Shades of Gray
Fifth Grade
Section 3, pages:  66-90

Discussion Director:

Directions:  Your job is to make five questions that deal with section three of your reading.  Your questions should include ideas about genre, a word that is in italics/bold, the main idea, sequence, and mood.

1.  Genre
Question:  What is the genre of this book?  How do you know?
Answer:  Historical Fiction.  I know this because it is about an event in history, but it is not based on a true story.

2.  Italics/Bold
Question:  Why is the word "your" italicized on page 78, par. 7?
Answer:  Because the men who need help don't want Uncle Jed's help because he didn't fight in the war.

3.  Main Idea
Question:  What do you think is the main idea in this section?
Answer:  At first the men are really spiteful towards Uncle Jed, but then they need his help.  This chapter shows how Jed is so helpful even when people didn't accept his help when he first offered it.  I think it shows how hardworking, helpful, and forgiving Jed is (page 83, par.5).

Passage Picker:

Directions:  Your job is to pick four passages from this section.  The reasons for picking your passages are

1.  Page 68, par 7.  "Will turned...the floor."
This passage shows Will bragging about how his father killed many Yankees.
Question:  How did Will change the subject after he regretted bragging about how many men his father killed?
Answer:  He emptied the buttons on the floor for Hank to look at.
Author's purpose:  to entertain

2.  Page 85, par.8.  "His unbelieving...quiet conversation."
This passage shows how excited Will is about all the food at Mr. Browns.
Question:  What did all of the food make Will think of?
Answer:  It made him think of all the memories of his family dinners (giggles and wisecracks).
Author's purpose:  to describe

Word Wizard:

Directions:  Your job is to find the following words in this section.  Write the sentence the word appears in and give a definition of the word.  Then, make up a sentence using the word in it.

1.  Vanquished
Page 70, line 3.  "To his relief, Hank shrugged and picked up a button showing a woman warrior with her foot resting on a vanquished foe."
Definition:  overcome in battle, defeat
Part of speech:  adj.
Word used in a sentence:  The pictures of the Civil War made many of the men look vanquished and tired.

2.  Succulent
Page 86, par.2.  "Memories of the family dinner hour with Callie's succulent meals, Charlie's wisecracks, his little sisters' giggles, and his parents' quiet conversation."
Definition:  moist, juicy
Part of speech:  adj.
Word used in a sentence:  The girl could have never imagined such a succulent meal.

Character Sketcher:

Directions:  Your job is to do a character sketcher on Jed.  Draw a picture of him and give 3 traits that describe him (and proof).  State the character's problems, solutions, and goals.

Character Sketcher:  Jed
Character Traits:
1.  Forgiving.  Page 83, par. 5.  In this passage Jed says that he will go to help the men on the mill the next day even though they were mean to him.
2.  Hardworking.  Page 86, par. 7.  This passage is about Will watching how hard his uncle works.
3.  Helpful.  Page 78, par. 6.  This is when Jed offers to help the men work on the mill.
Character's Goals:
I think one of Jed's goals is to get along with all of the men (page 78, par. 6).  He shows this by helping them on the mill.
To let Will know that he didn't fight in the war because he didn't believe in it (page 76, par. 4).
Character's Problems:
Jed offers the men his help on the mill and they don't accept it (page 78, par. 6).
Character's Solutions:
The men end up needing Jed's help and he ends up helping them (page 83, par. 5).

Artful Artist:

Directions:  Your job is to draw a picture that illustrates what you liked best about the story.  After you're finished drawing your picture, write a brief summary about your drawing.  Include:
-Who/What my picture is about
-Where my picture takes place
-When it is happening
-Why I drew it
Plan for sharing:
Don't tell your group what your drawing is about.  Let them guess how it is connected with the story.  Your group should discuss your picture before you talk about it.

My picture is about Will and his Uncle Jed.  They are eating a good meal at Mr. Brown's.  They were helping the men fix the mill and came in to eat some lunch.  I drew this picture because I was happy they got to eat such a good meal for helping (page 85, par. 2).