Linda+Baumann

=Novel Assignments:=

Please post your book assignments below. It will be easiest to compose them in a word processor and then copy and paste them into your wikispace.[[file:Antsy Does Time.doc]]
Linda Baumann I read:

Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman published by Puffin Books in 2009

This book is in the Genre of Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Summary: From watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on television to seeing it in real life and the traumatic events that followed foreshadows the tumultuous life of a young teenage boy, his friends, and family. A typical Brooklyn teenager, Anthony Bonono, comes up with an ingenious idea to help his new friend deal with a terminal illness. Antsy, short for Anthony, rides an tornado of feelings of romance with the girl of his dreams, a power trip of “helping another person”, and along the way deals with his own humanness and failures. Life is a balancing act for Antsy and sometimes he wins and sometimes he loses miserably. The many twists and turns of this young adult novel keeps one wondering where is this all leading to. There is adventure, teenage awkwardness, suspense, dreams, reality, and intrigue that keeps ones attention. How Antsy deals with his friend’s Gunner’s imminent death becomes the main focus, but has a surprise ending that is completely unexpected. Antsy’s relationships with his parents, his friend’s family, and his former blind girlfriend’s grandfather play an integral part in the development of the plot. Antsy creates a huge problem when the giving away time to an ill person snowballs and becomes larger than life. How that problem is solved is for the reader to discover.

Things I liked about the book: The book was told from the main character’s point of view and it was easy to relate to many of the feelings and frustrations he expressed. Sometimes I could see and experience the same awkwardness of my own teenage years including the difficult situations with family and his friend’s family he encountered. The book was well written to portray the thoughts and ideas of teenagers as well as those situations that many teens are facing today. Life is fairly fragile, both emotionally and physically for teens, and the human qualities of caring, empathy, and often bumbling mistakes that young people make was delightfully portrayed in the main characters of this book.

Dislikes ?: Even though it is in the realistic fiction genre, this book had a quality of make believe that made it somewhat difficult to swallow at times. This view point is coming from a person who grew up in a small town and I think many of his adventures were a little over the top at times for me who is somewhat of a realist. And yet, since young people often read novels such as this one, I can see where it would be an excellent escape from the reader’s real life situations and offer them a light hearted moment in time to be free of the problems in their own world.

Three essential questions to use with this book:

1. As you read this book, analyze how the main character changes over time (or not change). Compare his motives at the beginning to those at the end of the novel. Be sure to point out three, specific examples from the story to support your opinion.

2. Select one particular episode from the book (ieg. riding the zip line, watching his friend carve his own tombstone, or pouring water on a famous customer, etc.). Briefly relate a time when you had a similar experience. Compare your event to his using descriptive words that helped you identify with the emotions that Antsy was feeling and going through.

3. In conclusion, compare Antsy’s reaction and outlook on life to that of his friend Gunnar’s. Decide which character chose what you believe to be the right way to deal with their situation and prepare at least six arguments to convince future readers that yours is the best point of view. Use specific details from the book to support your stance.

Comprehension Activity:

Create a “FakeBook: (not Facebook) page for the main character or one of the main characters from your Contemporary Realistic Fiction Book. Use the instructions provided in a separate attachment to help you. When you’ve finished your work online, copy and paste the URL for your Fakebook page below (15 points).

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Linda Baumann

I read the following:


 * 1) Book Title //Reality Check//


 * 1) Genre: Mystery


 * 1) Author Peter Abrahams


 * 1) Date of Publication HarperTeen 2009

I loved this book. It was exceptionally well written and kept you connected throughout. The main character was very believable as a real life person with lots of emotions and determination. There is a quality about him that invited one to cheer him on to success. I read it in just two sittings and felt enmeshed in the plot immediately. I can easily see how it would appeal to both boys and girls. The author did an excellent job of keeping me on my seat wondering who done it until the very end… I had my suspicions… and they were right, but then I also have read some fairly sophisticated mysteries over the last 5 or 6 years. This book was purely enjoyable and I would high recommend it to read just for pleasure alone.
 * 1) What did you like about the book? What did you dislike? (5 pts.)

The only difficulty I had was the hurry up ending. Often mysteries, have a long rising action and the once they have reached the turning point in the story, the final ending comes quickly and a number of details that might have made for a chapter or two more are often hurried just enough to leave the reader having to fill in the blank spaces with their own imagination. Perhaps that is the purpose of the author… but for me it is sometimes a let down as the story has been building and building, and the falling action is so rapid, it tends to deflate the story too quickly.


 * 1) Write three essential (higher level thinking) questions that you might use in a culminating discussion of this book. (6 pts)

1. All mysteries have clues that help you the reader determine the outcome. As you read this novel, make a list of clues that may or may not be important to its resolution. After every chapter, you should evaluate each clue’s importance and decide how they will lead you to solving the mystery.

2. Compare and contrast the two main characters, Cody and Clea. Besides the obvious of one being male and one being female, critique their motives for their actions, address whether they were justified, what drove them to make the decisions they did, use specific examples to support your conclusions. And then decide if you would have done the same, why or why not?

3. Pick one of the other characters from the book (ieg as the waitress, Clea’s father, her boyfriend from Dover, or the stable hand Ike). Write a brief description of the character and then explain what qualities made the character real for you. Create a montage of words on an 8x12 sheet of construction paper that shows what the character was feeling, actions they performed and reasons why they did what they did. You will be asked to present this to the class.

Comprehension Activity: (15 pts).

Choose five artifacts that you believe represent the main character of your novel (or one of the main characters in your novel) and provide an explanation for choosing each. Avoid making all obvious choices, but instead, get creative and think outside the box!

Artifact #1 - a rubber band

I chose this because...Cody was often like a tightly wound rubber band about to break from being stretched and pulled in a hundred directions. He couldn’t quite please himself, his dad, his coach, his friends, even his girl friend. He felt inferior and “dumb” in many situations to the point when he did talk words seem to explode right out of his mouth without much thinking beforehand. Much like a rubber band stretched to capacity and when let go, one is never quite sure where it will land or what shape it will be in. His adventure from Colorado to Dover to find his missing girlfriend was much the same way.

Artifact #2 - antique mirror

I chose this because... Cody’s mind was often in a fog, just like looking into antique mirror. His mind could not always create the clear images he needed to be able to concentrate. He was never quite sure what the meaning of some words were, what to say, or what to do next. The bits and pieces of clues never seemed to quite fit together, his emotions were difficult to visualize and his brain didn’t seem to be able to focus. Instincts seemed to take over at just the right time when he was in this foggy world.

Artifact #3 - Yin-Yang symbol

I chose this because...I think this best represents Cody’s love hate relationship with his father. His father would often “knock” him around when he was little especially after his mother died just to toughen him up. He wanted to please his father, but stayed out of his way when he was drinking. Cody saw what alcohol could do to a person. And yet when the chips were down, he knew his father loved him, and wanted desperately to reach out to him when Cody felt lonely and afraid, didn’t want to worry him, but Cody just didn’t know how to express it or how it would be received. Cody was fast becoming the adult, or at least the more mature one in this relationship.

Artifact #4 - oops Charlie Brown( this was a pic of Lucy pulling the ball away as Charlie Brown went to kick the ball)

I chose this because...Cody got the wind knocked out of him several times but always came back to play the game. He had a season ending injury of a torn ACL which left him out of the loop for friends and school and a place to belong. He still wanted that dream despite the “bad” luck he had. He pushed hard to regain momentum and use of his knee after the surgery, but gave up with school. It was just too hard to think of anything else. His girlfriend was sent off to China for the summer, he got a job, and she came back for a visit… to only find out she was off to boarding school that fall… so to prevent her from being disappointed or lost (and himself too), he told her he didn’t love her, never loved her. Yet when push came to shove, he felt devastated when he found out she was missing and risked everything to find her. He just kept coming back to those things and people he loved.

Artifact #5 – Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

I chose this because...Cody was a true warrior. He may not have known the ins and outs of what to do in any situation in advance, but when asked to do something he gave it all without counting the costs. He was young, naïve, and a risk taker. He wasn’t intimidated and relied on his own resources to see him through to the end. His courage in face of real danger bordered on stupidity, something real warriors possess. He had a goal in mind, and nothing would stop him from reaching a conclusion to his quest, not even the weather.

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Linda Baumann

Bruiser Genre: Fantasy Author: Neal Shursterman Published 2010 Want to know where the name for the main character came from? What images does the name conjure up? A big male with big muscles? Well you are partly right. Bruiser is a Fantasy book written from several of the characters’ point of views. It is riveting and a can’t put down book. The main character is a young high school male, Brewster, who lives with his younger brother Cody and his Uncle Hoyt. He has a secret that the world cannot know. He becomes involved with a brother and sister combo Tennyson and Emile (a.k.a. as Bronte). As you can tell from this duo’s names, their parents are professors but their household is anything but calm and serene and is mixed up emotionally. Parents have issues with infidelity on both parts but put on a good face for the “children”. Tennyson is a feisty character with a temper, but a good heart and plays on the varsity Lacrosse team. His friendship with Brewster helps him win a MVP award. How that happens is part of intrigue of this story. Bronte becomes romantically involved with Brewster and helps him break out of his chains of bondage. Brewster writes poetry, so key portions of the story told from his point of view are written in poetry. His younger brother Cody is a daredevil kid who tries anything including climbing an electrical tower to retrieve a kite he lost. Uncle Hoyt is rough around the edges and keeps his world under his iron fist. These young people’s lives become uniquely intertwined because of Brewsters’ strange gift. One does not want to put down the book for anything in the last third of the story. It is there the action and resolution take place in a very surprising and intuitive way.

I liked this book. I seldom read this genre. I have never read the Harry Potter series or watched one of the movies in its entirety. However, this book is somewhat of a mystery story and is probably why it enticed me so well. I liked the way it shifted to another character’s point of view without losing any of the story plot. That is a fascinating way to write. Shusterman was able to bring in background of the characters without the loss of the present tense filled situations. It was a very easy read. The gift that Brewster has is strange indeed, but one from psychological point of view is believable. When I started the book a week ago, I wondered if I would have to reread parts to remember what had happened before. That happens occasionally when I have had to put a book down that is this intense. However, because the author is so gifted at weaving the plot, very little is lost in memory even if a week goes by between reads. No sex in this story, love is a genuine regard for the other and feelings of all characters run the gambit from helplessness, power, rage, embarrassment, and more. There was very little that I disliked about this book.

Three essential questions to discuss this book. 1. Compare and contrast Brewster and Tennyson’s roles in life? Be critical in your assessment as to the right or wrong way of each of their paths. Which one do you support the most? 2. Bronte is a fixer by nature. However there are some things not easily taken care of. Give two examples of her fixing nature from the book and distinguish which of them was the most difficult for her to handle. 3. Perhaps one could argue that many standards of decency and trust were broken throughout this book. Pick two and write a testimony of condemnation for each one to present to the class in a brief for the court of your peers to decide which one is far worse than the other. (examples might be: parental infidelity, emotional withdrawal from children, brutality of uncle, alcoholism, misuse of friend’s gift by brother and/or friends, victims in the story, etc.)

Local Athlete Wins Game Against Gators Despite taking two wicked blows to the head and chest and a very slow start in the first half, Tennyson led the local high school lacrosse team to a resounding victory over the highly touted and favored Gators. The Gators were able to score first on a missed assignment by the attack man, Tennyson in the first quarter. As he barreled down the field toward the defender’s goal one of the Gators’ players blindsided him and Tennyson went down with the wind knocked out of him. However, miraculously, he rose to his feet with the ball still in his stick and scored.

After a second goal by the Gators in the second period, Tennyson single handedly scored another to tie it at 2 all. By the end of the third quarter, Tennyson had the team up 4-2 with three of the four goals as a result of Tennyson’s outstanding and tenacious play. Late in the fourth quarter, a Gator defensive man fouled Tennyson by planting his foot in front of Tennyson as he raced full speed for another score. Tennyson flew through the air landing on his head and neck area. The crowd’s yells suddenly grew quiet as the outstanding athlete hit the ground hard with a resounding thud. The young man lay on the ground for a few moments and was able to rise to his feet in seconds. He was seemingly invincible. They won the game with the successful penalty shot by Tennyson 5-2. In an attempted interview after the game, Tennyson refused to comment and rushed off the field to find his friend Brewster who was on the side lines in obvious pain.

Name Linda Baumann


 * 1) Book Title (1 pt.) The Gardener


 * 1) Genre: Science Fiction


 * 1) Author (1 pt.) S. A. Bodeen


 * 1) Date of Publication (1 pt.) Scholastic, Inc. 2010


 * 1) Write a brief summary of the book you read without giving away the ending! (3 pts.)

Mason lives with his mother, a single parent who supports him by working at a nursing home call “Peaceful Haven”. Mason is a bright teen drawn to science, especially Biology. When his high school professor encourages him to go to a summer camp owned by he small community’s largest employer, TroDyn, Mason is set on a course that will change his life. His understanding of the world as he knows it will be severely compromised by what he is about to learn. He discovers his mother has a secret past, wants to know more about his absent father, and has a scarred face from a canine attack at the age of three to deal with. Mason has a whole lot of unanswered questions. Why does his mother hate TroDyn? Why is she drinking more and more, and where will he get the money to go to college if he doesn’t go to this summer camp? Determined to go anyway, he attempts to find something to forge her signature from and discovers part of why his mother acts the way she does. It only drives him more to find out the whole truth. He embarks on a journey that leads him to discoveries he wants to know but wishes he didn’t. Some are unspeakable and unthinkable laced with a bond and relationship with a young female experiment.


 * 1) What did you like about the book? What did you dislike? (3 pts.)

I am not usually a big fan of this genre. I am such a realist and optimist that this type of book is often too far fetched for my tastes. However, I must admit that this book captured my attention right away. The beginning is just mysterious and realistic enough for me to want to keep on reading. The author wrote a sufficient amount of mystery into the plot that it drove me to want to continue reading even when some of it bordered on the bizarre. In addition, I am collaborating in a Biology class right now, and our subject matter just happens to be the same as the scientific basis for the story, Plant life and autotrophes. The author also teases the reader with a main character who has brains, compassion, curiosity, heroic “Save the World” ideas, and a very human quality that make the reader want him to succeed. Interwoven is a connectedness to one of the experimental children, a girl named Laila that has all the tenderness and protectiveness of young love without the need for strong sexual overtones or activity to mar the story line. It only spurs the reader on to see if he can save her from the world she lives in. My main disappointment in the novel is the inability to change the destiny of Laila. Mason is a rescuer at heart and it sets him on a course of no return. Mystery plots rise, rise, and rise to a peak and often fall off so dramatically, the reader is left with a lot of questions of why. This novel is no different. The author hints as to the outcome, but making things right doesn’t necessarily win out, or at least the author leaves a lot of empty spaces and unanswered questions for the reader to fill. Perhaps that is for a “sequel”. The resolution is missing or at the very least rushed in my opinion.


 * 1) Write three essential (higher level thinking) questions that you might use in a culminating discussion of this book. (6 pts)

1. Weigh the pros and cons of the experimental world created in this book. Decide which side is stronger and write a brief of at least 8 paragraphs to support your stand. Use information from 3 sources that you found on the internet to back your position. If you take a pro side, you must also present the con side and vice versa in at least one paragraph.

2. Critique the plot line in this story. There are several to choose from. You may develop it from Mason’s friend Jack’s point of view, his mother’s, Laila’s, the gardener’s, or one of the scientists, such as Dr. Emerson’s. Create a graphic organizer or timeline of at least ten steps to help you retell the plot from that character’s point of view.

3. Hypothesize how the conclusion of this story could have been written. Infer the events that occurred from the time Mason left the greenhouse to the day he is reunited with Laila using 8-10 paragraphs at least to describe how she got to where she did.

Name_Linda Baumann


 * 1) Book Title (1 pt.) All the Broken Pieces


 * 1) Genre: Historical Fiction


 * 1) Author (1 pt.) Ann E. Burg


 * 1) Date of Publication (1 pt.) 2009


 * 1) Write a brief summary of the book you read without giving away the ending! (4 pts.)

Matt Pin is a young Vietnamese boy who was adopted by a family in America. Sent to the U.S. by his mother Phang My to save his life, Matt has an American soldier for a father whom he detests for making promises of returning but never did. Matt tells his story in a diary of verse which goes back and forth between his two worlds of Vietnam and his present world of trying to fit in at his school. When his adopted father encourages him to go out for the school’s baseball team, he encounters vicious bigotry and racism. How he eventually deals with secrets from his past and learns some heart rending and life altering ways to deal with the hate of others and self loathing is eye opening and historically accurate for this most painful time period of the our country’s history.

I have been very fortunate to pick books which have been not only enjoyable to read, but are of a very high caliber in their genres. This one is no exception. It is a Golden Sower Award winner. A quick and easy read, this book tells in a refreshing style of writing, verse, this young man’s plight in a new beginning. I grew up in this time period and related to everything explained and portrayed in the story. It was a difficult time to be a soldier returning home with sometimes not only physical scars of disfigurement but emotional scars that ran deep and painful. The author does a nice job of telling the hurts of this young boy from his point of view, but also is able to intertwine incidents and feelings of a host of other characters who were suffering as well. She also developed characters that could heal some of the divisions through their actions and patience. This book took me less than two hours to read. I just couldn’t put it down. It was like living in the 60’s all over again.
 * 1) What did you like about the book? What did you dislike? (4 pts).


 * 1) Write three essential (higher level thinking) questions that you might use in a culminating discussion of this book. (6 pts)

1. Matt’s culture has taught him to be quiet and respectful of others. Some might suggest that his passiveness in the face of the cruel and harsh words spoken to him as a person of a different culture to be that of a coward or at the very least a victim of his own heritage. What set of standards or rules do you think he might be following when he keeps his thoughts and feelings to himself? Would you have done the same, why or why not?

2. Matt as the protagonist and Rob as the antagonist have a vastly different perspective on this was called Vietnam. Compare their viewpoints and construct a word collage for each character which accurately depicts their viewpoint. Use words that are school appropriate, but give us the reader the fullest impact possible of their emotions. 3. There are a number of “coaches” in this book, whether that be it figuratively such as the adopted parents and piano teacher, or reality of the Coach Robeson and Coach Williams. Write a paragraph of 8-10 ten sentences about each and their contribution to Matt’s development over the course of the book. Use specific instances from the book to support your stance.

Comprehension Activity:



Book Talk by Linda Baumann All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg Opening scene: (A young Vietnamese 7th grade boy is setting on the baseball field with a baseball in his hand. It is tattered and torn with the red stitching frayed and hanging in loose pieces from the hard, dirty, scarred, once bright white leather with one side exposing a knotted tangled mess of fibers inside). “I wonder why coach wants us to look at the inside of a baseball”, I think to myself. Hi, I’m Matt Pinn. It is the late 1960’s and I live with my parents and younger brother Tommy. Tommy has my mother’s blonde hair with curls that surround his head. My dad doesn’t look like me either. That is because I am adopted. I have American blood in me, but I don’t know my other father at all. I have another mother and brother who live in Vietnam. I miss them so much. I was air lifted out of the Vietnam War zone. My mother wanted me to be safe and have a better life than the bombs that rained down on us daily like the droppings of a huge flock of birds flying over head only worse. Bombs kill. Ann E. Burg wrote about my life in her book, __All the Broken Pieces__ in verse form. I have nightmares sometimes, but my mother rubs my cheek and says it will be okay. She sings a song to me reassuring me that she will always be there for me. But this isn’t really my home is it, I wonder. My parents really try. They take me to the adoption agency each month to learn about my culture. It is not the Vietnam I remember. My Vietnam is more like my baseball here, a bunch of broken pieces all knotted together. My dad plays ball with me in the park and thinks that I will be good. He wants me to try out for the school team. I wasn’t so sure about it. I felt nervous and afraid but decided to try out anyway. Besides I am not very good at learning the piano from Jeff Harding the ex Vietnam medic. It is hard to believe that his hands helped heal broken men. His hands are so soft on the keys and the music is so beautiful. I can barely spread my fingers far enough to reach the keys and the sounds are more choppy and odd sounding. But my mother is right, music does help me a little to forget the awful secret I carry inside and sooth the nightmares. Sometimes I think, “Would my parents really want me if they knew?” I heard whispers coming from their bedroom last night and wonder how long it will be before they send me away to foster care. Maybe baseball will be good for me. I told my dad that I didn’t think I would make the team. He told me again that I have a great arm and the Coach Robeson is a great coach. Tryouts were last week and even though I was nervous, it seemed to be going well until I heard voices, ones that said things that hurt and packed an invisible punch. “Frog face”; “Matt the rat”; and “Learn to play in a rice-paddy?” were just a few phrases that stung like a bee. Rob Brennen even knocked me down when the coach wasn’t looking and said in a forced whisper for only me to hear accusing me of killing his brother. I prayed I would get cut from the team. I nearly threw up when I looked at the list posted next to the gym. My name was on it. Later I found an ugly picture taped to my locker. I knew what the words and picture meant. (Passage from book.) //Because of you// //there’s no place for me.//
 * //*Note Scene setting with prop is in red. Passage from the book is in verse//**.

//Prejudice is ignorance// //in a catcher’s mask.// Coach Robeson says, coughing. His face is white-angry and his eyes are like steel bullets. I didn’t tell anyone about the note but somehow Coach must have found out.

Alex, Billy, and Rob are the only seventh graders who made the team. Alex is a quiet boy with curly hair and glasses who lives across the street from me. Sometimes we ride our bikes together or toss the ball around. Did he know about the note? Did he tell Coach Robeson? There are two Michaels, a Drew, an Eric, a Daniel, and a few boys I don’t even know yet. Did they know about the note? Would they even care?

//I hear one more derogatory comment,// Coach says looking at everyone slow and steady, one at a time, his sharp eyes locking their eyes before they have a chance to look down, //you won’t play on any team,// //in any school, in any town.// //Period.// //Either plan to play like a team,// //or get out now.// He doesn’t mention my name or the note. Sometimes the words people don’t say are as powerful as the ones they do. (Pg. 84-86).

( Picking up the ball again Matt slowly moves the ball around in his hand. He begins to remove the leather outer cover, and unravel the inner white cords trying to find out what is in the inside beyond the tangled mass of string)

And then there is this ball coach gave to us. I wonder what is on the inside, down deep behind the black rubber coating. Coach wants us to look deep inside, at the heart of the ball. I tore off the cover, unraveled the surrounding string, and found the hard black rubber piece. To me it has little meaning. I don’t see anything that will make me or my teammates play better ball. I really just don’t understand. I guess I will just stuff the broken pieces in my pocket. I seem to be collecting and saving a lot of broken things lately.

By the way, if you want to know more about my life and how it all comes together, you can read __All the Broken Pieces__ by Ann E. Burg.

Name Linda Baumann Book Title Truce Genre: Non Fiction Author Jim Murphy Date of Publication 2009

__Truce__ is about Christmas Day during World War I and the days preceding and following this holiday. Based upon a true historical event, this book chronicles the situations and conditions leading up to this momentous occasion that has never before or since been repeated. World War I is best known for its inception of the beginning of a different way to fight a global war. Young men from both sides of the campaign no longer fought hand to hand but entrenched themselves in miles of deep trenches from the northern border of Switzerland through a small part of Germany, snaking through France and ending at the North Sea in Belgium. It fortified them from the enemy and helped them survive a barrage of artillery and gun files. This method also prolonged the war without a clear winner on either side. Days stretched in months and years for soldiers to be buried in the trenches. What it did was create such a low morale and disillusionment on both sides of “No Man’s Land” that troops had a hard time overcoming. This book tells of one bright piece of history that literally changed the direction of the War.
 * 1) Write a brief summary of the book you read without giving away the ending! (4 pts.)

At first I thought this book was going to be just another history text. It was not appealing at all for the first few pages. I dreaded having to read it. But something kept prodding me to continue. Maybe it was the excellent pictures from actual places along the Western front of December 1914. It brought a human quality to this piece of history. The author also helped me understand the mentality behind the leadership. Like so many wars, there was a sense of win at all costs, and never mind the human suffering or lives lost in the meantime. I had also just read “War Horse” and many incidents and pictures were connected to that historical fiction book. It brought a sense of credibility to what the author was portraying. The descriptions of the conditions inside the trenches was reinforced just enough with actual photographs or drawings to hold my attention. It began to read more like novel than a historical informational book. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and historical references. One sentence during the momentous day sent chills up my spine. It was a huge foreshadowing of what would take place just a few 30 years later.
 * 1) What did you like about the book? What did you dislike? (4 pts).


 * 1) Write three essential (higher level thinking) questions that you might use in a culminating discussion of this book.

1. What was the morale of troops leading up to December 25, 1914? Discuss how this may have precipitated “The Truce” on that day? Be sure to site incidents from the book to support your stance.

2. We have studied the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and now World War I. How has the tactics of leaders changed or not changed over history and determine why this has occurred.

3. If you were in one of those trenches, what would you have done that day? List the pros and cons of following/ or ignoring the directions of your commanding officers. We will have a large group discussion on this after you have had twenty minutes to list you thoughts on paper. Be prepared to be called upon to defend your position.

Comprehension Activity:

This book lends itself to a number of excellent projects for high school students. War is a nasty affair and I would like the students to experience as much as possible what it would be like to be in such a time. Although I am borrowing some ideas for this comprehension activity from one which my World History teacher uses, the culminating activity is my own design. This activity will be done in conjunction with the Social Studies teacher.

Students will be informed that sometime this week, they will get to experience the reality of trench warfare. We will spend a couple days prior to the activity discussing the book in detail along with the impact trench warfare had on individuals and their morale. To heighten the intensity of the forthcoming experience, students will not know which day this will take place, only that one day they will come to class and will be enmeshed in the war from the moment they walk in the door. Students will be divided into two camps of opposing troops.

On the day we have chosen, I will hand each student a white painter’s mask (simulated gas mask) and tell them to take a seat on the floor under the tables in the darkened room, Germans on the right, English and French on the left. They will be instructed to follow orders exactly and if they don’t their lives will be forfeited as a casualty of war. Their goal is to survive. I will play the German officer in command and my partner will be the English officer. He will enter last. Students will be yelled at to get down and stay down, background noises of artillery shells will be heard, and we will continue this barrage for 10 -15 minutes or so before a lull will occur. However, whenever a student is brave enough to look up over the desk, they will lose their life and must lie on the ground until told to move. This will be an intense time with each of us as teachers trying to assimilate as much as possible the terror and fear a real battle field would experience.

Then there would be a short lull in the battle. During this time I would be describing the weather, the deplorable conditions of the trenches, getting the students to feel the emotions of their fellow soldiers and reminding them that the enemy wants them dead no matter what. A new barrage of artillery fire will begin again right in the middle of my speech to the troupes causing us to duck and take cover deeper in our “hell holes”.

Then slowly students will be re acclimated to reality of the classroom. We will spend fifteen or twenty minutes “debriefing the students, discussing what they experience, what they were feeling, what feelings they felt about the soldier next to them, the enemy across from them in “No Man’s Land”. (I believe this is really important part of this experience).

Each student before they leave will be given the following assignment: Now that you have experienced some of what it was like being in a trench for such a short period of time, tasted the sense of fear and self preservation, you are to write an 6 paragraph essay describing the magnitude and essence of the momentous occurrence of real history in the extensive truce on December 25, 1914 that our book narrated. Why was it so important or why did it have such an impact on the both sides of the conflict? Consider the ideas of warfare indoctrination, removal from creature comforts, reliance on each other for survival in a hostile environment away from family, coercion, longevity of the fighting, and the loss of human dignity as ideas you might want to talk about. Defend you points with examples from the book and from our text. You may choose to use other sources, but be sure to use MLA references for all your materials in a reference sheet at the end of your paper and cite within your paragraphs. You will be expected to submit the final draft into Turnitin.com along with handing in a final hard copy by the end of next week. Use the following outline is to guide you with constructing each paragraph in your essay. A rough draft is due by Monday. See me if you have any questions.

Introduction (one sentence each) Hook sentence Statement about your main ideas Two supporting details (two sentences) Summary sentence which includes the three main points of your thesis

Body Paragraph #1 Main Idea of Pro point # 1 3 detail sentences referencing incidents from book connected to point #1 1 sentence of con to the point Summary sentence of point # 1 with a transition to point #2

Body Paragraph #2 Main Idea of Pro point # 2 3 detail sentences referencing incidents from book connected to point #2 1 sentence of con to the point Summary sentence of point # 2 with a transition to point #3

Body Paragraph #3 Main Idea of Pro point # 3 3 detail sentences referencing incidents from book connected to point #3 1 sentence of con to the point Summary sentence of point # 2 with a transition sentence to personal reaction

Reactionary Paragraph (of six or more sentences) This one is to be about your ideas and reaction to being a soldier in trench warfare, your feelings, what you experienced, your opinion of war and the way it was fought, what could have been done differently if anything,) Make this as vivid as you can, using lost of descriptive phrases, so that the reader is able to experience what you did.

Conclusion Restate in different words your thesis and three main points. Summarize what you wrote about (at least two sentences) End with a hook statement, idea, or thought that will cause me to think deeper about what you have written.

Name Linda Baumann


 * 1) Book Title Resistance Book 1


 * 1) Genre: Graphic Novel


 * 1) Author Carla Jablonski &Leland Purvis


 * 1) Date of Publication 2010


 * 1) Write a brief summary of the book you read without giving away the ending! If you are writing about a collection of stories or poems, you need to talk specifically about 2-3 of the selections in the book.

This story is about the Resistance movement in France during World War II to save Jews from being sent to Nazi concentration camps. Brother and sister, Paul and Marie Tesser live in occupied France and soon learn the plans of the Nazi regime. Their young innocence is disrupted in ways unimaginable. Even though they are not Jewish, members of their family are affected by Anti Semitism. Little Marie realizes that life cannot be the same for some of her friends and family. She is forced to face bigotry and determines she and Paul must do something to save one of their friends. The path that takes them on is intense and life threatening.

This was a different way to read a story. At first I was concerned with the lack of words on the page and wondered if it would be “too juvenile” to read. However, I soon found myself drawn to the pictures to fill in the blanks that the words did not convey. It was a very intense book and easily read in a very short setting. It was one I did not want to put down until I knew the ending. This book had some interesting characters and one in particular came as a complete surprise. The author did an excellent job of hiding the true motives of this character until the very end. It was historically correct and helped one to understand the viewpoints of younger members of society during this era.
 * 1) What did you like about the book? What did you dislike? (4 pts.).

One thing I found a little distracting, partly because I am a realist when it comes to visual arts. The drawings in this book at times made it difficult to read facial expressions which is very critical to the plot, especially the fine differences between fear and anger. It was at times a distraction for me while reading. Sprinkled throughout the book are short quick pencil sketches of torn pages from a notebook. These appear to be from Paul and are intertwined with the plot and regular cartoon graphics of the story. They help depict the severity of the story and help one understand that it is being told from a young person’s point of view. One in particular is very touching. It is of Marie thinking that she is going to see her father soon (he has been arrested by the Germans) and she is thinking about what she can give to her father. All sorts of images surround her head and she is happy and excited thinking about his coming home.


 * 1) Write three essential (higher level thinking) questions that you might use in a culminating discussion of this book. This week, I want you to write questions strictly //for discussion// here – not project ideas (you’ll see why below). (6 pts)

1. In the beginning of the book, Paul fails to listen to the warnings of his friend Henri. Each has their own set of worries. Discuss the changes in their community from each one’s perspective at that moment in time and not from your knowledge of history and the outcome of the war. Live the moment with each character and determine which has the more serious concerns and why?

2. Marie wants to know what is so bad about being a Jew and why her friends and neighbors are being taken away. How would you differentiate the philosophical beliefs of the two opposing points of view and the human qualities and needs she sees and experiences in these individuals?

3. Self preservation is a strong emotion. Would you have chosen the path that Marie and Paul did to save the life of their friend Henri? Why or Why not?

8. How can you see this book being used in the curriculum? For what grade level would it be most appropriate? Give a specific example of how you as a teacher might use the book as part of the taught curriculum. What specifically would you use it to teach and what would you have students do with it? (7 pts.)

I think this book would be a nice addition to either a Social Studies unit or to an English Unit. It could be used for either middle school of the lower grades in high school. For English, since we already use the book “Night” by Elie Wiesel in our 10 grade curriculum, this book might be an excellent one to use as a companion book for Wiesel’s memoir. Students today tend to be more visual and “Resistance 1” would be an excellent stepping stone to bringing home the reality of this atrocity. It has a very human quality to it which students would relate to. Students today have not experienced the depth of the hatred and racism espoused by the Nazi regime. They have read about it in history, may have read the “Diary of Anne Frank”, but both authors, Wiesel and Jablonski, offer different human stories that will help students connect to this historically evil event. Often it is difficult to wrap one’s mind around such an incident and questions keep popping up as to why or how this could ever have happened. While “Night” is very graphic in its language and depiction of mental images through words, “Resistance 1” offers visuals of people and events.

It would be interesting to use these two novels to compare reactions of students to the stories and the characters. I would use the graphic novel to set up the more intense one ”Night”. “Resistance 1” as it is not only a quicker read, but offers a sense of hope and control over ones destiny. That quality is lacking somewhat in the novel of “Night”. It will also set the stage so to speak for the harshness of Wiesel’s real life events. When we are finished with both novels, I would like the students to create their own graphic version of a short segment from the book “Night”. They will be given two ways to do this. They can either draw and/or color by hand a seven page synopsis of a chapter or event from “Night” in cartoon form or they can use computer graphics to illustrate their stories. Each page must have a minimum of four frames per page. It can either be in color or black and white. Absolutely no actual photographs copied from the internet may be used. They can use sketches or cartoon like characters from the web, but they must be consistent with the time frame of the 1930”s. I want their product to look like it is hand drawn. I realize some students do not consider themselves artists and may struggle with the graphic portion. But I believe this project will help them connect with the text, develop a sense of creativity, and bring a sense of reality to their readings. They would then give a short presentation to the class explaining why they chose their particular section, what their experience was of the project and what if any effect the project had on their knowledge of the Holocaust. The whole purpose of this project is to deepen their sensibility to the horrors of this time period as well as broaden their experiences of different ways to present literature.