The Watsons Go To Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis



SYLLABUS

|Day of Week |Date |Reading Assignment |In Class |Homework |

|Tuesday |September 2 |Chapters 1-2 |KWL/Chap 1 |Short Answer Chps 1-2 |

|Wednesday |September 3 |Chapters 3-4 |Quiz Chps 1-2 |Short Answer Chps 3-4 |

|Thursday |September 4 |Chapters 5-6 |Quiz Chps 3-4 |Short Answer Chps 5-6 |

| | | |Mini Lesson 1 |Characterization |

| | | |Characterization | |

| | | |Preview Writing | |

| | | |Assignment 1 | |

|Friday |September 5 |Chapters 7-8 | |Short Answer Chps 7-8 |

| | | | |Writing Assignment 1 |

|Saturday/Sunday |September 6/7 |Chapters 9-10 |Quiz Chps 5-8 |Short Answer Chps 9-10 |

|Monday |September 8 |Chapters 11-12 |Quiz Chps 9-10 |Short Answer Chps 11-12 |

| | | |Mini Lesson 2 | |

| | | |Setting | |

|Tuesday |September 9 |Chapters 13-14 |Quiz Chps 11-12 |Short Answer Chps 13-14 |

|Wednesday |September 10 |Chapter 15 |Quiz Chps 13-14 |Short Answer Chps 15 |

|Thursday |September 11 |Group Presentation of Group Project 1|Hollywood /Squares |Writing Assignment 2 |

| | |– Box with 8 items |FINAL EXAM | |

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| | | |Mini Lesson 3 | |

| | | |MOOD Analysis | |

|Friday |September 12 |Character Sketches | | |

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|Assignment |Due Date |Possible Points |Earned Points |

|Short Answers 1/2 |Friday – Feb 21 |24 | |

|Short Answers 3/4 | |12 | |

|Characterization -- Sociogram| | | |

|Total Points | | | |

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|Short Answers 5/6 |Tuesday – Feb 26 |10 | |

|Short Answers 7/8 | |12 | |

|Short Answers 9/10 | |12 | |

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|Short Answers 11/12 |Friday – Feb 29 |10 | |

|Short Answers 13/14 | |12 | |

|Short Answers 15 | |12 | |

Group Activities and Projects

1. Group must create a box containing at least 8 items to remind Kenny of 1963. Each item must include a card stating why the group chose that item. – Worth 50 points Due 2/29

2. Character Sketch. – 50 points Due 3/4

Short Answers Chapters 1-2

1. What did Momma call Michigan?

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2. Where was Momma from originally?

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3. What was Byron called since he turned thirteen?

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4. What did Momma do when she thought something was funny? Why did she do that?

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5. What did Dad tell the family there was in downtown Birmingham?

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6. What happened to Byron when he and Kenny were scraping the ice off the car windows?

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7. What was Kenny’s nickname for the family?

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8. What did Kenny call Byron after the incident with the ice on the car windows? Why?

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9. Whom did Kenny refer to as the king of the grades K-4 and the god of the school?

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10. Why did the other kids tease Kenny? What did Byron tem him to do about it?

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11. How did Kenny think of Rufus and why?

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12. What did the family call the car? What kind of car was it?

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Short Answers Chapters 3-4

1. What did Kenny think would happen when the teacher sat Rufus next to him in class? Was he right or wrong? Explain what happened. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What did Kenny find out about Rufus and his brother Cody?

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3. Why had Kenny stopped playing with LJ Jones?

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4. Why didn’t Kenny mind playing with Rufus?

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5. Why was Rufus upset with Kenny? What happened as a result? How did Kenny feel? How was this problem resolved?

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6. Why did Momma make the children wear so many clothes in the winter?

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Short Answers Chapters 5-6

1. What did Momma catch Byron doing and what did she say she would do to him? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Was Momma successful in carrying out her threat? Explain why or why not.

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3. What did Momma tell the boys to do when they went to Mitchell’s store for some groceries? What did Byron think this meant, and how did he feel about it? Was Byron’s assumption correct?

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4. What did Byron do after he found out the truth about the list at Mitchell’s store?

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5. Describe what happened to the mourning dove.

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Short Answers Chapters 7-8

1. What did Byron do to his hair? What did Momma say about it? What was Byron’s reason for doing it?

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2. What did Dad do about Byron’s hair? What song did he whistle during the process?

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3. What did Dad tell Byron after the punishment had been completed?

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4. Who is Grandma Sands?

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5. There was something in the Watson house that Dad did not keep with the ones that belonged to the rest of the family. What was it, and why did Dad keep his separate?

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6. What news did the parents tell the children while they were sitting in the car listening to the records? What were their reasons for this news?

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Short Answers Chapters 9-10

1. Dad talked with Kenny about the reason they were sending Byron to Alabama. What did he tell Kenny?

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2. Summarize the incident when Mrs. Davidson gave a gift to Joey.

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3. Where did Byron have to sleep the night before the family left on the trip, and why?

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4. How did Byron plan to pay his parents back for making him go to Alabama? Was he successful?

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5. Kenny described something on their trip as the scariest thing he had ever seen. What were they? Why did he think these things were scary?

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6. How did Dad describe driving through the mountains?

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Short Answers Chapters 11-12

1. What did Kenny expect Grandma Sands to look like? What did she really look like?

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2. What fictional characters did Kenny use to describe how he expected the meeting between Grandma Sands and Byron to go? What characters did he use to describe how the meeting actually went?

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3. Who was Mr. Robert?

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4. What took the children a while to get used to?

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5. What did Kenny think about making Byron spend the whole summer in the heat? How did Byron seem to be taking it?

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Short Answers Chapters 13-14

1. What place were the children told to stay away from and why? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How did Byron describe the whirlpool?

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3. Describe what happened to Kenny when he went in the water.

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4. What did Byron do when Kenny was out of the water?

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5. What was the noise that Kenny and the others heard?

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6. What did Joey tell Kenny about her time in the church that morning?

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Short Answers Chapters 15

1. Who threw the bomb? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Who was killed and injured?

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3. How did Kenny’s parent take the bombing?

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4. Which one of the children were the parents most worried about? Why?

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5. Summarize what happened when Byron took Kenny into the bathroom.

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6. What did Byron say Kenny should think about?

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Finding Sensory Images

The goal of a reader when reading might be to “make a movie” in his or her head of what is happening. That’s why well written novels often contain a lot of sensory imagery. Find an example of each sensory image.

|EXAMPLE – SIGHT and HEARING | TOUCH [pic] |

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|Dad was doing his best not to explode laughing. Big puffs of smoke were coming | |

|out of his nose as he tried to squeeze his laughs down. Finally, he put his head| |

|on his arms and leaned against the car’s hood and howled.” | |

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| SIGHT [pic] | SOUND [pic] |

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| SMELL [pic] | TASTE[pic] |

Writing Assignment 1—Writing to Persuade

Prompt

Throughout the first six chapters of the novel Kenny gives several examples and illustrations of Byron’s misbehavior. So far, nothing that the parents have said has motivated Byron to change his behavior.

Take the view point to someone outside of the immediate family. Write an email to Byron asking him to change his behavior and stop doing the mean and disobedient things he does.

Prewriting

Skim the first six chapters of the book and make a list of the examples of Byron’s misbehavior. Include details about what he did, who or what his target was, and how his behavior was different from what he had been told to do. Next to each example, write how you think his behavior should change and why. Then rank the misdeeds in order of severity, in order from the most to least disruptive.

Remember that a persuasive piece can and should include your reasons for your request. The reasons should be backed up with examples from the story.

Drafting

Make an introductory statement in which you describe the problem. Next state your request. Then use one paragraph for each of the reasons that you think Byron’s behavior should change. Use the supporting statements for each reason.

Summarize your request and respectfully ask Byron to send you a reply email by a certain date.

Double check your grammar, spelling and the clarity of your ideas.

Writing Assignment 2

Reading literature helps us gain insight into life my letting us explore life through its characters. The more an author can get us to empathize and relate to a character, the more we feel connected and interested in the book. In addition, through exploration of a character’s change and growth, we often learn more about ourselves.

Choose to compare yourself to either Kenny or Byron. Think about the prompts below and how you would answer them for your chose character. Next, think about the prompt below and how you would answer them for yourself. Then complete a Venn diagram. (In the left circle, write things that apply only to the character. In the right circle, write things that apply to only you. In the middle section, write things that apply to both of you. You do not need to use the prompts given, and you can add any things you’d like.

|Family size |Feeling about siblings |Fears |Abilities |

|Pastimes |Trying to be “cool” |Swearing |Adventurous |

|Teased |Sense of humor |Problems |Streetwise |

|Grandma |Types of friends |Parents |Confident |

|Bully |Caring |Embarrassed |Defiant |

|Birth order |Appearance |Likes |Dislikes |

Write a three paragraph summary based on the Venn diagram. In the first paragraph, describe how you are like the character you chose. In the second paragraph, describe how you are different from the character. In the third paragraph, conclude by stating whether you are more similar to or different from the character.

Extended Response –And They Wonder Why We Get Called the Weird Watsons

This chapter introduces the Weird Watsons in their freezing cold living room in Flint, Michigan. Daniel and Wilona Watson are the parents of thirteen year old Byron, ten year old Kenny and their little sister Joetta. As they try to keep warm, their father tries to entertain them with stories. Do you think the Watsons are a happy or unhappy family? Select six sentences from this chapter that support your response. Make sure to put quotation marks around the sentences that you select.

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Extended Response -- Give My Regards to Poindexter

The new boy and his brother are picked on as soon as they get on the school bus. This is because of their ”real down South accent” and their raggedy clothes This lead Kenny to thinking that a miracle is happening to him. Write a diary entry that Kenny might have written which would explain his feeling about this and why the arrival of the new boys means he’s “saved”.

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