It was
different in Alaska in 1948. The children liked school but the
teachers didn't. Teachers never stayed long in the little Alaskan
village--they didn't like fish, or it was too cold, or it was too
lonely. Then, Miss Agnes came and school changed for
everyone....even Bokka was able to go to school and learn to read and
write and use sign language. Bokka was deaf. Fred, short
for Fredericka, tells about all that she and the other children learned when Miss Agnes
came
--
magenta
sienna
periwinkle
sod house
Yukon River
Koyukuk River
potlatch
concertina
birch
moccasins
somersault
tarp
Try to
organize this list of words from the book into three categories.
Some words have more than one meaning. Use the text in the story to
help you figure out meanings. Keep a dictionary, thesaurus, or
computer nearby.
Know::
I know what it means
Seen:
I've seen this word before, but am not sure of its meaning.
Robin Hood retold
by Howard Pyle.
Robin Hood, Maid Marian, and the merry outlaws of Sherwood Forest
repeatedly outwit the sheriff of Nottingham and befriend the poor.
The adventures of Ulysses retold
by Anna Claybourne.
An illustrated retelling of the ancient Greek poem. Ulysses'
struggle to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War is recounted.
Robin Hood and his men.
For
the Teacher
The Year of Miss Agnes is a first
person narrative told as if the author were an older Alaskan woman recounting
the story of a year in her childhood . . . short, easy read for most fourth
graders. Many allusions to classic stories are in this book, along with
a teaching style that only now many teachers are emulating. Imagine! She
taught that way in 1948! Art and literature mix here with snow, fish,
and an Alaskan winter. Good for a read-aloud, too.
Activity: Make a chart to track of all the ways Miss Agnes helps her
students learn.
Balto and the great race Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody. -
Random House, New York : c1999. (636.73) "A Stepping Stone
book." Recounts how the sled dog Balto saved Nome, Alaska, in 1925
from a diphtheria epidemic by delivering medicine through a raging
snowstorm.
Black Star, Bright Dawn
O'Dell, Scott, 1898-1989. - Houghton Mifflin, Boston : 1988. (-Fic-) Bright Dawn must face the challenge of the Iditarod dog sled race
alone when her father is injured.
Denali National Park and Preserve
Petersen, David, 1946- - Children's Press, New York : c1996. (979.8) Includes bibliographical references (p. 44) and index. Describes
the landscape, wildlife, and visitor activities at Alaska's Denali
National Park
Hands-on Alaska : art activities for all ages
Merrill, Yvonne Young - K/ITS , Anchorage, Alaska : c1996. (745.5)
#24824A3Presents instructions for a variety of craft activities that
recreate some of the Native arts of Alaska, and includes color photographs
of traditional Native art from the Anchorage Museum of History and Art.
Julie of the wolves
George, Jean Craighead, 1919- - HarperCollins, New York : c1972. (-Fic-) Newbery
Medal, 1973 While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a
thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska
and is befriended by a wolf pack.
Potlatch : a Tsimshian celebration
Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane. - Holiday House, New York : c1997. (394.2)
Describes the traditions of the Tsimshian Indians living in Metlakatla,
Alaska, and, in particular, those connected with a potlatch they hold to
celebrate their heritage.
Summer coat, winter coat : the story of a snowshoe hare
Boyle, Doe. - Soundprints, Norwalk, Conn. : c1993. (-E-) As the seasons
pass, Snowshoe Hare's coat changes from brown to white and back to brown
again, helping her to blend into her habitat and avoid predators as she
searches for food.
OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR
Toughboy and sister
Hill, Kirkpatrick. - Puffin Books, New York : 1992. (-Fic-) The
death of their drunken father strands ten-year-old Toughboy and his
younger sister at a remote fishing cabin on the Yukon River near Ruby,
Alaska, where they spend a summer trying to cope with dwindling food
supplies and hostile wildlife.
Winter camp
Hill, Kirkpatrick. - Puffin Books, New York, N.Y. : 1995. (-Fic-)Sequel to
: Toughboy and Sister. Eleven-year-old Toughboy and his younger sister
must survive the harsh Alaskan winter at a friend's winter trapping camp.
For
the Teacher
