Lesson: Historical Fiction Character Actions: Bud, Not Buddy (Lesson 10)

Reading Workshop Lesson:

•  Readers, yesterday we discussed the traits of a new character, Lefty Lewis. Today, we are going to read Chapter 12 and discuss how Lefty Lewis’s words, thoughts, and actions are connected to the setting of the book.  
• [Read to the middle of page 131.] Who can tell the class what a telegram is? Can we figure out what it is using clues from this page?
• [Read to the first paragraph on page 133.] Why does Lefty Lewis tell Bud to do exactly as he says?
• [Read to page 135 – stop where Lefty says, “I always thought the boy was unusually handsome.”] Why does Lefty lie to the officer? Does Lefty seem like a dishonest person? Not really – so why is he lying now? [Take a few predictions, then read the next paragraph. See if students have other thoughts after reading that paragraph.]
• [Read to the end of page 137.] What do you think is in the box? [Take predictions and push students to back up their predictions with details about the setting or the events in the chapter.]
• [Read to the break on page 139.] Now we’ve learned some new things about the setting in Michigan in 1936. Besides segregation and the depression, what else is going on? [Call on a student to explain that people in some jobs are trying to form unions but that it is illegal.] Now that we know a little more about the setting, can we explain why Lefty Lewis was dishonest to the police officer? [T&T, then share out.]
• [Read to the end of the chapter. Maybe stop at the top of page 143, where it mentions to Ku Klux Klan. Take predictions throughout.]
• Scholars, in your independent reading, you should stop when a character does something unusual. In historical fiction, this might mean that the character is reacting to something important in the book’s setting.  
• We have another OR today, and again we are going to write a short paragraph with three parts: a topic sentence, a direct quotation from the text, and elaboration connecting the quotation to the topic sentence. Here is today’s question [put up and read aloud]: How does Herman Calloway react when Bud says that he is looking for his father?  

You may want to start letting students write their paragraphs in pairs or independently. I would have mine mark their direct quotation with a post-it note so that I can approve it, then have them write the paragraph independently. I would push my stronger pairs of students to find 2 or 3 pieces of evidence that support their topic sentence instead of just one.