Fifth Grade (on grade level)
Section One (pgs. 3-24)

Discussion Director:

The job of the Discussion Director is to develop questions for group members, to help focus on important parts of each section. These questions should vary in difficulty and in type. For this section, the Discussion Director should create the following types of questions: 2 on your own, 1 MCEOG, 1 mood, 1 point of view.  The following are examples of questions that would work for this section..
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(On your own)
1.  Whose house was Peter at the night of his Family's funeral?

a.  Jumper's house
b.  The minister's house
c.  His parent's house
d.  Mr. Shinn's house

(Mood)
2.  What was the mood of the story in chapter one?

Answer: serious, somber, sad, etc. (pages 3 and 4)

(MCEOG)
3.  All of the following describe Mr. Shinn except which one?

a.  respected
b.  charitable
c.  religious
d.  friendly

(On your own)
4.  What was Peter's only offering to the Shinn family?

a.  Jumper, his horse
b.  his dog
c.  his house
d.  his gun

(Point of View)
5.  From whose point of view is the story being told?

a.  The minister
b.  Mr. Shinn
c.  Jumper
d.  Peter York

The Passage Picker's job is to select specific passages from the reading section that are significant in some way. These passages should be discussed with the group. There are many reasons that a passage might be chosen as significant. For this section, the Passage Picker should select 1intriguing,  1 informative, 1 descriptive, 1 suspenseful, and 1 interesting.   The following are examples of some of these types of passages.
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(Intriguing)
1.  page 4, par. 5

"Stand up....his face.

(Informative)
2.  page 10, par. 2

Bondsman, I....great value.

(Descriptive)
3.  page 15, par. 2

Our way....double in number.

(Suspenseful)
4.  page 18, par. 3

Thus, while....so drowned.

(Informative and Interesting)
5.  page 21, par. 5

"Now", he whispered....thy silence."

Word Wizard:

The job of the Word Wizard is to select words from the reading section for their literature circle group to examine and discuss. These words can be chosen for various reasons, such as: word patterns, new or unknown words, strange words, describing words, words in bold/ italics, etc. The Word Wizard for this section should choose four of the following words to create word wizard cards for: fathom (p. 5), retorted (p. 12), accoutrements (p. 14) , comingle (p. 19),  lavished (p. 7), lurid (p. 22)
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(New Word)
1. fathom- page 5, par. 3

In truth, it was silence that mostly ruled his tongue, a silence I found hard to fathom.

(Describing Word)
2.  retorted- page 12, par. 2

"I shan't mind it any more than you do, " I retorted as I got my jacket.

(Hard Word)
3.  accoutrements- page 14, par. 3

When I returned with the gun and its accoutrements, I was once more pulled up behind Mr. Shinn.

(Strange Word)
4. comingle- page 19, par. 3

At one place near the middle the sand and trees comingle.

The job of Character Sketcher is to create a character map for a main character of the reading section of their book. This map should include proof of three character traits, the goal of the character they choose, the problem faced by that character, and a solution or possible solution for that character's problem. Below is an example of a character sketch for section one of Night Journeys.

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 MR. EVERETT SHINN-

Character Traits/Proof:
1.  quiet- page 4, par. 6
"Mr. Shinn took my hand solemnly, peered at me, and nodded". This shows that Mr. Shinn is a man of few words.

2.  cautious- page 5, par. 3
On this page, Peter talks about how Mr. Shinn doesn't smile very often and how he speaks carefully.  He is silent in everything he does and is not likely to praise or condemn.

3.  somber looking- page 5, par. 4
Mr. Shinn has gray hair and pale features, he seems to be without emotion. His clothes are plain and he wears a "somber hat that announces uprightness".  Mr. Shinn's persona and even his clothes portray the image of seriousness.

Character Goal:
Mr. Shinn's goal in life is to be a successful and fair Justice of the Peace for his community and a devout Quaker (religion).

Problem:
Sometimes, his beliefs as a Quaker make it hard for Mr. Shinn to uphold the law. For example he refuses to hurt the men he is searching for because it goes against his Quaker beliefs. Yet, his job as the Justice of the Peace is to catch the men no matter what the cost.

Possible Solution:
A possible solution for Mr. Shinn is to pretend to be an upholding, law-abiding citizen while really honoring his Quaker beliefs above all other responsibilities.  For example, tricking townspeople into believing that he is doing his best to achieve justice while really avoiding situations that make him feel uncomfortable.
 

The job of the Investigator is to research and find information that relates to the Literature Circle book his/her group is reading. The Investigator should look for relevant information to share with his/her group in sources such as: newspapers, web pages, encyclopedias, and other books.  Below is an example of some information found on the Revolutionary War.
 

Some specific topics to look for include:
1.  What was life like for people living around the time period of Night Journeys?
2.  What was life like in the area that Peter and Mr. Shinn would have lived in (Pennsylvania)?
3.  Compare life then to life now?

Ways to gather information:
* look in books about the 1700s (pre- Revolutionary War time)
* look at web sites related to Colonial lifestyles
* interview people who may know a lot about this time period
* look at videos based on life during the 1700s

Web sites that could be used by this Investigator:

http://www.hfmgv.org/smartfun/colonial/intro/
*This web site allows students to investigate the life of a 1700s Connecticut family by clicking on icons to look at various aspects of Colonial life in the 1700s.  This site includes interactive videos to be viewed and a question at the end of each section of information.  The question portion of each section provides a thorough answer, to both assess student understanding of the section and provide additional facts about that section of information.

http://www.yahooligans.com/Around_the_world/U_S_States/Pennsylvania/History/
*This web site gives students information on various aspects of Pennsylvania, both in Colonial times and present day.  The Lit. Circle book that the on grade level group is using takes place in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

http://www.library.thinkquest.org/J002611F/introduction.htm
*This interactive web site, created by students, tells about life during the 1700s.  Specific aspects of 1700s life that can be explored on this web site are: fashion, transportation, homes, Indian neighbors, jobs, etc.