GOAL:
To use comparison and contrast to analyze characters
ASSIGNED READING:
Chapters 5-6
WRITING PROMPT:
What do you think of Momma's way of punishing Byron for playing with matches?
Compare and contrast Byron and Momma.
Why is Byron angry with Momma over the welfare food? Is this fair of him?
Why does Byron get sick after hitting the bird?
ONLINE PROMPT:
Use the Student Comment Form to share ideas and questions with your online peers. Check yesterday's Student Comments page to see if there are any comments you want to respond to.
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Review the reading comprehension skills of comparing and contrasting. Make sure students understand that comparing means showing how two things are alike, and contrasting means showing how they are different. Explain that comparing and contrasting can lead to a better understanding of the things that are being analyzed. For example, if there were a new boy in school whom you had not yet met, and you asked a friend what this boy was like, your friend might compare him to a person you do know: "He's funny -- he has a sense of humor like Kenny Watson's."
Comparing and contrasting is a response type that students can use
at any time in their reading logs. Examples of formats that Book Club
students have used for comparison and contrast appear on pages 94 and
184-185 of the teacher's
handbook. Comparing/Contrasting and Venn Diagram think sheets (blackline
masters) are provided in the section following page 261.
Because today's reading assignment is slightly longer than previous ones, you could read Chapter 5 aloud to the class and have them read Chapter 6 independently. Chapter 5 contains a rather disturbing scene between Momma and Byron that you may want to talk about after reading it aloud. A discussion of these two intense characters and the way they interact may help students compare and contrast them in their reading logs later.
Byron's "Nazi talk" in Chapter 5 is meant to be "Jawohl, mein Führer! Auf wiedersehen!" In English, this means "Yes, sir, my leader! Until we meet again!"
Students may be sensitive to Byron's use of profanity in Chapter 6, when he says to Kenny, "I thought I told your jive little ass to shut the hell up and enjoy the damn cookies." You can explain that the author uses this language to show that Byron is disrespectful and ill-behaved, and that Byron's use of these words doesn't mean that it's OK to use them.
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