No Talking by Andrew Clements

A B O U T T H E B O O K

Keeping quiet at school has got to be a good thing, right? It turns out that, when taken to

extremes, silence can cause all kinds of trouble. So when arch-nemeses Dave and Lynsey agree to a boysagainst-

girls challenge to keep silent for two days, Principal Hiatt must put a stop to it. But Dave, Lynsey, and the rest of Laketon

Elementary’s exceedingly noisy, argumentative fifth graders don’t want to start talking again. Instead, they find themselves

working together in a quiet act of civil disobedience. As the entire school joins the experiment, both adults and kids come to

realize that, much more than mere noise, talking is a source of individual empowerment, dignity, and pride in Clements’s

intriguing, often humorous exploration of communication and group control.

“

No Talking is Clements’s best school story since Frindle.” __The New York Times Book Review

D I S C U S S I O N T O P I C S

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ever been part of a noisy group? Why do you think this was the case?

Who are the “Unshushables”? How do the teachers at Laketon Elementary feel about the “Unshushables”? Have you

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contest? What are the terms of the contest?

Who is Gandhi and how does he get Dave Packer into trouble? Who helps turn Dave’s experiment into a grade-wide

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worked? Has she given up?

Who is Mrs. Hiatt? List some of the unusual steps she has taken to try to handle the fifth-grade class. Have her efforts

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Akers, and Mr. Burton each react to the surprise?

What surprises Mrs. Hiatt at the fifth-grade lunch on the second Tuesday of November? How do Mrs. Marlow, Mrs.

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they find that allow them to make noise? What are the differences between talking and noise?

What challenges do the fifth graders encounter as they get through the first hours of the contest? What loopholes do

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this same word to describe the contest?

What does Dave decide is the right word for the contest? Why do you think he chooses this word? Would you choose

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result of his experiment?

Why does the author title Chapter 13 “Language Lab”? What experiment does Mr. Burton perform? What is the

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What do the kids discover as they try to keep quiet at home? How do their parents react to the silence?

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Hiatt demands an end to their contest? What change is happening in the relationships between the fifth graders?

How do the kids handle Mrs. Hiatt’s “Pledge of Allegiance” trick? Why do they do this? What happens when Mrs.

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happens in Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts? How do the kids handle their music class on the second day?

Why doesn’t Mrs. Escobar mind that the kids have disobeyed Mrs. Hiatt? What happens in her math class? What

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she finds out that the contest is still going on at lunchtime? How does she confront Dave? How does Dave respond?

How does Mr. Burton feel about Mrs. Hiatt’s efforts to stop the fifth-grade contest? What does Mrs. Hiatt do when

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Talking

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she asks Dave to her office?

How does Mrs. Hiatt feel about her actions? Can you understand why she acted the way she did? What happens when

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Why is the final chapter entitled “Winners”? Who are the winners in this story? Explain your answer.

A C T I V I T I E S A N D R E S E A R C H

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short report about Gandhi and what larger lessons from his life—beyond silence—are at play in

Go to the library or online to learn more about Gandhi and civil disobedience. Use your research as the basis for aNo Talking.

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noise affected your mood or actions, and which parts of the day you most enjoyed. Share your observations with friends

or classmates. Are their experiences and opinions similar to your own, or different?

Keep a journal in which you record the noisy and quiet times in your day or week. Include comments, such as how

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how it is maintained, and when noise is okay. Have students ever taught them something exciting and new? Based on

your interview, write an article about this teacher or administrator for your school or classroom newspaper.

Interview a teacher or school administrator about his or her job. Include questions about the value of order and quiet,

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dance or painting. Divide classmates or friends into small groups to create informative posters about these different ways

of communicating. Display the posters in your school or community, along with a “guestbook” inviting viewers to write

down their reactions to the information.

Explore nonverbal ways people communicate, such as sign language and writing, or through arts such as pantomime,

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spending a class period WRITING ONLY but communicating with at least four other people; or holding a debate, such

as the pros and cons of soda machines in the cafeteria, using three-word arguments.

Try one of Mr. Burton’s experiments, such as making up a group story with each student offering just three words;

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top ten appropriate ways to make noise.

Make a “top ten” list of reasons for keeping quiet. Illustrate and post the list in your home or classroom. Or, list the

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Talking Contest, its outcome, and how the experience changed your thoughts about teaching and discipline.

In the character of Mrs. Hiatt or Mr. Burton, give a presentation to a group of parents or colleagues, describing the No

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think the activity will be easy or difficult? What do you hope to learn?

Write a letter to your teacher explaining why you would like to hold a No Talking Contest in your classroom. Do you

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rules (use rules from the story if desired), decide if this will be a contest, and determine how long it will last. Afterward,

write a short essay about the experiment. Did it work? Who were the winners?

With the approval of parents or teachers, hold a No Talking experiment in your home or classroom. Agree to a set of

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girls just before the contest ended. Or, in the character of Dave, write a journal entry explaining whether you would

have done the same thing if the situation had been reversed and how you feel about Lynsey’s actions.

In the character of Lynsey, write a journal entry explaining why you decided to “even the score” between the boys and

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describing the two days from your point-of-view and the most important thing you learned from the contest. Conclude

with an explanation of whether you would or would not participate in the contest if it started again tomorrow, and whyImagine you were one of the Laketon Elementary fifth graders involved in the No Talking Contest. Write an essay