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

Friendship Study

Raina navigates relationships with her friends from her Girl Scouts troop, her friend Jane, her friends at her middle school, and Theresa and her friends. Create a 3- or 4-column chart that analyzes some of these friendships in Smile. Add details to each column about the characteristics of each of these friendship groups. Then, with a partner, discuss which column best exemplifies true friendship.

• Consider how Raina feels before and after spending time with each friend group.
• Think about the facial expressions, colors, sights, and sounds used to describe interactions with her friends.

Teaching Suggestion: With students, work through Raina’s relationship with Jane, her friend from fifth grade who moved away. Raina feels more mature than Jane and wants to meet new boys, while Jane still wants to do the same things they did in fifth grade. Ask students how their friendship relates to the theme of Adolescence and “Maturity.”

Paired Text Extension:

Compare Raina’s friendships to Penelope’s friendships in Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova. School bullies tease Penelope after she is helped from a fall by an introverted boy named Jamie.