LESSON 23 TEACHER’S GUIDE No More Cotton Blues

Number of Words: 3,561

L E S S O N 2 3 T E A C H E R ’ S G U I D E

No More Cotton Bluesby George Capaccio

Fountas-Pinnell Level XHistorical FictionSelection SummaryAaron reminisces about life in the 1930s when he was 12. He recalls an incident between his family, which was sharecropping on a cotton plantation, and the plantation manager. This incident spurred a move to Atlanta for a better life.

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Characteristics of the Text Genre • Historical fi ction

Text Structure • First-person narrative organized in seven chapters • Chapter headings signal key events in Aaron’s life

Content • Sharecropping, the Great Depression, New Deal• Segregation and its effects on one family

Themes and Ideas • Stand up and speak out for what you believe in.• You can overcome obstacles and succeed.• Hardships can motivate changes for the better.

Language and Literary Features

• Conversational language • Clearly written with strong confl ict• Realistic situation with believable characters

Sentence Complexity • A mix of short and complex sentences• Dashes, multiple items in series

Vocabulary • Some fi gurative language, such as storm brewing up inside and the rains came down heavy, and the lightning struck

Words • Multisyllable words: cicada, exasperated, CatalpaIllustrations • Realistic four-color drawings support the text

Book and Print Features • Seventeen pages of text, easy-to-read chapter headings© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

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Expand Your Vocabulary

berating – rebuking or scolding angrily and at length, p. 5

furnish – equip with what is needed, to supply; give, p. 4

plantation – a large estate or farm on which crops are raised, often by resident workers, p. 2

settle – a fi nancial agreement, short for settlement, p. 13

sharecropping – working land or growing crops, p. 2

No More Cotton Blues by George Capaccio

Build BackgroundHelp students use their knowledge about injustice to visualize the story. Build interest by asking a question such as the following: What unfair incident have you heard or read about, and why was it wrong? Read the title and author and talk about the cover illustration. Note the seven chapter heads. Tell students that this story is historical fi ction, so characters and events are set in a real period of history.

Introduce the TextGuide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some suggestions:

Page 4: Explain that this is a story about how a boy, Aaron, stands up for his sister, and how that action results in a new life for his family who was sharecropping on a plantation. Read the sentence: In early spring, the plantation manager would start giving each family a monthly furnish of about fi fteen dollars to cover expenses until the crop was in. Ask: How long do you think that this monthly monetary ration would last a family in the mid-1930s? What do you think Aaron’s family used the money to purchase? What do you think probably happened once the fi fteen dollars ran out?

Page 7: Point out the illustration of Aaron’s family gathered around the dinner table. Suggested language: Aaron’s grandfather tells the family stories about slavery times, and how his own mother had been sold and bought like a piece of merchandise. Aaron wonders if times have really changed that much for the better. Ask: How do you think knowing about his family’s history might infl uence Aaron?

Pages 9–10: Explain that Jim Crow laws mandated the segregation of public schools, places, and transportation. Point out the sign on the fence. Ask: How do think this law might affect decisions that Aaron makes in the future?

Page 14: Explain that Aaron’s uncle had left sharecropping to seek a better life. Read the sentence: My uncle’s stories started me thinking about the kind of life I wanted to have someday. Ask: What kind of infl uence do you think Uncle Eugene might have on Aaron?

Now go back to the beginning and read to fi nd out how Aaron’s world fi nally changed for the better after he stood up for what he felt was right.

2 Lesson 23: No More Cotton BluesGrade 6© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


ReadHave students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their understanding of the text as needed.

Remind students to use the Analyze/Evaluate Strategy and to consider the text carefully and form an opinion about it.

Discuss and Revisit the TextPersonal ResponseInvite students to share their personal responses to the book.Suggested language: How did Aaron speak out to right a wrong? What spurred him to take this action, and how did he feel afterwards?

Ways of ThinkingAs you discuss the text, help students understand these points:

Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text

• Aaron stands his ground when Boone berates his sister.

• Aaron thinks relocating to the city would result in a more advantageous life.

• Despite his poor sharecropper background, Aaron eventually became successful.

• People have to work to make changes in their lives.

• In order to gain respect, people need to speak out and take action.

• Sometimes it takes a catalyst to spur a radical change.

• The story has a strong confl ict that is resolved at the end.

• The narrative has a friendly tone, as if a relative were relating a story.

• The author includes authentic details about life in 1930s Georgia.

© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

Choices for Further Support• Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text to read aloud for a readers’

theater. Remind them to vary tone, pitch, and volume as if they were the narrator relating a family story that occurred long ago.

• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go back to the text to support their ideas.

• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using examples from the text. Remind students that learning common suffi xes found in words such as memorable, Depression, fi ercely, and threatened can help them discern the meaning of the new word.



Writing about ReadingCritical ThinkingHave students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 23.9.

RespondingHave students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.

Target Comprehension SkillCause and Effect

Target Comprehension Skill Have students identify causes and their effects, and

recognize and use cause-and-effect text structure to locate information. Remind them to pay attention to signal words such as because, so, and since. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:

Think Aloud

Sharecropping had a variety of consequences for Aaron and his family. In the “Effects” column, write: Aaron dreamed of another sort of life outside of Jefferson County. Also write: Ardell’s back ached and the heat made her faint.

Practice the SkillEncourage students to share their examples of another book that uses cause and effect to tell how a character’s life is infl uenced by specifi c actions.

Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the TextHave students write a response to the writing prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understanding.

Assessment Prompts• On page 2, why is the second paragraph important to the book?

• The author probably wrote this story to

_______________________________________________.

• In the second paragraph on page 6, the phrase one-way ticket to ruin means

_______________________________________________.



Critical ThinkingRead and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text Who owns the farmland cultivated by the

narrator and his family?

2. Think within the text Why does Turner, Aaron’s father, grab Boone’s

arm?

3. Think beyond the text Why was sharecropping an unfair system?

4. Think about the text What effect does moving to Atlanta have on

Aaron?

Making Connections Many books explore injustice. What other book can you think of that describes the plight of people who have been treated unfairly? Explain the situation in the book and why it was unfair.

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Name Date

Critical Thinking© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Lesson 23B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 2 3 . 9

No More Cotton BluesCritical Thinking

11 Grade 6, Unit 5: Taking Charge of Change

The farmland is owned by Oliver and Charlene Hopkins.

Boone berates his daughter and threatens his son.

It was unfair because the sharecroppers did much of the work for

little reward. They never had a chance to improve their lives or

own their own land.

Aaron has a better life in Atlanta. He works at the movie theater,

and later writes for the local paper, eventually becoming an editor.

Possible responses shown.

23.09_6_246260RNLEAN_Crtl Thk.in11 11 12/21/09 10:46:00 PM

First Pass

English Language DevelopmentReading Support Have students listen to the audio or online recordings. Make sure the text matches the students’ reading level. Language and content should be accessible with regular teaching support.

Vocabulary The story includes some similes that might be unfamiliar. Explain the meaning of expressions such as like a viper that’s been stepped on (page 5) and like a squall of wild cats (page 8).

Oral Language DevelopmentCheck student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’ English profi ciency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.

Beginning/Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced

Speaker 1: What crop did Aaron’s family harvest on the plantation?

Speaker 2: cotton

Speaker 1: What type of business did Uncle Eugene own?

Speaker 2: a movie house

Speaker 1: What did the sign in the drugstore say?

Speaker 2: Colored Section

Speaker 1: How did Boone get even with Aaron’s family during the settle?

Speaker 2: He cheated them out of the money they should have earned for the cotton harvest.

Speaker 1: Why did Aaron disagree with the preacher’s sermon?

Speaker 2: He didn’t believe that patiently sitting around would activate change for the better.

Speaker 1: Knowing Boone’s character traits, how might he run the plantation store where families were forced to shop on credit once their furnish ran out?

Speaker 2: Boone probably cheated the sharecroppers by infl ating the price of the goods he stocked in the store. He knew the poor families had no choice but to shop there on credit each month when their money ran out.



Name Date

No More Cotton BluesThinking Beyond the Text

Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in two or three paragraphs.

Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal knowledge to reach new understandings.

On page 18, the writer describes how Aaron and his family transformed from poor sharecroppers to successful employees, and how Aaron uncovers hidden talents that help him to achieve his dream of a better life. What obstacles did Aaron face? What qualities do you think Aaron possessed that made him succeed despite multiple obstacles? How did these qualities help him succeed?


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Critical ThinkingRead and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text Who owns the farmland cultivated by the

narrator and his family?

2. Think within the text Why does Turner, Aaron’s father, grab Boone’s

arm?

3. Think beyond the text Why was sharecropping an unfair system?

4. Think about the text What effect does moving to Atlanta have on

Aaron?

Making Connections Many books explore injustice. What other book can you think of that describes the plight of people who have been treated unfairly? Explain the situation in the book and why it was unfair.

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Name Date Lesson 23

B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 2 3 . 9

No More Cotton BluesCritical Thinking



1414273

Student Date Lesson 23

B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 2 3 . 1 3

Running Record Form

No More Cotton Blues • LEVEL X No More Cotton BluesRunning Record Form

Behavior Code Error

Read word correctly ✓cat 0

Repeated word, sentence, or phrase

®cat

0

Omission —cat 1

Behavior Code Error

Substitution cutcat 1

Self-corrects cut sccat 0

Insertion the

ˆcat 1

Word told Tcat 1

page Selection Text Errors Self-Corrections

11 The ladies wore their finest hats and fanned themselves to

keep away the heat. I remember the preacher, a tall, dignified

man with short white hair and a thin mustache. I can still hear

his voice and the way his words flowed over us. He urged us

to have patience. Better times were coming, he kept repeating.

I had trouble believing him. I knew there was something wrong

with the way things were, and I didn’t think sitting around,

waiting for a change to come was the answer.

Comments: Accuracy Rate (# words read

correctly/88 × 100)

%

Total Self- Corrections


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LESSON 23 TEACHER’S GUIDE No More Cotton Blues

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