GOAL:
To analyze how the author reveals her characters
ASSIGNED READING:
Chapters 3-4
WRITING PROMPT:
What do Marty's words and actions in Chapters 3 and 4 tell you about him?
What do Judd's words and actions reveal about him?
Describe Marty's relationship with his mother.
In what ways do Marty and his dad disagree about Shiloh? In what ways do they agree?
ONLINE PROMPT:
Use the Student Comment Form to share ideas and questions about Shiloh with your online peers. Check the Student Comments About Shiloh page first to see if there are any comments you want to respond to.
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Begin today's Book Club session with a brief lesson about characterization.
Remind students that an author can tell readers what a character is
like by describing what the character looks like, what he or she says
and does, and how he or she interacts with other characters. Students
who made character maps for Marty yesterday may want to share these.
Talk about what the students know about Marty and how they know it,
based on evidence from the book. (Sample character maps done by students
are shown on pages 64, 86, and 108 of the teacher's
handbook.)
After students have met with their book clubs, have a community share discussion about the main characters in Shiloh. Students who responded to the writing prompts should have some new insights to share. Encourage students to back up their opinions with evidence from the book. This exercise will help them appreciate the author's craft.
While discussing Marty, you might point out this paragraph in Chapter 4 (page 42 in the Yearling Newbery edition):
And the way [Shiloh's] eyes look at me then, the way he reaches up and licks my face, it's like it seals the promise. I'd made a promise to Judd Travers I wasn't going to keep, Jesus help me. But I'm making one to Shiloh that I will, God strike me dead.
Ask students to analyze what this paragraph reveals about Marty.
Today there may be some comments from other classrooms that students will want to respond to. Have students check the Student Comments About Shiloh page to see what their online peers have written. Then send them to the Student Comment Form to type their own messages.
Click to go to Lesson 3.
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