The Polter-Ghost Problem

By Betsy Uhrig

Informational Resources:

Author Information:

Betsy Uhrig’s Website:

https://betsyuhrig.com/

Activities & Resources:

Activities:

Writing:

Watch this video of Betsy Uhrig and follow her suggestions for writing prompts (1:54): https://you-tu.be/pkiDKj0mQoY

Watch this video of Betsy Uhrig and follow her suggestions for writing prompts (1:50): https://you-tu.be/WaTlzsKF1qA

Write your own ghost story (9:41):

https://you-tu.be/H4-eJzhUOBw

Start keeping a daily journal.

Aldo makes use of a thesaurus on pg 209 and uses many large words throughout the book. Use a thesaurus to find different words to use in your writing.

The author makes references to many (at least 10) books, authors and book characters.  Can you find them all? (ex. Little Women, Beatrix Potter, Viola Swamp)

Ghosts:

What is a poltergeist?

https://kids.kiddle.co/Poltergeist

What is a ghost?

https://kids.kiddle.co/Ghost

Go to the local library, museum or another site that houses local history. Research haunted houses or buildings in your city.  Visit those sites.  Do they feel haunted?

Kraken:

What is a kraken? (0:54)

https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-was-the-kraken/

Poison Ivy:

What you should know about poison ivy. 

https://www.webmd.com/allergies/ss/slideshow-poison-plants

Video about How poison ivy works (2:39):

https://youtu.be/dgwQ1DHepOw

Genealogy:

Have fun with family history:

https://www.thefhguide.com/act-children.html

Genealogy for Kids (21:31):

https://you-tu.be/gb5km5suKPw

Have students fill out a family tree:

https://familytreemagazine.com/kids/buildyourfamilytree/

Have students fill out a family tree:

https://www.archives.gov/education/family-history

Make a photo magnet of relatives:

https://familytreemagazine.com/kids/magnets/https://familytreemagazine.com/kids/magnets/

MakerSpace Activities:

Ghosts:

Make a dancing ghost:

https://www.giftofcuriosity.com/the-dancing-ghost-halloween-steam-activity-for-kids/

How to make spooky ghost sounds:

https://ourfamilycode.com/spooky-ghost-sounds-stem-activity/

Magnetic Flying ghosts:

https://www.steampoweredfamily.com/flying-ghosts-science-experiment/

Ghost Catapult (Use a marshmallow instead of a pompom and see who can launch the ghost the farthest:

https://www.steampoweredfamily.com/popsicle-stick-catapult/

Technology:

Decorate a Bee-Bot or other programmable robot to look like a ghost or one of the friends in The Poter-Ghost Problem and plot a course through the haunted orphanage.

Use the Toy Theater program to build the haunted orphanage and the surrounding hedge:

https://toytheater.com/build/

Building:

Build the haunted Orphanage out of recycled materials:

https://kinderworldteacher.com/haunted-house/

Build a bridge out of recycled materials to get across the field of poison ivy.

Discussion Questions:

Based on the title and cover of the book, what are some predictions you can make about the story?

What do you think about Aldo’s reasons for following the strange boy into the woods?  Would you have followed him with those reasons? Why or why not?

Aldo decided this ghost story would be the perfect summer journal topic for school.  How do you think his teacher, Ms Pilcrow, will respond to it?

What would have been a better way to get across the poison ivy and avoid getting the rash? 

On page 31, Aldo says this is a creepy situation, not a dangerous situation. In your opinion, what is the difference?

When the three boys are sure that the kids they are talking to are ghosts, they remain calm and have a short conversation. How would you react having found proof that ghosts exist?

How do you think you would feel about growing up in an orphanage like the ghosts in the book?

On page 67, Pen says that they “believe in helping those in need, right? Even if we can see through them.” Think about a time you helped others in need. How would you do things differently or the same if they were “good” ghosts?

Many times throughout the story, Aldo talks directly to the reader about things (pgs. 28, 41, 84, 126, etc.) that would have been said while he was typing the journal, not when the story was actually happening. Why do you think the author wrote these into the story? 

Pen decided that the librarian having three eyebrows was not an important clue because there were probably lots of people with three eyebrows and the boys were just more aware of them so it seems like everyone has them. Provide an example from your own life when this has happened.

The boys think that the librarian with three eyebrows could be a relative of Ermaline Grauche and that she inherited the eye brows. What is something physical that you inherited from your family?

On page 181, Pen ran into the room where Jasper and Aldo were screaming. Without regard for his own safety he grabbed both boys and dragged them down the hallway. Why would someone do that?

Why do you think the ghosts were all reverting to the children they were when they lived at the orphanage?

What do you think Jasper’s not good plan to get Greta Albert to come to the haunted orphanage was?

Greta Albert is finding out more about her genealogy in Chapter 35. What discoveries have you made about your family history?

What lessons can you learn from Neil, especially if you are a sibling?

What did you learn about forgiveness from Greta Grump and Neil?

Are ghosts real? Defend your answer.

Describe something you learned in this book that can help you in life.

Book Talk Teasers:

Read the reader’s theater for The Polter-Ghost Problem.

Watch the book trailer on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube channel.

Watch the author's interview on the Texas Bluebonnet Award YouTube channel.

Read Alikes: 

Ghost Stories

Ansari, Rebecca K. S. The in-between. Cooper is lost. Ever since his father left their family three years ago, he has become distant from his friends, constantly annoyed by his little sister, Jess, and completely fed up with the pale, creepy rich girl who moved in next door and won't stop staring at him. So when Cooper learns of an unsolved mystery his sister has discovered online, he welcomes the distraction. It's the tale of a deadly train crash that occurred a hundred years ago, in which one young boy among the dead was never identified. The only distinguishing mark on him was a strange insignia on his suit coat, a symbol no one had seen before or since. Jess is fascinated by the mystery of the unknown child because she's seen the… (NoveList)

Arden, Katherine. Small spaces. "After eleven-year-old Ollie's school bus mysteriously breaks down on a field trip, she has to take a trip through scary woods, and must use all of her wits to survive. She must stick to small spaces.” (NoveList)

Hahn, Mary Downing. All the lovely bad ones. While spending the summer at their grandmother's Vermont inn, two prankster siblings awaken young ghosts from the inn's distant past who refuse to "rest in peace.".(NoveList) 

Hemingway, Blaise. Ghost. A finger against the inside of a mirror... a wood where the trees look back... a basement door blocked by a brick wall so thick, it stifles the screams from below ... This original collection of chilling poems and tales contains the only true ghost stories in existence (as the book itself will tell you)—13 eerie encounters perfect for sharing...if you dare. Accompanied by striking illustrations and building to a truly spine-tingling conclusion, this haunting book will consume the imagination and keep readers of every age up long past their bedtimes. (NoveList)

Poblocki, Dan. The gathering. Poppy Caldwell is an orphan who keeps seeing a figure standing behind her in the mirror at the group home where she lives, but she does not associate this ghost with the letter that mysteriously appears in her file, claiming to be from a long-lost aunt, and inviting her to Larkspur House--and she is just one of five children who find themselves gathered in this strange house with a deadly past, and apparently no intention of letting the children escape. (NoveList)

Reviews:

Uhrig, Betsy. The Polter-Ghost Problem. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2022.

Booklist

The Polter-Ghost Problem.

By Betsy Uhrig (author) 

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2022. 275p. $17.99 (978-1-66591-610-3) Grades 2-5.

Additional Review Available

Kirkus Reviews starred