by Patricia Polacco

Materials:
 1. Copy of Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco.
 2. Pencil
 3. Computer with Printer

Activities:

Before You Read
Chose one of these activities to complete before you read Pink and Say.  These activities will help you understand the topic of the story better.

1. KWLS Chart

• Pink and Say is about two boys who are involved in the civil war.  The civil war is very important to the history of our country.  How does this story relate to the real civil war that happened in our country?  A good way to get ourselves ready to understand the story is to complete a KWLS chart.  This chart is a good place to organize our ideas that we already know, the ideas and knowledge we want to learn, what we learn after we read the story, and what we still want to know after the story. Click here to go to the KWLS chart that has been made for you.  You will need to print out the page and begin working on it.

•  After you have filled out the information that you already know about the civil war, you will need to start filling in the what you want to learn.  This information can be more about the civil war or the characters in Pink and Say and how they relate to the civil war.   Also, I have a couple of good Internet sites that are about the civil war.  These sites will help you come up with some ideas about what you want to learn after reading this story.  Try to use at least one site.  When you are ready, just click on the name of each site to go to it.

• The Civil War For Kids Page (make sure you explore the North and South category and the timelines)

• Civil War Home page (try exploring 1 or 2 sections of this site)

2. Predictions

•  It is important to make predictions about a story before you read it.  This allows you to see what you already know about the book.  It also lets you see what you understand about how stories work.  For this activity, you will be making predictions about Pink and Say before you actually read the book.

• For your predictions, you will be using a chart that I have already made for you. Click here when you are ready to start making your predictions.  Don't read any of the book!!!
• Hint: Use the title, author, and the website below to help you make your predictions.

• United States Colored Troops

While You Read:

• Now you need to start reading Pink and Say.  As you read the book, you have a couple of things that you need to do.  First of all, if you come across new information that you have just learned, write it in your KWLS chart.  You can finish this chart after you have finished the story, but it doesn't hurt to work on it right away.

1. Vocabulary Definitions

• Pink and Say contains many complex sentences and words that you might not be very familiar with.  As you are read the story for the first time, write down words or sentences that are confusing to you.  After you write these words down, try to define them on your own.  Use the words and the text around the words to help with the definition.  You will also need to try to define a couple of words that I have chosen for you.

• mahogany
• marauders
• vittles
• musket
• deserter
• mustered
• spectacles
• smote
• hemp

• After you write down your own definitions, you need to figure out what the correct definitions are.  Click on one of the dictionary websites below to find the definitions.  Then write four sentences using as many of these words correctly as you can.

• One Look Dictionaries
• Pedro's Dictionaries

2. Story Pie

• As you are reading through the books, think about how the plot is working throughout the story.  The plot is very important to the movement of the story.  After you have learned more about plot, complete the story pie activity below.
• Write down  some of the actions or events that occur that you think make the story work.  Just write this on a scrap piece of paper.  After you have written all the events down and finished story, look through your list.  Pick 10 events that can be the main events of the story.
• Using the Paint Program on your computer, draw a circle and print it off.
• Draw lines to create ten pieces (looks similar to a pie)
• Write in the ten main events in the slices of pie.

After You Read

You will need to complete one of the activities below after you have finished reading the story.  Also, don't forget to finish filling out your KWLS chart!

1. Writing a Letter

• In this activity you will be writing a letter from Say to his mother in Ohio.  This letter will be written in a friendly letter format.  In this letter, you will need to write from the view point of Say.  The letter will be written from Andersonville Prison Camp, after he had been separated from Pink.  You will want to describe in the letter everything that has happened to Say that goes along with what you read in the story.  Also, you might want to describe what the prison camp is like and how Say is feeling.  Hint: Use your story pie or KWLS chart for help.  You will need to write this letter using Microsoft Word.  Below are some sites that you should explore to help with this activity.

• A Friendly Letter Format Example (this will be helpful if you are not sure of this format)
• Civil War Letters (This will let you read through letters that were written by real people who lived during the Civil War)

2. Interview

• For this activity, you will using your writing skills and knowledge about the story to interview Pink or Say.  You will be reporter during the time of the Civil War and have just found out about Pink and Say's story.  Your magazine has sent you to interview either one at Andersonville Camp for the front page story.  You editor has told you that you must ask at least ten questions and try to find out as much as you can.
•     When you have finished viewing this site, you will need to write up your interview questions using Microsoft Word.  Print off two copies of the questions.  You will need to answer one set of the questions.  You will find someone else to answer the other set of the questions.  These questions should follow what happens in the story.

    EXTRA CREDIT: Write a one page story summarizing the answers to your interview questions.  This needs to be typed and include at least one picture.
 

• Below are some links to magazine articles about the Civil War.  These would be interesting to read to learn about Civil War stories.  If you are going to complete the extra credit, you will want to check out these sites!
• The Civil War Times Illustrated
• America's Civil War

Quiz
I have made a small quiz on the Internet that you need to take after  you have read the story and finished all of the activities above.  Click on Pink and Say Quiz to take the quiz.  You might want to read the story one more time before you take this test.

• Pink and Say Quiz

Beyond What You Read - Fun Extensions

Now that you have finished Pink and Say, I would like you to write a short review of the book.  When writing this review, focus on some things you thought really made the story great or what didn't make it so great.  After you have finished writing your review click on the Patricia Polacco website below and send her your review through email.  Also, take some time to explore her website, she is a very interesting person.
 

• Patricia Polacco Website

How does this book relate to other areas in our life? There are many ways, but I have created two activities for you to complete that help you to see this relationship.  Choose one activity to complete and turn in for extra credit. These projects will take longer for you to complete and will not be do until two weeks after you have finished the book.

1. Civil War Reenactment

• The Civil War is something that many people in our country are still very interested in.  Many of them thoroughly study this war and the effects it had on our country.  Some even form clubs and reenact battles that occurred during the real Civil War.  You are going to create your own reenactment of any famous Civil War Battle.  This project will must have the following parts:

1. Location (a real place where a battle took place)
2. Information about your Reenactment Group

• Name of the group
• Number of members and those participating in reenactment
• Membership dues
• Mission Statement (why do you participate in reenactments?)

3. Uniforms worn by those participating in reanactment (these can be drawn by hand, with Paint on the computer, or printed off of Internet pages)
4. Two paragraph summary of how the reenactment took place (what happened?)
 

• This project can be difficult to figure out where to start.  I have listed many different sites that you need to explore and take notes to help with the project.  The sites are listed in the order that you should look through them.  The final copy needs to be typed using Microsoft Word.

American Civil War Reenactment Page
    -Scroll down and click on Civil War Images or Photos of Battles.  This will allow you to see pictures of reenactments and understand how they work. You will want to use this page to gather information and learn about how reenactments take place.  Also, you can learn about the uniforms and outfits people wore during the real Civil War.  Make sure you click on many of the links on this page because they are very helpful!!!

Civil War For Kids Page
    -This is the same link as the one in the beginning, but you need to use it again.  You need to use this site to learn about the Civil War and the battles that took place.

...If You Lived At the Time of The Civil War by Kay Moore
    -This is not an Internet site, but a book that would be very good to read.  It explains what it was like to live during the Civil War.

2. Civil War Journal

• The story of Pink and Say is true and has been passed down through Patricia Polacco's family.  Some of the Civil War stories we know about now have been passed down through families.  Another way we learn stories is through reading journals kept during the Civil War.  Some of the journals that have been studied are from soldiers, while some are from people who were not fighting in the war.  These journals are very informative and interesting!

•  For this project, you are going to create your own ten day journal. Below are some of the guidelines that you need to follow:

1. Each journal entry is dated with the appropriate dates.
2. Each journal entry needs to be at least one page long.
3. Information about at least three battles need to be included.
4. The person writing the journal needs to be fighting in these battles or has a close relative fighting in the war.
5.  The person who is writing the journal needs to explain his view point on slavery.
 

• This project can be hard to figure out where to start.  I have listed some sites below that you will need to explore to complete this project.  They are listed in the order that would be best to look through them.  You will need to first look through some of the examples of journals I have included so you can understand how people wrote during that time.  Your final draft can be handwritten, but should be binded in a folder.

Diaries

• Alice Williamson Diary
• Diary of Samuel Cormany
• Diary of William Heyser

• The Civil War For Kids Page
• Civil War Homepage

• ...If You Lived At the Time of the Civil War by Kay Moore (This is not an Internet site, but a book that will help you learn about the time period of the Civil War)
• Diary of a Drummer Boy by Marlene Brill (This is also not an Internet site.  This book uses a diary format and tells the story of a 12-year-old's experiences as a drummer boy.

Rubric
Whew! You have finally completed the Pink and Say project! Now it's time to see how you did.  The rubric below is how your projects will be graded.  Your final grade will be based on the teacher's score and your own evaluation.  Click here to go to your own rubric.  Print it out and turn it in with your final project.

This lesson plan was created by Rebecca Cartwright.
    recartwright@bsuvc.bsu.edu