Fifth Grade (on grade level)
Section Three (pgs.  47-71)

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 type.  For this reading section, the Discussion Director should create the following types of questions: 1 Cause/Effect, 1 Sequence of Events, 1 Character Changes, 1 Prediction, and 1 On Your Own.  Here are some examples of the types of questions that could be created for this section.
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(Cause/Effect)
1.  What caused Peter and Betsy to drift down the river so quickly?

a.  They were in a hurry
b.  The River's swift current
c.  They kicked and paddled
d.  The tree they were floating on was fast

(Sequence of Events)
2.  Put the following events in the order that they occurred in the story.

a.  Peter noticed the "M" on Betsy's hand
b.  Peter and Betsy found a log
c.  They landed on Morgan's Rock
d.  Peter and Betsy got turned around and were going the wrong way down the river

(Character Changes)
3.  Describe a change that has occurred in Peter's character from the beginning of the story up to this point.

Answer:  Peter is thinking more of others, before he was thinking only of himself. He is becoming more selfless. (page 64, par. 3)

Passage Picker:

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 Literature Circle group.  There are many reasons that a passage might be significant.  The Passage Picker should select passages, from this reading section, for the following reasons: 1 with a simile, 1 important, 1 describing, and 1 suspense/excitement.  Here are some examples of significant passages from this section.
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(Simile)
1.  page 64, par. 2

I tried....a string.

(Important)
2.  page 66, 2nd to last par.

The brand....had hunted.

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.  For this section, the Word Wizard should choose four of the following words: belied (p. 47), askance (p. 57), billowing (p. 57), eddies (p. 63), sublime (p. 65), muster (p. 65).   Here are some examples:
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(New Word)
1.  belied-  page 47, par. 2

....struck as I was by a look of age that belied her height and form.

(Describing Word)
2.  askance- page 57, par. 1

The girl looked askance at it too....

Character Sketcher:

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 three of Night Journeys.
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BETSY WILLIAMS-

Character Traits/Proof:
1.  apprehensive- page 47, par. 2
Betsy is apprehensive as Peter approaches her. She is anxious because she does not know Peter and can not yet trust him.

2.  petite- page 48, 2nd big par.
Betsy has thin arms and looks younger than she is because she is so small, petite.  She does not look strong because of her small size.

3.  willing- page 59, 2nd to last par.
Betsy is willing to help Peter paddle and kick to help them get across the river, even though she felt weak and the river seemed to be more powerful than they were.

Character Goal:
Betsy wants to get home to her sick father in Doylestown.  She needs to cross the river to the Pennsylvania side.

Problem:
She has no way of crossing the river alone. She is hungry, barefoot, and weak.  She also can not swim.

Solution:
Peter can help her get across the river. If they work together to maneuver the log then they can make it across.

Travel Tracer:

The job of the Travel Tracer is to map the movement of the story (both physical travel and metaphorical travel). The Travel Tracer should create a map of the physical movement of characters during a reading section. He/she should also keep track of the movement of character's toward their goals or in their personalities.  The Travel Tracer for this section should point out the travel of Peter and Betsy along the River and the movement of the two characters towards their goal.
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Specific ideas from the section to emphasize:
1. What path do the Peter and Betsy travel to get back to the Pennsylvania side of the river?
2.  Have the two of them gotten any closer to their goals by moving down the river?
3.  How has Peter progressed (moved) toward becoming a different person?
4.  How has Betsy changed (moved) toward becoming a different person?

Possible Answers:
1.  Peter and Betsy walk along the Riverbank until they find a log that they can ride down the river.  They then proceed to place the log into the river and get on top of it. They are swept down the river toward Pennsylvania, from New Jersey. The river currents turn them around on several occasions and they are heading back towards New Jersey. They are able to get turned in the correct direction and are again heading toward the Pennsylvania side of the river. They finally reach Morgan's Rock and are thrust upon the rock.

2.  They both reach their goal of getting to the other side of the river safely.

3.  Peter has moved from being a very selfish, worrisome character to a more thoughtful, caring person. He begins to care what happens to Betsy as they brave the river together. He thinks less about himself and worries less about how he might mess up and look incapable.

4.  Betsy has become a more trusting person by risking Peter's finding out who she is and going with him down the river. She is letting him help her get to the other side of the river. At the beginning of the section, she was very anxious about Peter. She has put this aside to work with him to cross the river.