First half of Black Swan Green

I'm beginning to feel like I'm reading Jason"s journal rather than being told a story. It's the events of his day and I didn't think this was the direction that the story was headed in.
Hangman: I wished that Jason would have shared his "hangman's 4 commandments" with Mrs. de Roo. I think Students can really empathize with wishing they could have called out sick to avoid being embarrassed by an in school presentation. They can also empathize with how unfair teachers like Mr. Kempsy, can be.
Relatives: Who doesn't have moments like this chapter? The show that people put on in their own family to not feel inferior to their own relatives. This chapter showed Jason's longing to fit in and who he idolizes. His cousin gives him advice, and is a huge influence on who Jason wants to be. I rely enjoyed Jason's inner monologue in this chapter, the way he thinks the cigarette is "Vile" but tells his cousin it's "nice" (65) the way that you have to find a way to talk your way out of a situation and learn from your mistakes.
Bridle Path: This chapter confused me a bit. If I was Jason and had the whole house to myself, and was as excited as he was that no one else was home, my adventure would have been in the house. It seemed like a really forced way to talk about and meet other characters. The adventure he wanted to have seemed really disjointed. I'd probably have my students write a fictional account of this chapter where he stays home, a missing chapter, after having read the chapter. I'm not sure what I would have done in my classroom with the Tom Yew and Debbie Crombie scene. It opens the door to discussing Jason's tendencies to be voyeuristic instead of living life, but then again he's only 13. I'm not sure how I would handle this chapter. The opportunity to teach about the cold war and what was happening in the world at the time would be very tempting, but I realized that this is something I will have to really research and find connections to current event to help students understand the cold war.
Rocks: What a literal and figurative title. Jason's mom literally wanted Rocks in her garden, and Jason was growing a pair of "rocks" talking to someone as cool as Ewan, and Jason's parents' rocky marriage. Jason wonders about the cost of war, in the world and in his own family. The Koi fish scene was hilarious and made me laugh out loud.
Spooks: Jason finally gets some acceptance from his peers but is it all worth it?He's trying to balance who he really is with who he has to be around his peers. This chapter would really get students thinking, although I'm not sure how honest they would be about wanting to be "followers".
Solarium: This chapter had great quotes to analyze by Madame Crommelynck. "A wonderful, miserable age. Not a boy, not a teenager. Impatience but timidity too. Emotional incontinence" (146) She forces him to look at his writing in new ways. I might ask my students to write a poem under a pseudonym and see what the results would be.