Lesson Plan: Diary of a Girl Next Door: Betty

Review
What impresses me the most about the new Archie titles is that they are perfectly suited for a new generation of readers, readers who – like my own students just did the other day – may assume these are indeed brand-spanking-new characters and storylines!  

Riverdale High School may be a new setting. Betty and Veronica are reintroduced. So are Jughead, Archie, Reggie, and much, much more. And although these may be familiar places and nostalgic characters for some of us, they are brilliantly recreated by Archie Comics for today’s young adult readers. In this case, today’s young adult readers meet Betty. Through Betty’s diary-perspective, entitled Diary of a Girl Next Door: Betty, today’s young adult can build the same positive and familiar memories about their own time and place in history at Riverdale High.

Trying “Not. To. FREAK OUT!” Betty is a Freshman at Riverdale and starts a 720 day countdown to when she must not only decide upon and head off to a college of her choice, but also survive each and every day of her Riverdale High experience. Similarly perfect for familiar readers to reacquaint themselves and perfect for a whole new generation of readers Diary of a Girl Next Door: Betty.

Elements of Story

Plot: Written for an entirely new generation of readers Archie Comics Diary of a Girl Next Door: Betty this story sees the Riverdale High experience specifically through Betty’s diary.  

Major Characters: Betty, Jughead, Archie, Veronica, Reggie, the Nerds, the Goths, the Hipsters, the Jocks, the Glossies, various teachers and administrators, Dilton, Moose, Midge, Hot Dog, Jo/Mrs. King, Xander, Betty’s mom and dad, Miss Cooper

Major Settings: Riverdale High School, Betty’s home and neighborhood

Themes: Identity, Family, Teamwork and Individualism, Coming of Age, Friendship, Relationships, Goals and Expectations

Recommended Common Core Standards
Note: Relative to Common Core Standard alignment and instructor discretion this graphic text could be taught in both K – 5th grade classrooms and/or 6th – 12th grade classrooms, especially in regards to Key Ideas and Details.  

Key Ideas and Details
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Lesson Plan

Directions: Below is a table for recording how the key ideas and details in this graphic text resonate between characters and themes. As you read, please take notes that discuss each character’s relation to each theme.