Getting the goods

Teaching Pre K-8, Nov/Dec 2001 by Hurst, Carol Otis

In the Library

Use a classic book for skills activities - without ruining the story.

Let's try something daring this month - let's look at a classic book from a skills and strategy point of view. It's risky because if we go too far, we stand a chance of ruining a great piece of literature for our students and for ourselves. Our aim is not to turn a classic into a workbook, but to appreciate the skill involved in the book's creation, while sharpening our language skills. That having been said, let's take Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1985, ISBN 0-374-- 48009-5), a book which looks at the need for, and inevitability of, the cycle of life and death. It's also an exciting adventure story.

Who should read the book?

I'd use this book with kids from fifth grade up. There's so much beautiful writing and so many layers of meaning in Tuck Everlasting that older readers will not feel they're reading beneath themselves. Its accessible reading level enables less-skilled readers to participate as well. I don't think I'd assign the book for whole class reading, although the activities I'm about to suggest are large group activities. I think it's best to get a small group reading and discussing the book and add new members as you go.

Parts of speech

One of the most obvious skills to get at through any piece of writing is identifying parts of speech. Try using a variation on the cloze procedure. For instance, take the second paragraph in Chapter Four, in which Babbitt describes the man in the yellow suit, and replace the adjectives with blanks. Read aloud together up to the first blank and brainstorm words that make sense in that space. Go on to the next. Read the piece using the suggested adjectives, then go back to Babbitt's original. Evaluate all the choices, including Babbitt's. Get the kids to carry out the next selection, using adverbs, verbs or nouns.

Similes and symbols

Tuck Everlasting contains many similes and metaphors. Winnie is thrown over the horse "like a sack of potatoes." Her mouth is "as dry as paper." Take one you like and search for other comparisons. The toad is a symbol throughout the book and its meaning is in the eye of the beholder. Discuss the symbolism but avoid the impression that there's one correct interpretation.

Go with the flow

Outlining is a skill that we use throughout our lives. For some, formal outlining is easily understood. Others have trouble thinking in those terms. Flow charts can be a means of approaching outlining. You can make flow charts of a chapter, of the whole book or of one character's actions in a given sequence. Examine together one of your plot flow charts and identify the climactic moment You may not all agree on what the climactic moment is, and the resulting discussion can be important. Look then at the action after the climax and identify it as the anticlimax.

Character profiles

Another reading-for-detail activity is to make a silhouette of a character from the book. On the silhouette, write adjectives describing the character's personality. Words on Winnie's silhouette might be: curious, determined, courageous, lonely. Around the silhouette, put details from the story supporting and connected to those adjectives. A line going out from the word "lonely" might lead to the phrases: talks to a toad, talks to the man in the yellow suit, quickly becomes a friend of the Tucks. Support your description with quotations from the book.

Acting it out

Readers' theater can make the difference between dull and interesting reading aloud. Choose a section where dialogue dominates. Chapter 11 beginning where Winnie says, "I want to go home," is good because there are many speakers. All of Chapter 19 makes good theater. Whatever part you choose to dramatize, make sure the readers have time to study their lines. They won't have to memorize them, of course, but they'll need to be able to read them with fluency. A few props may help the readers get into character: a yellow jacket, a hat for Mae, a music box - whatever your actors think might help them.

Subtle roles

Hone your students' analyzing strategies by encouraging them to think about the role that each character plays. Heroes and villains in Tuck Everlasting are easy to identify, but we can look for more subtle roles: Who is there for comic relief? Who is the source of wisdom? While you're analyzing, think about change. Although the lack of change is a focal point of the story, some of the characters do change. Winnie certainly changes, but do any of the Tucks? Not physically, perhaps, but does learning occur and does learning always involve change? These are things to talk about and write about.

Points of view

Expository writing may seem like a stretch from a fantasy such as Tuck Everlasting, but it needn't be. The thought that death is not only inevitable but necessary may be a new one for your students. A piece in which the students agree or disagree with Tuck after reading his speech to Winnie in Chapter 12 can be an exercise in expository writing.