd
Published by Puffin Books, Penguin
1. Read pages 88-92. What is Aunty Ella's 'totem'? For those who use them, totems play an important role in relationships - particularly marriages. Find out what you can about totems and the roles they play in the lives of groups who use them. What other native peoples have used totems?
Have your students draw a picture of what happens to the skin of the snake.
After you read pages 98-101 you will find out how things change for the worse for Lily and Jake, and their friends Ella and Danny. Have you students draw cartoon pictures of the events that occurred in these pages.
In Challenge 5, the students are asked to take one of the characters mentioned in pages 98-101 & write down the feelings that person would be having. Have students in your class act out the thoughts and feelings of different characters for the class.
2. How important is it to accept all types of people in our world?
As a class discuss these questions:
Think of a time when you may have treated someone badly just because they were different.
What would you do if you saw or heard someone treating someone in a horrible and mean way?
Class members can share with the group ways in which they could be respectful and caring towards others.
3. You may wish to discuss the ending of the story. Encourage your students to come up with alternative endings, still ensuring that the message Diana Kidd was trying to convey is part of students endings.
4. Students could read other books by Diana Kidd, compare what the major theme/message is of her other books.
5. Predictions: If Diana was to have written a follow up to 'Two Hands Together' what might the story have been called? Which characters would be in the story? The class could take a chapter each and write their own story to follow on from Two Hands Together.
6. Students could research information about Diana Kidd and make a profile about her for other students to read prior to reading any of Diana Kidd's books.