Words of the Wiser
Teacher Copy
Ryan, Pam Munoz Riding Freedom. New York: Scholastic, 2000. Print.
Introduction
I am going to read a few scenes to you that are all from a book titled Riding Freedom. Riding Freedom
is about a young girl named Charlotte who lives during the mid-1800s. Her parents are dead and she
lives in an orphanage. She loves horses, but the overseer of the orphanage where she lives forbids
her to work with them simply because she’s a girl. Life there is hard, and at some point she realizes
she cannot stay there, so she decides to run away from the orphanage. Let’s look at a short scene, the
one where Charlotte tells a trusted older and wiser adult at the orphanage that she must escape. The
friend’s name is Vern, and his job at the orphanage is to take care of the horses. One of the horses is
named Justice.
Model Read
Page 38
“Thanks. Vern.
I wish I could stay with you and work with the horses,
but…I’d be in the kitchen and I’d be missin’ Justice and frettin’ ‘cause I wouldn’t
get to see Charity’s foal…or help you name it.”
“I know. I know Miss Charlotte,” said Vern. “You gotta do what your heart
tells you.”
“I won’t ever forget you,” said Charlotte.
“I guess I’m not likely to forget you, Miss Charlotte.”
I’ll stop here because I’ve noticed that this is a scene in which an older and wiser character has offered
advice to the main character. The advice I hear Vern giving Charlotte is, “You gotta do what your
heart tells you.” When authors create such a scene, we need to stop and ask ourselves, how could
this advice affect the character? I think this advice will be helpful to Charlotte right now and also later
on, no matter what she faces in the future. At this moment, those words may help her muster the
courage to take the risk and run.
Since Charlotte says that she won’t ever forget Vern, and he says he won’t forget her, I’m going to bet
that they won’t see each other again. So, it will have to be his words, his advice, that she keeps close
to her. As I keep reading, I’ll discover if that’s true or not.
So, Charlotte leaves the orphanage and her good friends Vern and Hayward. She eventually finds a
nice older man who lets her live in his barn and begins to teach her to drive a six-horse stagecoach.
Learning to drive the coach is hard work.
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Words of the Wiser
Teacher Copy
Page 64
Here were six strong horses waiting for her commands, her tugs on the
reins, to tell them which way to go. She yelled, “Haw” and “Gee” to get them to
bear left and right, like she did when she was riding one horse or driving two.
She wished Hayward could see her. And Vern. Vern would never let her
get out of that wagon until she figured out the turns. Just like when he taught her
to ride, he kept putting her back on Freedom (her horse) after each fall, saying,
“Every time you fall, you learn somethin’ new ‘bout your horse. You learn what
not to do next time.”
Here is another important place to stop because I have notice another place where the wiser
character has offered the main character some advice. Vern has told Charlotte that, “Every
time you fall, you learn somethin’ new ‘bout your horse. You learn what not to do next
time.”
Now remember the question we need to ask ourselves once we find once we find one of
these life lessons: How might this advice affect the character?
Students Stop & Jot then Turn & Talk with their partner
Teacher ease dropping
Students share out what they found
(It might be something like this,,,“Back in the saddle”
Whenever she fails at anything, she should try to learn from it and keep on trying. In other
words, it’s both a lesson about riding and a lesson about life.)
Let’s keep reading and see if there are any other moments like these. The story has continued, and
now Charlotte is a good stagecoach driver, but on this day someone from her past wants to ride on
her stagecoach and that upsets her. Ebeneezer, the man who taught her to drive a six-horse
stagecoach, sees that she’s upset and says:
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Words of the Wiser
Teacher Copy
Page 72
“What are you blabberin’ about? The mails gotta go through, same as
them passengers.”
Ebeneezer put his hand on Charlotte’s shoulder. “Now listen, don’t you pay
them passengers no mind. You are what you are. And what you are is a fine
horseman. And the best coachman I ever saw. You remember that. Under the
circumstances, there ain’t nothing left for you to do but your job. So get to it.”
Charlotte looked square at Ebeneezer.
Ebeneezer, looked square back at Charlotte and said, “You’re the
coachman. You’re in charge, so load ‘em up.”
Well, here we are at the end of this scene, and I’ve seen another, Words of the Wiser signpost. I want
to see if you this one on your own. What does Ebenezer tell Charlotte that she might remember and
hold on to as good advice fair the rest of her life?
Students Turn & Talk
Students Share Out
Wrap-Up
Today we learned about the Words of the Wiser. This lesson says that you should look for a scene in
which a wiser and usually older character offers the main character advice that will help him or her
through this moment in the story but also through much of his or her life. When you find that scene,
you should ask yourself this question: How might this advice affect the character? When you can
answer this question, then you’re learning about what’s very important in the story, and that might
help you think about the theme.
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