Pages 25-48
5th grade (below grade level-2nd grade)
Section 2
Discussion Director:
Your job today is to write down 5 questions that you and your group can discuss.
1. What did John notice was missing while he was hiding in the forest from the soliders?
A. The birds
B. One of his buttons
C. His scarf
D. The sound of the wind blowing
Answer: B
Genre
2. Tell whether this story was fiction or non-fiction. Explain your choice.
Answer: The story was non-fiction because it was just an idea
of what it might have been like if you were a young boy
that was a spy during the Revolutionary War.
Fact/Opinion
3. Was there a surprise in this story? What was the surprise?
Answer: One thing that was a surprise in the story was when
John got caught by the man in the woods, and the man took
John with him in order to find out what he was really doing in the woods.
4. What do you think would have happened if John was taking to a British camp?
Answer: I think that John would have told the British soldiers
that he got lost in the woods and was too scared to tell the
man who found him that he was lost so that he would not get hurt.
Passage Picker
Your job is to pick four passages from this section that you and your
group can discuss. Choose passages that satisfy these reasons:
B. "He touched . . . was missing!"
C. This passage contained some
very important information because it informed us that one of the buttons
on John's
coat was missing.
D. Question: What do you think happened to John's button?
E. Answer: I think that John lost his button in the woods when he was hiding from the soldiers.
F. Author's Purpose: To Inform
2.) A. p 33 lines 1-2
B. "Suddenly, a . . . stood up."
C. The passage was very scary because
John thought that he was alone in the woods, and he did not know who was
behind him.
D. Question: Where do you think that the man came from that grabed John?
E. Answer: I think that the man was behind one of the trees and John did not see him.
F. Author's Purpose: To Entertain
3.) A. all of p 36
B. "At last . . . American camp."
C. This passage was historical because the soldiers uniforms were blue, the color of the American uniforms.
D. Question: Why did John now that the camp was an American camp?
E. Answer: John knew that
the camp was an American camp because the color of the soldiers uniforms
were blue
and not red, like the British.
F. Author's Purpose: To Inform
Character Sketcher
Your job today is to find an interesting character
that you can discuss with your group. You will need to find three
words that describe your character. For each word, character trait,
you will give the proof/example (page number and paragraph).
Next you will tell one of your character's goals,
or what the character wants to do in this section. Then you will
look for one of the character's problems in the section and the
solution
or possible solution to the problem.
Finally you will make a character map and illustrate
your character.
Character Traits:
John
1. determined-(p 43 last 3 lines) he did not want to let his brother read the secret message to anyone but General Washington
2. nervous-(p 31 lines 4-5) John was afraid that the British soldier would find the message in the button.
3. rebellious-(p32 lines 5-7) John took a short cut through the woods even though his parents had warned him not to.
Goal:
To reach General Washington's camp as soon as possible with all of the buttons in order to give Washington the message.
Problem:
It was getting late and John had not got close to General Washington's camp since he had to go back for the button.
Solution:
John decided to go a faster way through the woods.
Word Wizard
Your job today is to pick four words in this section that are special words. You will need to write down the word and where you found it in the story (page and lines). You will also need to write down a definition of each word, the sentence using your word, and make up your own sentence using the word. Some words to choose are:
B. "What might you be doing in these woods?" asked a gruff voice.
C. gruff- in a hard, rough voice
D. adjective
E. The mean man spoke to me in a gruff voice.
2. A. prowling-(p 38 last two lines)
B. "I caught him prowling through the woods near Philadelphia"
C. prowling-moving about cautiously
D. verb
E. The cat was prowling around the house in search of a mouse.
Summarizer
Your job is to prepare a short summary of the reading for today. The other members of your group will be counting on you to give a quick review (no more than three minutes) of the key points and main highlights of the assigned reading.
Summary
In today's reading, John finds that he has lost one of the buttons on his jacket. John figures out that the button was probably lost when Samuel hit him. He runs back to the place and the soldier has his button. After getting the button he heads to General Washington's camp by going on a short cut in the woods. While in the woods, John is caught by a man and taken to a camp. John sees that the camp is an American camp and knows that he will be safe. John is taken to a tent where a man ask him if he is a spy. John says that he is for the Americans and wishes to speak to his brother. His brother comes and John tells him that he has a message for him. John does not want his brother, Charles, to read the message in front of the man because it is only to be read to General Washington. The man is General Washington, so his bother decodes the message! John's buttons are put back on and he goes bak home.
Key Points