On The Banks of Plum Creek
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Fifth Grade (on grade)
Chapters 14-18

Discussion Director

    Your job is to write down questions that your group can discuss  from chapters 14-18.  Make sure to come up with different types of questions. Some types of questions that you can ask are Fact/Opinion, Multiple Choice End of Grade Questions (MCEOG), problem/solution, author's purpose, mood, and compare/contrast. Today you need to write down five questions and the answers. Make sure to include what page and in what paragraph you can find the answer to the question.

1. What was the author's purpose in writing chapter 17?

                A. to entertain
                B. to describe
                C. to inform
                D. to laugh

* Answer is B- to describe (the author describes the new house that Pa built the family)

Other questions can be pulled from chapter 14 using MCEOGs, and problem/solution questions. From chapter 18 a fact/opinion and a mood question.
 
 

Passage Picker

    Your job is to pick parts of the story that you want to read aloud in your group. You will need to pick four passages to read aloud within your group. Reasons for picking these passages can be descriptive, informative, figurative language, entertaining, funny/amusing, foreshadowing, or scary. Make sure to include what page you can find the passage and what paragraph or lines it may be!

1. page 117 paragraph 1
2. We'll move in....as a strawsack.
3. I picked this passage becuase it describes how Laura felt and what she noticed her last night in the dugout.
4. From this passage, how can we assume Laura felt? She flet content
5. to describe

The other pasages can be choosen from pages 102,114, 123, and 131.
 
 
 

Word Wizard

    Your job is to look for special words in the story that you or your group members may not recognize or understand. Words that you could look for may be compound, hard, strange, describing, funny, and or important. Make sure to include what page and paragraph you found the word.  Here are 6 words to choose from. You choose any four that you want to do.

                                uncurling (page108 para 3)                                bodice (page122 para 3)
                                shavings  (page 110 last line)                             astonished (page 127 para2)
                                oblong ( page 115 line 2)                                   thicket (page128 para 3)
 

1. thicket page 128 paragraph 3
2.The creek came flowing out of a thicket of plum trees.
3.thicket- a place where shrubs or small trees grow close together
4. noun
5. My dog likes to hide in the thicket behind the shed.
 
 
 

Character Sketcher

     Your job is to find an interesting character from the chapters you have read. For this lesson you can either choose from Laura or Mary to do a character sketch of.  Make sure to find three words that describe your character and you will need to give proof or an example. Make sure to put what page and in what paragraph you found the proof. You will also need to tell one goal of the character, a problem and the solution for the character. When you are done, illustrate your character!!

Laura

1. page 99
        chatter-box- Laura is always talking or commenting about something in the house
2. page 99
        inquisitive- Laura is always asking questions to her Ma or Pa
3. page 104
        determined- Laura is determined to do what she wants to do and she gets herself out of the roaring creek

Character Goal- Laura want to be able to do all things that she wants to do.

Problem- Laura gets herself caught in the creek.

Solution- Laura fights the current and pulls herself out of the creek using a tree limb
 

Investigator

    Your job is to dig up some background information on any topic related to your book. This might include:

        The geography, weather, culture, or history of the book's setting
        Information about the author, her/his life, and other works
        Information about the time period portrayed in the book
        Pictures, objects, or materials that illustrate the book
        Music that reflects the book of the time

    The idea is to find one bit of information that helps your group understand the book better. Investigate something that interests you.

Ways of gathering information:

        Library books or magazines
        On-line computer search or encyclopedia
             Westward Movement resources
             Laura Ingalls Wilder Page
        Interviews with people who know about this topic (excluding your teacher)
        Other novels, or textbooks you have read.

* The topic of  information that you will need to research for your group needs to be about the kinds of cookstoves that were avilable during Laura's life.
 

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