1. Language Arts
- Research Magic Hill and other legends related to optical illusions in the US
- Read stories of people who had polio
- Write letters to soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq
- Explore Ann Fay’s use or misuse of grammar in Comfort. Note speech patterns that she made an effort to change as a result of going to Warm Springs.
2. Health & Science
- Explore the history of polio
- Identify the scientists who studied polio, and worked on creating a vaccine
- Create a polio timeline
- Identify the difference between disabilities from polio and post-polio syndrome – what are some of the symptoms of each
- Explore the relationship between the use of privies and the spread of diseases
- Explore PTSD and strategies for coping as well as how those strategies might help us cope with other life stresses.
3. History & Social Studies
- Create a Disability Rights timeline
- Do online research to discover some places in the world where polio still exists
- Research the history of the March of Dimes
- Explore the history of fundraising.
- Research Franklin Roosevelt’s history with polio and the resulting influence on American response to hard times and disabilities.
- Choose a community service activity for your class to support. (March of Dimes, fundraiser for someone with medical needs, etc)
4. The Arts
- Create a story quilt with different squares telling different parts of the story of Comfort
- Create a scrapbook or photo album of the characters & events in Comfort or of the history of Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute
- Make a diorama of one of the scenes from Comfort
- Listen to the songs mentioned in this book. Make a song booklet with the words and with information about the artists who performed them, the movies they come from etc.
- Create a skit or rap about some segment of the book.
- Explore the ways music is a source of comfort in this book. Explore music as comfort in popular culture.
5. Math
- During the initial March of Dimes campaign, $ 268,000.00 dollars was raised “one dime at a time”. Have students figure out how many dimes that was. Create variations on this such as how that would have equally divided between the 48 states (at that time).
- Research and graph the numbers of people who got polio in various epidemic years
- Research and graph the amount of money raised in various March of Dimes campaigns
- Research and graph the statistics related to diagnosed cases of PTSD in various American wars
Suggested Resources
A Paralyzing Fear: The Triumph Over Polio in America
Closer to Home: A Story of the Polio Epidemic
The Warm Springs Story
Four Billion Dimes
Images of America: The March of Dimes
Images of America: Warm Springs, GA
Links to Websites from Comfort page of my website.