Walk Two Moons

Two Stories Weaved into One

On a road trip to Idaho with her grandparents, Sal tells a story about her friend Phoebe to keep them entertained on the long journey. While she tells this story to her grandparents, she tells the reader a story about herself and her relationship with her mother which has changed her in many ways and made life with her father difficult at times. She also tells the reader about her struggles moving away from her childhood home and beginning a different life. As the story goes on, the reader begins to realize the story of Phoebe is also a story about Sal as well. Sharon Creech addresses issues that many young adults face in Walk Two Moons. I enjoyed it more than The Wanderer... you can see my blog about it here.

Reading Level: Flesch-Kincaid Index 4.9

Teachers: Here are some resources and ideas to help you teach this book...

Web Resources:

• Scholastic : This link takes you to Scholastic's page for Walk Two Moons. In the top right box labeled "resources" you will find a discussion guide, writing prompts, extension activities and a lesson plan.
• Discussion Questions: Here are some more discussion questions to help with this book.
• Study Guide: This study guide includes everything you need to teach this novel... character lists, synopsis, teaching ideas and more (for the teacher) and activities, connections, tests and more (for the students) 

Vocabulary: Here are some words that may need to be pretaught: ornery, lunatic, omnipotent, remarkable, ruination, damsel, diabolic, pandemonium, shrapnel, agenda, aspen, malevolent, cantankerous, warble, malinger, muesli, console, amnesia, miscellaneous, cholesterol, unadulterated, peculiar, besieging, omnipotent, geyser, disuade 

Activities:
Before Reading: Have you ever been on a road trip? What do you imagine a road trip would be like? Write a few paragraphs in your journal explaining what your road trip was like or what you think a road trip would be like.

During Reading: Make a flow chart marking important points of Phoebe and Sal's separate stories. Make note when their stories intertwine with the same events. 

After Reading: Sal tells us at the end of the story that Phoebe, Ben, Mrs. Cadaver, Mrs. Partridge and maybe Mr. Birkway are coming to visit. Write an entry in your journal describing one of the following:

• the preparations for the drive to Sal's
• the car ride to Sal's house
• the visit at Sal's house 

Be sure to use lots of descriptions so the reader can see what you are writing.

Across the Curriculum: This book could be used in geography. Try mapping out the journey Sal and her grandparents took to get to Idaho.

Creech, S. (1994). Walk two moons . New York: HarperCollins.

1995 Newbery Medal Winner

Happy Reading (& Running) =)

An American Plague

A Tricky Killer...

Nonfiction at its finest, Jim Murphy takes us on a ride through Philadelphia 1793 and the yellow fever plague that threatened to destroy the city, then the capitol of the United States in An American Plague. I myself sometimes have a hard time getting hooked in nonfiction, but Murphy knows exactly how to write so that you are wrapped up in the story of the yellow fever to tightly that you are tricked into thinking you are reading a narrative fiction novel about a nasty disease. He uses just enough quotes from those who were alive at the time and takes you deep enough into those peoples' lives that you don't want to put the book down for a second. The Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793 is one of those instances in American history that is often left out of history books. This is one of those gross parts of history that upper elementary school students would LOVE. Just like how they think boogers and spit are cool, they will think the mysterious, yellow eyes, throwing up, being bled is way more exciting than what they read about in their textbooks. I learned so much from this book and I highly recomend you suggest it to your students who like these types of topics. Also, Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson is a great fictional companion to An American Plague.

Reading Level: Grade Level Equivalent 8.9 (could be used in middle school or upper elementary, there are just some content words that need to be pretaught which is why the reading level seems high)

Web Resources:

• Audio Book Lesson: This webpage provides the audiobook version for chapters 1 and 2 of An American Plague. Using this audiobook, students will pay attention to sights, sounds and smells and answer discussion questions. Other activities are included.
• Lesson Ideas: This page offers a variety of ideas to use with grades 3-6 in conjunction with An American Plague.

Vocabulary:  Thanks to The Reading Conqueror here are is some important vocabulary for this book:

Chapter 1- Benjamin Rush, Philadelphia, refurbished, George Washington, General Cornwallis, surrender, capitulation, revolution, Proclamation of Neutrality, “Diplomatic cold shoulder”, speculated
Chapter 2- laudanum, preeminent, malignity, Greek Humeral Theory
Chapter 3- pestilence, amiable, prestigious, William Currie, quarantine, acquaintances, fetid, exodus, camphor, melancholy, Vinegar of the four thieves
Chapter 4-5- apothecaries, legislature, paupers, almshouse,  putrefaction, insufficient, resignation, neutrality policy, consternation, Free African Society, erect, exorbitant, mobilized, shunned, peculiarly, battalion,  
Chapter 6-  pestilence, scrupulousness, malicious, conspiring, valiantly
Chapter 7- ingenuity, daunting, condemned, quinine
Chapter 8- Conviction, alleviation, rioting
Chapter 9- militia, parliament, quorum, abated, apace, emaciated
Chapter 10-end- inadvertently, squalid, privy pit, tepid, squabbles, sedulously, and pious

Activities:
Before Reading:

• Depending on what grade level this book is used in, you may need to support your students a lot especially when it comes to vocabulary. For this reason I would make a point to preteach a lot of the vocabulary before the students read. You can easily break the book up into sections or just by chapters so it is a reasonable amount of vocabulary at one time.
• Have a class or small group discussion about what students know about plagues. You may even choose to start a KWL about plagues in order to access prior knowledge.
• Another suggestion is using this book as a supplementary item for upper level students in your class or for a student who chooses to do a project or paper on the Yellow Fever.

During Reading: If using this book with the whole class, assign groups to present on each chapter or sections of your choosing. Being that some of the reading is difficult it will be very useful for a group of students to become "experts" on each section and then help the other students understand these sections. You may have the group of experts present to the whole class or have an individual from the expert group pair up with one person from each other group and discuss in small groups.

After Reading:

• Extend the understanding of this nonfiction selection by reading a book such as Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.
• Discuss as a group or in small groups how students think they would feel if they had the Yellow Fever or if someone in their family had the Yellow Fever. Discuss what types of medicine they may be given or what types of ways they may try to be cured. Use this discussion as both a review of the material and a way to connect a historical event to ones' own life.

Across the Curriculum: This book would best be used in a Social Studies classroom that is studying American History. It provides an opportunity for students to learn about an event in American History that is often overlooked.

Murphy, J. (2003). An American plague: the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. New York: Clarion Books.

Happy Reading (& Running) =)