Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Literature Core Text:
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Informational Core Text: Various texts
provided in the appendices.
Supporting Texts: Various texts provided in the Supplemental Book and Appendices.
Reading Literature Standards:
RL 6: Explain how an author develops the
point of view of the narrator or speaker in a
text.
RL 7: Compare and contrast the experience
of reading a story, drama, or poem to
listening to or viewing an audio, video, or
live version of the text, including contrasting
what they “see” and “hear” when reading the
text to what they perceive when they listen or
watch.
RL 9: Compare and contrast texts in
different forms or genres (e.g stories and
poems; historical novels and fantasy stories)
in terms of their approaches to similar
themes and topics.
Reading Informational Text Standards:
RI 6: Determine an author’s point of view or
purpose in a text and explain how it is
conveyed in the text.
RI 7: Integrate information presented in
different media or formats (e.g., visually,
quantitatively) as well as in words to develop
a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
RI 8: Trace and evaluate the argument and
specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims
that are supported by reasons and evidence
from claims that are not.
RI 9: Compare and contrast one author’s
presentation of events with that of another
(e.g., a memoir written by and a biography
on the same person).
1
Grade: 6
Materials:
Butcher paper
Notebooks, journals or stapled paper
Folders or folded paper to keep work
Writing Standards:
W.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear
reasons and relevant evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s) and organize the
reasons and evidence clearly.
b. Support claim(s) with clear reasons and
relevant evidence, using credible sources
and demonstrating an understanding of
the topic or text.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify
the relationships among claim(s) and
reasons.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section
that follows from the argument presented.
W 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to
examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and
information through the selection, organization,
and analysis of relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts,
and information, using strategies such as
definition, classification,
comparison/contrast, and cause/effect;
include formatting (e.g., headings),
graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and
multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with relevant facts,
definitions, concrete details, quotations, or
other information and examples.
c. Use appropriate transitions to clarify the
relationships among ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific
vocabulary to inform about or explain the
topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
Supporting
Standards:
RL 1,2,3,4,5
RI 1,2,3,4,5
W 3,4,5,6,9
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
f. Provide a concluding statement or section
that follows from the information or
explanation presented.
Essential Questions
RL 6:
How does the author develop the narrator or speaker’s point of view?
How does the author’s word choice help develop the narrator or speaker’s point of
view?
How did the author help develop the character’s point of view?
RL 7:
How does reading a story compare to the audio or video version?
What do you see/hear when reading the text?
What do you see/hear when listening or watching a version of the text?
What are the differences between what you see and hear when reading to your
perception of what you hear and watch in an audio, video or live version?
RL 9:
What are the text forms/genres of each selection?
Although the topic/theme of these passages is similar, how does the presentation
differ?
Why do you think the author used this approach in relaying the theme?
W 1:
How can you clearly introduce your claim?
What reasons/evidence best supports your claim?
Is the evidence relevant? Are your sources credible?
What words will assist the reader in clarifying the relationship between the claim
and reasons?
What makes your piece formal in style?
Is your concluding statement congruent with the argument presented?
RI 6:
What is the author’s point of view or purpose?
How does the author’s word choice help develop the point of view/purpose?
How do the author’s choices reflect his/her attitude, viewpoint, focus or bias?
RI 7:
How is integrating information from various media or formats similar to
summarizing a text? How is it different?
What common understanding on the topic/issue did you develop?
Which format best relays the message?
RI 8:
How are arguments developed and supported?
How do you determine if a claim is valid?
Which of the evidence supporting the argument is most relevant?
RI 9:
How do the works of _____ differ from the works of _____?
How are they similar?
What is the perspective of each author? How do you know?
W 2:
How can you clearly introduce your topic?
What organizational structure will best enable you to convey your information?
What facts/details/examples/quotations help to develop your topic?
What words will assist the reader in clarifying the relationship among the ideas
and concepts?
What makes your piece formal in style?
Is your concluding statement consistent with the information presented?
Summative Unit Assessments:
(RL2, RL3, RL6, W2) The author helps us to understand Bud by the actions he takes, by revealing his thoughts, feelings and spoken words throughout the story. Choose
3 character traits that describe Bud's character. Then, in a multiple paragraph piece, use supporting evidence from the text to justify and explain your choices.
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Teacher Background Knowledge/Key Information about this Unit:
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The first two weeks of the unit are focused on informational text. Close reading opportunities as well as multiple types of texts will be provided. There are a
multitude of visuals to assist students in their understanding of the time period and to also support standards. Weeks three to eight are designed for the novel.
However, informational text will be woven throughout the novel in pre-reading tasks.
Pre-reading tasks should not be skipped! The novel, Bud, not Buddy illustrates a great amount of information that is significant to the time period and to Bud’s
journey throughout the story. Background knowledge of this time period and of the many famous people that are addressed in the novel is important for student
understanding.
RL-6 Chart (Chart-as-you-go): The author develops Bud’s point of view throughout the book in several ways: Bud compares himself to famous people; the
contents of the suitcase; rules and things; interactions with other characters; and flashbacks. Make a class chart with five columns using a long sheet of butcher
paper. Title each column with the above mentioned techniques. After reading each chapter, or during the reading, make note of examples where the author
develops Bud’s point of view on the RL-6 Chart. Cite each entry. Each time you chart- ask the question: what does this tell us about Bud?
Reflective Journal Write is to be completed at the end of each chapter. See appendix A for possible writing prompts/suggestions.
Writing opportunities are spread throughout the unit that support both W.1 and W. 2. Continued support, visuals, modeling and guided instruction should
accompany the tasks based on the needs of your students. Use the Smarter Balance writing rubric for 6th grade for each of the standards.
Visual Vocabulary is provided in appendix D. Use these in conjunction with the novel (during reading) so students have a visual understanding of what is being
referenced.
The pictures in appendix D are only a few of the many visual representations of the time period. Finding other resources during PLC/planning time is another way
to find even more supplemental support for your students. Also, several power points will be available online at the district website that can be used in conjunction
with the unit. Reading about the Great Depression and the experiences of Bud in the novel Bud, not Buddy while also providing visuals of the time period will
help support RI.7 and RL.7.
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Week 1
Standards:
RI 6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed
Learning Targets:
RI6: Students will determine an author’s point of view in an
in the text.
informational text as well as how the author uses supporting details to
RI 7: Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually,
support that point of view. Orally and in writing, students will explain
quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
how the point of view is conveyed in a text by evaluating what
RI 8: Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that
information the author chooses to present, statements used within the
are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.
text and the use of language.
RI 9: Compare and contrast one author’s presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a
RI7: Given multiple sources of information e.g., (visually and
memoir written by and a biography on the same person).
quantitatively), students will chart information from those sources to
present a coherent understanding of a topic. Students will present their
understanding both orally and in writing.
RI8: In writing, students will chronicle and evaluate the argument and
specific claims in a text. Students will explain how claims and
arguments are supported with specific textual evidence.
RI9: Students will chart how one author presents events (e.g., in an
autobiography, biography, newspaper article), on a given topic. Use a
graphic organizer to compare and contrast the presentation of events.
Teacher Background Knowledge/Key Information Week 1: This first week will be used to give students a general, but solid idea of what the Great Depression was,
specifically the key political figures and some of the important events surrounding that era. The goal is to offer as many visual aids as possible so that students are able
to get a good picture of what that time period was like—that will be done through the use of photographs and video clips. At the end of week one, students will write a
compare/contrast piece supporting RI.6, RI.9 and W.2. Tasks not completed in the first week can be completed at the beginning of week 2.
Pre-Reading Tasks
 Display images of the Great Depression (appendix D). Do not discuss or provide information about the Great Depression prior. Feel open to looking for other
images of the depression to use or referencing the power point on the district website under Common Core-ELA.
 Have students use the Reflective T-Chart (appendix A) to explain their feelings regarding the images that they have seen (without prompting). Ask them to respond
to these questions on the back of their T chart or have a class discussion (you can also refer to appendix A for additional questions):
 What can visual clues tell us about life during the depression and beyond?
 How does a photographer’s point of view influence our reading of an image?
 In your opinion, why did the photographer want you to see this picture?
 If you had to write a caption which expressed in one or two sentences what the picture is about, what would you say?
The Great Depression Overview
Tasks
 Read “About the Great Depression” (Supplemental Book). This one page provides a general overview of the Great Depression. Have students read each section. If
you would like to extend the activity, students can always jigsaw the text.
 Discuss and explain the causes of the Great Depression as described on the handout. Use the fishbone template to organize the causes and effect, with the effect
being the Great Depression. (appendix A)
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Government during The Great Depression
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Review the time line (appendix D). Discuss the timeline in terms of presidency for Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Students can use this time line as
a foundation to keep a timeline of events in their journals or as a class time line.
 Discuss and review strategies needed for reading informational text to understand an author’s point of view and the claims that author’s make in their writing.
Don’t skip this piece! It is important for students to understand the focus of RI.6 and RI.8 in order to be successful this week with those particular focus
standards.
 When supporting standard RI.6, review the Essential Questions for RI.6. Frontload information for author’s viewpoint/bias if needed.
 When supporting standard RI.8, review the Essential Questions for RI.8 and also:
 Reference the students’ experience writing argumentative pieces in quarter one. Explain that reading and identifying a claim with evidence in text is similar
to writing a claim with evidence like in the standard W1.
 Post the following sentence:
 Explain that evidence is information that helps show that something is true or helps prove something.
 Explain that a claim states that something is true or is a fact.
 Explain an argument is a statement or series of statements for or against something.
 For the following informational texts, students will read the text several times. Each time will provide another opportunity to read the text while looking for
specific text features that support RI.6 and RI.8.
Government during Great Depression- Franklin D. Roosevelt
 Author’s Point of View and “Eleanor Roosevelt” essay (sample and text in appendix C)
 Introduce students to the concept of author's point of view.
 Sample definition: Author's point of view is the perspective (opinions and beliefs) that an author shares with the reader through the text.
 In order to understand author's point of view students must become skilled at identifying and/or inferring the author's beliefs. They also need to be able to
separate fact from opinion.
 Modeling the Author's Point of View Strategy
 Show the "Eleanor Roosevelt" essay (appendix C) using a document camera or copy the page for students.
 Sample think aloud for the process: Author's point of view is the perspective (opinion) that the author is sharing with the reader through the text. We are
going to be gathering details from an essay on Eleanor Roosevelt to infer the author's point of view. We'll look at four categories of details that we'll use to
infer point of view using the Determining Author's Point of View (POV) graphic organizer.
 Conduct a short read aloud of the text, underlining key words and phrases as you read.
 Sample think aloud for the text: In the text, we learn about Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady of the United States. The issue
being discussed is what Eleanor Roosevelt accomplished in her lifetime. Let's look at the four components of the graphic organizer to find out the author’s
point of view on that question. First, is there any language in the text that helps lead us to the author's opinion? I see the line "helped her to transform the
role of First Lady, " which seems very positive. What actions could we use to help find the author's opinion? I see that Eleanor was a "champion of
domestic social reform, economic justice, and human rights" and "she was a civil rights activist ahead of her time." Who are the characters in the story?
Only Eleanor is discussed in detail, but her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy are also mentioned. Lastly, is there any conflict we
should be aware of? Here I see the phrase "she remains today probably the most dynamic, broadly effective, and controversial First Lady in American
history."
 Refer to the completed organizer and help students follow along to fill in the different boxes.
 Review the information with students and have them tell you in their own words what they think the author's point of view is for this passage.
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
 Read “Franklin D. Roosevelt: Biography” (Supplemental Book)
Use the blank Determining Author's Point of View graphic organizer (appendix A) to conduct a guided task with “Franklin D. Roosevelt: Biography”. Use the same
format and graphic organizer from the Eleanor Roosevelt lesson with the “Franklin D. Roosevelt: Biography”.
Government during Great Depression- Herbert Hoover
 Read “The Great Depression: Digital History: President Hoover” (Supplemental Book)
 The first reading of “The Great Depression: Digital History: President Hoover should be independently. Do not provide background information; allow students
the chance to simply read the passage and comprehend the information without prompting.
 Prepare to read the passage a second time. During the second reading, students are specifically looking for the author’s point of view, with evidence. Use the
Author’s Point of View graphic organizer (appendix A) and follow previous procedures. The following are some examples for discussion topics/completion of
graphic organizer:
Paragraph One
 Read the first two sentences. What does this information tell us about Hoover? Why would the author begin the passage with this information? Does it
show Hoover in a positive light or a negative light?
Paragraph Two
 Read the second paragraph. What information does the author provide about Hoover? How does the author reflect his/her attitude about Hoover?
Paragraph Four
 Read paragraph four. Why did Hoover get into Stanford University? Why did the author include this information in the text? How does this information,
and the way in which it was written into the text, support your understanding of Hoover?
Paragraph Six
 Read the paragraph. Discuss the last sentence in the paragraph that begins “He did not recognize that the….” Why does the author include this sentence in
the passage? What is the author’s viewpoint about the decisions Hoover made?
Paragraph Ten
 Read the first sentence. Is this a fact or an author’s opinion? Why would the author begin a paragraph with this sentence? How does that support the
author’s viewpoint?
 Read the rest of the paragraph. Discuss the reasons that the author would include this information in the passage. What impression of Hoover is made based
from this information? Why did the author include the last two sentences (about the nickel/dime)? What does the inclusion of this information show
 Prepare to read the passage for a third time but have students focus on the claims/arguments that are being made in the text. Use the claim/argument and
evidence graphic organizer (appendix A). Explain to students that many of the claims made in the text are inferred based on their knowledge of the author’s
viewpoint discussed during the second reading and by the evidence provided within the text.
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Read “Herbert Hoover and the Depression” (Supplemental Book)
 Students initially read the passage independently. Do not provide background information; allow students the chance to simply read the passage and
comprehend the information without prompting.
 Prepare to read the passage a second time. During the second reading, students are specifically looking for the author’s point of view, with evidence. Use the
Author’s Point of View graphic organizer (appendix A) and follow previous procedures. The following are some examples for discussion topics/completion of
graphic organizer:
Paragraph One
 Read the first sentence. How does the first sentence set the stage for the rest of the passage? Based on this first sentence, predict the author’s view of
Herbert Hoover as a president. (i.e., Hoover had the bad luck of being President during that time places no responsibility or blame on Hoover).
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
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Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Paragraph Two
 Read the first sentence in paragraph two. How does the first sentence set the stage for the rest of the passage? How does the author feel about Hoover?
What words does the author use to illustrate those feelings?
 Continue reading the paragraph. Make note of areas where the author describes Hoover and his work in a way that illustrates the author’s point of view (he
was such a good mining engineer; his great administrative skills; his work impressed people so much). Discuss the impression readers have of Hoover after
reading the second paragraph.
Paragraph Five
 Read this paragraph and discuss possible reasons the author placed this paragraph in the text. How does the author describe Hoover and Hoover’s beliefs to
support Hoover’s ideologies about the Depression?
Read Paragraphs Six to the End of the passage
 Stop frequently and discuss the author’s point of view. After reading the information under each subheading, stop and ask the students to form an opinion
about Hoover based on what was read. Did they think Hoover was a good president who was doing everything he could? What language did the author use
to illustrate Hoover? What feelings were generated through the description of Hoover and the choices he made?
Prepare to read the passage for a third time but have students focus on the claims/arguments that are being made in the text. Use the claim/argument and
evidence graphic organizer (appendix A). Explain to students that many of the claims made in the text are inferred based on their knowledge of the author’s
viewpoint discussed during the second reading and by the evidence provided within the text
W.2: Using the two passages about Herbert Hoover, write a piece that compares and contrasts each of the author’s viewpoints about Hoover and his presidency. Use
examples from the text to support the similarities and differences.
7
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Weeks 2
Standards:
RI 6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is
Learning Targets:
RI6: Students will determine an author’s point of view in an informational text as conveyed in the text.
well as how the author uses supporting details to support that point of view. Orally RI 7: Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually,
and in writing, students will explain how the point of view is conveyed in a text
quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or
by evaluating what information the author chooses to present, statements used
issue.
within the text and the use of language.
RI 8: Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing
RI7: Given multiple sources of information e.g., (visually and quantitatively),
claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.
students will chart information from those sources to present a coherent
RI 9: Compare and contrast one author’s presentation of events with that of another
understanding of a topic. Students will present their understanding both orally and (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person).
in writing.
RI8: In writing, students will chronicle and evaluate the argument and specific
claims in a text. Students will explain how claims and arguments are supported
with specific textual evidence.
RI9: Students will chart how one author presents events (e.g., in an
autobiography, biography, newspaper article), on a given topic. Use a graphic
organizer to compare and contrast the presentation of events.
Teacher Background Knowledge/Key Information Week 2: The focus of this week will be to give students an overview of what life was like for many Americans during
the Great Depression, as well as to highlight some of the communities that faced additional struggles with inequality based on issues like race. Students will also be briefly
introduced to the Harlem Renaissance and the trends of the time period as they prepare to move into the novel, Bud, Not Buddy. As in week 1, offering the students several
visual aids to increase their understanding of the topics is a goal; thus, photographs, video clips, and music will continue to be provided as part of the instruction. Along with
the readings and/or tasks for each of the headings below, photographs will be provided to show students.
Effect on People
Tasks
 Read “The Human Toll” (Supplemental Book)
 Complete Reflective T-Chart (appendix A)
 Chart the different areas in which humans suffered during the Great Depression.
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Unemployment
 Read “The Effects of the Great Depression on the People: Unemployment” (Supplemental Book)
 In what specific ways does unemployment affect an individual?
 In what specific ways does wide spread unemployment affect an entire city, state, or nation?

Business Closures
 Read “Blocks for Tots: A Short History of a Single Family Business” (Supplemental Book)
 How did the stock market crash affect Mr. Connors and his family?
 How did Mr. Connors persevere through this troubled time?
 Create a T-Chart showing cause and effect as described in this text. For example: Cause: People were losing their jobs; Effect: People bought less toys.
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
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Homelessness
 Read “Hoovervilles” (Supplemental Book)
 Show students the pictures of the Hoovervilles (appendix D). Feel free to find other photos that will allow students to see the life of people living in Hoovervilles.
 Complete a Reflective T-Chart (appendix A) about not only what was read but what was seen in the photos. Have students share their reflections.
 Discussion Questions
 What is the significance of the name “Hooverville”?
 What was life like living in the Hooverville?
 What ‘luxuries’ do we have in our houses (water, toilets, etc.) that someone would not have living in a Hooverville?
 According to the text, did most Hooverville residents have a choice about how they lived? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
 Writing Task: Do you think that Hoovervilles successfully provided for the needs of the people during the Great Depression? In a paragraph, use details from the
text to support your claim
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Political cartoon (appendix D)
 Show students the political pictures. Explain that political cartoons are used to convey a social or political message of the time period.
 Discuss what each cartoon represents and how it is connected to the time period that has already been discussed
 Answer the questions for each cartoon whole group, partners, groups.
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Hunger
 Read “The Great Depression: Breadlines” (Supplemental Book)
 Complete a Reflective T-Chart (appendix A) about not only what was read but what was seen in the photos. Have the students share their reflections.
 Discussion Questions
 What are 3 words you could use to describe the experience people had waiting in breadlines? Explain why you chose those words.
 How are the terms breadline and soup kitchen related? Does one have a more positive connotation than the other? Why or why not?
 Besides the already devastating circumstances which led people to have to stand in the breadlines [i.e., not having food, not having money to buy food], what
additional inconveniences do you think people faced going to the breadlines? [i.e., having to eat at the times meals were served, not necessarily when they
were hungry; being in the back of the line and the possibility of the food supply running out]
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Children
 Read “How the Depression affected Children” (Supplemental Book)
 Read the three letters written to the President during the Depression.
 Discussion Questions
 Upon reading the letters, what did you notice immediately? What aspects of the letters stood out to you as a reader? List 5 elements from the letters which you
noticed immediately and briefly explain what made those particular things noticeable and outstanding?
 Did any of the letters demonstrate perseverance? What strategies were the children using to deal with the negative parts in their lives?
 What do the letters reveal about life during the Great Depression? Cite specific statements or language.
 Using the Characters’ Point of View graphic organizer (appendix A), use two of the three letters to describe the viewpoint of each. For example, use the letter from
the 12 year old girl and write her perception of the depression on one side and the child from Kansas’ perception on the other. Either through discuss or writing,
compare and contrast how two children view the Great Depression. (What are their concerns? What are they asking for? What is affecting their lives the most?)
 Writing: If you could write a letter to President Roosevelt on behalf of the children who lived during the Great Depression, what would you say?
 Reader’s Theatre
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
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Read “The Great Depression: A Child’s View of the Great Depression” (Supplemental Book).
Discuss how the family is going to survive.
Use the Compare/Contrast Three Author graphic organizer (appendix A) to compare and contrast the family in “The Great Depression: A Child’s View of the
Great Depression”, “How the Depression affected Children” and the letters. Pay attention specifically to how the author presents the information. Also discuss
and consider the artifacts (the short passage, the personal letters or the reader’s theatre) and what was learned from each. Which information was the
same/different? How did the presentation of the information affect understanding/interpretation of the information?
Quick Write
 Complete this sentence frame- “If I was a child during the Great Depression, my life would be….”
Racism
Explain to students that during this period in American history, life was difficult for almost everyone. However, for certain communities that difficulty was intensified
because, in addition to facing the effects of the economic crisis, they were also confronted with the negative impacts of racism.
Tasks
 Mexican Americans
 Read “The Great Depression: Mexican Americans” (Supplemental Book)
 Discussion Questions
 What does the text tell you about the 1) economic effects, 2) psychological effects, and 3) political effects on Mexican Americans during the Great Depression?
 According to the text, what was life like for Mexican Americans during the Great Depression?
 If you were an unemployed Mexican American citizen during the Great Depression how would you feel about your government based on its response to the
unemployment problem?
 In what ways did life change for Mexican Americans who lost their jobs, life savings, and homes? Cite the text as your evidence.
 African Americans
 Read “African Americans and the Great Depression” (Supplemental Book)
 Read “The Great Depression: African Americans” (Supplemental Book)
 Discussion Questions
 What does the text tell you about the 1) economic effects, 2) psychological effects, and 3) political effects on African Americans during the Great Depression?
 According to the text, what was life like for African Americans during the Great Depression?
 If you were an unemployed African American citizen during the Great Depression, how would you feel about your government based on its response to the
unemployment problem?
 In what ways did life change for African Americans who lost their jobs, life savings, and homes and ended up living in Hoovervilles? Cite the text as your
evidence.
Harlem Renaissance
Tasks
 Read aloud the poem, Harlem: A Poem (appendix D) by Walter Dean Myers. You can also access the poem with illustrations at:
http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/BookReader?bookid=myrhrlm_00260006&twoPage=true&route=text&size=0&fullscreen=false&pnum1=1&lang=English&ilang=
English
 If you give each student their own copy: ask them to underline all of the places and locations mentioned in it, then highlight or circle all of the people mentioned.
 Discussion Questions
 Why do you think Harlem attracted so many African American artists and musicians in the 1930s?
 What moods and feelings has Myers created in his poem? Support your answers with examples from the poem.
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities

Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
 What were you able to learn about the Harlem Renaissance by reading this poem?
Analyzing I, Too by Langston Hughes (Supplemental Book)
 Display the title I, Too on the board. Ask students to reflect on what it might mean.
 Show the first line of the poem and discuss: What is it to ‘sing a country’? Why might the speaker need to remind us of his inclusion (I, too)?
 Who might the speaker be?
 Discuss how the poet’s choice of language makes the poem’s voice strong:
 Simple diction
 Assertive verbs – ‘will’ and ‘am’-Ask: How would the message of the poem be affected if Hughes had said “I might be the darker brother” instead of ‘I am the
darker brother”? Or…”I might be at the table when company comes” instead of “I’ll be at the table when company comes’?
 Verbs connoting a good happy life- ‘sing’, ‘eat’, ‘laugh’, ‘grow’ –Ask: What verbs does Hughes use that help us visualize a happy life?
 The powerful assertion of inclusion in the title and in the word ‘brother’
 Repetitions—Ask: Why does Langston Hughes chose to repeat ‘I, too’, ‘I am’?
 Positive adjectives to describe self- ‘beautiful and ‘strong’ -Ask: What do these adjectives tell us about his self image?
 Absolute certainty of ‘nobody’-Ask: How does his use of the word ‘nobody’ imply confidence?
 Implied power of ‘dare’
 What is the meaning of this poem? (Hughes depicts a slave who receives horrible treatment from his master, because he is sent away to eat alone in the kitchen
when visitors come. Then Hughes counters this disrespect when he says that one day he (a black man) will sit at the table and they will recognize the beauty of an
African American and feel shame.)
 What is the theme of Langston Hughes’ poem? (equality, freedom)

Play 1920s-1930s jazz music for students. Radio Dismuke plays 30s, 40s, jazz, swing and oldies. Click on the red radio or on the LoudCity stream link, accessed here:
http://www.dismuke.org/radio/
 Discussion Topic/Reflection
 What were you able to learn about the Harlem Renaissance by listening to jazz music?

Read “An Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance” (Supplemental Book)
 Discussion Topic
 Why do you think the Harlem Renaissance was important for the identity of African Americans then and now? Cite the parts of the text that make you think so.
 What impact did the Harlem Renaissance have on African Americans? Cite parts of the text that support your thoughts.
 How does learning about the Harlem Renaissance by reading through informational text differ from learning about it through poetry or music?
 Complete a Reflective T-Chart (appendix A) on “An Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance”
Trends of the Time Period (This section is to be used to allow students to understand the people of the time period. Bud, in Bud, not Buddy comes in contact with many
different people so an understanding of the lifestyles and day-to-day experiences of people during the Depression will help build student understanding)
Tasks
 For the following categories, look through the pictures of each and allow students to discuss the similarities and differences between then and today. Feel free to expand
upon any as time permits.
1. Hairstyles (appendix A)
2. Fashion (appendix A)
3. Cars (appendix A)
11
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
4.
5.
6.
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Appliances (appendix A)
Movie Posters (appendix A)
Prices & Popular Items (Supplemental Book)
Task: Students explore the 1930s Food and Groceries Prices list and do a comparison of what some of those items cost today by filling in the Then and Now
Prices table. To complete the table, students can either bring in newspaper ads (Sunday papers are great) or use the Inflation Calculator website
http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
CFA
RI.7: Create a one-pager of the information presented during the last two weeks of informational text regarding the significant events during the Great Depression. It could
be created to look like a newspaper (IE-Headline, Columns, ads for clothing/appliances/etc.) but should contain information about the government, the people, racism, etc.
(see appendix A for directions on creating a one-pager)
Extension Task
 Create a poster or brochure about The Great Depression. Include-cause/effect on government, economy, families. Timeline. Photos (drawings). Trends of the time.
12
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Weeks 3
Standards:
RL 6: Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a
Learning Targets:
RL6: Using a graphic organizer, students will analyze how the narrator’s point text.
of view is developed by the author using how the author reveals thoughts,
RL 7: Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to
feelings, actions, and reactions of other characters as well as dialog.
listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including
RL7: Students will compare and contrast the experience of reading a story,
contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive
drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video or live version.
when they listen or watch.
Teacher Background Knowledge/Key Information Week 3: This week you will begin reading the novel Bud, not Buddy. Read chapters 1-3 over the course of the
week. Students should have opportunity to read silently/independently, in literature circles, and/or whole group. After each chapter, students will complete a reflective
journal write (appendix A). Students will also complete Chapter Significance chart which they will add to during/after each chapter (appendix A). It is important to
complete the pre-reading tasks prior to reading the chapter because the pre-reading tasks will help support the background knowledge and overall comprehension of the
chapter. Also, at the beginning of several chapters during the pre-reading, students will complete a Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book entry (appendix A). Each
chapter will have vocabulary. Some vocabulary words are words that need to be frontloaded to assist with comprehension. Other words have been identified as ‘visual
vocabulary’ and students will only need a visual reference (provided in appendix D).
Literary Theme(s)-survival, courage, perseverance, relationships, inequality
Pre-Reading Tasks
 Brainstorm ideas about how authors develop a story line and write a novel.
 Read the transcript “Along for the Ride” (Supplemental Book) about Christopher Paul Curtis. Complete a reflective t-chart (appendix A)
 View the series of interviews of Christopher Paul Curtis at http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/curtis/ Watch as many as you would like but you must
watch the clip titled “Along for the Ride”. Complete a reflective t-chart (appendix A).

Using the Compare/Contrast Two Authors graphic organizer (appendix A), compare and contrast listening to the author speak about his life and his work in
comparison to reading about it via the transcript using the reflective t-charts as support.
Bud, Not Buddy
Vocabulary: caseworker, brute, doggoned, commence, decoder, glum, twine
Chapter 1
Tasks
 Read Chapter 1
 Discussion Questions
 Why are the items in the suitcase so important to Bud?
 What was the significance of the “age 6” for Bud? Do you feel Bud’s claim “… you start to be a real adult at 6 years old” valid? Why or why not? It is
really a rough age for all kids or does the significance of what happened when he was six (the death of his mother) cause him to view that age as the age
when kids need to grow up?
 What can you infer about the expression “here we go again?”
 What can you infer about the mantra of the orphanage “
 Infer why Bud’s eyes “don’t cry no more”.
 What do Bud’s actions towards Jerry tell you about his character?
 Analyze why the author uses terms such as " 'cause" and "writ" when Bud is talking.
13
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities





Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Infer why Jerry knew how to finish the sentence the caseworker said with "..cheerful, helpful, and grateful".
Analyze what Bud meant by "It was like someone was telling me…..but I didn't have a decoder ring to read what it says".
Complete a Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Interactions: Bud talks to Jerry about how it’s going to be for him at his new house [pages 3-4], Suitcase: blanket, flyers [pages 6-7],
Flashback: When momma brought the flyer home from work [pages 7-8]. Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of and the type of person Bud
is, based on these examples?
Chapter 2
Vocabulary: ingratitude, provoked, cur, lavatory, vermin, ilk, tolerate, “kiss my wrist”
Visual Vocabulary: Ticonderoga, icebox, locomotive (appendix D)
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Review Brer Rabbit (Supplemental Book). Discuss who Brer Rabbit was and the historical significance during this time period. If time permits, read Brer
Rabbit and the Tar Baby (Supplemental Book). Used as a read aloud. Chart the ways in which Brer Rabbit got out of the situation.
 Review the short biography about John Dillinger.
 Complete: Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book (appendix A)

Read Chapter 2
 Discussion Questions
 What does Bud mean when he says of Mrs. Amos, “In her eyes Todd’s mouth was a prayer book”?
 What can you infer about Todd’s character?
 What does "Being brave was kind of stupid" mean?
 Bud continuously refers to "Bud Caldwell's Rules…..". Where would he get these "rules" from?
 Imagine you are Bud. How would you react/feel if you were being locked in a shed?





Complete a Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Interactions: Mrs. Amos walks in when Toddy and Bud are fighting [pages 10-11, 14], Rules and Things: #3 [page 11], #118 [page
18], Comparisons: Brer Rabbit. Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of view, and the type of person Bud is, based on these examples?
Reference is made to Brer Rabbit. Bud is comparing himself to Brer Rabbit while apologizing to Mrs. Amos. How does this comparison illustrate the way in
which Bud has learned to cope with the situations in his life? Does the comparison fit? Compare and contrast Bud in this situation with Brer Rabbit in Brer
Rabbit and the Tar Baby.
Point of View: remind students that characters have a point of view. Use the Characters’ Point of View graphic organizer (appendix A) to compare and contrast
Bud’s and Todd’s point of views of the ‘pencil incident’.
Chapter 3
Vocabulary: whilst
14
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Visual Vocabulary: Louisville Slugger, vampire bat (appendix D)
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Review Paul Bunyan with picture (appendix D).
 Review Paul Robeson (Supplemental Book).
 Complete: Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book (appendix A)

Read Chapter 3
 Discussion Questions
 Why did the author chose to give Bud a flashback of bugs and roaches at this point in the story? What words signal the flashback?
 Describe the scene when Bud hits the hornet nest. What senses did the imagery appeal to?
 Why did the author use dashes when Bud said "get-real-excited-and-move-around" and "stand-in-one-place-with-spit-drooling-down-your-shirt"
 What does taking the time to "play" and then standing up to a "vampire" say about Bud's character?
 Predict what Bud means by "now I get my revenge". Does this saying match his character so far? Why or why not?




Complete a Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Flashbacks: Bugs and the cockroach [pages 23-24], Rules and Things: #328 [page 27], Interactions: Bud and the hornets [pages 2728], Comparison with Famous Person: Paul Bunyan and Paul Robeson [page 29]. Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of view, and the type
of person Bud is, based on these examples?
Extension Activity
 In this chapter, Christopher Paul Curtis uses a great deal of imagery when Bud hits the hornet nest in the shed. Describe the scene and the senses the imagery
appeal to. Is there figurative language? What kind and how is it used for effect? Write a narrative, using imagery, about a time you have been afraid. Describe
how it felt, the sounds you heard, the things you saw, etc. Use vivid imagery and include as many sensory words as possible.
15
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Week 4
Standards:
RL 6: Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a
Learning Targets:
RL6: Using a graphic organizer, students will analyze how the narrator’s point text.
of view is developed by the author using how the author reveals thoughts,
RL 7: Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to
feelings, actions, and reactions of other characters as well as dialog.
listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including
RL7: Students will compare and contrast the experience of reading a story,
contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive
drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video or live version.
when they listen or watch.
RL9: Students will distinguish between different forms of a text (e.g. stories,
RL 9: Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g.,stories and poems;
poems, dramas) as well as different types of genres (e.g. historical fiction,
historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes
fantasy, science fiction) with a focus on the devices authors use in each (e.g.
and topics.
figurative language, voice, character interaction).
W.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
W1: Students will continue to develop argumentative writing with a focus on
W 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas,
using appropriate organizational structures for argument writing that include
concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant
focus for audience and purpose, use of transitions to clarify connections, and
content.
refined evidence and reasoning.
W2: Students will use concrete details, quotations, facts and definitions to
support a topic. Students will develop the use of precise language and use
domain-specific vocabulary to explain the topic as well as use transitional
expressions to establish relationships among ideas and concepts.
Teacher Background Knowledge/Key Information Week 4: This week students will read chapter 4 to 7. As your grade level is planning for this week, take note that
some chapters have more tasks than others and therefore more time may be needed. Provide students a variety of ways to read the text and answer the discussion
questions. Encourage students to work in literature circles and discuss the questions together as opposed to a teacher directed discussion. Continue keeping note of
instances where Bud demonstrates perseverance through difficult situations. After each chapter, students will continue to complete a reflective journal write (appendix
A) and a Chapter Significance chart (appendix A). It is important to complete the pre-reading tasks prior to reading the chapter because the pre-reading tasks will help
support the background knowledge and overall comprehension of the chapter. Each chapter will have vocabulary. Some vocabulary words are words that need to be
frontloaded to assist with comprehension. Other words have been identified as ‘visual vocabulary’ and students will only need a visual reference (provided in appendix
D).
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 4
Vocabulary: lam - phrase ‘on the lam’
Visual Vocabulary: spigot (appendix D)
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Review the usage of the phrase Public Enemy Number One” in the 1930’s (Supplemental Book). Discuss what it meant to have ‘gangsters’ during that time
period. Also review the terminology for J. Edgar Hoover and FBI.

Read chapter 4
 Discussion Questions
 Bud mentions that he "can't all the way blame Todd". What does this mean?
16
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities






Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Describe how you felt when you realized that Bud did not intend to shoot the Amos’. What does this tell you about Bud?
Explain Bud's favorite saying, "He who laughs last laughs the best." Do you agree or disagree? Why?
How does Bud persevere through his experience at the Amos’? What do these actions tell you about Bud’s character?
Complete a Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL.6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Comparison with Famous Person: Public Enemy #1 [page 35]). Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of view, and the
type of person Bud is, based on these examples?
Chapter 5
Vocabulary: side-saddle, midget, teeters, telegraph, mission, Real McCoy
Visual Vocabulary: twenty-five gallon hat (appendix D)
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Review Pretty Boy Floyd (Supplemental Book). After reading the informational paragraph to your students, do a close read, and listen to the lyrics of the
Woody Guthrie song: Pretty Boy Floyd (Supplemental Book). You will find a few short lines to listen to at:
http://www.folkways.si.edu/TrackDetails.aspx?itemid=50404
(Guthrie actually wrote several Depression Era songs that you can explore on this website.)
 Use some or all of the following text dependent questions:
 What was Woody Guthrie saying about crime and money in this line: “Yes, as through this world I’ve wandered/I’ve seen lots of funny men/Some will rob
you with a six-gun/And some with a fountain pen.”
 What does Woody Guthrie mean when he writes: “I love a good man outside the law, just as much as I hate a bad man inside the law.”?
 Guthrie turns Floyd’s story into a Robin Hood tale of good versus evil (steal from the rich to give to the poor). Cite evidence from the lyrics that Guthrie’s
tale of Pretty Boy Floyd is like a Robin Hood tale.
 Complete: Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book (appendix A)

Read Chapter 5
 Discussion Questions
 Infer what "being on the lam was fun…for about 5 minutes" means.
 Analyze why Momma would act strangely when they would talk about the picture.
 Infer how Momma felt toward her father. Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
 Analyze the meaning of the expression "When one door closes, another door opens."
 How would Bud know that if he was one minute late to the mission, he wouldn't get in for food?



Complete a Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL.6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Comparison with Famous Person: Pretty Boy Floyd [page 37], Suitcase: tobacco bag with rocks, Momma’s picture [page 38],
Flashback: The day the photograph of Momma was taken [page 38-42], Rules and Things: #83 [page 42]). Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s
point of view, and the type of person Bud is, based on these examples?
17
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities

Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Writing W.2: Using the Characters’ Point of View graphic organizer (appendix A compare /contrast Brian (from the book Hatchet) and Bud’s life situation and
their need to survive. How are Bud and Brian alike in their need to survive? How are they different? How are their survival skills the same/different?
Chapter 6
Vocabulary: consideration, swapped, privilege, raggedy, shucks
Tasks
 Read chapter 6
 When you get to page 49, Bud sees a “great big sign hanging on a building.” Either show the sign from this link:
http://dragonfly0088.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/theres-no-way-like-the-american-way/ or you will find it in the Supplemental Book for students and the
appendix D for teachers (with background information). Conduct a class discussion using some or all of the following questions:
 On page 50 it says, “My pretend daddy read it and said, “Uh-uh-uh, well, you got to give them credit, you wouldn’t expect that they’d have the nerve to
come down here and tell the truth.” What does he mean by this statement?
 What is the irony in this picture?
 How does this picture show racial inequality? How does this picture show economic inequality?
 What are the different points of view?

Discussion Questions
 What does the man in overalls call Bud? Why?
 What are the Pretend Poppa and Momma doing for Bud and why?
 Describe the gigantic picture. Why do the people in line find it so amusing/ironic?
 What does Pretend Poppa mean when he says “… you wouldn’t expect that they’d have the nerve to come down here and tell the truth”? What are the
different points of view.
 Why do you think the mission would have to announce on a big sign in big letters they have no work available?



Complete a Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Interactions: the people in line for dinner at the Mission [pages 46-52]. Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of view,
and the type of person Bud is, based on these examples?
Chapter 7
Vocabulary: cellar, hypnotizing, matrimonial, atlas, stricken,
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Complete: Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book (appendix A)

Read chapter 7
 Discussion Questions
 Why is Ms. Hill important to Bud?
 At the end of the chapter Bud talks about a door closing and one opening. What do you think he means?
18
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities




Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Complete a Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Rules and Things: #16 [page 56]). Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of view, and the type of person Bud is, based
on these examples?
Divide students into groups of 8 (may be smaller if needed but no less than 4. Have each group practice and present the Reader’s Theatre for Bud, not Buddy
(Supplemental Book). The more animated the students can be while ‘performing’ the better. Encourage creativity. Have students use the Compare/Contrast
Two Authors graphic organizer (appendix A) to compare and contrast what is was like reading the novel to watching the same section of the story performed
CFA
RL.7: After discussing the similarities and differences between the Reader’s Theatre version and the novel version, have students write a paragraph defending their
answer to the following question: Does the difference enhance or detract from the storyline?

Extension Task
 Literary Device: Imagery – “As soon as I got into the library I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I got a whiff of the leather on all the old books, a smell
that got real strong if you picked one of them up and stuck your nose real close to it when you turned the pages. Then there was the smell of the cloth that
covered the brand-new books, the books that made a splitting sound when you opened them. Then I could sniff the paper, that soft, powdery, drowsy smell that
comes off the pages in little puffs when you’re reading something or looking at some pictures, a kind of hypnotizing smell.” This passage uses imagery to illicit
a strong sense of smell and places us in a library. Describe a place of your choosing using imagery to meet the sense of smell, sight, and feeling. Draw a picture
to accompany the paragraph.
 Create an ad/poster for Bud to be adopted. Why would he be a great kid to adopt? What are his strong/selling points?
19
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Week 5
Standards:
RL 6: Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in
Learning Targets:
RL6: Using a graphic organizer, students will analyze how the narrator’s point of
a text.
view is developed by the author using how the author reveals thoughts, feelings,
RL 7: Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to
actions, and reactions of other characters as well as dialog.
listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including
RL7: Students will compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama,
contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive
or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video or live version.
when they listen or watch.
RL9: Students will distinguish between different forms of a text (e.g. stories, poems, RL 9: Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g. stories and
dramas) as well as different types of genres (e.g. historical fiction, fantasy, science
poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar
fiction) with a focus on the devices authors use in each (e.g. figurative language,
themes and topics.
voice, character interaction).
W.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
W1: Students will continue to develop argumentative writing with a focus on using
W 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas,
appropriate organizational structures for argument writing that include focus for
concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of
audience and purpose, use of transitions to clarify connections, and refined evidence relevant content.
and reasoning.
W2: Students will use concrete details, quotations, facts and definitions to support a
topic. Students will develop the use of precise language and use domain-specific
vocabulary to explain the topic as well as use transitional expressions to establish
relationships among ideas and concepts.
Teacher Background Knowledge/Key Information Week 5: This week students will be reading chapter 8 to 10. Students should have opportunity to read
silently/independently, in literature circles, and/or whole group. After each chapter, students will continue to complete a reflective journal write (appendix A) and a Chapter
Significance chart (appendix A). It is important to complete the pre-reading tasks prior to reading the chapter because the pre-reading tasks will help support the
background knowledge and overall comprehension of the chapter. Each chapter will have vocabulary. Some vocabulary words are words that need to be frontloaded to
assist with comprehension. Other words have been identified as ‘visual vocabulary’ and students will only need a visual reference (provided in appendix D). Chapter 8 is a
significant chapter this week. Additional planning prior to teaching will be needed. The students will also have a CFA around Standard Writing 1.
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 8
Vocabulary: whooped, hoodlum, commies, card board city/shanty town, muskrat stew, kin, orphanage, lily liver rat, yellow belly, britches
Visual Vocabulary: mouth organ, smoke stack, billy club,
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 View the Power Point in the district website for information/pictures of Hoovervilles (or view pictures in appendix D used during week 2). Have students use the
Character’s Point of View graphic organizer (appendix A). The student will be the ‘character’. Have them write their feelings/ideas down regarding their reactions
to seeing the pictures of Hoovervilles. Save this to use again after reading chapter 8.
 View the short video at http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=226296 that shows real photos of people and times during the Great Depression.
Stop frequently and discuss the images.
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interview/rails-tales/ This provides information about what it was like ‘riding the rails’.
 If no internet/computer access is available, pictures are provided in appendix D that illustrates Hoovervilles (from the informational text) and Riding the Rails.
20
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities

Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Read chapter 8
 Discussion Questions
 What has Bud learned about families?
 “My momma says these poor kids on the road all alone are like dust in the wind.” Explain this simile. Why do you think Deza’s mom describes children who
are alone as “dust in the wind? Do you think it is true for Bud? Why or why not?
 Is Bud lost? Why or why not?
 Do you think the song “Shenandoah” is related to Bud’s life? Explain.
 Discuss Bugs’ saying: Heads I win, tails you lose. Is it possible for Bud to win? Why or why not?





Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Interactions: Bugs finds Bud [pages 61-63], Bugs and Bud meet the people of Hooverville [starting on page 68], Bud meets Deza
Malone [pages 70-75], Flashback: Bud remembers how Momma used to put him to sleep [pages 79-80]). Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point
of view, and the type of person Bud is, based on these examples?
Use the Character’s Point of View graphic organizer from the pre-reading activity on Hoovervilles. Have students write down their feelings/ideas from reading
about the Hooverville in chapter 8. (RL.7). Discussion Questions: How did the author describe the Hoovervilles? What did the students imagine while they were
reading? How the photographer captures the images of the the Hoovervilles. How did the images make you feel? What did you see in the photos?
Read the poem “The Great Depression” (Supplemental Book)
 Use the graphic organizer TP (appendix A) to deconstruct the poem
 Use a Reflective T-Chart (appendix A) to allow students to reflect on the poem.
 Using a graphic organizer, compare and contrast the three different medias: literature, photos and poem. Each describes the Great Depression in a slightly
different way. Students need to analyze the information and then be able to compare and contrast. Depending on student abilities, this can be done orally, in
writing, small group, etc.
Chapter 9
Vocabulary: Commies
Visual Vocabulary: buffalo nickel, boxcar (appendix D)
Tasks
 Read Chapter 9
 Discussion Questions
 Which images appear more than once in this chapter? Have you seen these images before? Where?
 Why does Bud like Civil War books?
 How does Bud think ideas are like seeds? Review the quote “it’s funny how ideas are, in a lot of ways they’re just like seeds. Both of them start real, real
small and then…woop, zoop, slopp… before you can say Jack Robinson they’ve gone and grown a lot bigger than you ever thought they could”
 Are you surprised by Bud's decision to walk to Grand Rapids? Do you think he will make it?



Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Interactions: Bud meets Miss Hill, the librarian [starting on page 88], Flashback: When he gets the idea that Herman Calloway is his
21
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
father [pages 92-94]). Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of view, based and the type of person Bud is, based on these examples?

Math Extension/Interdisciplinary
 There are multiple websites that allow you to calculate mileage from one place to another.
 Brainstorm with students places they’ve been or would like to go to. They could then calculate the average time it would take to walk there, run there, or ride a
bike there. Students could draw/map their route, pack a suitcase, plan a trip/sightseeing, figure out how many days they could stay, how many days it would take
to walk back, etc. Be creative!
http://maps.randmcnally.com/mileage-calculator.do
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distance.html
Chapter 10
Vocabulary: ventriloquist, bum-rush, puny, urgent, rustle, muffler, slew, yowls, backwash, worrisome, pop/soda, bologna, rear-end, drawers
Visual Vocabulary: knickers (appendix D)
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Baby Face Nelson (Supplemental Book- could be expanded into a close read)
 Complete: Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book (appendix A)

Read Chapter 10
 Discussion Questions
 What can be inferred with the man (Lefty Louis) who stopped for Bud? Why would a complete stranger do that for someone else?
 How is Bud feeling as he walks alone in the dark? How would you feel if you were in his place? Would you make the journey?
 Why did Bud hide whenever he heard a car?
 Why did Bud tell the man he had run away from Grand Rapids?
 How did the man know that Bud was from Flint and was hungry?



Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Interactions: Bud meets Lefty [starting on page 99], Rules and Things (#87 [pages 102-103]). Ask students: What can we infer about
Bud’s point of view, and the type of person Bud is, based on these examples?
CFA
Writing W1. Write an argumentative paragraph on the following: Is the man who is going to help Bud a good man or a person who could hurt Bud? Explain your
reasoning using evidence from the text.
Extension Task
Character outlines/AVID people for direct and indirect characterization
Characters are developed both directly and indirectly through characterization by the author. Direct characterization is used when the author tells you what the character is
like. Indirect characterization allows the author to give certain information that allows the reader to develop their own conclusions-this is shown both through the
22
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
character’s own actions and through the character’s interactions with others. Using the AVID Elementary “Successful Student” (appendix A) outline-create a character
outline of one/more than one of the following characters from the novel. These can be done as you go along, or right after you “meet” them. Bud, Lefty, Mr. Calloway,
Grace, Steady Eddie, Mr. Jimmy, Bud’s mom, etc.
Include around your “student”/character the following-Examples of direct characterization, examples of indirect characterization, What these examples tell you, how the
character affects the plot, one or two direct quotes from the character, and your perspective about that character…would you want to meet them/get to know them/hang out
with them? Do you have any questions about them/for them?
23
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Week 6
Learning Targets:
RL6: Using a graphic organizer, students will analyze how the narrator’s point of
view is developed by the author using how the author reveals thoughts, feelings,
actions, and reactions of other characters as well as dialog.
RL7: Students will compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama,
or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video or live version.
Grade: 6
Standards:
RL 6: Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in
a text.
RL 7: Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to
listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including
contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive
when they listen or watch.
Teacher Background Knowledge/Key Information Week 6: This week students will read chapter 11 to 14. As your grade level is planning for this week, take note that
some chapters have more tasks than others and therefore more time may be needed. Provide students a variety of ways to read the text and answer the discussion questions.
Encourage students to work in literature circles and discuss the questions together as opposed to a teacher directed discussion. Continue keeping note of instances where
Bud demonstrates perseverance through difficult situations. After each chapter, students will continue to complete a reflective journal write (appendix A) and a Chapter
Significance chart (appendix A). It is important to complete the pre-reading tasks prior to reading the chapter because the pre-reading tasks will help support the
background knowledge and overall comprehension of the chapter. Each chapter will have vocabulary. Some vocabulary words are words that need to be frontloaded to
assist with comprehension. Other words have been identified as ‘visual vocabulary’ and students will only need a visual reference (provided in appendix D). Chapter 12 is a
significant chapter during this week and will require additional planning prior to instruction.
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 11
Vocabulary: noggin, paltry, mumbled ashamed, chugged, conscience, judgmental, guarantee, porter
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Complete: Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book (appendix A)

Read chapter 11
 Discussion Questions
 As soon as Bud got into the car, he wanted to run. Why? Where did he want to go? What does this tell you about Bud’s frame of mind (maturity) if he believes
that he is in a vampire’s car?
 How does Bud feel when he hears that Lefty Lewis knows Herman? How would you feel if you were Bud, and to be coming close to the end of your quest in
finding your father?
 The look that Mrs. Sleet’s son gives Bud is described as “just a look like one dog gives another dog that might be passing through the neighborhood”. What is
meant by that description? Why would he look at Bud like that?



Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Rules and Things: [page 116], Interactions: Bud meets Lefty’s family members [starting on page 117]. Ask students: What can we infer
about Bud’s point of view, and the type of person Bud is, based on these examples?
24
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Chapter 12
Vocabulary: alias, loathsome, Western Union, ethyl, flimsy, reputation, exaggerating, telegraph
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Machine Gun Kelly (Supplemental Book).
 Ku Klux Klan (Supplemental Book)
 Al Capone (Supplemental Book)
 (optional) Pullman Porters http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/exhibition/exhibition_9_6.html
 Complete: Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book (appendix A)

Read Chapter 12
 Discussion Questions
 Who does Bud think is following them? How does he come to the conclusion that Mr. Lewis is also “on the lam”?
 What deal does Bud make with Mr. Lewis to keep him from coming into The Log Cabin? Why do you think Bud doesn’t want the two men to meet?
 How is Bud certain immediately that he has found his father? When Bud overhears Mr. Calloway in a conversation in The Log Cabin, it convinces Bud that he
must be his father. Describe the conversation and why Bud makes that connection.
 What does Bud mean when he says the idea that began as ”a teeny-weeny seed in a suitcase had become a mighty maple”?
 Why doesn’t Bud cry when he tells Herman, his “father”, that he was his son?
 How do you think Bud felt when Lefty sent a telegraph to Bud’s “dad”….Mr. Calloway?



Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Rules and Things: #8 [page 133], Interactions: Bud meets the band members [starting on page 144], Bud meets Herman Calloway
[starting on page 146]). Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of view, and the type of person Bud is, based on these examples?
Chapter 13
Vocabulary: moldering, bout, festering, mean old coot, stuff our craws, Sam Hill, coldhearted, kin, prying
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Complete: Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book (appendix A)

Read Chapter 13
 Discussion Questions
 What is Herman E. Calloway’s reaction to Bud’s news? How does Bud react to Mr. Calloway’s less than happy reaction to him? What about Bud allows him
to react in a positive way?
 What deal does Jimmy make with Bud?
 What do the guys tell Bud is the reason Mr. Calloway isn’t taking the news well? What do they suggest Bud do? Why?
 Why does everyone seem to have a problem believing Mr. Calloway is Bud’s father?
 Bud seem to really like Miss Thomas, as he refers to her as “the most beautiful woman in the world”. Why would Bud be drawn to to Miss Thomas?
25
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities



Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Rules and Things: #63 [page 157]). Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of view, and the type of person Bud is, based on
these examples?
Chapter 14
Vocabulary: acquaintance, upbringing, scours, crammed, bawling, humming
Tasks
 Read Chapter 14
 Discussion Questions
 What does NBC say about Mr. Calloway and the musicians that they have their own table and a standing reservation?
 Why does Bud look to see that Mr. Calloway hears him say, “I fell down ma’am, ‘cause the Lord give me the good sense to know when enough is enough”?
 How does Bud describe Miss Thomas’s humming? What does he compare it to? Why?
 What does Bud mean when he says, “another mighty maple started digging down its roots and grabbing holt?
 Why do you think Bud broke down and finally cried?
 Why does Bud believe that this is where he is supposed to be in Sweet Pea’s restaurant?
 Using evidence from the text support your thinking….think of reasons that Herman Calloway COULD be or COULD NOT be Bud’s father.
 How do the band and Herman respond to Bud’s belief in Herman being his father….what do you think?
 Mr. Calloway listens to Bud’s story about his life at the Amos’ and concludes: “Sounds like a case of diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain.”
What does this mean and why does he say it? When are people likely to experience these symptoms?



Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Interactions: Bud meets Miss Thomas [starting on page 163]). Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of view, and the type
of person Bud is, based on these examples?
26
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Week 7
Learning Targets:
RL6: Using a graphic organizer, students will analyze how the narrator’s point of
view is developed by the author using how the author reveals thoughts, feelings,
actions, and reactions of other characters as well as dialog.
RL7: Students will compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama,
or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video or live version.
W2: Students will use concrete details, quotations, facts and definitions to support a
topic. Students will develop the use of precise language and use domain-specific
vocabulary to explain the topic as well as use transitional expressions to establish
relationships among ideas and concepts.
Grade: 6
Standards:
RL 6: Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in
a text.
RL 7: Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to
listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including
contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive
when they listen or watch.
W 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas,
concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of
relevant content.
Teacher Background Knowledge/Key Information Week 7: This week students will read chapter 15 to 18. As your grade level is planning for this week, take note that
some chapters have more tasks than others and therefore more time may be needed. Provide students a variety of ways to read the text and answer the discussion questions.
Encourage students to work in literature circles and discuss the questions together as opposed to a teacher directed discussion. Continue keeping note of instances where
Bud demonstrates perseverance through difficult situations. After each chapter, students will continue to complete a reflective journal write (appendix A) and a Chapter
Significance chart (appendix A). It is important to complete the pre-reading tasks prior to reading the chapter because the pre-reading tasks will help support the
background knowledge and overall comprehension of the chapter. Each chapter will have vocabulary. Some vocabulary words are words that need to be frontloaded to
assist with comprehension. Other words have been identified as ‘visual vocabulary’ and students will only need a visual reference (provided in appendix D). This section
discusses many elements of jazz. Providing additional supplemental materials for jazz, listening or watching jazz is a good opportunity to provide additional information.
Bud hears the band play for the first time in chapter 17. You are able to play sample pieces of jazz at : http://www.allmusic.com/album/jazz-of-the-1930s-greatest-hitsmw0000025343
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 15
Vocabulary: YMCA, Grand Central Station
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Complete: Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book (appendix A)

Read Chapter 15
 Discussion Questions
 Relate Mr. Calloway’s threat and Bud’s flashback to the YMCA pool.
 What is your reaction to how Mr. Calloway is treating Bud? Use context clues to analyze and critique Mr. Calloway.
 Why does what Bud thinks of that night help him fall asleep? Cite a quote for your evidence.
 How is the term “Grand Calloway Station” a metaphor for Mr. Calloway’s home?
 What does Miss Thomas say about the bedroom that makes Bud think that the room may be haunted?
 Any other child would have been in tears at the thought of sleeping in a dead girl’s bed, but Bud feels as if nothing can hurt him now. Even Mr. Calloway’s
stern warnings don’t bother him. Why? How do Bud’s reactions represent Bud’s perseverance and determination?
 Why does Bud feel that this is where he is supposed to be?
27
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities



Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Rules and Things: #28 [page 178], Flashback: Bud remembers swimming at the YMCA [pages 180-181]). Ask students: What can we
infer about Bud’s point of view, and the type of person Bud is, based on these examples?
Chapter 16
Vocabulary: copasetic, embouchure, ears burning, cop-a- squat, Godsend, curtsey, outhouse, Loudean moving pictures
Tasks
 Read Chapter 16
 Discussion Questions
 Why is the band so accepting of Bud? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.
 Why is Bud so excited about his nickname?
 Cite evidence to explain some reasons the band names Bud “Sleepy La Bone”.
 How do the folded clothes at the end of the bed remind Bud of his mother?
 Who is Bud’s new family? Why is the idea of family so important to Bud?
 The Band members set up the giving of Bud’s name like a knighting ceremony. How does this come to represent a rite of passage in his young life?


Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
Chapter 17
Vocabulary: Twenty Thousand “Leaks” Under the Sea, Captain Nemo, Niagara Falls, interrupt, wring, squabs
Tasks
 Read Chapter 17
 Discussion Questions
 Analyze why Bud was pretending to be in a submarine while he was mopping.
 What was Bud's reaction to the music when the band started playing? What evidence from the text bring you to this conclusion?
 What did Bud mean by the metaphor "..she was the sun busting through thick, gray clouds" when Miss Thomas began to sing?
 How does using his imagination help Bud make the work go easier? Do you ever use this strategy? Does it make it more pleasurable?
 How is the band and the music that they create used as a metaphor for Bud’s new family?
 Bud speaks the language of a 10 year old and is not always accurate. What mistakes are obvious as Chapter 17 begins?
 How do the smells in the library overwhelm Bud? How do the sounds of the band take him over too? What is his favorite sound? Why? Describe.



Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
Bud hears the band play for the first time in chapter 17. You are able to play sample pieces of jazz at : http://www.allmusic.com/album/jazz-of-the-1930s-greatesthits-mw0000025343
 Prior to listening to the Jazz music, use the Reflective T-Chart (appendix A) have students evaluate the scene in chapter 17 of Bud’s experience listening to
the jazz music and Grace singing. What did the students imagine? What did they feel while reading that part? Have students write their ideas. Play jazz music
28
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities

Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
for the students. Have them listen to several pieces of jazz. Have students complete another Reflective T-Chart for the jazz. What did the students feel while
listening to the music? What did the students imagine?
Writing W.2: Using the Compare/Contrast Two Authors graphic organizer (appendix A) have students compare and contrast the experience of listening to jazz
and reading the scene in Bud, not Buddy. Students need to compare their experiences of reading about and listening to jazz and contrast their experiences of
reading about and listening to jazz. Some questions to consider: How does listening to the music compare to reading about the music? What differences do you
notice between listening to the music and reading about the music in the text?
Chapter 18
Tasks
 Read Chapter 18
 Discussion Questions
 Bud had gone on the road three times within one week of staying with Miss Thomas. What does this say about life in a band?
 What does the statement mean: " ..the only reason you got this job..you're white and you don't have the strongest personality in the world."
 What did Deed mean when he referred to Mr. C as a "struggler"?
 Analyze how Bud felt when he heard that he was going to have to drive with Mr. C.
 Predict why Mr. C was getting upset when Bud showed him his rocks.
 Analyze how Mr. C felt when he heard Bud's mom's name was Angela.


Complete Chapter Significance Chart (appendix A)
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
CFA
Writing: W.2 Both Bud and Brian (Hatchet) were “rescued”. Using the Characters’ Point of View (appendix A) compare and contrast the survival /coping skills they used
to survive.
29
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Week 8
Learning Targets:
RL6: Using a graphic organizer, students will analyze how the narrator’s point of
view is developed by the author using how the author reveals thoughts, feelings,
actions, and reactions of other characters as well as dialog.
RL7: Students will compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama,
or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video or live version.
W2: Students will use concrete details, quotations, facts and definitions to support a
topic. Students will develop the use of precise language and use domain-specific
vocabulary to explain the topic as well as use transitional expressions to establish
relationships among ideas and concepts.
Grade: 6
Standards:
RL 6: Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in
a text.
RL 7: Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to
listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including
contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive
when they listen or watch.
W 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas,
concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of
relevant content.
Teacher Background Knowledge/Key Information Week 8: This week students will read chapter 19 and the afterword. As your grade level is planning for this week,
take note that some chapters have more tasks than others and therefore more time may be needed. Provide students a variety of ways to read the text and answer the
discussion questions. Encourage students to work in literature circles and discuss the questions together as opposed to a teacher directed discussion. Continue keeping note
of instances where Bud demonstrates perseverance through difficult situations. After each chapter, students will continue to complete a reflective journal write (appendix A)
and a Chapter Significance chart (appendix A). It is important to complete the pre-reading tasks prior to reading the chapter because the pre-reading tasks will help support
the background knowledge and overall comprehension of the chapter. Each chapter will have vocabulary. Some vocabulary words are words that need to be frontloaded to
assist with comprehension. Other words have been identified as ‘visual vocabulary’ and students will only need a visual reference (provided in appendix D). There is also a
writing summative during this week.
Chapter 19
Vocabulary:
Tasks
 Pre-reading
 Complete: Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book (appendix A)

Read Chapter 19
 Discussion Questions
 Why do you think Mr. C locked himself up in his room when he found out Bud's mom was Angela?
 Why do you think that Bud's last name is Caldwell and not Calloway?
 How had Mr. C's attitude toward Bud change when Bud went into the room and touched his back?
 Analyze how you think Bud felt when he figured out the room he was staying in was his mother's.
 What do Miss Thomas' actions tell you about her character? Give evidence from the text.
 Bud's momma had carried around the flyers and rocks with her for years. What does this tell you about her feelings for her father? Infer why you think she did
not get in touch with him.
 Why does Bud feel he doesn't need to carry the rocks and flyer around anymore?
 How has Bud changed from the first time he said "Here we go again" in chapter one to the time he says it in chapter 18?
 Predict how Mr. C and Bud's relationship will change from here on.
 If Bud didn't see Mr. C picking up a rock, how would the ending be changed? Is there any way that Bud would have found out Mr. C was his grandfather?
30
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities


Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
RL-6 Chart
 Add to the RL6 Chart (Interactions: Bud finds Herman Calloway crying [starting on page 217], Rules and Things: #39 [page 219], Flashbacks: Bud is
remembering the little things that his Momma used to do [page 234]). Ask students: What can we infer about Bud’s point of view, and the type of person Bud
is, based on these examples?
Afterword
Tasks
 Read Afterword
 Discussion Questions
 Christopher Paul Curtis states that he included his grandfather as Mr. C. What you infer about his grandfather?
 Analyze what Christopher Paul Curtis means by his last statement " By keeping their stories alive you make them, and yourself, immortal.”

Complete Reflective Journal Write (appendix A)
Summative Assessment
(RL2, RL3, RL6, W2) The author helps us to understand Bud by the actions he takes, by revealing his thoughts, feelings and spoken words throughout the story. Choose 3
character traits that describe Bud's character. Then, in a multiple paragraph piece, use supporting evidence from the text to justify and explain your choices.
Extension Tasks
 In writing, consider the following: How do our decisions and actions reveal who we are? In Bud, not Buddy, Bud makes several important decisions that showed his
perseverance to achieve his greatest goal: to find a family. How did Buddy’s decisions and actions reveal who he was?
 Design a new flier for Herman’s Band-now with Bud in it.
 Create a memory box of your own-like Bud’s suitcase. What 5 items/mementos would you put in? Why? Significance? Compare your items to Bud’s-any
similarities?
 Draw an acrostic poem for Bud using his whole name. Write his traits, ideas, and experiences.
 As an individual or group assignment-create a newspaper to demonstrate your understanding of the novel. Include headlines, missing person’s ad (for Bud or for Bud’s
father), letters to the editor, a character interview, photos, etc. Articles could focus on topics from the first 2 weeks of informational text.
 As an individual or group assignment-character interviews. Students take on the role of journalist and write questions for other characters in the story. They need to
word/ask their questions so that character is allowed to tell the same story-but from their perspective. Students could take on the character role and “interviews” could
be broadcast/videoed/etc. Be creative!
31
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Appendix A
Graphic Organizers
32
Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
33
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Determining Author’s Point of View
Actions showing author’s
POV
Language/Dialogue
showing author’s POV
Topic
Conflict showing author’s
POV
Characters showing
author’s POV
34
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Author’s Claims/Arguments with Supporting Evidence
Title of Text:
Argument:
Claim
Claim
Claim
Evidence
Evidence
Evidence
Is evidence sufficient?
Is evidence sufficient?
Is evidence sufficient?
Why or why not?
Why or why not?
Why or why not?
35
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Reflective T-Chart
What I knew….
What I thought….
What I felt….
What I imagined….
What I questioned….
What I connected to….
36
Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Compare/Contrast Two Authors
Author 1
Similarities
Differences
Author 2
37
Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Compare/Contrast Three Authors
Author 1
Author 2
Similarities
Author 3
Differences
38
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Characters’ Point of View
39
Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Creating a One-Pager
AVID
Directions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
All work must be on only one side of the paper.
Your first and last name must be clearly displayed with a proper paper heading.
Create a border that reflects the theme, concept, or message of the unit of study.
Using the text as a beginning point, display your reactions and connections to the unit of study.
Include visual images that have strong relationships to the unit of study.
Draw a word cluster around one of the visual images. The visual word cluster should artistically symbolize
the subject matter.
7. Write a poem about an important figure, character, or member of the unit of study.
8. Support your selections from the text, your artwork, and your opinions with a personal statement. Begin
your statement with “I believe…”
9. Create Level One, Two, and/or Three questions, and then answer them with solid support from your notes
on the unit of study.
10. Be colorful and neat. Nothing should be left in plain pencil.
40
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Chapter Significance Chart
Characters we meet in this chapter
Describe the characters. Include other
interesting or useful information about them.
Summary of the chapter
Most important events of the chapter
Meaningful or favorite quote in this chapter.
Examples of figurative language
Predict-What will happen next?
41
Grade: 6
Chapter______
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Bud, not Buddy
Rules and Things:
Life Instruction Book
One of the ways Bud copes with his life and surroundings is by making up “Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for
Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself”. He adds it into “Rules and Things” and assigns it
a number. It goes along with how he sees his life and how he copes with his environment.
Create a foldable (next page, appendix A) and label it “Life’s Instruction Book”. There are additions to Bud’s
“Rules and Things” in chapters 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 19.
Before reading the chapter, read students the “Rule”. Discuss what it means/what it could mean, and how they can
translate it into their own life or their own rule. Have them add each one to their foldable “Instruction” book.
Use the many page accordion book on the next page to complete this task.
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
To use with Rules and Things: Life’s Instruction Book
Many-Page Accordion Book
Take a sheet of 8 ½ x 11 inch paper and fold it in half (hamburger or
horizontal) once, then once more. Next, fold the paper in half vertically
twice to form a small rectangle.
Unfold the paper and you will have
16 sections. Cut along the folds under
the top three sections on the right. Then
start from the left, and cut the fold under
the left three sections. Finish by
cutting from the right under the right three
sections.
Starting with the top right section, fold back and forth, accordion-style.
When you get to the end of the row, fold down to the next row, and continue
until you have created a little square book. You will notice that there are 3
places where the book has a fold (two at the top and one at the bottom).
Put glue inside these sections and it will make the book easy to open and
close.
You can make this book into an alphabet book by making a cover and
putting one letter on each page except the last, which will contain Y and Z.
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Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Bud, not Buddy
Reflective Journal Write
Timeframe-10-20 minutes
Using first person point of view (the student becomes Bud), students are to write a reflection about Bud’s
search for his father. This is to be a unique perspective, not a summary of the chapter. Focus on the main events,
and how he responds. They may include, but don’t need to be limited to, finishing the following questions:
 In one sentence, write what happened in this chapter.
 What I experienced…
 What I felt…..
 Information about my surroundings….
 Things I’ve learned….
 Problems I’ve solved….
 “Rules and Things” I’ve added…
 The most important things I will remember….
 How I’ve changed….
Bud goes on a wonderful, colorful journey to find his father. At the end of the book, have students create a unique
cover for this reflective journal. Include their favorite parts, quotes, scenes, places, etc. to make an interesting,
reflective cover that shows their personal response to the novel.
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45
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
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Grade: 6
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Appendix C
Samples
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Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Determining Author’s Point of View
Actions showing author’s
POV
Language/Dialogue showing
author’s POV
 “champion of domestic
social reform, economic
justice, and human rights”
 “helped her to transform the
role of First Lady”
 “she was a civil rights
activist ahead of her time”
Topic
Eleanor Roosevelt
 Eleanor Roosevelt,
Franklin D. Roosevelt and
John F. Kennedy
Characters showing
author’s POV
 “She remains today probably the
most dynamic, broadly effective,
and controversial First Lady in
American history.”
Conflict showing author’s POV
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and the wife of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Born into a privileged class, she became a successful social activist, party leader,
teacher and journalist. By the time she entered the White House, these experiences and the networks she
established helped her to transform the role of First Lady. Champion of domestic social reform, economic justice,
and human rights, Eleanor believed citizenship demanded participation, saying “We will be the sufferers if we let
great wrongs occur without exerting ourselves to correct them.”
Her life after FDR’s death was equally productive. At home, she was a civil rights activist ahead of her
time. As a member of the first American delegation to the United Nations, she played the essential role in the
drafting and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Her commitment to justice often placed her
at risk and made her an easy target for zealous critics. In 1961, President John Kennedy appointed her chair of the
first Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
Far from basking in reflected glory, she remains today probably the most dynamic, broadly effective, and
controversial First Lady in American history. She was the first First Lady to hold regular press conferences and to
routinely travel the nation.
A person of immense energy, Eleanor Roosevelt raised five children, developed a partnership with FDR of
unprecedented productivity, and was a prolific writer and public speaker. She represented the administration
through economic crisis and world war, and her country, democracy and human rights around the world.
“Eleanor Roosevelt” © www.nps.gov. All rights reserved. http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/elro/index.htm
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Appendix D
Resources
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Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Websites
Support
Politacal Cartoons:
http://www.whsd.k12.pa.us/userfiles/1477/Classes/8781/The%20Great%20Depression%20Political%20Cartoons%20and%20questions.p
df
All Things Great Depression: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
Ku Klux Klan: http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan
Graphic Organizers
Interesting story organizer:
http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO/GO_pdf/story_organzier.pdf
Character Trait Chart with a list of character traits at the bottom (this might work for collecting information on Bud's traits as we read
through the book, and then use as a resource for the summative):
http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO/GO_pdf/character_traits_wordbank.pdf
Character Trait Chart (could use this as the pre-writing/planning form for the summative):
http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO/GO_pdf/character_trait_chart.pdf
One more character map organizer (it's sort of cute, but I don't know if it works for us):
http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO/GO_pdf/Character_map_boy.pdf
Directions for folded books: https://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/DirectionsforFoldedBooks.html
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Great Depression
Informational Text
Pre-Reading Photos
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Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Great Depression
Informational Text
Discussion Points when viewing Photos/Images
1. Show all of the pictures without comment.
2. Choose one picture for students to silently respond to in a T chart: Observations/Inferences Observations
can be verified visually-What do you see in the photograph? Inferences are interpretations requiring further
information to be confirmed-What inferences can you make about this photograph?
3. Discuss:
a. -What is the mood of the photo? Justify your answer.
b. -If you had to write a caption expressing in one or two sentences what the picture is about, what
would you
c. say?
d. -In your opinion, why did the photographer want you to see this picture?
4. If the picture has a caption, talk about how the image and the caption work together to help the observer
make meaning. Ask: Were any inferences made confirmed? If inferences were not confirmed, how could
you go about confirming them?
53
1925
1928
Herbert Hoover
elected 31st President
of U.S.
1929
1932
Franklin D. Roosevelt
elected 32nd President
of U.S.
1930
Stock Market Crash
1935 1936
Franklin D.
Roosevelt re-elected
President of U.S.
1940 1941
FDR elected
to 3rd term
as President
Great Depression Ends
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Timeframe: 8 weeks
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Great Depression
Informational Text
Images of Hoovervilles
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Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Great Depression
Informational Text
Breadline Photographs
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Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Great Depression
Informational Images
Mexican-Americans
Mexican American family on the road
with tire trouble, looking for work. 1936
Squatters in Mexican section in San Antonio, Texas. House was built of
scrap material in vacant lot in Mexican section of San Antonio, Texas.
March 1939. Photographer: Russell Lee.
Each worker would stay on his row until finished, carrying a supply of
empty sacks fastened to a picking belt. The 1943 potato harvest in Klamath
County was the largest to that time.
Relief Lines in San Antonio during the Great Depression
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Great Depression
Informational Images
African Americans
A man uses the 'Colored' entrance to a movie theater in Belzoni, Mississippi, 1939. Most public facilities were
segregated by race in the former Confederate states of the south under Jim Crow laws enacted after the Civil War
and throughout the first half of the 20th century. These laws were eventually overruled by the Civil Rights Act of
1964.
Ella Watson (1942), a charwoman in an office building, lost her father to a lynch mob, her husband to a bullet, and
an eighteen year old daughter who died in childbirth.
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Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Great Depression
Informational Images
African Americans
A man stands in the "Colored" area at a Durham, North Carolina bus station, 1940.
Read more: Historic Images of African-American Life During the Depression - Photo Essays - TIME
http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2106839,00.html#ixzz2lJe9N226
Two sisters shop in San Augustine, Texas. 1939
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Great Depression
Informational Images
African Americans
A woman works an Alabama field. 1936
An African-American laborer and his family are moved by a white tenant from Arkansas to Mississippi. 1938
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Great Depression
Informational Images
African Americans
Young boys sit on a car in Chicago, Illinois. 1941
Mrs. Thomas, the wife of a wholesale grocer watches her maid, a black woman, in the kitchen. 1943
Historic Images of African-American Life During the Depression-Photo Essays-TIME
http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2106839,00.html
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Harlem: A Poem
By Walter Dean Myers
They took the road in Waycross, Georgia
Skipped over the tracks in East St. Louis
Took the bus from Holly Springs
Hitched a ride from Gee’s Bend
Took the long way through Memphis
The third deck down from Trinidad
A wrench of heart from Goree Island
A wrench of heart from Goree Island
To a place called
Harlem
Harlem was a promise
Of a better life,
of a place where a man
Didn’t have to know his place
Simply because
He was Black
They brought a call
A song
First heard in the villages of
Ghana/Mali/Senegal
Calls and songs and shouts
Heavy hearted tambourine rhythms
Loosed in the hard city
Like a scream torn from the throat
Of an ancient clarinet
A new sound, raucous and sassy
Cascading over the asphalt village
Breaking against the black sky over
1-2-5 Street
Announcing Hallelujah
Riffing past resolution
Yellow, tan, brown, black, red
Green, gray, bright
Colors loud enough to be heard
Light on asphalt streets
Sun yellow shirts on burnt umber
Bodies
Demanding to be heard
Seen
Sending out warriors
From streets known to be
Mourning still as a lone radio tells us how
Jack Johnson
Joe Louis
Sugar Ray
Is doing with our hopes.
We hope
We pray
Our black skins
Reflecting the face of God
In storefront temples
Jive and Jehovah artists
Lay out the human canvas
The mood indigo
A chorus of summer herbs
Of mangoes and bar-b-que
Of perfumed sisters
Hip strutting past
Fried fish joints
On Lenox Avenue in steamy August
A carnival of children
People in the daytime streets
Ring-a-levio warriors
Stickball heroes
Hide-and-seek knights and ladies
Waiting to sing their own sweet songs
Living out their own slam-dunk dreams
Listening
For the coming of the blues
A weary blues that Langston knew
And Countee sung
A river of blues
Where Du Bois waded
And Baldwin preached
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There is lilt
Tempo
Cadence
A language of darkness
Darkness known
Darkness sharpened at Mintons
Darkness lightened at the Cotton Club
Sent flying from Abyssinian Baptist
To the Apollo.
The uptown A
Rattles past 110th Street
Unreal to real
Relaxing the soul
Shango and Jesus
Asante and Mende
One people
A hundred different people
Huddled masses
And crowded dreams
Squares
Blocks, bricks
Fat, round woman in a rectangle
Sunday night gospel
“Precious Lord…take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand…”
Caught by a full lipped
Full hipped Saint
Washing collard greens
In a cracked porcelain sink
Backing up Lady Day on the radio
Brother so black and blue
Patting a wide foot outside the
Too hot Walk-up
“Boy,
You ought to find the guys who told you
you could play some checkers
‘cause he done lied to you!”
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
In Harlem
The wind doesn’t blow past Smalls
It stops to listen to the sounds
Serious business
A poem, rhapsody tripping along
Striver’s Row
Not getting it’s metric feel soiled
On the well-swept walks
Hustling through the hard rain at two o’clock
In the morning to its next gig.
A huddle of horns
And a tinkle of glass
A note
Handed down from Marcus to Malcolm
To a brother
Too bad and too cool to give his name.
Sometimes despair
Makes the stoops shudder
Sometimes there are endless depths of pain
Singing a capella on street corners
And sometimes not.
Sometimes it is the artist
looking into the mirror
Painting a portrait of his own heart.
Place
Sound
Celebration
Memories of feelings
Of place
A journey on the A train
That started on the banks of the Niger
And has not ended
Harlem
Cracked reed and soprano sax laughter
Floats over
a fleet of funeral cars
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
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Grade: 6
Great Depression
Informational Images
Harlem Renaissance
Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
Aaron Douglas, Idylls of the Deep South, 1934
Aaron Douglas, Song of the Towers
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Great Depression
Informational Images
Hair Styles
65
Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Great Depression
Informational Images
Fashion
66
Grade: 6
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Timeframe: 8 weeks
Great Depression
Informational Images
Automobiles
Great Depression
Informational Images
Appliances
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Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Great Depression
Informational Images
Movie Posters
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Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 2
Steam Locomotive
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 2
Ice Box
Advertisement for an ice box in the 1930s
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Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 2
Ticonderoga Pencil
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 3
Louisville Slugger
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Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 3
Vampire Bat
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 3
Paul Bunyan was a figure in American folklore who was known for his tremendous ability as a lumberjack. He
was famous for his immense strength and ‘giant’ size as well as his honest nature. He worked with the help of his
trusty, large, blue ox, Babe.
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Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
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Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 4
Spigot
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 5
Twenty-five Gallon Hat
A legendary cowboy hat that is depicted as being extremely tall.
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Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 6
Teacher Background for the image:
There’s No Way Like The American Way
May 18, 2011 by dragonfly0088
During the great depression America’s morale was low in the best of cases. Propaganda was dispersed to try and
raise the zeitgeist (spirit of the time) like the billboard “There is no way like the American way.” This billboard
was created by Arthur Rothstein in February of 1937 (Picture History) and displayed in Kentucky (Abagonds). Not
only was this billboard displayed during the Great Depression but it was also displayed during the aftermath of the
Louisville flood (Abagonds). According to the National Weather Service the flood caused over seventy percent of
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Grade: 6
Louisville to be submerged under river flood waters. Of course, this seventy percent of land submerged was a low
income area and displaced about 175,000 people (National Weather Service).
The billboard displays the proud claim that America has the “World’s highest standards of living” and has a
smiling family glowing with American Pride to support this claim. The family in Rothstien’s work is a white
family driving in a brand new car. Father is driving the car and mother is happily sitting next to him with perfect
makeup decorating her slender face. The couple has two children: a boy and a girl. The children share the back seat
of the automobile with their medium sized dog who is happily sticking his head out of the window. Everyone is
happy and content. The people in this image represent the perfect nuclear American family and the ideal for
American life.
The photographer Margaret Bourke-White took a photo during the aftermath of the flood in 1937 that captures the
truth of American life for many people (Women in History). White’s photo shows a long line of flood refugees
waiting for rations. The people in line are real Americans standing underneath the dominating billboard of the ideal
nuclear white American family. The people in line are all African Americans who are bundled up in layers of
clothing to protect against the cold, they are hungry, they are probably going without showers, and are living with
the heavy weight of having lost everything to the flood and with the Great Depression threatening that what was
lost will be near impossible to regain.
White’s image represents a huge disparity between reality and propaganda. Rothstein’s image shows the ideal
American family and therefore exposing the prevailing ideology of the time. There are clear racial, economic, and
political ideologies being portrayed by Rothstein and White’s photo points these out. One ideological subtext to
these images that isn’t as obvious but there are gender ideologies as well. The same year as the creation of the
billboard and the flood “FDR delivered his second inaugural address: ‘I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, illclad, ill-nourished,’” acknowledging the fact that the ideal was not the reality (America’s great Depression).
“There is no way like the American Way” shows racial, economic, gender rolls, and political ideologies. My final
ideological assignment will explore the ideologies that White’s and Rothstein’s images display.
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Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 8
Riding the Rails
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 8
Mouth Organ
Also known as a harmonica
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Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 8
Smoke Stack
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 8
Billy Club
76
Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 9
Buffalo Nickel
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 9
Box Car
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Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6
Language Arts Unit: Perseverance through Inequalities
Bud, not Buddy
Chapter 10
Knickers
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Timeframe: 8 weeks
Grade: 6