WHIRLIGIG BY PAUL FLEISCHMAN

ANTICIPATION: Fill out our anticipation chart. Make sure you don’t fill in the ‘after reading’ section!

COVER ANALYSIS Let’s look at the information the cover can tell us. What is this book about? Were your anticipations right? Or at least, possibly right? Write down on the back of your anticipation guide at least two questions that you hope will be answered about Brent’s story.

NOW… We get to make our own paper Whirligigs! -Colorful -Gives information, visually, about you. -Can move in the wind.

CHAPTER ONE: TEEN PROBLEM ARTICLE ANALYSIS Go online and find an article that addresses a major problem teens face – like alcohol and drug use or depression. Fill out an article analysis sheet. This can be done in pairs, but each person needs to turn in their own sheet. The assignment form can be found on our class wiki.

JOURNAL TOPIC: MY WHIRLIGIG OR CHAPTER ONE Describe your whirligig and how it represents you OR Choose one of the major events in Chapter one such as Brent’s experience moving, the pressures of fitting in, rejection, alcohol consumption etc, and respond to it. Think of your experiences, or the experiences of someone you know. How do you relate to Brent’s story? Length: 8-10 sentences Worth: 10 points.

CHAPTER TWO: SHOW NOT TELL Paul Fleischman does an excellent job creating two female characters in which we know a great deal about them without him needing to straight out tell us. In partners, you are going to create a method of showing and not telling an event that occurred. You will write a small script, and you can choose to actually act it out or simply read it. You are forbidden from simply telling! (A great example, is to do a fairytale or children’s story without a narrator.)

CHAPTER THREE: REACTIONS In this chapter, we catch a glimpse of many reactions to what happened that night on the highway. After Miss C reads the poem “The Mother Writes to the Murder: A Letter,” you will get to write out a 1 st person point of view response to the events. Imagine you are one of the characters: Lea’s mother or father, Brent’s mother or father, Chaz, the neighbor across the street. Really focus on developing a clear idea of that character’s voice.

CHAPTER FOUR: CLOSE READ As we read Chapter Four, we will work on close-reading – looking at vocabulary and tone; personal connections and symbols.

READING QUIZ FOR CHAPTER FIVE 1.In San Francisco, Brent bought several things including a book. What was the book about? 2.What new skill is Brent learning? 3.Provide the best definition for the bolded words in the following quote. “The hostel served a free continental breakfast. Those who’d bought their own groceries were cooking more substantial fare in the kitchen” (Fleischman, 68). 4.Describe the second whirligig.

READING QUIZ FOR CHAPTER SIX 1. What was Anthony listening to on his radio? 2. What is Anthony’s ethnicity and why is it important? 3. Anthony compares his constant practicing to the figure of John Henry. Brent compared his tasks to the rites of Hercules. Consider one of the other characters in our novel. What myth or legend would you say best fits their story? 4. How did Lea’s whirligig change his life?

READING QUIZ FOR CHAPTER SEVEN 1.Brent ran into someone in Texas that made him suddenly feel unwanted and inhuman. What person was it? 2.Beale Beach is significant because _________________________________. 3.How does the chapter title ‘Apprentices’ fit into the events of Chapter seven? 4.Explain the following quote: “He’d been reborn after the crash. He would give himself a new education, starting at the beginning” (pg. 94).

INCLUDE THESE CHARACTERS IN YOUR CONCEPT MAP: Brent Brent’s Mom and Dad Chaz, Brianna, Jonathan Lea Lea’s Mom, Dad, and Siblings Alexandra and Stephanie Miss Gill Canadian Bicyclist in Washington Raul’s Dad and Constancia Emil and People at the Hostel Anthony and Anthony’s Mom Anthony’s Piano Tutor The Woman on the Bus to Texas The Preacher Trisha and the Other Maid Waitress at the Sand Dollar The Kids on the Beach The Last Owner of the Whirligig Book

READING QUIZ: Please summarize for me your favorite moment/chapter in the book thus far. (4-6 sentences)