Analysis Activity page 4 Critical thinking about reading comprehension and character

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1 Character Building and Reading Mastery Activity Toni Morrison By: Sally Keener Reading comprehension and character education lesson Minutes Enrichment activities for in-class projects and discussions and/or homework assignments. TABLE of CONTENTS Reading Passage page 2 A little over one page (approx. 600 words) about Toni Morrison, author Beloved and other novels. Reading Check Questions page 3 Explanation of two basic reading mastery skills followed by three questions based on the reading comprehension skill of understanding cause and effect relationships. Analysis Activity page 4 Critical thinking about reading comprehension and character Character Connections page 4 Character education lesson based on higher order thinking on the character traits evidenced in the reading passage: analysis, evaluation, synthesis Personal Applications page 5 Creative project for personalization of character education lesson. Enrichments and Extensions: Look It Up! Follow-Up! page 5 References and resources for related study and inquiry Writing Project page 5 Short story writing challenge Answer Key to Reading Check Questions page 6 Correct answers with explanations of why right answers are right and wrong answers are wrong. Student Activity Answer Sheet page 7 Provided IF you select to copy only one classroom set of this activity rather than one for each student. Students may record their answers on this one-page answer sheet rather than within the actual activity packet. Character Building and Reading Mastery Activity, K/K Consulting page 1

2 Toni Morrison Writer, Teacher, Editor Before Toni Morrison was Toni Morrison, she was Chloe Anthony Wofford. She switched to Toni, short for her middle name, Anthony, while she was in college because everyone mispronounced her first name. The change from Wofford to Morrison came a few years later when she was teaching English at Howard University. There she met and married an architect, Harold Morrison. They had two sons but divorced seven years later. As a young mother and college professor, Toni Morrison was proving she was an intelligent person and a hard worker, but the achievements that have made her loved by millions of fans were still years away. Although she is known to Americans today primarily as an author, she did not publish her first novel until she was 40 years old. Seven years later she published her second novel, and it received the National Book Award. Her third and fourth novels became best sellers. Her fifth novel, Beloved, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was later made into a movie starring Oprah Winfrey. Six years later (1993) she earned the Nobel Prize for Literature. At that time, only seven women had ever been awarded this honor, and an African-American had never been named Nobel laureate. Morrison published her seventh novel in 1998, and in 1999 she collaborated with her son to publish her first book of children s literature, The Big Box. Morrison grew up in Ohio during the Great Depression, a financially difficult time in our country when most Americans were struggling to make enough money to get by. Morrison s father was a shipyard welder and often held three jobs in order to take care of his family. Her parents may not have had much money, but they gave their daughter two rich gifts pride in her African-American heritage and culture, and the love of reading and good books. From her family she heard many stories of Southern black folklore. This legacy had a major effect on Morrison s adult life, career and fame. In first grade, Morrison was the only African-American in her class and the only child who could already read. She loved school and did well. She graduated with honors from high school and went on to college for an English degree from Howard University and a master s degree from Cornell University. She took a job as an English professor at Texas Southern University and then moved back to Howard University to teach there. While a professor at Howard, she joined a writer s club. One meeting she brought a story she had written herself to share with the group. Everyone liked it. A few years later, when Morrison was a single mom of two small boys and was working in New York as an editor with a textbook publisher, she pulled that story out again and added to it to create her first novel, The Bluest Eye. She found that she loved to write and had a gift for mixing her own experiences, her imagination, her love for reading and her talent for words to create emotional and sensitive stories of African-American life and culture. Over the next several years, working as senior editor with a publishing house and teaching at the State University of New York (SUNY), she made time to write in the evenings, writing several more novels, essays and a play. Character Building and Reading Mastery Activity, K/K Consulting page 2

3 Twenty-five years after they were written, three of her books, Song of Solomon, The Bluest Eye and Beloved became best sellers as a result of being featured as book club selections by her biggest fan, Oprah Winfrey. Morrison, who had already been honored for her literary talent, became popular with a new generation of readers. Today her popularity is still growing. Reading Check It is important to read carefully. If you really understand the material, you will be able to recognize relationships between events and comprehend causes and effects. This requires the reader to make logical connections between pieces of information in the passage and evaluate that one thing happens because of another event or situation. Sometimes the cause is stated. The writer tells why it happened, but sometimes the cause is only implied and the reader must analyze and infer the cause. The cause tells what makes something happen. The effect is what happened and will sometimes begin with phrases like as a result, or therefore, or so. 1. Morrison changed her first name because a. her college friends mispronounced her name. b. she was embarrassed by her African-American heritage. c. she got married. d. she wanted a name that she thought sounded more like an author. 2. The primary cause of three of Morrison s books becoming popular again 25 years after she wrote them was a. no one else has captured the emotion of the African-American culture. b. winning the Nobel Prize made them popular again. c. Oprah Winfrey endorsed them. d. they were re-published with new illustrations. 3. According to the passage, what was the effect of the legacy given to Morrison by her parents? a. She became determined even as a child never to be poor again. b. She gained a life-long friendship with Oprah Winfrey. c. She made sure her own children knew how to read before they entered first grade. d. She gained a life-long love for books and sensitivity to her heritage that became the basis of her fame and finest achievements. If you want to read more about Toni Morrison, there is more information at these Internet sites: Character Building and Reading Mastery Activity, K/K Consulting page 3

4 Think About It / Talk About It When you finish these questions, check your answers. Then discuss these questions together with a partner. Your teacher will give you directions about partner-sharing. Make notes about what you discussed and decided. Consider: How did you decide on the correct answers to these questions? What information did you use in the passage to support the right explanation of the cause or of the effect? Why were the other three choices not good answers? How would you teach a young reader to identify cause and effect statements in a passage? Find one more cause and effect relationship in this passage about Toni Morrison. What other example is there of one thing happening because of something else? _ Thinking about the cornerstones of character - respect, responsibility, honesty, effort, kindness and trustworthiness: Could Toni Morrison be a role model for any of these traits of good character? Which one(s)? What are some examples that support your statement? What is a good definition or slogan for the character trait you selected? Character trait I believe Toni Morrison demonstrates. Supporting Details/Evidence of this trait - what are the causes of your opinion: By thinking about the evidence, I can conclude that a good definition or slogan for this trait would be: Toni Morrison believes she was lucky to grow up hearing stories about her ancestors and people of her racial background. The respect she gained for her family and her heritage made her strong and proud. Ask your parents about your ancestors and encourage them to tell you some stories about your background. Learn a story about someone in your family that causes you to respect that person. Character Building and Reading Mastery Activity, K/K Consulting page 4

5 Poster Ideas: Sketch some ideas for a motivational poster about Toni Morrison or about the character trait you identified. If you have read a book by Morrison, you might design a poster about that book. Rough draft sketches are fine use your imagination to express your ideas. It s your thoughts that count. Make sure your poster has a worthwhile message that will teach or inspire anyone looking at it. Enrichments and Extensions If you would like to know more about the Nobel Prize or the Pulitzer Prize such as whom else has won them, or how they are decided, and so on, here are two good sites on the Internet: Nobel Prize: nobelprize.org Pulitzer Prize: You may want to go to the library and check out a book by Toni Morrison. Here are some brief descriptions about just some of her books to help you decide what you might enjoy reading. The Bluest Eye is the story of an 11-year-old black girl who is unattractive, ridiculed and abused, and who prays for blond hair and blue eyes. Song of Solomon is about a man who goes looking for his family s lost fortune and discovers his family history through the black family lives of four generations. Beloved is based on a true story of a slave mother haunted by the daughter she killed rather than letting the girl grow up as a slave. Paradise is a series of flashbacks and interlaced stories of the people of the all-black community of Ruby, Oklahoma, especially four women living in an abandoned mansion not far from town who are targeted for lynching by the men of the town. The Big Box is written in rhyme about three children, Patty, Mickey, and Liza Sue, who live in a big brown box with all their favorite things. They ve been placed in this box because adults believe the children have broken the rules and can t have their freedom. If you found another Nobel or Pulitzer Prize winner, name him/her and add one fact you learned. If you check out a book by Morrison, as you read it look for examples of respect, responsibility, honesty, effort, kindness and trustworthiness in the choices and behavior of the story s characters. Name the Internet site, book, magazine or reference you used. Toni Morrison began her writing career as a result of deciding to write a short story based on her childhood. That experience taught her she really could write something other people liked to read. Eventually she became a published novelist earning recognition and honors beyond her imagination. If you wrote a story for friends about a childhood experience or memory, what would you write about? Think about it and tell a friend your story or write a rough draft story. Character Building and Reading Mastery Activity, K/K Consulting page 5

6 Explanation of Answers Cause & Effect Wrong answer choices go beyond information in the text and cannot be supported by evidence from the passage, OR are stated or implied in the text, but are not appropriate for the question. Targeted Reading Skills making logical connections between pieces of information in the passage and evaluating that one thing happens because of another event or situation recognizing the cause may be stated - the writer tells why it happened, but sometimes it may be only implied and the reader must analyze and infer the cause. The cause tells what makes something happen. The effect is what happened and will sometimes begin with phrases like as a result, or therefore, or so. A 1. Morrison changed her first name because a. her college friends mispronounced her name. b. she was embarrassed by her African-American heritage. c. she got married. d. she wanted a name that she thought sounded more like an author. B & D are not factual nor supported in the passage; C affected her last name, not the change of her first name. C 2. The primary cause of three of Morrison s books becoming popular again 25 years after she wrote them was a. no one else has captured the emotion of the African-American culture. b. winning the Nobel Prize made them popular again. c. Oprah Winfrey endorsed them. d. they were re-published with new illustrations. Wrong answers are not supported by information in the passage; additionally, B occurred several years ago, not a catalyst for impact 25 years after they were written. D 3. According to the passage, what was the effect of the legacy given to Morrison by her parents? The parents legacy is a. She became determined even as a child never to be poor described in the 3 again. rd paragraph; the connection b. She gained a life-long friendship with Oprah Winfrey. to those gifts is inferred in c. She made sure her own children knew how to read before the second half of the 4 they entered first grade. th paragraph. The wrong d. She gained a life-long love for books and sensitivity to answers are not supported her heritage that became the basis of her fame and finest by information in the achievements. passage. Character Building and Reading Mastery Activity, K/K Consulting page 6

7 Name: Student Activity Answer Sheet: Toni Morrison Reading Check Questions: Find one more cause and effect relationship in this passage about Toni Morrison. What other example is there of one thing happening because of something else? Character Connections Character trait I believe Toni Morrison demonstrates. Supporting Details/Evidence of this trait - what are the causes of your opinion: By thinking about the evidence, I can conclude that a good definition or slogan for this trait would be: Toni Morrison believes she was lucky to grow up hearing stories about her ancestors and people of her racial background. The respect she gained for her family and her heritage made her strong and proud. Ask your parents about your ancestors and encourage them to tell you some stories about your background. Learn a story about someone in your family that causes you to respect that person. On the back of this sheet or on your own paper, respond to one of the following activities. Poster Activity: Sketch some ideas for a motivational poster about Toni Morrison or about the character trait you identified. If you have read a book by Morrison, you might design a poster about that book. Rough draft sketches are fine use your imagination to express your ideas. It s your thoughts that count. Make sure your poster has a worthwhile message that will teach or inspire anyone looking at it. Story Activity: If you decided, like Toni Morrison, to write a story for friends about a childhood experience or memory, what would you write about? Think about it and tell a friend your story or write a rough draft story. Character Building and Reading Mastery Activity, K/K Consulting page 7