Visualizing A Key to Comprehension
The Setting: just after breakfast, brambles and cat briar, giant oaks and sweet gum trees spread canopies, a wood thrush, a single cricket rubs its frenzied legs, water gurgles in the creek, sun explodes from shadow, a fawn white spots as soft as feathers, walk the narrow path to Muddy Pond, sun spills across the water like someone tossed a pocketful of diamonds. The Characters: John strips, runs, dives, ripples circle out from where he hits the surface, Ettie moves smoothly, arcs and disappears beneath the surface like a beautiful sleek fish, I clumsily climb out, feeling sheepish, color rising in my cheeks, a little shiver races through my body.
Questioning A Key to Comprehension
1. How does the author help the reader experience the road to Muddy Pond?2. What is on the boy's mind this morning?What do boys talk about with their best friends?3. Is John a slave? What is your evidence to support your answer?4. How is Ettie able to sneak up on the boys?5. What are the clues the author gives to show how the boy feels about Ettie? 6. What will you think about as you wait for the next chapter? What puzzles you?
Connecting A Key to Comprehension
1. Newspaper writers must be masters of words. Choose an article from the newspaper and focus on the powerful verbs and adjectives that the writer uses. Highlight them.2. Now highlight the powerful words used by the author in this chapter. Color the verbs one color and the adjectives another.