Fire on the Mountain – response to literature

Materials needed:

Web Resources:

Vocabulary:

grim, fury, insult, rage, shemma, boasting, emerge, sputter, injera, wat, mesob

Lesson: (this lesson may take several days)

Before this lesson, the children will have already written several Responses to Literature in the Painted Essay format.

Read the book to the class, providing plenty of support for the vocabulary and plot points.

Discussion points:

  • page 3: How do you think Alemayu feels?
  • page 13: Why do you think Alemayu spoke up against the rich man?
  • page 13: Do you think Alemayu will be able to stay on the mountain?
  • page 21: How did Alemayu stay brave on the mountain?
  • page 21: Is the rich man being fair?
  • page 25: What did Alemayu and his sister do during the feast for the rich man? Why did they do that?
  • page 27: Did the rich man learn a lesson?

On the chart paper, write the focus sentence: Alemayu is very brave.

Call on students to share examples from the story that support this focus. Some examples are:

  • He leaves his home all by himself to look for his sister.
  • He stands up to the rich man, telling him he is brave and strong too.
  • The wind danced and screamed, Alemayu stayed on the mountain.
  • Hyenas howled and Alemayu stayed on the mountain.
  • The wind bit his face, feet, and hands. But he continued to stay.

Write an introduction to the response together. The students write the body on their own (you can use the provided frame and just type in your own introduction and conclusion). After the body is written, write a conclusion as a group. Frame for written response: fire-on-the-mountain

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