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By: Kathy Temean,
on 5/31/2014
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WHEELS OF CHANGE STUDY GUIDE
- Change is the overriding theme of this novel. Discuss good vs. bad change and how the characters accepted or rejected change. CCSS RL 4.9
- How did Emily’s ideas about change evolve throughout the story? CCSS RL 3.3
- What does the horseshoe symbolize? Do you think it really had power? Explain. CCSS RL 5.4
- Do you think Beatrice’s personality and behavior are her own or as result of trying to please her mother? CCSS RL 3.3
- What characteristics made Charlie a good friend for Emily? Vice versa. CCSS RL 3.3
- What do you think of Emily’s reaction to Mrs. Peabody’s comments at the tea? Was Emily justified in dumping tea in Mrs. Peabody’s lap? Explain why or why not. What would you have done? CCSS RL 4.3
- 1908-09 was a time in history when segregation was common. Do you think Mr. Soper was courageous in employing an African-American? Explain. CCSS RL 3.3
- Was life easier or harder in 1909? What did you like about the time period?
- The roles of males and females were more sharply divided in the early 20th Century. Do you think Emily’s resistance to learning proper lady-like behavior was typical for girls her age? Why or why not? CCSS RL 4.3
- How did Emily’s relationship with Mama change? CCSS RL 5.2
- The story takes place when there were fewer luxuries in everyday life – especially regarding entertainment. What would you do if you had no radio, television, telephone, electricity or car, like most of the people in the story? CCSS RL 4.9
- Learning skills and being self-sufficient was important during this time in history. Why? Do you think these values are still important today? Explain.
- Emily and Charlie were expected to help the family by doing daily chores. If they weren’t completed, the household and family suffered. Does your family depend on you to do certain jobs? What would happen if you didn’t do them? CCSS RL 4.9
- What did Emily expect President Roosevelt to do for Papa? CCSS RL 4.3
- What did you think of Emily’s suggestions for changing Papa’s business? What might you have done to help? CCSS RL 4.9
- Do you think it was foolish or brave of Emily to stay in the barn during the fire? What would you have done? CCSS RL 3.3
- There were limited opportunities for women at the turn of the 20th Century. Single women who were not from wealthy families could teach, work long hours in a factory under awful conditions, or work as maids, governesses, or servants to wealthy families. Once married, they were expected to stay home and care for their husband and children. Do the opportunities enjoyed by women today make their lives easier or more difficult? Explain. CCSS RL 4.9
- When Mama first meets Mrs. Jackson, they seem ill as ease with one another. Why? CCSS RL 5.2
- Do you think it was unusual for Emily’s best friend to be a boy? Why or why not?
- If the story took place today, do you think it would be easy for a girl to become a blacksmith? Explain.
Hope this gives you some ideas of how proceed when you publish your book.
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
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A few weeks ago I was out with Darlene Beck Jacobson and she started talking about the work she was doing to develop a curriculum and study guide for her debut book that is coming out in September.
I asked her to share what she was doing with all of you, since we can all learn from each other. Here is part one of the three part series.
TYING YOUR NOVEL INTO THE CORE CURRICULUM By Darlene Beck Jacobson
Schools are changing. So are the curriculum requirements. With teachers being squeezed for time and tight budgets limiting purchases of “frivolous” things like fiction for the classroom, what can we writers do to give our books a fighting chance on classroom reading lists?
You can develop a CURRICULM GUIDE and STUDY QUESTIONS to tie into the Core Curriculum Content Standards. For my historical middle grade novel WHEELS OF CHANGE, which takes place in 1908 Washington DC, I developed a curriculum guide on the second wave of the Industrial Revolution. (see attached)
I also did a separate set of Study Questions that tie into Reading and Literature objectives. (see attached) You can do the same thing for your novel…even if it isn’t historical. Begin by generating questions that fit the Reading and Literature sections of the standards. Then look for the universal theme or ideas that would generate good classroom discussions on topics that cover important issues such as war, homelessness, divorce, illness, poverty, prejudice, etc. These topics can be part of Science, Health, and Social Studies units. Fellow writers have even tied their books into art and music areas as well.
You can also develop worksheets, puzzles, games or other reproducible activity sheets that teachers can use in the classroom. Everything you can do to make life easier for a teacher, will help make your book stand out from all the others that cry for attention in the curriculum.
To learn more about Common Core Standards visit: www.commoncorestandards.org
PART II: Curriculum Guide tomorrow
Darlene Beck Jacobson has loved writing since she was a girl. She also loves bringing the past to life in stories such as WHEELS OF CHANGE (Creston Books), her debut novel. Her stories have appeared in CICADA, CRICKET, and other magazines. Her blog features recipes, activities, crafts and interviews with children’s book authors and illustrators. She still loves writing and getting letters. Check out her website at: http://www.darlenebeckjacobson.com
WHEELS OF CHANGE is due out on September 22, 2014.
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 2/4/2013
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THE BALLAD OF JESSIE PEARL -
Shannon Hitchcock
setting: 1920's, North Carolina
age range: 12 and up
release date: February 1, 2013
study guide based on Common Core State Standards
Please tell us about your book.
It’s 1922 and Jessie has big plans for her future, but that’s before tuberculosis strikes. Though she has no talent for cooking, cleaning, or nursing, she puts her dreams on hold to help her family. She falls in love for the first time ever, and suddenly what she wants is not so simple any more.
What inspired you to write this story?
A snippet of a family story and my son’s 8th grade history project. His teacher had each student collect ten family stories. Each story had to take place during a different decade. I decided to write a novel loosely based on one of the stories Alex collected.
Could you share with readers how you conducted your research?
I read novels set in the 1920’s, North Carolina history books, memoirs written from sanatoriums, and doctors’ accounts of the disease. I also contacted a local historian in my hometown who helped me locate resources about life on a tobacco farm in the early 1900’s.
What are some special challenges associated with writing historical fiction?
Not to tell everything you know, but just enough to add flavor to the story.
What topics does your book touch upon that would make your book a perfect fit for the classroom?
THE BALLAD OF JESSIE PEARL could be used in a cross curricular unit by ELA and Social Studies teachers. Keely Hutton, who’s an eighth grade ELA teacher, reviewed my curriculum guide and gave this feedback:
With JESSIE you have the perfect opportunity to tie in [the following]:
non-fiction pieces about the time period
TB
women’s rights and roles in family/society
health care during epidemics
historically what was happening during those years in the US and the world
By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 5/9/2012
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Remember the May B. Book Club Kit Giveaway? Here's a story from one of the runners-up. Sarah Baldwin teaches at the Batam Island International School in Batam, Indonesia. Her students (first through seventh grade) have just finished reading May B. I couldn't resist posting her lovely email and the pictures that accompanied it:
Our classroom journey through the world of May B has been an enlightening adventure!
 |
Marking out the dimensions of a soddy |
The children excelled at writing up and presenting reports on the flora and fauna native to Kansas. They really enjoyed marking out the inside of a soddy home and felt cramped just imagining the dirt walls, ceiling and seemingly endless snow outside.
Your vocabulary words were accessible and insightful, especially to those who have never seen the Midwest of the United States. Most of all, the students enjoyed the short video clips of you describing
soddy homes and
poetry. Thank you for preparing those for us!
Thank you for providing a wonderful
Study Guide on which we could hang all our ideas and questions surrounding May B. As a teacher, I was gratified to read the students' responses to the the KWL Chart: Life on the Prairie. They definitely remembered the fact that buffalo chips weren't like Dorritos and teachers could be as young as 15 years old! I really enjoyed hearing students' insights into the discussion questions.
May B was just as much a gift to me as it was to my students. I grew up wanting to be La
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Doing a study guide is an interesting way to discover things about your own books - especially if you do it 16 years after the book was published. A bit of distance, you could say.
Or, since Peeling the Onion was written in the first person, 'I could say.' And I, of course, can say anything I want. That's what fiction writers do – and so do first person fictitious narrators.

The problem with first person narration is that it's only one person's point of view. The other characters' motives, thoughts and beliefs (and their actions) are seen purely through the protagonist's eyes. The more absorbed the reader is with that protagonist, the harder it is to step back and wonder if there could be another side to the story.
As I was going through some of the notes that teachers and student teachers have sent me for this book over the years, it struck me that many of them, and most students, believe everything that Anna says – about her emotions and actions, which is good, because the point of her internal dialogue was to report as truly as she (or the author behind her) possibly could – but also about the other characters. And that's a problem.I love my Anna. She's a teenage girl fighting for her life and independence; at different times she's depressed, determined, overwhelmed, angry, bitter, hopeful, and occasionally many of these at the same time, or at least on the same day. People who are angry, wounded and bewildered do not always make reliable reporters. Teenage girls have been known (just occasionally!) to focus their dislike of someone on superficial characteristics like hairy legs. As readers we have to stand back and remember that, and as writers we need to drop a few clues, without ever stepping outside the narrator - because the main point of using the first person is for the reader to be pulled in and identify with that 'I.'
And if that sounds very clinical, it's what I'm thinking as I do notes 16 years later. At the time it was just what felt right after several drafts in the third person. I'm probably a bit more conscious now of why I make decisions once I've made them, but feeling right, or sounding right when I read it aloud, is still the only way I know how to choose which way to tell the story.
The Study Notes will be posted on my website as soon as my publisher has prettied them up for me. Email me if you need them earlier.
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After my desperate plea for any teachers who still had study notes on Peeling the Onion, a twitter follower sent me the web archive to my original web page. That kindness inspired me, and I have been working on the notes all day. A pdf of suggestions by a group of student teachers has disappeared, but I have a hard copy, and am transcribing or adapting the better ones.
Even though given countless talks on this book over the years, creating new notes on the text 16 years after writing is still an interesting opportunity for reflection. Probably not a bad life lesson either: it makes a much happier day to enjoy that reflection and the new task instead of being irritated with myself for not having been better organised, and resenting the task because I want to be in my new story.
And it's certainly an opportunity to be grateful that people are still studying my book in schools after all this time.
By: Cynthia Reeg,
on 7/1/2009
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It's been a busy summer already. Just returned from an international trip--I'll share some photos later. But I didn't want to miss the opportunity to tell you the good news.
As you can see from the cover, illustrator
Kit Grady has brought to life these adorable and entertaining hamster characters in her own wonderful, colorful style.
You'll meet Grandpa and Babe, Carlos and Jenni, Billy--who's rather silly, and Lotty--who is decidedly spotty.
You can join them through a year of hare-brained holidays--sure to make you giggle. Nouns and adjectives are highlighted throughout the book. A study guide, activity sheet, and multiple puzzles are included.
Children's author, Katy S. Duffield, sent her review of the latest PET GRAMMAR PARADE book, Doggie Day Camp:
In my mind, “delightful” is the highest compliment a children’s book can receive and Cynthia’s Reeg’s book,
Doggie Day Camp: Verb and Adverb Adventures is deliciously delightful! The rollicking tale of Bubba’s first day at doggie camp, along with Kit Grady’s make-me-smile illustrations, are sure to catch children’s interest. And not only is the book a fun read, it’s also chock full of learning potential. Readers are invited to point out verbs and adverbs along the way and the Study Guide at the end of the book provides heaps of extra practice. Reeg knows how to make learning fun. I give this book a two paws up!
- Katy S. Duffield

Thanks, Ms. Duffield. I'm so glad you enjoyed DOGGIE DAY CAMP. And I hope everyone has the chance to read your fun picture book with Farmer McPeepers. I know they'll love helping find the missing milk cows. Now where could they be???
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Jill,
on 3/2/2008
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With three cats and a dog in our house, we are definitely animal lovers, and my daughter, who will turn one in just a couple of weeks, absolutely loves our animals. She also loves Tricycle Press's Busy Animal Board Books.
We own four of the eight books in the series:
- Busy Kitties, by John Schindel, photography by Sean Franzen
- Busy Penguins, by John Schindel, photography by Jonathan Chester
- Busy Doggies, by John Schindel, photography by Beverly Sparks
- Busy Monkeys, by John Schindel, photography by Luiz Claudio Marigo
Each page in the book features a full-color photographs of an animal(s) demonstrating the action word on the page that will help your child build vocabulary. For example, in the Busy Kitties book, we see "Kitty hissing/ Kitty kissing/ Kitty running/ Kitty sunning" and more.
My daughter is fascinated by the photographs in these sturdy books and just sits there and smiles as she flips the pages. I also appreciate that they will introduce her to other animals, like monkeys and penguins, that she doesn't have the chance to see in their natural habitats.
Other books in the series that we're adding to our wish list include:
These would all make a great addition to your young child's library.
As I started reading this Study Guide, I realized there were little spoilers in the questions (of course! silly me!) so skimmed it and have it marked to look at later on. I’m hoping to get the chance to read Darlene’s book in the not-TOO-far-off future! :) Thanks, ladies. Fantastic resources!
Sorry about that Donna…Nothing seriously revealed. You should still enjoy the story. :>)
No need to apologize, Darlene! I’ve just found that, for me, knowing about certain events before I read a book makes me wonder “when” and “how” in a different way while I read and I’m SO very anal about how I like to enjoy books lol I’m sure I’ll enjoy it anyway since, by the time I read it, these little details will be so buried in a deep, foggy recess of my brain, it won’t matter! lol