Students can put on a skit playing the characters in the story as a class assignment. This not only encourages students to read the story, but it requires them to understand the characters and act as the characters. Children can take turns playing Hank and his friends to ensure that all of the students understand the story.
The "Tale of Two Tails" describes some of the locations around the characters throughout the book. Students can use the information about the location to make a map of the setting. The map might include the park where Cheerio is trained and the streets around the neighborhood where the characters live. The teacher can draw the map on the board as students direct or students can work on the map in groups.
Cliff notes are a type of shortened writing about a story. Teachers can have the students write cliff notes on the "Tale of Two Tails" giving summarized information about the story. Each student can work on one chapter of the story and then the class can put the cliff notes together to make a full book.
Class discussions give students an opportunity to state opinions about the story and the writing while also allowing them to hear other perspectives. The teacher can start the discussion by asking students their opinions on Hank Zipzer and his friends in the tale, the plot of putting the pet dog in the dog show and the book's writing style.