Cecil is a young farm boy whose father has gone off to fight in the U.S. Civil War. When his mother leaves to look for her injured husband, Cecil is left at a neighbor's house to wait and wonder the fate of his parents. Peter Catalanotto's watercolor paintings help young children to imagine the scenes depicted in the story in a realistic and easy manner.

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Enrichment Activities
Internet Resources
Books by George Ella Lyon

Enrichment Activities

• Act Out a Scene
  After a discussion and chart creation on the different scenes of the story, have groups of students act out scenes from the book.
  
  
• Bookmark Creations
  Create bookmarks with your students and allow them to choose the content. Ideas include drawing their favorite character, scene, and happiest/saddest moment.
  
  
• Compare and Contrast
  Use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast Cecil's life before and after his father left the farm to fight in the Civil War.
  
  
• Integrate Art
  Contact your school's art teacher and brainstorm ideas that would integrate art and the book Cecil's Story. Some suggested materials include clay, pastels, or paper collage.
  
  
• Letter Writing
  Create a list of the emotions that Cecil may have been feeling at various points throughout the story. Have students use this list to pretend they are Cecil and write a letter to either his father, mother, or both.
  
  
• Activities to Honor Heroes
  Tell your students about how heroic soldiers are. They will enjoy this activity in which they collect information about their heroes.
  
  
• Sequencing Practice
  After they have read the story, have students break down the book into three parts: beginning, middle, and end. Use the graphic organizer to help with this activity.