Reading

Reading opens the door to exciting adventures…
 * //Sing Down the Moon//** by: Scott O'Dell



**Story Summary:** Bright Morning, a Navaho girl, farms and herds sheep with her family in the Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "shay"). She must deal with her responsibilities as a young woman of the tribe and with her love for Tall Boy, who is crippled from an injury he received while trying to rescue her from slavery. The Long Knives, the American soldiers, force her and her tribe to leave their home and join all the other Navaho on the devastating march to Fort Sumner. During the Long Walk, Bright Morning witnesses deaths from disease and malnutrition. She tells of the many men of the tribe who feel defeated and lose their will to live. Bright Morning possessed an inner strength that moved her to escape the disease and poverty of the resettlement. She returned with her husband to the Canyon de Chelly to find the sheep she left behind. Her baby is born during the trip. Bright Morning and her family finally reach a cave hidden in a small canyon where they can live in the Navaho way.

[|//**http://homepage.mac.com/cohora/ext/singmoon.pdf**//]
 * //Sing Down the Moon// Internet Activity Hunt (we will be doing this in class, but you can preview it at home if you would like).**

__**Information on Scott O'Dell:**__ http://www.kidspoint.org/columns2.asp?column_id=755&column_type=author

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/NA-NavajoLongWalk.html http://www.desertusa.com/mag03/trails/trails09.html (shows map of the walk)
 * __Information on The Long Walk to Bosque Redondo__**

http://www.nhusd.k12.ca.us/ALVE/NativeAmerhome.html/Navajo.html/Navajo_Home_Page.html
 * __Information about Navajo Indians:__**

//My Brother Sam is Dead// by:Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier

//My Brother Sam is Dead// begins in 1775, when the New England colonies were just beginning to join forces in rebellion against their ruler, the mighty British government. Since their founding, the colonies had paid taxes to the king of England, retained many British customs, and often followed the Anglican religion. By the time when this story takes place, the movement for independence had begun to spread through the land, gaining great following at the universities, including Yale, where the fictional character Sam Meeker is a student. The Boston Tea Party had happened, exciting the rebel Patriots and offending the Tories, New England men who remained loyal to England. The colonies were beginning to divide in their loyalty. The makeshift rebel militia, the Minutemen, rose under the leadership of George Washington and defeated the British forces in the battle of Lexington and Concord, an event Sam notes in chapter one. Even with so much pro-Patriot sentiment, Redding, Connecticut, where the Meekers live, was a Tory town. It is a historical fact that Redding inhabitants endured aggression and the stealing of their guns and cattle, partly out of wartime desperation for goods, and partly out of animosity toward the Loyalists. This novel was written to recreate a particular moment in the Civil War from the viewpoint of a child. The novel is sometimes offensive; when Tim Meeker describes the seating in the church, he notes without judgment that the balcony is where those deemed lesser humans sit— children, black people, and Indians. Women defer to the judgment of their husbands, and therefore when Tim returns to help his mother run the tavern, he acts as the master of the property. This novel questions the usefulness of war as an answer to social problems. At the end of the novel, Tim asks us whether such a nation could be created from an end other than war. //My Brother Sam is Dead// demonstrates the repercussions of war on a single involved family, and through this suggests the possible effects on each other group of individuals. But overall, this novel does not carry an antiwar message so much as it details the maturation of a boy who adores and idolizes his older brother, and how the wartime situation brought out the younger brother's abilities and principles in contrast to those of the older. The authors of this novel take many of their characters from history. A Meeker Tavern did exist in Redding, and many of the city inhabitants lived and died in the same manner that they do in the novel. In an epilogue, the brothers Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier explain their endeavor to recreate the effects of war on this Tory family. James Collier writes many children's books and magazine articles, and Christopher is a professor specializing in the history of the American Revolution.

__**Character List:**__

**Tim Meeker** - The narrator, he is fourteen at the beginning of the story. Tim greatly admires his older brother and longs to be more involved in the excitement and danger of the war.

**Sam Meeker** - Tim's older brother, he is sixteen at the beginning of the story. Sam is headstrong and often at odds with his father. A Yale student, he leaves school to fight the Rebel cause. 
 * Eliphalet Meeker** - Father to Sam and Tim, he is the owner of Meeker Tavern. Mr. Meeker wants nothing to do with the war and is angry at Sam for participating in it.

**Susannah Meeker** - Mother to Sam and Tim, she is very religious and hard working.  
 * Betsy Read** - Sam's girlfriend and the daughter of Colonel Read, a prominent local Patriot. Betsy is a bold, nosy teenaged girl, very loyal to Sam and to the Rebel cause, even though she, like all women, is forbidden to get involved.
 * Colonel Read** - Betsy's father, he is a staunch and aging Patriot.

**Tom Warrups** - An Indian living on Colonel Read's land who allows Sam to hide out in his teepee.  
 * Jerry Sanford** - A young local boy and a friend of Tim's. He is captured by the British and dies on a prison ship.
 * Mr. Beach** - An elderly, loyalist preacher. 


 * Mr. Heron** - A wealthy and somewhat shadowy local character, he claims to be a Tory but probably works for both sides. Heron asks Tim to relay a letter for him.

**Benedict Arnold** - He is captain of the Governor's Second Foot Guard, Sam's company.   <span class="chapt_body_bold"> <span class="chapt_body_bold"> <span class="chapt_body_bold"> <span class="chapt_body_bold"> <span class="chapt_body_bold">
 * General Putnam** - The leader of the Rebels staying in Redding. He is a rigid and unemotional man who sentences Sam to death as an example to the rest of the troops.
 * Colonel Parsons** - One of Sam's officers in Redding. He is slightly more sympathetic than General Putnam.
 * Mr. Platt** - Tim and Sam's uncle in New Salem.
 * Ezekiel Platt** - Sam and Tim's cousin in New Salem. Ezekial's family hosts Tim and his father when they travel to Verplancks Point.
 * Captain Betts** - A local Patriot who is captured and then released by the British.
 * Captain Starr** - A local Patriot who is killed by the British.
 * Ned** - A local black man who is beheaded.

__Facts: READING THIS SECTION WILL GIVE AWAY MAJOR PARTS OF THE BOOK. DON'T READ ON IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED! IF YOU DO READ ON, PLEASE DON'T SHARE WITH YOUR CLASSMATES.__
 * Full Title** · My Brother Sam is Dead
 * Authors** · James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
 * Type of work** · Young adult novel
 * Genre** · Wartime fiction, coming-of-age novel
 * Language** · English
 * Time and place written** · Early 1970s, United States
 * Date of first publication** · 1974
 * Publisher** · Scholastic, Inc.
 * Narrator** · Tim Meeker
 * Point of view** · The narrator speaks in the first person, noting his observations of the war and his brother's involvement
 * Tone** · Matter-of-fact; conversational; sometimes childish
 * Tense** · Past**Setting (time)** · 1775–1779; epilogue, 1826
 * Setting (place)** · Redding, Connecticut and nearby areas
 * Protagonist** · Tim Meeker is the narrator and the person whose actions and growth we follow most closely throughout the novel, although his observations and concerns are very often centered on his older brother, Sam.
 * Major conflict** · Tim struggles to understand the war and define his own set of opinions based on the opinions of his father and brother.
 * Rising action** · Sam joins the Rebel forces; Tim is left alone to drive the cart home from Verplancks; the British attack Redding; Tim realizes that Sam is fighting for the wrong reasons.
 * Climax** · Tim realizes the certainty of Sam's execution and runs out with his late father's bayonet, hoping somehow to stop it. The climax is actually a moment of quiet and defeat in Tim's life, for he realizes that he cannot kill other men, and that his efforts to save his brother are futile.
 * Falling action** · Tim resigns himself to attend his brother's public death with the understanding that he cannot save Sam.
 * Themes** · The illusion of glory; the degeneration of values during war; the clashing influence of father and brother.
 * Motifs** · Foretelling death; weather
 * Symbols** · Telling points; Betsy Read
 * Foreshadowing** · Foreshadowing occurs three times when characters make warnings about situations that eventually play a part in that characters' own death. Sam claims that a person should die for his cause; Sam warns Tim of cattle thieves and notes that General Putnam may hang the next person he catches; Father warns Tim about prison ships and the circulation of cholera.

** QUIZ #1 STUDY GUIDE ** **Language Arts Study Cards:** 1) closed the Boston port until colonists paid for the destroyed tea, 2) forced Boston to a military government formed by the British government, 3) allowed convicted royal officials and soldiers to be tried outside the colony in order to receive a fair and impartial trial, and 4) authorized housing for British troops in private American homes. (also known as the **Quartering Act)** **__First Continental Congress:__** 1774 meeting of colonial representatives in Philadelphia. Several important things happened: 1. The Congress petitioned the British government & King George III to uphold the colonial rights and liberties and to put an end to the conflicts. "Olive-Branch Petition" 2. Denounced the Intolerable Acts (stopped paying taxes and quartering soldiers) 3. Stopped the importation of Brtish goods 4. Established a formal American army 1. George Washington was appointed as commander of the new American Army 2. Congress approved the Declaration of Independence 3. The Articles of Confederaition were established 4. Congress acted as central government power throughout the war (head of government)
 * __ Tea Act __ ** : 1773 Act that gave a monopoly on tea sales to the East India Company. In other words, American colonists could buy no tea unless it came from that company.
 * __Boston Tea Party__**: a protest against Great Britain's taxes on tea by the American colonists. Dressed as Mohawk Indians, the colonists dumped hundreds of chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The incident, which took place on Thursday, December 16, 1773, has been seen as helping to spark the American Revolution.
 * __Coercive Acts (also known as Intolerable Acts):__** Four measures passed by the British Parliament in 1774 as retribution for American colonial defiance and the Boston Tea Party. The acts
 * __Committee of Correspondence__**: Created by Sam Adams and formed in Boston with the purpose of communicating with other colonies in order to win their sympathy toward the action against Great Britain. The members of these organizations represented the leading men of each colony.
 * __Second Continental Congress:__** This congressional meeting took place in 1775 and was in session until 1789: Here are the highlights:
 * __Battles of Lexington & Concord:__** These two villages in Boston were the sites of the first battles of the war in April of 1775. Although they were not traditional battles, they marked the beggining of the official War for Independence. Although the British found and destroyed the military stockpiles in Concord, they were fired on by militia men hiding in the forests while traveling up to Concord and back.
 * __Battle of Bunker Hill:__** The fort on Breed's Hill was captured by the British in 1775. The first few attmepts by the British failed and the only reason they were able to capture the fort was because American militia men ran out of ammunition. The untrained group of farmers caused twice as many deaths to the British than the British caused to them. This was a moral victory for the colonists.

//**Tuck Everlasting**// by: Natalie Babbitt Would you like to live forever? Sounds interesting, right? Well, that's the big question the students are pondering as they read __Tuck Everlasting,__ by Natalie Babbitt.

This thought-provoking, delightful book has got to be one of the all time great fantasies for children. The writing is superb, the plot engrossing, and the images and themes can last in the reader's mind for a very long time. When Winnie, a rather bored and overly protected child, becomes friends with the Tuck family, her life is changed forever. The Tucks, Mae, Angus, Miles and Jesse, have inadvertently drunk from a well which freezes them in time and gives them everlasting life. They will never change, never grow old, and never die. They know that the world must never be let in on their secret, for it would change life on earth for the worse. At the climax of the story Mae Tuck is forced to protect their secret and is arrested for her crime. Here's the problem …if they try to execute Mae for the crime, their secret immortality will come out. If they merely keep her in prison, they'll see that she doesn't age. The dilemma for Winnie, Mae and Mae's family is extreme. And then there's Winnie herself. Should she drink from the well now? when she’s 17 like Jesse? ever? Read to find out…and think about this…what would you do?

Things to Notice and Talk About

 * The symbol of the wheel in __Tuck Everlasting__ starts with the very first sentence:
 * "The first week in August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning."
 * Challenge: Find all the wheel symbols in the book.
 * Calculate the population of the world in ten years if all of us drink from the well today. In 20 years? Can you find a way to add in the additional children born of parents who don't die when they would have otherwise? What would some of the consequences be?
 * Decide what Mae was guilty of. Could she have avoided the crime?
 * What is good about death? Does it make us see life differently?
 * How long would you like to live for?

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