Tunes for Bears to Dance To, Chapter 4: Changing Attitudes and POVs

In life and literature, we often see people change their minds and perspectives on people and things.  This is very important in Chapter 4 of Tunes for Bears to Dance To by Robert Cormier.

The skill that we focused on today is:

Skill 3-->Good readers think about why characters change their minds and attitudes.

We used this skill to react in a few spots in the chapter.

1) We see that Henry changes his view on the old man near the start of the chapter.  At first he thought that he was this crazy old man, but he realizes that he's a man with emotions.  Henry realizes that he scares him and feels very bad.  This helps Henry to change his mind about the old man.

2) The old man also changes his mind about Henry.  At first, he was scared for his life, shaking and cowering before Henry.  Mr. Levine was so scared that he was crying, too.  As Henry explained that he meant no harm, you could see Mr. Levine open up and begin to trust Henry.

3) Henry also begins to think differently about the giant.  He begins to feel this way because he realizes that he's a very kind guy and was worried about Mr. Levine.  Also, George remembers him from yesterday when he ran away.  Finally, he changes his mind about George Graham because he learns that he runs an arts and crafts center!  That doesn't seem bad, mean, or very menacing at all!