Mar. 14 th, 2009 ENG 308 Dr. Carder Literature Circle ~Book & Author: The Watson s Go to Birmingham 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis ~Members of group 1) History/Geography guru 2) Passage Picker 3) Discussion Leader 4) Illustrator/ Weather-Climate 5) Vocabulary person ~Grade level: 5 th grade. Reading level: 5.5 ~Context: We have been studying the civil rights movement in class, and we decided to include The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 because it gives a child s perspective on one of the events. It also makes the situations real to the kids because they connect to characters that went through this. They can see how sad the girl s deaths were because they can see how much the family in the book loved Joetta. It makes it real. ~Meeting times: Group meets 5 times per week and reads 1 chapter per day. ~When they read: -Reading workshop -SSR -Photocopy for in class reading -Students can check out a chapter ~Summaries of Chapters - Chapter 1- And You Wonder Why We Get Called the Weird Watsons : The book starts telling the setting of the book. The book is set in Flint Michigan. The book starts in winter and talks about how cold it is there and what they do to stay warm. It tells the family members from the middle child, Kenny, point of view, there is; his mom, dad, little sister Joetta, and his older brother Byron who is 13. The main event in this chapter is when Kenny and Byron
were sent out to their family car, the Brown Bomber, to scrape the snow and ice off of the wind shield. Byron ends up getting his lips stuck to the side mirror of the car and they go through many obstacles to try to get him off until his mother finally just yanks him off. - Chapter 2- Give My Regards to Clark, Poindexter : Chapter two begins with Kenny talking about the bully s in his school, two of them being his brother Bryon and his brother s best friend, Buphead. Kenny is an accelerated reader and his teacher has him read to his classmates and also go to other classrooms and read to the students. On this particular day he was going to read to the fifth grade class. When he entered the class he found out Byron and Buphead were in the class so he got really nervous because he thought they were going to beat on him after school. After school kids started coming up to him and being mean, calling him a teacher s pet, etc. Then Byron came up to him, Kenny thought he was in for it, but it turned out that Byron was actually proud of him. We also find out that Kenny is often teased for having a lazy eye. - Chapter 3- The World s Greatest Dinosaur War Ever : A couple of new kids came to school from down south, Rufus and his little brother Cody. Rufus and Kenny soon become good friends. It starts out with Kenny s teacher sitting Rufus next to him and having him help Rufus out. Then Kenny starts to share his lunch with Rufus because Rufus never has a lunch. When Rufus starts showing up at Kenny s house after school every day is when he finally realizes that he and Rufus are friends. Their favorite game to play is war with dinosaurs. Kenny then says that the only other friend he used to have used to steal his dinosaurs, so he s happy he has Rufus to play with now because he doesn t steal them. - Chapter 4- Froze-Up Southern Folks : Kenny s Mom is from Alabama so she is not used to the cold and is terrified of it. When Kenny and Joetta go outside their mom bundles them up in multiple pairs of pant, shirts, jackets, a hat, rabbit fur-lined leather gloves and boots over their shoes. Joey and Kenny hate it and Joey whines about it all the time. Kenny asks Bryon to make their mom stop doing this to them. Byron knows his Mom will not stop so he makes up a story. Byron tells them; their mom is just protecting them, every morning the streets are lined with people who freeze to death and a garbage truck comes and picks them up before everyone wakes up. After Joey heard this story she didn t whine any more. - Chapter 5- Nazi Parachutes Attack America and Get Shot Down over the Flint River by Captain Byron Watson and His Flamethrower of Death : Byron s gotten in trouble for playing with fire many times. The last time he did his mother told him she was going to burn him if he did it again. He gets caught again, lighting toilet paper on fire and flushing it down the toilet. It s a game he made up called, Nazi Parachutes attack America and get shot down over the Flint River by Captain Bryon and his flamethrower of death. Well his mom catches him and is getting ready to burn his finger when Joey comes in and starts crying and keeps blowing out the matches that her mom lights. Finally her mom said
that she swore to god she would burn him and she should keep her word to god. Joetta agrees and tells her to burn him, but still keeps blowing out the matches. Byron never ends up getting burned. - Chapter 6- Swedish Cremes and Welfare Cheese : Momma sends Kenny and Byron to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Instead of giving them cash she tells them to sign for it. This made Byron and Kenny think that they were on welfare. When they got to the cash register at the store Byron made Kenny sign for it because he was embarrassed. The cashier explained to Kenny that they were not on welfare, their dad just paid once a week instead of every time they were at the store. A few days later Kenny finds Byron with a bag of cookies, he knew exactly what Byron had done, he signed for something without telling his parents. Instead of telling on Byron, Kenny eats the cookies along with him. They then see a mourning dove and Byron starts throwing cookies at it. The dove drops dead. Then Byron gets sick because he ate a rotten apple, Kenny leaves. A few days later Kenny notices that Byron buried the dove and was surprised because Bryon was such a bully, but felt bad for killing a dove. - Chapter 7- Every Chihuahua in America Lines Up to Take a Bite out of Byron : Byron gets a conk haircut even though his parents told him not to. He thinks that his parents can t do anything about it because it was permanent. When his dad comes home from work he takes Byron up to the bathroom and locks the door. When Byron and his dad come down stairs the whole family sees that Byron s head was completely shaved. - Chapter 8- The Ultra-Glide! : Mom and Dad start acting really strange. They start fixing up the car. Dad even buys a new record player for it. When they get the player the whole family sits in the car and takes turns listening to music. Kenny plays Yakety-Yak for his turn every time. The kids then find out that the reason they fixed up the Brown Bomber was because they were driving to Birmingham, Alabama. They were dropping off Bryon there for the summer to live with his grandma since he had gotten into so trouble. - Chapter 9- The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 : 1: Dad explains to Kenny why they are sending Byron to Alabama. 2: Mrs. Davidson comes to give Joetta an angel that reminds her of Joetta, and she is mad because the angel is white and doesn t look like her at all. 3: Byron s plans to escape the night before they leave are ruined when Joetta told on him. 4: They leave for Alabama and begin their journey. - Chapter 10- Tangled Up in God s Beard :
1: Continued trip in the car. 2: They stop at a rest stop in Ohio and discover their first outhouse. 3: Kenny discovers God s beard in the wind that rushes by the window. - Chapter 11- Bobo Brazil Meets the Sheik : 1: Dad admits his plan to drive a straight shot to Birmingham. 2: They arrived at Grandma Sands house. 3: They have a culture shock with Grandma Sands and how she treats them and asks. - Chapter 12- That Dog Won t Hunt No More : 1: They noticed the climate change between Flint and Birmingham. 2: They learn about the dog and the coons and noticed the relationship between Mama and Grandma Sands. 3: They wonder about who Mr. Robert is to Grandma Sands. - Chapter 13- I Meet Winnie s Evil Twin Brother, the Wool Pooh : 1: Byron tells Joetta and Kenny about the Wool Pooh. (Kenny is afraid, even though he knows Byron is just messing. 2: Kenny goes to Collier s Landing and almost drowns. (He meets the Wool Pooh). 3: He sees his family before he feels he will die, and Byron saves him from drowning 4: Byron cried with joy that Kenny had not died. - Chapter 14- Every Bird and Bug in Birmingham Stops and Wonders : 1: Kenny is exhausted from his near death experience and Joetta is dressed nice and ready for church. 2: All of Birmingham heard and felt the bomb at Joetta s church. 3: Kenny runs to the church and meets the Wool Pooh while seeing 2 girls near dead and a small shoe stuck in the rubble. 4: Kenny runs back to Grandma Sands and is hard to convince that Joetta is still alive - Chapter 15- The World-Famous Watson Pet Hospital : 1: The reader is introduced to the world-famous Watson pet hospital. 2: Kenny sits in the pet hospital for weeks. 3: Byron gets Kenny to come out. 4: Byron and Kenny bond as Kenny gets out his sadness and mourning. 5: Kenny goes to get dinosaurs back from Rufus. 6. Chapters 9-15 (2 discussion questions) ~Daily Activities by Chapter Chapter 1
o -Come up with some different solutions for getting Byron s lips off of the mirror. o -Have you ever had a sibling who made you do all the work? Or have you done that to another person? - History/Geographer o -Get a map and show everyone where Flint, Michigan is. Then figure out how far away it is from where they are located. - Weather/Climate/Illustrator o -Find interesting facts about the climate in winter. Ex- the lowest temperature in the winter, how many snow days a school around Flint typically has. Draw a picture of what you think the Brown Bomber looks like. o -Pick their favorite passage in the chapter and tell the group why it s their favorite. - Vocabulary Person Chapter 2 o -Find words you don t know. Figure out what the words mean through contextual clues or look them up in the dictionary if it comes down to it. Write at least five of the words into a sentence. Share the meaning of the words and your sentences to the group. o -Talk about why you think the kids pick on Kenny. Is it maybe because they are jealous he is so advanced in reading? o -What would you do if you saw someone being bullied? - History/Geographer o -Find three different people that were important influences of this time (1963). - Weather/Climate/Illustrator o -Draw your interpretation of Kenny s family.
o -Pick a passage in the book that was confusing to you. Discuss this passage with your group. - Vocabulary Person o -Look at the southern slang Rufus uses and write down what you think it means. Chapter 3 o -Has anyone in the group had to move to a new school? Talk about how it felt. o -Why was Kenny so afraid to be Rufus s friend? - History/Geographer o -Rufus is not from Michigan. Find the state where he is from. Show your group on a map and find three different facts about the state. Ex- state bird, state tree, and state flower. - Weather/Climate/Illustrator o -Find out what the weather/climate is like in Mississippi. Does it have four seasons? Does it snow there? o -Find a passage where Kenny learns something from Rufus. Talk about how we can learn different things from every culture. Discuss a unique thing each member does in their family. Ex- a special tradition on a holiday or a food your family loves to eat. - Vocabulary Person Chapter 4 o -Find words you are unfamiliar with. Find out what they mean without using a dictionary. Share the definitions with the group and see if everyone agrees. o -Do you think Bryon should have made up that story?
o -Was it okay for him to lie because it made someone feel better? - History/Geographer o -The history person for chapter 2 found three important people of this time. Pick one and find out why they were important. - Weather/Climate/Illustrator o -Draw or make a collage of all the different layers Joey and Kenny had to wear. o -Pick a passage that is very descriptive and share it with the group. Did the passage give you a good mental picture, what was it like? - Vocabulary Person o -Find the words you are unfamiliar with. Find the definitions. Make a matching game for your group with the words. Write each word on a card and the definitions each on a card. Have the members of your group try to match them together. Chapter 5 o -What kind of an example is Byron setting for Kenny? Do you think Kenny will start to act this way? o -Do you think Byron has learned his lesson even though his mother never burned him? - History/Geographer o -Who were the Nazi s? What war was this? Where were they from? - Weather/Climate/Illustrator o -Draw a picture, make a collage, or something creative of your choosing about your favorite part of this chapter. o -Pick a passage that you think makes a good summary of the chapter. Share this
with your group. See if they agree or would ve picked a different passage. - Vocabulary Person Chapter 6 o -Find the words you don t know. Come up with the definitions in your group using everyone s knowledge. Someone might know what it means, if not use contextual clues to figure it out. o -If you have brothers or sisters do you have the type of relationship Kenny and Bryon have? o -Why do you think Byron feels bad for killing a dove but not for beating up Larry Dunn? - History/Geographer o -Pick one of the two people left that the person in chapter two found. Find out what they did, why they were important. - Weather/Climate/Illustrator o -Draw or find a picture of what you would get if you could pick out anything at the grocery store. o -Pick out your favorite dialog passage and share it with the group. Why was it your favorite? How did it make you feel? - Vocabulary Person Chapter 7 o -Find the words you don t know and find definitions. Write each word in a sentence also using some of your favorite adjectives from this chapter. o -Do you think Bryon has learned his lesson? o -Can you think of any other solutions his dad could ve done to punish him besides cutting his hair?
- History/Geographer o -Find out information about the last person who was important during this time. - Weather/Climate/Illustrator o -Draw a picture of Byron s hair cut. o -Pick out a passage that shows dad s sense of humor. - Vocabulary Person Chapter 8 o -Find the words you don t know. Find out what the word means. Try to find a picture for each word to show the group. o -Do you think Byron is going to change in Alabama? Do you think he will have to stay there longer than the summer? o -Are you happy that Byron is going to Alabama? Do you think it will be good for him, or do you think he was fine the way he was? - History/Geographer o -Show your group members where Alabama is. Find out three facts about Alabama. Ex- State tree, bird, and flower. - Weather/Climate/Illustrator o -What is the weather/climate like in Alabama? Draw a picture of what you think Grandma Sands looks like. o -Pick a passage that made you laugh and share it with your group members. Did it have the same effect on them? - Vocabulary Person o -Find the words you don t know and find definitions. Write each word in a
sentence also using some of your favorite adjectives from this chapter. Chapter 9 - History/Geography guru o -Map out the trip that Kenny s mama had planned for ride to Birmingham. o -What passage in this chapter represents the most important points in the chapter? Write a paragraph explanation of why (you may have more than one passage). o -Do you think Kenny s mom and dad are making a good decision sending him to live with Grandma Sands? o -Do you think Joetta was right to dislike the angel Mrs. Davidson gives her? Why? - Illustrator/ Weather-Climate o -Draw a picture of what you think was most important in this chapter. - Vocabulary person Chapter 10 o -Collect words that reflect the dialect of Kenny s mama and her Southern culture or that you don t usually hear. How does this apply to the chapter as a whole? What mood does it set? - History/Geography guru o -Map out the trip that Dad has took them on so far. What cities have they passed, where did they stop, and where are they at the end of the chapter? o -What passage in this chapter represents the most important points in the chapter? Write a paragraph explanation of why (you may have more than one passage). o -What would you think if you discovered an outhouse like that? Have you ever seen something that seemed so weird to you and normal to someone else? o -What do you think of the God s beard metaphor? Have you ever heard something like that before? What could they have said instead?
- Illustrator/ Weather-Climate o -Draw a picture of Byron s face when he hears he has to use an outhouse for the whole summer. - Vocabulary person Chapter 11 o -Collect words that reflect the dialect of Kenny s mama and her Southern culture or that you don t usually hear. How does this apply to the chapter as a whole? What mood does it set? - History/Geography guru o -Map the rest of the trip. Where is Birmingham? What can you find out about it? o -What passage in this chapter represents the most important points in the chapter? Write a paragraph explanation of why (you may have more than one passage). o -Why would Kenny s dad try to drive through the whole trip other than the reasons that he said? o -What did you expect Grandma Sands to look like? What do you think of her? Is she anything like your grandma? - Illustrator/ Weather-Climate o -How is the weather and climate different in Birmingham than in Flint? - Vocabulary person Chapter 12 o -Collect words that reflect the dialect of Kenny s mama and her Southern culture or that you don t usually hear. How does this apply to the chapter as a whole? What mood does it set? - History/Geography guru o -What does the terrain of Birmingham look like? On a map, how is Birmingham different from Flint? o -What passage in this chapter represents the most important points in the chapter? Write a paragraph explanation of why (you may have more than one passage).
o -What kind of relationship does Kenny s mama and Grandma Sands have? Is it anything like relationships in your family? o -Why do you think Kenny s mama is concerned about Mr. Roberts? - Illustrator/ Weather-Climate o -Draw what you think the relationship between Kenny s mama and Grandma Sands looks like. - Vocabulary person Chapter 13 o -Collect words that reflect the dialect of Kenny s mama and her Southern culture or that you don t usually hear. How does this apply to the chapter as a whole? What mood does it set? - History/Geography guru o -Can you find information on the geography of Birmingham in the 1960 s? What kinds of things were the land used for? o -What passage in this chapter represents the most important points in the chapter? Write a paragraph explanation of why (you may have more than one passage). o -Does the Wool Pooh have any purpose in the story right now? o -What do we learn about Byron in this chapter with how he acts when Kenny almost drowns? - Illustrator/ Weather-Climate o -Draw what you think the Wool Pooh looks like. - Vocabulary person Chapter 14 o -Collect words that reflect the dialect of Kenny s mama and her Southern culture or that you don t usually hear. How does this apply to the chapter as a whole? What mood does it set? - History/Geography guru
o -What can you find out about the bombing on the church in Birmingham? Who, what, where, when, and why? o -What passage in this chapter represents the most important points in the chapter? Write a paragraph explanation of why (you may have more than one passage). o -How does the Wool Pooh become a character in the story? Does its meaning change? o -What is happening to Kenny in this chapter? What is changing in him? - Illustrator/ Weather-Climate o -Draw a picture of what you think is most important in this chapter. - Vocabulary person Chapter 15 o -Collect words that reflect the dialect of Kenny s mama and her Southern culture or that you don t usually hear. How does this apply to the chapter as a whole? What mood does it set? - History/Geography guru o -What happened to the families of the girls who were killed in the bombing? Can you find anything about the aftermath? o -What passage in this chapter represents the most important points in the chapter? Write a paragraph explanation of why (you may have more than one passage). o -Does the World Famous Watson Pet Hospital really help Kenny? If not what does, and if so, how? o -Who changes in this story? Do all the characters, or only certain ones? How do they change? - Illustrator/ Weather-Climate o -Draw a picture of how you think that Kenny and Byron have changed. - Vocabulary person
o -Collect words that reflect the dialect of Kenny s mama and her Southern culture or that you don t usually hear. How does this apply to the chapter as a whole? What mood does it set? Group project for book presentation ~Critique reporters This will be 2 students (dependant on the size of the group) and they will work together to generate a group critique of the book. They will have a day to interview their group and get their input as to what was good about the book, bad, and what else the audience needs to know. They will come to a consensus on a recommendation. Then, for the remainder of the week, they will be given time to put together the critique part of the book presentation. They will be required to have some sort of visual aide. It can be a poster about the author, props that represent the book, or even other books by the author that they think they should also recommend. ~Story board crew This will also be 2 students (dependant on the size of the group) and they will be creating a story board of the book. They must have the setting, characters, events, etc mapped out. They should also have story elements marked. They can work with the rest of their group on deciding the climax and other such components of the book. In the end, they must present with some sort of visual aide as well. They could have a collage of events, a basic story map, a comic book... It can be anything that they like, as long as it has the required components. ~Group summarizer This will be 1-2 students, dependant on the size of the group. The job of this student is to summarize what the group has been doing with the book for the last 3 weeks. What have the jobs been of the members and what have they learned. They can use the job notebooks as visual aids and interview their group to decide what they learned and how it has been working together in this way. ~Critique: Setting o This book takes place in Flint, Michigan and moves to Birmingham, Alabama. The Author s purpose o I think the author s purpose in writing this book was to show the differences in the north and south during this time. It was also to honor those who lost their lives in the Birmingham church in 1963. Writing Style o I love the writer s style. I like how it was from a ten-year-olds point to view it made the story fun to read. She also used a lot of description which made it easy to picture everything.
Characters- Kenny o 10-year-old boy who looks up to his older brother. At the beginning of the story he is a very young child emotionally. He doesn t know what true hurt is and he is naïve to the rest of the world (especially in the south). o I love his character because he is so real. He talks and thinks just as a child does, and I think that this makes him easy to relate to for children in a classroom. Byron o A tough guy, Byron in the type to never let anyone see him cry or break. He wants to do what he wants when he wants to. I think he is afraid of his parents, but he refuses to let those around him see that. o I love his character too because he is multifaceted. He is not just a tough guy, he is a loving brother. He gets Kenny out of his funk at the end of the story and has a wonderful heart. Joetta o A mama s girl through and through. She is naïve, but that is because of her youth. She is in Kindergarten and relies on her brothers and parents to help her understand and function in the world. o Her character is sweet. Her attitude is adorable and is very characteristic of a child her age. She is well behaved because she has learned to be as such, but she also sees things through a narcissistic lense, as all children do. Mama o A head strong mother figure. She is very stern and she follows her word. She also has an emotional side that is shown when she is with her mother in Alabama. o I like her character because she is humorous and very good for her family. She makes sure that they behave and she keeps her word. However, a couple of her retaliations/disciplines towards Byron were more than I would have done. Dad o A strong and macho father figure. He likes being the provider for the family, and is silent but active. He is there when he is needed, but not as overtly present as the mother is. o I liked his character because he was a strong figure for the boys in the book. He was funny in the way he wanted to drive in one long trip to Alabama, but he also was strong in how he spoke to Kenny regarding why they were sending Byron away. I loved the story. Christopher Paul Curtis, at least in the 2 models I ve read, seems to tell stories in a very interesting style. He tells a story beginning with the character. They usually undergo a series of adventures before they get to the main event. So, it is difficult to tell what the point of the book is until near the end. He also amazingly tells the story of a historical event while spending the least amount of time talking about it. This does a few things. One, it focuses on the characters and identifying with them on a personal level. This makes the event more real. It also makes the book read like a child s thought process. They see all the adventures as huge events and when Curtis tells all the little stories, it may not seem important to us, but it would be to the child narrating. Recommendation
o I think that this book is good for anyone who likes to just read and let the story be told. I have talked to people who have read Curtis books, and many of them do not like the multiple adventure tellings. They think that is hurts the flow and makes the story hard to follow. I think that this book is made for those who are children at heart. It is useful for that unique chance to see a situation from the past with deep compassion. So, I recommend it to people who love to read an adventure and let the purpose work itself out. Over all, I recommend it because it has great meaning and feeling that we should all experience. Multicultural book? o I think that this book is a great example of a multicultural book. It takes a minority group and reveals a different kind of culture to the reader. It gives the culture a voice, and almost more importantly, gives the past of that culture a voice. He portrays both the northern and southern cultures as intelligent and gives the reader insight.