Katie's Trunk/Ann Turner/Created by Anchorage District
Unit 3/Week 2
Title: Katie’s Trunk
Suggested Time: 5 days (45 minutes per day)
Common Core ELA Standards: RL.5.1, RL.5.2, RL.5.3, RL.5.4, RF.5.3, RF.5.4, W.5.4, W.5.9, SL.5.1, L.5.1, L.5.2, L.5.4, L.5.5, L.5.6
Teacher Instructions
Refer to the Introduction for further details.
Before Teaching
1.Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for teachers, about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task.
Big Ideas and Key Understandings
Humanity and kindness can transcend political alliances.
Synopsis
Katie, whose family is Tory, hides in her mother’s wedding trunk to escape Rebel soldiers during the Revolutionary War. In the midst of a raid on Katie’s home, friendship prevails over political beliefs and Katie eludes capture.
2.Read entire main selection text, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings.
3.Re-read the main selection text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Vocabulary.
During Teaching
1.Students read the entire main selection text independently.
2.Teacher reads the main selection text aloud with students following along. (Depending on how complex the text is and the amount of support needed by students, the teacher may choose to reverse the order of steps 1 and 2.)
3.Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions and returning to the text. A variety of methods can be used to structure the reading and discussion (i.e.: whole class discussion, think-pair-share, independent written response, group work, etc.)
Text Dependent Questions
Text Dependent Questions / AnswersWho is the narrator of Katie’s Trunk? / Katie
(This story is a first-person narrative. Be sure to point this out to students.)
On page 294, Katie’s mom says she would “like to sit (her) down to sew long seams all day and get the goodness straight inside.” What does she mean by, “get the goodness straight inside”? / She sometimes misbehaves (hiding Hattie’s doll under the sofa); She is sensitive to what goes on around her(sensing the changes in the environment: itchiness in the air, wind bringing cold, clouds tumbling over trees).
Reread pages 294- 96. How has Katie’s community changed? Give examples of “before” and “now”. / Before-Pg. 295 “friends, neighbors, families . . . had played . . . on the green and helped with building new barns.” Now-Pg. 295 “Already we had lost (those friends, neighbors, and families)” and Pg 296 “Celia Warren no longer spoke to me. Her brother, Ralph, no longer spoke to Walter.”
A Tory was an American colonist who was loyal to Great Britain when other American colonists, known as rebels in this story, started fighting against Great Britain for their freedom. Using quotes from the text, how did Katie feel about being called a Tory? (Pg. 296) / Katie doesn’t like the situation between rebels and Tories. She has seen friendships end over the clash. (negative connotation; “I heard that word hissed, ‘Tory!’ like a snake about to bite.”).
Reread the second paragraph on pg. 296. Contrast the shift in mood from the beginning to the end of the paragraph. / She describes something peaceful-children watching dragonflies-and then describes smoke rising and Papa running and yelling.
Using quotes from the text, why does Katie rush out of her hiding place? (Pg. 297) / She “felt like an animal in a trap.” She is “so mad [she] could not still [herself.” She is angry because her neighbors are going to break into their home. Katie wants to protect her house and things.
On page 299, Katie’s courage has left her. How does the author demonstrate this? Use examples from the text. / Katie looked for somewhere to hide; She was afraid the rebels would hurt her.
Reread pg 300. English goods were items that were made and shipped from Great Britain to the colonies. What words or phrases does the author use to illustrate how the rebels feel about English goods? / “English goods!” someone spat and something hit the floor and broke. (Pg. 298, paused at the front step and ripped the knocker off the wood.)
Which details help you to visualize what it was like inside the trunk? (Pgs. 299-301) / page 299 “In the shut down darkness everything was muffled and faraway.”
page 300 “The air closed around my mouth like a black cloth.”
page 301 “There wasn’t enough air.”
Why did the rebels stop searching the trunk and leave the house? (Pg. 301) / John Warren shouted, “‘Out! The Tories are coming. Back to the road! Hurry!’”
Reread the last paragraph on pages 302-303. What does Katie realize about John Warren’s actions? / “When Mama asked me to sew straight seams to get the goodness straight I knew I couldn’t do it. But John Warren had When I hid in the black stuffy trunk, when my breath got lost in Mama’s dresses, he left the trunk lid up to let me breathe and called the others away. He’d left one seam of goodness there, and we were all tied to it: Papa, Mama, Walter, Hattie, and me.”
Vocabulary
KEY WORDS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDINGWords addressed with a question or task / WORDS WORTH KNOWING
General teaching suggestions are provided in the Introduction
TEACHER PROVIDES DEFINITION
not enough contextual clues provided in the text / Page 296 - Tory, rebel
Page 300 - English goods / Page 294 - skittish, seams
Page 296 - tory, rebel, arming, drilling
Page 297 - fierce
Page 298 - pickings, kin, parlor, knocker
Page 299 - muffle
Page 300 - arms
Page 301 - rustlings, green, midst
Page 302 - skirmish
STUDENTS FIGURE OUT THE MEANING
sufficient context clues are provided in the text / Page 295 - peer
Page 296 - hiss
Page 297 - crouch, just
Page 301 - crept
Culminating Task
●Re-Read, Think, Discuss, Write
On page 303, Katie says that John Warren left a “seam of goodness there, and we were all tied to it.”What does Katie mean by this and how does this statement connect to the idea that kindness can transcend or go beyond political alliances? Use specific details from the text to support your ideas.
Answer:
Students’ answers are two-fold. They should address what Katie’s quote means: When Katie says her family is tied to a seam of goodness left by John Warren, she means that John Warren did something good by saving her when she was in the trunk by calling the others away. They should also address how the quote relates to kindness transcending political alliances: Not only did he do something good, but he did so despite the fact that Katie’s family are Tories and he is a rebel. His act of kindness will stay rooted with the family, and they will be “tied” to it in the future. In this way, they will have to “think twice” in the future when confronted with someone who has different beliefs than them, just like John Warren was when he realized Katie was in the trunk.
Additional Tasks
●Historical fiction is based on real events in history, but the author invents characters and details that help the story come to life. Work in groups to distinguish the real historical events from the fictional elements in “Katie’s Trunk.”
Answer: Real historical events include the American Revolution, the Boston Tea Party, and conflict between Tories and Patriots. Fictional elements include Katie and her family, John Warren, and other characters; the dialogue between the characters; and the problem and solution.
●A simile compares two unlike things using the word like or as. On page 294, the author compares a nervous and jittery calf with the way Mama feels. Find at least six other examples of similes in this story.
Answer: Page 296: “Sometimes I heard that word hissed, ‘Tory!’ like a snake about to bite.” Page 297: “We ran to the house, Mama’s face like a white handkerchief.” Page 298: “the silver tray, shining like a moon” Page 300: “The air closed around my mouth like a black cloth.” Page 301: “I thought my words might go up to God like bubbles in a pond to the silver top where they would burst.” Page 302: “A sudden thread like a song ran through my head.”
Note to Teacher
●This text complements the fifth grade social studies American Revolution curriculum.