3rd-4th grade reading level
Discussion
Director:
*Your job is to come up with
questions that your group can talk about. Include:
- 1 MCEOG
- 1 Mood
- 1 Figurative Language
- 1 Prediction
- 1 Setting (on your own)
MCEOG
1. Who is the main storyteller
of this section?
a. Great-grandma
Annie
b. Papa
c. Bessie
d. Mama
(Page 1- Answer: a.)
Mood
2. What mood is the author trying
to create with the text and illustration on
page 9?
Answer: sadness and gloom
Figurative Language
3. Give two examples of similes
in this section. What are the two things
being compared?
- "...I lived
on a wheat farm, as flat as a breadboard." (page 2, par. 1)
Comparing the wheat farm to a breadboard.
- "They baked
our land bone-dry until it looked as cracked and old as
Mama's white milk pitcher." (page 5, par. 2)
Comparing the land to the old, cracked milk pitcher.
Prediction
4. What do you think will happen
next? Will they ever get rain?
- I think
that the family will continue to work hard and survive through
the drought. They will eventually get rain and be able to have a
garden again.
Passage
Picker:
*Your job is to pick passages
from the section that you feel are interesting or special. You will
be discussing these passages with your group. Choose four passages
that satisfy these categories:
- Figurative Language
- Scary/Frightening
- Entertaining/Enjoyable
- Descriptive (on your own)
1. Figurative Language
a. Page 2, Paragraph 2, Line
1
b. "The farm...a pot."
c. I chose this passage because
it has such descriptive language and
includes
two similes.
d. Find the two similes in this
passage. Answer: 1) "...the land reaches out
straight
as
a handshake,...", 2) "...like the end of a pot."
*comparing
the land to a handshake and the end of a pot.
e. Author's purpose: To Describe
2. Scary/Frightening
a. Page 13, Paragraphs 1-3
b. "Black blizzards...and cried."
c. I chose this passage because
it described the storm so well. It was a
scary part
of the story!
d. Why couldn't Bessie and Annie
see their hands in front of their faces?
Answer: Because
the air was so think with black dirt.
e. Author's purpose: To Describe
3. Entertaining/Enjoyable
a. Page 14, Paragraph 1, Line
1
b. "On one...called it."
c. I chose this passage because
I really like the way in which Annie
described
her mother's garden, the "growing quilt".
d. What was the weather like
on this particular day? Answer: a Spring
day with
no dust storms (no wind).
Word
Wizard:
*Your job is to choose words
from the section that are unfamiliar or special. Choose four from
this list:
- pneumonia
(page 9, par. 1)
- blizzard
(page 11, par. 1)
- smothered
(page 13, par. 1)
- drenched
(page 14, par. 2)
- wilted
(page 14, par. 2)
1. drenched (page 14,
par. 2)
a. "Then day after day I drenched
the ground with heavy buckets of
water I carried
from the well."
b. drench- (verb) to
wet thoroughly, to soak or cover thoroughly with
liquid that
falls or is precipitated.
c. After standing in the pouring
rain for an hour, I was drenched.
d. See word wizard card below
2. smothered- (page 13,
par. 1)
a. "Black blizzards rolled down
from the north and smothered the
sun."
b. smother- (verb) to
cover thickly
c. The snow smothered the roads.
Character
Sketcher:
*Your job is to select a character
from the story and describe this character in detail. You will:
-find 3 words/traits that describe
the character
-name 1 goal of the character
-find 1 problem that the character
has
-determine a solution or possible
solution for the problem
-be creative and illustrate
the character!
Annie
Character Traits:
1. p. 3, par. 1
intelligent-
when she uses the dust on the table to teach her sister
to write.
2. p. 9, par. 1-2
mournful-
when her mom dies from pneumonia.
3. p. 11, par. 1
hard-working-
when she takes over all of the house work after her
mother dies.
Goal:
-To take care of the house and
family and to survive through the drought.
Problem:
-There is no rain and the land
is drying up, making it hard to live.
Possible Solution:
-Annie could figure out a way
to use the water they do have or she could suggest to her dad that
hey move to a place that is not affected by drought.
Activity
Activator:
*Your
job is to design a graphic organizer to go with and help explain the story.
-For this
section, create a story map. This organizer will help outline
the beginning of the story and highlight the important characters, events
and settings introduced so far. Share the story map with your group
and discuss. Here is a sample story map that you may use:
Story Map
SETTING-
CHARACTERS-
PROBLEMS-
GOALS-
IMPORTANT EVENTS-
RESOLUTION/(POSSIBLE RESOLUTION)-
THEME-