section4

Soft Rain

Fourth Grade (on grade level)
Section 4 (pages 51-75)

Discussion Director
The discussion director's job is to develop questions for the group members to discuss about this section of the book. The focus is on important ideas and issues in this section and designing questions that address them.

1 Main Idea
1 MCEOG
1 Cause/Effect
1 Inference
1 Character Relationship

Main Idea
1. All of the following explain why the Tsalagi and white people might not get along except for which one?
    A. The white people think they are superior to the Tsalagi.
    B. The white people are forcing the Tsalagi from their homes.
    C. The white people's ways are encroaching upon the traditional Tsalagi ways.
    D. The white people are kind and take care to bury the Tsalagi people who die along the journey.
(D. The white people are kind and take care to bury the Tsalagi people who die along the journey.)

Passage Picker
The Passage Picker's job is to select significant passages from the selections being read; determine why those passages are important; call other group member's attention to the passage; and lead a discussion about the passage.
   Steps:
        1.    Pick out a passage you would like to share.
        2.    Write down the page and paragraph number.
        3.    Write down the first two words and the last two words of your passage.
        4.    Write down the reason you chose the passage, and explain why!
        5.    Ask a question about your passage, and give an answer.
        6.    Write down the Author's Purpose: To Describe, To Entertain, To Inform, or To Persuade.

1. Passage One- Descriptive
2. Page 55, paragraph 1
3. Aunt Kee. . . their mouths.
4. I chose this passage because it explains how desperate the caged Tsalagi people are and how they find joy and delight in the natural and simple things. It makes me realize how much I take for granted.
5. The Tsalagi are as happy to have the rain come as we were when Florida was burning out of control with wild fires.
6. Author's Purpose: To describe

Passage Two- Informative
Passage Three- Descriptive
Passage Four- Entertain

Word Wizard
The Word Wizard's job is to search the section being read for words that are key to understanding what is happening in the story; note the page and sentence where it can be found; check the dictionary meaning of the word; lead a discussion about the meaning and intent of the word from context and what the word contributes to the importance of the passage.
Steps:
    1. Write down the word.
    2. Copy the sentence from the book in which the word appears.
    3. Look up the word in the dictionary.
    4. Using the context clues from the sentence and the dictionary definition, write in your own words the
        definition of the word.
    5. Write the correct part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, or adverb).
    6. Write a question and the answer about the word that would help you teach the word to your group,
        refer back to the text, or write a sentence using the Word Wizard word.
    7. Make your Word Wizard card. Be sure to include in big print, your word and the page and paragraph
        number. On the other side of the card should be a picture, the word, and the definition of the word.

1. Terrapin, Page 69, paragraph 1
2. Faster and faster she moved, rattling the pebbles in the terrapin shells tied to her legs.
3-4. terrapin- a North American turtle used for food, crafts, tools, and entertainment purposes.
5. noun
6. Mother used the large terrapin shell as a bowl to knead the dough.
7.

2. pondered, Page 61, paragraph 8
3. eerie, Page 73, paragraph 1
4. murmurings, Page 75, paragraph 1

Character Sketcher
The Character Sketcher's job is to develop a character map of major characters in the section of text being read.
Steps:
1. Pick out a character that interests you. Choose three words to describe this character.
2. For each trait, you will give proof (an example) from the book (write down page and paragraph).
3. Write out the character's goal, problem, and solution (page and paragraph).
4. Last, you will draw a picture of your character.

Soft Rain

Travel Tracer
The Travel Tracer's job is to create and maintain a map of movement if the story involves travel (either physical or metaphorical).
Steps:
Describe the setting where:
1. the action begins and give page and paragraph
2. key events happen and give page and paragraph

(1. They are still being held in the first stockade . It is very dusty and hot. There is no shade to be found, except for the makeshift tents some have managed to construct. The river is getting lower and the soldiers bring less water everyday, due to the lack of rain. There is a smell of sickness in the camp. The mess buckets are overflowing and the Real People are beginning to smell like the soldiers (Page 51-53).
2. While at the first camp, Soft Rain learns that they are to be moved to Rattlesnake Springs and then on to Indian Territory (Page 56).

During the journey to Rattlesnake Springs, up mountains and through valleys and streams, a young Chief tells them that the Real People are in charge. He gives them hope and decent food to eat (Page 61-63).

When they reach Rattlesnake Springs, they see a wide valley swarming with thousands of Tsalagi. There are many empty stockades. Hundreds of campfires make the air thick with smoke. There are animals milling around the valley. There the young Chief tells Soft Rain he will look for her father. He also explains that a council meeting is to be held to decide on laws for their new home. Groups begin to leave Rattlesnake Springs and head West (Page 64).

The trail on their way to the West is a difficult one. There are steep mountains, many rivers, cold and wet nights, and rocks and pebbles along the trail that make walking even more difficult. Sometimes the days are hot and dry, and sometimes it rains for days at a time. Old and young ones are dying and are left behind without receiving a proper burial. Soft Rain, Aunt Kee, and Mother help a young woman who has just lost her two young children. This section ends with "another river to cross," (Page 73-75)).