Elijah of Buxton

Samantha Hillery Elijah of Buxton Christopher Paul Curtis

Text Overview:

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis is the story of Elijah Freeman, the first freeborn child in the Elgin Settlement and Buxton Mission of Raleigh in Canada, better known as Buxton, Canada. The story takes place in the early 1850’s during a crucial time in the politics of slavery. Elijah is an eleven year old boy who is very “frag-ile”, or sensitive to the emotions of others. Throughout the course of the story Elijah beings to mature into a responsible adult, and confronts his naivety about the life of slaves on the run.

The reader first see Elijah begin to grow when he reads Mrs. Holton a letter about her husband’s death, then later when he helps her and Mr. Leroy to create a memorial plaque for

Mr. Holton. It was this event the lead to the conclusion of the book.

Mrs. Holton gave Mr. Leroy the money she would have used to buy her husband. With this money Mr. Leroy could buy the freedom of the rest of his family; however the Preacher coned Mr. Leroy out of his money and took off with it to America.

Mr. Leroy drags Elijah with him after the Preacher, but dies from a heart attack soon after crossing into America. Feeling it his duty to find Mr. Leroy’s money Elijah tracks the

Preacher down to a stable, but he is too late, the Preacher had already been beaten death by slavers.

It is in the stable where Elijah shows the signs of becoming a true adult, for in the stable are four captured slaves and an infant. When Elijah can’t get anyone to help him free the slaves, he returns on his own and makes the very adult decision to save the infant and leave the others behind. Mrs. Chloe, the only slave who speaks English, helps Elijah to realize what he needs to do, and the story ends with Elijah bringing the baby, Hope, back to Buxton, presumably for the barren Mrs. Brown.

This is a quality piece of literature because it presents the difficult topic of slavery in an appropriate manner for late elementary students. It is important that students learn about both the good and the bad of the American past. Elijah is also an excellent book for developing comprehension and vocabulary skills. Much of the plot from Elijah requires for students to be able to make inferences, as the text is written in dialect and the main conflict is never out right stated. Since Elijah is a period book written in dialect it will be a good source for working on vocabulary skills, most especially suffixes.

Fry Calculations:

1st 100 words 108 syllables, 3 sentences.

2nd 100 words 130 syllables, 4 sentances.

3rd 100 words 114 syllables, 2 sentances.

Average: 117.1 syllables, 3 sentances.

Developmental level of the text: 8th grade: Maturing/ advanced

Objectives:

1. Students will write in their journal 3 instances when they felt backed into a corner, they

will share two of these instances orally with the group.

a. W–5–2.3 Connecting what has been read to prior knowledge b. OC–5–1.4 Participating in large and small group discussions c. R–5–13 Uses comprehension strategies before, during, and after reading d. RIBTS 4.2 Teachers use their understanding of students to create connections between subject matter and student experiences. e. RIBTS 9.1 Teachers gather information about their students 2. Students will find six out of the twelve quotes provided on the inference chart, write

down the page number they found it on, and make an inference about Sammy’s

behavior based on each quote.

a. R-5–5.3 Making inferences about problem b. R–5–5.6 Identifying causes or effects, including possible motives of characters c. W–5–3.2 Making inferences about the content, characters d. RIBTS 2.2 Teachers design instruction that addresses the core skills, concepts, and ideas of the disciplines to help students meet the goals of the GLE’s

3. Students will identify in writing what they would do if they were in Sammy’s potion and

provided at least five reasons to support their answer

a. R–5–16.1 Comparing stories or other texts to related personal experience, prior knowledge, or to other books b. W–5–3.2 Making inferences about the content, characters. c. RIBTS 2.2 Teachers design instruction that addresses the core skills, concepts, and ideas of the disciplines to help students meet the goals of the GLE’s

4. Students will apply what they learned from the readings rewriting two paragraphs from

Sammy’s point of view, including at least one of the inferences from their chart.

a. W–5–3.3 Using specific details and references to text or citations to support focus. b. RIBTS 3.3 Teachers create lessons and activities that meet the variety of development levels of students within a class.

5. Students will show their knowledge of vocabulary by sorting 15 words with the suffix of

–ed into proper or improper group with 90% accuracy (13-14 words), and explain what

criteria they used for sorting.

a. W–5–9.1 Identifying or correcting grammatical errors. b. RIBTS 5.1 Teachers design lessons that extend beyond factual recall and challenge students to develop higher level cognitive skills.

Materials: For each student:

 Elijah of Buxton Text

 Reading Journal

 Pencil

 Inference chart

 word sort work sheet

For the teacher:

 List of questions to ask before, during, and after reading.

 Elijah of Buxton Text

Grouping:

I have chosen to teach this book in fifth grade, I would teach it in the latter part of the year since it has a eigth grade fry calculation. This book will be taught in small-guided reading groups of four or five students, who will read the book independently with guidance from me, then discus it together in their small groups.

Pre-reading:

1) I will start the pre-reading by asking the students if they know what it means to feel

backed into a corner. Then I will ask the students to think about a few times in their

lives when they felt that way.

“Good Morning guys! Now before we finish reading the rest of chapter nine of Elijah of Buxton, “The Mesmerist and Sammy”, I want you to think about something. Do you know what it means to feel like you’re backed into a corner?” (inferential)

Possible student answers (PSA): No! Yes! Like you have to do something even if you don’t want to. “That’s right, like you have to do something even if you don’t want to. Now without answering out loud I want you to think of three times in your life when you felt like you had to do something even if you didn’t want to. Have you come up with some ideas? (Literal) (Students nod heads or say yes) Good now write them down in your reading journal.”

1) I will write down three instances as well. Then after the students have finished

writing in their journals I will tell them that we’re each going to share two of the

events we wrote about with the group.

“Okay guys now, we’re each going to go around and take turns sharing two of the times in our lives when we felt backed into a corner. I’ll go first; when I was little there was a tall tree in the woods near my house, and one of my friends had put up a rope swing. I didn’t want to climb the tree and swing down, but I also didn’t want my friends to think I was chicken. So I climbed the tree and swung down, but I fell off the rope and sprained my ankle. Afterwards I thought that it would have been better to let my friends think I was scared then to hurt myself, now Sarah why don’t you go next.”

2) Next I will ask students to remind me about what we read yesterday in the first half

of this chapter, and what was happening when we stopped.

“Those were really good examples! Now, can you guys remind me about what happened in the first half of the chapter?”(Literal)

PSA: The preacher took Elijah to a carnival, they saw a lady performing with a sling shot, she was shooting grapes at a little boy named MaWee, Elijah was afraid of the Mesmerist.

“Those are all great answers, but what happened at the very end of yesterdays reading?” (Literal)

PSA: Elijah and the Preacher went in to see the Mesmerist, Elijah met a boy named Sammy,

Sammy told Elijah that there was a boy in Chatham named Elijah who was really mean, Elijah was frightened by the Mesmerist because he had two sets of eyes, the Mesmerist called on

Sammy.

3) Here is where I’m going to introduce the comprehension strategy for the lesson,

which is making inferences based on the text. I want the students to make inferences about whether or not Sammy was mesmerized. To start off I’m going to

make sure the students understand what It means to be mesmerized. Then I’m

going to model making an inference about Elijah doing something he doesn’t want

to do based off of the last scene in chapter 3 (pgs.49-52), where the Preacher talks

Elijah out of four of the 10 fish he had caught that day.

“Excellent, well today were going to finish reading about Sammy and the Mesmerist, but as were reading I want you guys to be thinking hard about something. I want you to think about whether or not Sammy really is mesmerized. Now we talked about this yesterday but what is a mesmerist?”(Literal)

Possible student answers: Someone who memorizes people, someone who conjures on people, a Hypnotist.

“That’s right but what does mesmerizing or hypnotizing look like, what does a Mesmerist do with a mesmerized person?”(Text-based-inferential)

PSA: They do whatever the Mesmerist says, the Mesmerist controls them, they look like they’re asleep.

“Very good now what I want you to do today is make inferences based off what you read in the chapter, about whether or not Sammy is mesmerized. Who can tell me what they an inference is?”(Literal)

PSA: No one, A guess.

“More than making a guess, making an inference is when you draw a conclusion from the text. It’s when you understand something even though the text doesn’t state it specifically. It is often referred to as reading between the lines. Before you guys start making inferences for yourselves, we’re going to work together on one. Do you guys remember what happened in the end of chapter three with Elijah, the preacher and the fish?”(Literal)

PSA: Yes! No, The preacher made Elijah give him four of his fish.

“Very good, now why did the Preacher say Elijah had to give him four of the fish, do you remember it’s on pages 49-52?”(Literal)

PSA: Yes! No! It was for God. “That’s right do you remember what giving some of what you earned to God is called?”(Literal)

PSA: No, Tithing.

“That’s right tithing means sacrificing some of what you’ve earned to God. Do you guys remember how much Elijah said you’re supposed to tithe?” (Literal)

PSA: No, ten percent.

“That’s right, so what is ten percent of ten?”(Literal) PSA: one.

“But the preacher took four fish, how does that make ten percent?”(Text-based- inferential)

PSA: The Teacher went by age.

“He went by age that doesn’t make any sense, what did Elijah feel about it after the preacher left, Jimmy read the top of pg. 52 ‘ … it still seemed it’d take a whole lot of doggone humbug algebra and some trickaration geometry to make ten percent come out to four.’ Good stop there. How does Elijah feel about the Preacher’s explanation for four being ten percent of ten?” (Text-based-inferential)

PSA: It was tricky, it was silly, he lied.

“He lied, Huh, I think he lied too, so do we all agree that the preacher lied?”(Literal)

PSA: Yes.

“But it doesn’t say anywhere that he lied so how do we now?”(Text-based-inferential)

PSA: four isn’t ten percent of ten; he was trying to trick Elijah.

“That’s right, he was lying, and he made Elijah give him four fish even though he didn’t want too, we know this without the author coming right out and saying, we just made an inference. Now why did Elijah give him the fish even though he didn’t want too?”(Text-based Inferential)

PSA: Because Elijah was supposed to Tithe.

“Why does Elijah need to give up some of his fish to tithe?”(Text-based-inferential) PSA: To make God happy.

“Too make him happy that’s right”

4) Next I will pass out the inference chart, explain the directions, then allow students to

read that chapter and fill out their charts independently.

“Okay now while your reading, what I want you to do is fill out this inference chart (see

worksheet) as you can see I’ve already written down the quotes for you, what I want

you to do is find six of these quotes and while your reading, write down the page

number they were on, and make an inference about whether or not Sammy was

mesmerized in the space provided. If you need more space I have scrap paper. If you

want to get even more credit you can fill out more than six. If you’re having trouble raise

your hand and I’ll help you.”

During:

1) While students are reading I will watch how they fill out there inference chart,

depending on which quotes each student picks I will ask them to explain some of their

thinking. If they seem to be drawing the wrong conclusions I will ask questions to guide

them back on track”

Examples:

#4 If the student says they believe Sammy hasn’t met the Mesmerist before I’ll ask

“What did Sammy talk to Elijah about just before he was called up on stage? Why don’t

you look back in the text to make sure?”(text-based-inferential)

2) As the students get towards the end of their readings I will ask each of them the

following questions to make sure they grasped that Sammy wasn’t mesmerized. 1) Pg. 132 What does he mean the red from his ears leaked down to the rest of

his face? (text-based-inferential) (PSA: he was blushing)

2) “Why would he be blushing?” (text-based-inferential) (PSA: he’s

embarrassed)

3) “I thought he was mesmerized, can a person who is mesmerized be

embarrassed?” (text-based-inferential) (PSA: no.)

4) “So do you think Sammy is mesmerized?” (text-based-inferential) (PSA: no)

5) “Why not?” (text-based-inferential) (PSA: he’s embarrassed, refer to other

inferences from the chart)

6) “If he’s not mesmerized then why did he continue to strip?” (text-based-

inferential) (PSA: it was part of the act, he felt like he had too, he didn’t want

to disappoint the mesmerist, the mesmerist and the audience were taunting

Responding:

1) When all the students in the group have finished reading the chapter, and filling out

their inference chart I will facilitate a short group discussion.

“So after reading the chapter and filling out your inference chart do you think

Sammy was mesmerized?” (text-based-inferential) (PSA: No.)

“Why don’t you think Sammy was mesmerized?” (text-based-inferential) (PSA: He

was blushing, he hesitated, and he was really embarrassed.) “Why do you think Sammy kept going even though he wasn’t mesmerized?” (text-

based-inferential) (PSA: He felt like he had to, he didn’t want to ruin the act, he

didn’t want the Mesmerist to be mad at him. He felt like the audience wanted him

to keep going.”

“What are some reasons people do things they don’t want to do?”(Text-to-life

connection)(PSA: peer pressure, they want to make someone happy, their afraid)

2) When the students have given a few good examples I will have them write in their

journal what they would have done if they were in Sammy’s place, would they have

kept going or would they have stopped. The students will have to provide five details

from their text, the inference chart, or the group discussion to support their answer.

This activity will require students to extend their inferences from the text by relating

them to their own ideals.

Applying:

To have students further apply the comprehension skill of inferencing, and to make sure they grasped the conclusion that Sammy wasn’t hypnotized. The day after giving this lesson I will have students re-write two paragraphs from the readings in Sammy’s point of view. The scene they choose must include at least one of the inferences from their chart, which they must use to describe what Sammy is thinking or feeling at the moment. For extra credit students may include more than one of their inferences as long as they use them to describe how Sammy feels. This activity will display whether or not the students grasped infrencing by making them use the conclusions they drew instead of the text itself to describe a point of view not provided in the book. (See rubric for evaluation details.) Vocabulary:

I will pass out a word sort worksheet that requires students to sort 15 words with an – ed suffix, which were pulled from the readings into either a proper use of –ed column or the improper use of –ed column. (see worksheet) There is also a third extra credit column that asks students to write the correct spelling of the improper words. After handing out the worksheet and explains the directions I will model sorting one word with the students, and ask them to provide the correct spelling if the word improperly uses the –ed suffix.

Engaging all students:

1) The smaller guided reading group will allow me to give more attention to each

student, and help to those students who are struggling with the text.

2) If more than two students are struggling with the text I will allow them to work in

pairs to read and fill out the inference chart.

3) All the activities allow for higher level students to challenge themselves further (see

rubric) especially the inference chart and word sort.

4) Group discussion will allow the students to build off each other’s knowledge and

help scaffold the knowledge of students who may be struggling.

Evaluation:

I will evaluate students based on a scale of one to five, with five being outstanding and one being not quite. See rubric for exact details.