Taking Sides By Gary Soto

Day 1, Chapter 1: Setting Define setting. Why is setting important in this story? Begin to infer how setting can create conflicts.

Quick Write Sometimes people don’t understand each other because their lives are too different. What should people know about where you are from or your life to understand why you do the things that you do?

Vocabulary Setting- Where a story takes place.

While we read…. Write down anything that you think is important about the setting of the first chapter. Think: What is it like where Lincoln lives? What do you think that this setting is like for Lincoln? What do you think that this setting is like for Lincoln?

Lincoln’s Settings….What can you tell by looking at these settings? How do you think that life would be different in these settings? What would it be like to go from one to the other?

Day 2 (Ch. 2): Dialogue Define dialogue. How can dialogue tell us about a character? What can we tell about the characters in Taking Sides because of their dialogue?

Quick Write Tell me about a conversation that you had with someone. If I overheard the conversation what would I think about you?

Vocabulary Dialogue- What one person says to another.

How to write dialogue… “How do you write dialogue?” “Look at the board.” What one person says is in quotations “ “ When another person talks, put their quotation on a new line.

Write a dialogue that tells us about these two characters. If you’re really good, you can tell us something about them without actually saying it… We will write conversations for three different pictures and see if other people in the class can tell in which picture the conversation is happening. Try not to physically describe the characters having the conversation. Don’t say the names of any of the things in the picture!

Image One

Image 2

Image 3

While we read….. We are going to see what we can tell about some of the characters in Taking Sides based on their dialogues. We are going to fill out a chart so that we can start to understand some of the main characters. chart

Day 3 (Ch 3): Conflict Define conflict. What are the 4 main kinds of conflicts? What conflicts are emerging in Taking Sides?

Quick Write Tell me about a time that you had a problem in your life.

Vocabulary Conflict- A struggle between 2 forces in a story.

The Main Conflicts 1)Character vs. Character 2)Character vs. Nature 3)Character vs. Himself 4)Character vs. Society

What type of conflict is this?

What kind of conflict is this?

What kind of conflict was your example in the quick write? Volunteers/victims read quick writes. Class decides what kind of conflict the author is describing.

While you read…. What conflicts are there in Taking Sides? Which of these conflicts are little problems and which are important to the whole story?

Day 4 (Ch. 4): Similes/Metaphors Define simile and metaphor. Identify similes and metaphors in Taking Sides. Create our own examples of similes and metaphors.

Quick Write Who is your favorite rapper or music artist? What is it about the way they talk/rap/sing that makes you like them?

Vocabulary Simile- A figure of speech that uses “like” or “as” to compare two things. Example: Easy as Sunday morning.

The Simile Game Pick a random word. Make a simile using that word. Explain why the comparison tells you more about that word.

While you read… Be the first to identify a simile in the reading today. When you hear a simile, quietly give the signal.

Extension Listen to Flocabulary rap about literal devices like similes. language/ language/ language/ Give the signal every time you hear a simile in the rap. Highlight examples of similes in the rap.

Homework Complete the simile Complete the simile

Day 5 (Ch. 5): Week One Review, Making Predictions Review setting, dialogue, conflict, and simile. Make a prediction about a character vs. self conflict in Taking Sides.

Quick Write If you found a wallet on the ground at the T station and no one seemed to see it, what would you do?

Taking Sides Quiz

While we read…. In this chapter, we will be introduced to a conflict that Lincoln is about to have. Predict what he will do to resolve this conflict (What will he do?) Why do you think that he will do this? What kind of conflict do you think this is?