Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Artistic Outlets”

In this activity, students describe, demonstrate, or share an artistic pursuit that helps them to experience an outlet for stressful circumstances.

Select an outlet to escape the stresses of daily life. Outlets may include something you are passionate about such as sports, movies, music, or other artistic pursuits. In a brief presentation to the class, describe why you picked your activity, how it made you feel, and how it relates to Jarrett’s passion for drawing. Use the questions below to guide your presentation.

• What is your outlet for difficult days?
• Why makes you passionate about your outlet?
• What creative processes help you inspire and create your art form?
• Who inspires you to continue pursuing your art?
• How is your outlet related to Jarrett’s pursuit of drawing in his life?

Show the class your process or the product related to your stress outlet. After your presentation, respond to questions your peers might have about the activity.

Teaching Suggestion: It may be helpful for students to first brainstorm ways to share their artistic outlets through video, media presentations, creating physical drawings, or sharing items students are passionate about. Students may wish to share pictures from their favorite artists, movies, or school-appropriate songs if their outlet is music or performance; physical objects like books or journals if their outlet is reading or writing; products like food or photos of food if their outlet is cooking. Students might create a word cloud of idea-sharing on the white board or other display on ways individuals they will share their art forms with the class.

Extension:

Contact Jarrett Krosoczka by fan mail with the contact information provided on his website. In your letter, include details that you learned about Jarrett’s life, how he inspired you to pursue art, and any questions you might have about his creative process.

• This link provides details on how to contact Jarrett J. Krosoczka either by fan mail, video chat or by setting up an author’s visit.

Teaching Suggestion: Students might craft a written letter to Krosoczka describing how his story inspired them. Jarrett Krosoczka has a variety of ways in which teachers can contact him on his fan page. As an alternative, consider setting up a virtual meeting with Krosoczka in which students can prepare questions ahead of time to ask the author.