Grade Five:  (above grade level)
Section Two (pg22-45)

Discussion Director
Your job is to create questions that your group can talk about.

MCEOG Question
1.  During the Dust Storm, what prevented people from feeding their cows properly?
    a.  There wasn't any rain to moisten and replenish the ground so that they could grow feed corn.
    b.  The cows were angry with them.
    c.  There wasn't any sunshine.
    d.  All the people were too lazy to plant feed corn.
(Answer:  a:  pg 24 paragraph 1)

Fact/Opinion
2.  Why do you think boys would be the only ones that learned the trade of calving?

(Answer:  It's considered a man's job!  The mere idea of helping birth a calf is gross and nasty.  Most girls would not want anything to do with calving.  pg 31-32 paragraph 1)

Character
3.  Why was the letter from Mr. Coates about the arrowhead so important that Annie put it in her overall's front pocket and kept check to make sure it was still there?

(Answer:  This letter symbolized that Mr. Coates thought enough of the arrowhead to send it to hes friend Professor Stevens at Edmond State College.  She knows it must be worth something now, and archaeology has been her lifelong passion.  pg 39-40)

Cause/Effect
4.  All of the following are reasons why the calf's birth was hard except which one?
    a.  The calf was too big.
    b.  The calf was turned backwards.
    c.  The calf was mooing inside Miniver.
    d.  The calf was suffocating.
(Answer:  c: pg 43-44)

Passage Picker
Your job is to pick passages that you and your group can talk about.  Reasons for picking passages are DESCRIPTIVE, INFORMATIVE, and ENTERTAINING.

Passage One
1.--
2.  pg 23-24 last paragraph
3.  "We trudge. . .cow producing."
4.  I picked this passage because it tells me about Annie and Violet's lives.  It explains how they feed their cows and keep their animals alive.  It also lets me know how rough living during the Dust Bowl really was.
5.  What happened to Violet's chickens?
6.  To inform and describe

Passage Two
1.--
2.  pg. 39 paragraph 1
3.  "On the way home. . . still there."
4.  This passage describes what their orange sodas were like and what Annie's thinking about.  Here, we learn how important the arrowhead is to Annie as she reaches to touch her pocket and make sure the note is still there.
5.  What about the note makes it so special?
6.  To entertain.

Passage Three
1.--
2.  pg 44 paragraph 3
3.  "The calf's. . . are splattered."
4.  I chose this passage because it lets me know the seriousness of the situation.  It gives me a picture of Violet's father and I hear the sorrow and anguish in his voice as he tells all of his thoughts to God.
5.  How do you know that Violet's father is upset and cares about the calf?
6.  To entertain

Word Wizard
These are the four words for you to do your word wizard cards for.
soapweed (pg 23, paragraph 6)
resume (pg 27, paragraph 2)
corral (pg 27, paragraph 4)
eccentric (pg 34 paragraph 1)

Word One

Word Two
1.  Eccentric pg 34 paragraph 1
2.  "Pa calls Mr. Coates an 'eccentric'!"
3.  Dictionary:  odd, as in conduct; unconventional
4.  My definition:  being different than other people.
5.  adjective
6.  "What makes Mr. Coates an eccentric person?
(Answer:  He would rather spend time with a book instead of people.)
7.  Make card.

Character Sketcher
Your job is to tell the group all about Miniver.  List and explain 3 character traits, her goal, her problem, and the solution.

Connector
Your job is to connect the book your group is reading to the outside world.  This means asking yourself these questions and writing a paragraph about one or more of them:
    Does this part of the story remind you of any other story or book your have read or heard?  Explain.
    Does this part of the story remind you of anything that has happened to you, a friend, or a family member?  Explain.
    Does this part of the story remind you of a movie or television shwo you have seen?  Explain.

In your paragraph, be sure to include who or what your connection is about, where and when it happened, what happened, and how it connects or deals with the part of the story you were reading.

(Answer:  As I read the part of the story where Annie and Violet get their orange sodas and their fingerprints appear on the side of the frosty bottle, I remember when I was a little girl.  On hot Saturdays, my dad would take my sisters and I to the little gas station down the road and buy us a soda.  We would drink our sodas as we rode home in the back of the truck and discover the fingerprints left on the outside of the frosty bottles.)