English 7

This curriculum map may differ from actual content in the classroom based on many factors.

June

Writing Standards For Common Core

Show What You Know

Skill Objectives

1. Students will summarize long text passages.

2. Students will draw inferences using contextual clues.

3. Students will use word recognition skills to understand unfamiliar words (for

example, decoding multi-syllable words, affixes, root words).

4. Students will select appropriate definitions from the dictionary.

5. Students will use the pronunciation guide in the dictionary to correctly say

unfamiliar words.

6. Students will paraphrase the key ideas in fiction…

7. Students will confirm meaning using context clues.

8. Students will determine author’s purpose.

9. Students will predict and draw conclusions about stories.

10. Students will use reading …and listenin

sediment matter that has been deposited by some natural process

Presently they came to a place where a little stream of water, trickling over a ledge and carrying a limestone  sediment with it, had, in the slow-dragging ages, formed a laced and ruffled Niagara in gleaming and imperishable stone.

quest

the act of searching for something

Becky responded to his call, and they made a smoke-mark for future guidance, and started upon their  quest.

multitude

a large indefinite number

In one place they found a spacious cavern, from whose ceiling depended a  multitude of shining stalactites of the length and circumference of a man's leg; they walked all about it, wondering and admiring, and presently left it by one of the numerous passages that opened into it.

vast

unusually great in size or amount or extent or scope

Under the roof  vast knots of bats had packed themselves together, thousands in a bunch; the lights disturbed the creatures and they came flocking down by hundreds, squeaking and darting furiously at the candles.

diverge

extend in a different direction

But he felt less and less hopeful with each failure, and presently began to turn off into  diverging avenues at sheer random, in desperate hope of finding the one that was wanted.

anguish

extreme distress of body or mind

Becky clung to his side in an  anguish of fear, and tried hard to keep back the tears, but they would come.

pluck

the trait of showing courage and determination

Tom begged her to  pluck up hope again, and she said she could not.

threadbare

repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse

Becky cried, and Tom tried to think of some way of comforting her, but all his encouragements were grown  threadbare with use, and sounded like sarcasms.

moiety

one of two approximately equal parts

Tom divided the cake and Becky ate with good appetite, while Tom nibbled at his  moiety.

stupor

marginal consciousness

All that they knew was, that after what seemed a mighty stretch of time, both awoke out of a dead  stupor of sleep and resumed their miseries once more.

apathy

an absence of emotion or enthusiasm

She had sunk into a dreary  apathy and would not be roused.

avocation

an auxiliary activity

The majority of the searchers had given up the quest and gone back to their daily  avocations, saying that it was plain the children could never be found.

skiff

a small boat propelled by oars or by sails or by a motor

He described how he labored with her and convinced her; and how she almost died for joy when she had groped to where she actually saw the blue speck of daylight; how he pushed his way out at the hole and then helped her out; how they sat there and cried for gladness; how some men came along in a  skiff and Tom hailed them and told them their situation and their famished condition;

fortnight

a period of fourteen consecutive days

About a  fortnight after Tom's rescue from the cave, he started off to visit Huck, who had grown plenty strong enough, now, to hear exciting talk, and Tom had some that would interest him, he thought.

ironically

in a manner characterized by incongruity or unexpectedness

The Judge and some friends set Tom to talking, and some one asked him  ironically if he wouldn't like to go to the cave again.

contrived

showing effects of planning or manipulation

He had also  contrived to catch a few bats, and these, also, he had eaten, leaving only their claws.

oblivion

the state of being disregarded or forgotten

It is falling now; it will still be falling when all these things shall have sunk down the afternoon of history, and the twilight of tradition, and been swallowed up in the thick night of  oblivion.

earnest

characterized by a firm, humorless belief in one's opinions

"Tom -- honest injun, now -- is it fun, or  earnest?"

recess

a small concavity

They found a small  recess in the one nearest the base of the rock, with a pallet of blankets spread down in it; also an old suspender, some bacon rind, and the well-gnawed bones of two or three fowls.

tarnish

make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air

"Got it at last!" said Huck, ploughing among the  tarnished coins with his hand.

contented

satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are

Sid chuckled in a very  contented and satisfied way.

effusive

uttered with unrestrained enthusiasm

He sprung his secret about Huck's share in the adventure in the finest dramatic manner he was master of, but the surprise it occasioned was largely counterfeit and not as clamorous and  effusive as it might have been under happier circumstances.

windfall

a sudden happening that brings good fortune

THE reader may rest satisfied that Tom's and Huck's  windfall made a mighty stir in the poor little village of St. Petersburg.

prodigious

so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe

Each lad had an income, now, that was simply  prodigious -- a dollar for every week-day in the year and half of the Sundays.

initiation

a formal entry into an organization or position or office

We'll get the boys together and have the  initiation to-night, maybe."

Discussion and Activities

ISSUES

1. After starting out as a light, humorous story, the novel suddenly changes to a serious tale of murder and injustice. In your opinion, should Twain have changed the tone so sharply? Why or why not?
2. Running away to live alone and having an adventure—both are favorite fantasies. Why do you think these ideas are so appealing to many people?
3. Tom works out a way to attend his own funeral. If you could do the same thing, would you? Why or why not?
4. Huck complains that “being rich ain’t what it’s cracked up to be.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
5. After completing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain said that he might have made a mistake in not using Tom as a first-person narrator. Do you agree that the story would have been better with a first-person narrator instead of Twain’s third-person narration? Why or why not?

CHOICE ACTIVITIES

Social Studies  Tom’s Time. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is set in rural America around 1840. For many, it was a time of growth and prosperity, a time of manners and culture. For others, it was a time of great poverty and inhumane restrictions. Make some notes about how you see both ways of life reflected in the novel. Then, select some aspect of life in rural America before the Civil War. Prepare a brief research report to share with the class. If you wish, illustrate your report with drawings or magazine pictures.

Music  Say It with Song. Working on your own or with a partner, write a song that relates to one or more story events. For example, it might be a love song that Tom sings when he first sees Becky, or a funeral song that Aunt Polly sings at the service for Tom. Compose your own music, if you wish, or create new lyrics for a melody you know. Together with classmates who have written songs for other parts of the novel, present a “concert.”

Television: Interview  Tonight’s Guest Is . . . Working with a partner, prepare a television interview with Tom or another story character. The interviewer asks the character about his or her opinions and feelings about some events in the story. The “character” answers just as that character might. Practice your interview a few times; then, videotape it. After you play it for the class, ask for the audience’s reaction. Be ready to explain how the activity helped you understand the novel better.

Radio: Commercial  Radio Now, Here It Comes! Write an enthusiastic radio ad to persuade listeners to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Your ad may be serious or funny, but it must be creative. Use appealing words and strong arguments to convince your listeners that Twain’s novel is worth reading. Record and play your ad; then, let classmates tell what they liked most about the ad. If you wish, you even might try “selling” the story on a home-shopping cable channel or a TV infomercial.

Art: Map  Map Maker. With a few classmates, draw a map of St. Petersburg and its outlying areas. The map should include specific locations from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, such as the school, church, jail, courthouse, Temperance Tavern, Cardiff Hill, the Mississippi River, forests, Jackson’s Island, and McDougal’s cave. Be sure to label each location and briefly identify what took place there in the story. You may wish to draw your map using computer software.

Text Types and Purposes:

Chapters 25–35

FOCUS ACTIVITY

One of the characters in the novel says, “being rich ain’t what it’s cracked up to be. It’s just worry and worry, and sweat and sweat.”

Sharing Ideas

Share ideas with a partner about the advantages and disadvantages of being wealthy. How might your life change—for the better and for the worse?

Setting a Purpose

Read to find out how the characters feel about suddenly becoming wealthy.

BACKGROUND

Bad Boys and Good Boys

You read on pages 10 and 11 about the “good boy” novels that Mark Twain poked fun at. In the final section of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, you’ll see what happens to Tom, the bad boy, and his “bad” comrade, Huck Finn. Keep in mind that the good boys of the other books never misbehaved and were rewarded with wealth, true love, and the respect and admiration of others. These good boys avoided the activities that Tom takes most pleasure in: dreaming about pirates and robbers, playing hooky, smoking, stealing, and making mischief.

The Return of Tom Sawyer— and Huck Finn

Mark Twain had great affection for his literary creations, Tom and Huck. He brought them back in other novels. In 1885, nine years after The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published, Twain published the first sequel to Tom Sawyer. This novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is considered Twain’s masterpiece and one of the great American novels. It follows Huck and the runaway Jim on a journey down the Mississippi River to freedom. In 1894 Twain published Tom Sawyer

Production and Distribution of Writing:

Research to Build and Present Knowledge:

Range of Writing:

Tom Sawyer-Mark Twain

engageny.org- reading list

https://www.americanenglish.state.gov/resources/adventures-tom-sawyer