Welcome Back! Warm up What is the difference between these two terms? Main idea Supporting details

What’s the difference? Main Idea Supporting Details Ask yourself does the event move the story forward? Remember main events are so important they could not be taken out without it changing the story. They are also the events that cause or lead to something else happening in the story. Ask yourself does the event only add details or description to the story? Remember minor events can be taken out of a story and the plot of the story will still make sense.

Main idea Supporting Details Using Textual evidence A mini-lesson using “Jeremiah’s Song” by Walter Dean Myers

I will be able to identify the main and minor events of a plot I will be able to identify the main and minor events of a plot. Find connections and relationships among events.

This is why I ask you to read a text multiple times. The second part of the target is about how the main and minor events are connected. How events influence each other. HINT When you are reading the story keep asking yourself why the author wrote it the way he did. Reread and think to yourself…….What does this really mean! Think of it like an onion with many layers….The first time you read your understanding is as deep as the first layer….The second time you reread a part of the text or the whole thing you get to the next layer of the onion….When you reread and start to ask yourself questions about what you are rereading you get to the next layer of the onion. Please please please reread and question and think and think as you read! This is why I ask you to read a text multiple times.

Example Why does the main character say that the stories were too scary when he said he liked the stories on the first page? As I reread all of the parts that talked about the stories, I realized that he both like the stories and thought they were scary. I think he liked the way that Grandpa told the stories but some of the things in the stories scared him. I also think that he knew how important the stories were to Grandpa and that made them more important to him. Plus Grandpa took the time to tell him why the stories were important to keep telling.

1. After what event does Macon start visiting Grandpa Jeremiah more often?

1. After what event does Macon start visiting Grandpa Jeremiah more often? Macon starts to visit Grandpa Jeremiah more often after Grandpa Jeremiah has a stroke and Ellie has gone back to school. The text says, “It was right after Ellie went back to school that Grandpa Jeremiah had him a stroke and Macon started coming around.” The quote from the text says that Macon started coming right after Ellie was back in school and Grandpa had a stroke. That makes sense because Grandpa and the main character who was only 9 would need Macon’s help after the stroke. (Notice my red, green and yellow)

2. What is the story “Jeremiah’s Song” mostly about? (less is more)

2. What is the story “Jeremiah’s Song” mostly about? (less is more) The story Jeremiah’s Song is mostly about Grandpa Jeremiah loving people and trying to pass on stories that will help the people he loves before he dies.

3. “Stories from the past are valuable” is a central idea of this text 3. “Stories from the past are valuable” is a central idea of this text. Support this idea with specific evidence from the text.

3. Stories from the past are valuable is central idea of this text 3. Stories from the past are valuable is central idea of this text. Support this idea with specific evidence from the text. I am just going to list as many pieces of evidence as I can so ignore the structure of my answer. I will put an * by the stronger pieces of evidence. Page 34...Grandpa said, “they the songs of my people” Page 37...Dr. Crawford tells Ellie to let Grandpa tell his stories because they are as good as any medicine the Doctor has. **Page 38...Grandpa Jeremiah tells the main character, “Well, those the folks you got to know about. You think on what those folks been through, and what they was feeling, and you add it up with what you been through and what you been feeling, then you go you something. **Page38 Grandpa told the main character that the stories are a bridge. He told him that, “when things get so hard and you are about to break, you can sneak across that bridge and see some folks who went before you and see how they didn’t break. Some got bent and some got twisted and few fell along the way but they didn’t break.” So he is telling him that the stories from the past can help you when you need help. *Page 38….Grandpa tells the main character to tell all the stories to his kids to make them strong even if he has to make some of the stories up because he can’t remember them. **Page 39...after Grandpa dies, Macon plays a song that seems kind of familiar but kind of new too. The main character thinks that it is the song that Macon got from Grandpa’s stories. Then the main character ends by saying that he could learn the song...which leads the reader to believe that he WILL go on to tell the stories or songs to his kids one day.

4. Use evidence from the text to prove that Macon and Ellie will marry and take care of the main character (narrator)

4. Use evidence from the text to prove that Macon and Ellie will marry and take care of the main character (narrator) As a reader, I would not be surprised if Ellie and Macon got married and raised the main character for many reasons. First, we know that Ellie started liking Macon because she said that he was funny. She also made food for him even when he didn’t ask for food. Then the main character tells Grandpa that he thinks Ellie has feelings for Macon and Grandpa says that is okay. In addition, during the funeral, Macon took care of everyone and helped make it go smoothly. Then after the funeral, Macon still came to the house and stayed. On the porch, he played his guitar and Ellie cried. All of this evidence shows that it would make sense if Ellie and Macon married. The evidence that shows that Ellie and Macon would raise the main character is that the main character is 9 years old and needs someone to help him even if he can do many things on his own. Plus on page 37 the main character said that he and Macon were getting to be good friends. So they like each other and would do well living together. The last piece of evidence that shows that Macon and Ellie could get married and raise the main character is also on page 37. It says, “It seemed kind of natural, almost like Macon was supposed to be there

5. Identify two details that support the idea that the main character does not like Deacon Turner’s wife.

5. Identify two details that support the idea that the main character does not like Deacon Turner’s wife. Page….“Deacon Turner and his little skinny yellow wife,” was the way the main character described her. Page….Deacon Turner’s wife started crying because the doctor said that Grandpa didn’t have much time before he died. When she cries the main character says, “I give her a hard look...I was the one who loved Grandpa Jeremiah the most and she didn’t hardly even know his so I didn’t see why she was crying. Both of these pieces of evidence show that the main character didn’t like Deacon Turner’s wife. If he did like her, he would not describe her with words like skinny, little and yellow. In addition, if he did like her it would not bother him when she cried. The hard look her gave her lets the reader know that it did bother him.