Feathers in the Wind

ELA: folktales Social studies: world cultures 

Social-emotional learning: self-awareness (accurate self-perception); social awareness (empathy); responsible decision-making (solving problems, reflecting, ethical responsibility); self-management (impulse control)

Big idea, inference, plot, cause and effect, setting

Set a Purpose for Reading (10 minutes)

• Look at pages 20-21 with the class. Read aloud the title and subtitle. Explain that a folktale is a story that’s been told over many years and is often spoken instead of written. Folktales are not only fun to read, they often teach a lesson. Invite students to name any folktales they have read.
• Point to the word gossip in the subtitle. Then write the word rumor. Explain that gossip and rumor refer to information about someone that is often hurtful and untrue. Discuss how spreading gossip, or retelling hurtful information about someone, might make a person feel. Encourage students to put themselves in that person’s place. Have students look for ways that people in the play are hurt when someone spreads gossip about them.
  
• Call on a volunteer to read aloud the Think and Read box on page 20. Ask students to think about the important lesson that Jacob learns as they read.
  
• Direct students to the heading and subheading for Scene 2 on page 22. Ask where and when this scene takes place. Point to Eastern Europe on a map. Explain that a market square is an area in a village where people sell different kinds of food and other items.
  

Introduce Vocabulary (15 minutes, activity sheet online)

• While the play does not include definitions of vocabulary words in the text itself, a vocabulary activity online previews challenging words and allows students to list other words that are unfamiliar to them. Project or distribute the activity to review the words. You may also play our Vocabulary Slideshow, where images and audio help students with comprehension and fluency.
• Challenging words: gossip, rumor, rabbi, swarm 
  

Bridging Decoding and Comprehension

• Storyworks Jr. read-aloud plays provide a perfect opportunity for students to build fluency.
• Explain that direction words in parentheses tell a reader how to say a line or perform an action in the play. Then point to the word excitedly in column 1 on page 22 and the direction looking closer on page 23. Read the dialogue aloud with appropriate expression or action. Have students repeat after you.
  
• Remind students that fluent readers stop for periods, question marks, and exclamation points. They pause for commas; they read the way they talk to each other. 
  

Reading and Unpacking the Text

• Before reading: Point out the Character box on page 21. Explain that this is a list of all the characters in the play. Point out the phonetic spelling of Bubby, read the name aloud, and ask students to repeat after you.
• First read: Assign parts and read the play as a class.
  
• Second read: Project or distribute the Close-Reading Questions. Discuss them as a class, rereading lines or scenes as necessary.
  
• Separate students into groups to discuss the Critical-Thinking Question. Then have groups share their answers with the class. 
  

Close-Reading Questions (30 minutes, activity sheet online)

• In Scene 1, why do you think Hannah’s grandmother wants to tell Hannah a story? (inference) She wants to teach Hannah that it’s wrong to gossip about someone.
• In Scene 2, what does Golda say after Jacob starts gossiping? (plot) She asks if he’s telling another crazy story. What can you guess about Jacob from this? (inference) He is known for telling crazy stories about other people that aren’t true.
  
• In Scene 3, what happens after Jacob tells the students that the honey cakes are filled with bees? (cause and effect) None of the students will eat the honey cakes.
  
• At the end of Scene 4, why does Jacob feel terrible? (plot) He learns that people stopped buying the honey cakes because they believed his story. This is ruining Miriam’s business.
  
• In Scene 5, what important lesson does the rabbi teach Jacob by asking him to collect the feathers? (big idea) He shows Jacob that he can never find all the people who heard his false story, just as he cannot find all the feathers carried away by the wind.
  
• In Scene 6, what does Hannah learn from the folktale that Bubby tells her? (big idea) She learns that it’s wrong to gossip. She promises never to gossip again.

Critical-Thinking Question (10 minutes, activity sheet online)

• Why do Jacob’s feelings about spreading gossip change by the end of the play? Use details from the story to support your answer. (big idea) At the beginning of the play, Jacob gossips about bees in the honey cakes because he likes being the center of attention. When people stop buying the honey cakes, he feels terrible because he knows that his words hurt someone else. He learns that it’s wrong to gossip and never does it again.
  

Exploring the Big Idea (30 minutes, activity sheet online)

instructions