5th grade (below grade level)

Thunder at Gettysburg
This book is an account of the Battle of gettysburg through the eyes of a young girl who is living in Gettysburg. The story begins with her watching the battle from afar and enjoying it. As the battle get s closer and she has to leave town to go to her neighbors farm it is no logner exciting and is now very scary and dangerous.

Discussion Director
MCEOG question
genre
character
sequence
prediction

Your job is to write down questions that your group can talk about.

1. All of the following words describe Tillie except:
    a-responsible
    b-lazy
    c-brave
    d-courageous

2. Describe how Tillie's thoughts about the war change from the beginning to the end of this section.
    -she originally looks at the war as something exciting and interesting, towards the end of this section she
    becomes confused because she is not at her window looking at the war as a spectator, she is in the middle of a
    battle

3. Tell whether this story is fiction or nonfiction, why?
    - historical fiction, even though it is about something that really did happen in our history it is not an exact account, but it did take place during a historical event

4. Put these events in the order that they happened.
    a-Tillie promises to be back in one day p. 10
    b-Tillie's neighbor Henry Shriver comes to talk to Tillie's father p. 9
    c-Tillie watches the battle from the window with her father p. 2
    d-Tillie starts taking water to the soldiers p.18
    * c, b, a, d

5. Make a prediction about the second section of the story
    -Tillie will help the soldiers fighting near her
    -Tillie will be caught in the middle of the battle
    -Tillie will not make it home in one
    -Tillie comes back to find that her parents have been killed by Rebel soldiers
 

Passage Picker
Your job is to pick passages from this section that you and your group can talk about. Choose passages that satisfy these 2 reasons:

historical
descriptive

Look for passages that show the kinds of things that happened to people during the war.
    Passage 1
    1. p.5  line 2
    2. "Then, a week ...town dry."
    3. I chose this passage because it described the kinds of things that historically happened to regular people who weren't  fighting during the war.
    4. What did the townspeople do to try and fight off the Rebels? "...used pickaxes and pitchforks and rusty guns."
    5. The authors purpose was to describe the way people were effected by the war.

    Passage 2
    1. p.8 line 18
    2. "This battling...could Tillie come?"
    3. I chose this passage because it describes how people were scared and tried to run if they knew a battle was coming.
    4. Why did Mr. Shriver want Tillie to come with him to his mother's farm? "...I need help with the small ones."
    5. The authors purpose with this passage is to describe how people had to do things to help out there neighbors.

    Passage 3
    1. p.11 line 1
    2. "It was...and Molly"
    3. I chose this passage because it describes how Tillie has to work hard to take care of Mr. Shrivers children
    4. Why was it so hard for Tillie to make her way up Cemetery Hill? "Yesterday's rain had turned Taneytown Road
        into a mud path."
    5. The authors purpose with this section is to describe how people had to do things that weren't easy to help others.
 

Word Wizard
Look up these words:
raggedy p.5 line 4
splattered p.12 line 2
wounded p.18 line 12
Yanks p.18 line 2

    -raggedy  p.5 line 4
    adjective
    raggedy- old, worn out, torn and scrappy
    "Then, a week ago-with all those boys gone-raggesdy, gray-coated Rebel soldiers came shouting through town."
    The favorite shirt is so comfortable, but mom says it's old and raggedy

    -splattered p.12 line 7
    verb
    splattered- sprayed, splashed
    "She got splattered just the same."
    I was painting the ceiling and I got paint splattered all over my face.

    -wounded p.18 line 12
    adverb
    wounded- harmed or injured as in a battle
    "We've got wounded coming in to the house, the barn, and these marching men need water"
    My hand was wounded by the knife I was using to cut my bagel.

    -Yanks p.19 line 2
    proper noun
    Yanks- nickname for the Union soldiers, short for Yankees
    "The Rebels are firing on Cemetery Hill now, and if these Yanks don't get there to help stop them, those Rebs will
    come marching right down Taneytown Road."
    Were the "Yanks" the soldiers fighting for the North or the South

Investigator
Your job is to find some background info about something related to the book, such as:
1. This book is about the battle at Gettysburg, is this a town in the South or a town in the North?
2. Where did the nicknames, "Yankees" and "Rebels" come from?
3. Why did the townspeople have to fight with farm tools and not guns

Ways to gather information:
-look in the "Note from the Author" section in the back of the book
-other books, magazines, or newspapers
-encyclopedias
-interviews with people who know a lot about the Civil War
-textbooks
-www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/pa002.htm
-www.rockingham.k12.va.us/EMS/Gettysburg/Gettysburg.html
 

Character Sketcher
Your job is to find an interesting character from the section you read today. You will find three words that describe the character. For each word you, or character trait, you will give the proof, or example (including page and paragraph).

The next thing you will do is tell one of your characters goals, or what the character wants to do in this section.

Then you will find one of the characters problems in the section and the solution or possible solution to the problem.

Finally, you get to have fun and do an  illustration of your character!

Tillie

Character traits
1. p.6 line 17
 excited- because she had wished for the fighting and now she was watching it from her window

2. p.14 line 2-18
confused- because she doesn't understand why everyone is running around when the fighting is all the way in the town

3. p.15 line 9
scared- because she is beginning to realize that the fighting is working its way closer to where she is headed

Goal
Tillie is trying to get the children to to their grandmothers farm where they will be safe from the fighting.

Problem
Tillie is beginning to realize that the fighting is getting closer to the farm.

Solution
When they arrive at the farm Tillie begins taking care of the wounded soldiers.