N
ew W
indmills
New
Windmills
2003
support sheets
by Alan Pearce
The following pages consist of teacher’s notes and classroom support
sheets for Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. These pages can be
downloaded and printed out as required.
Text © Alan Pearce, 2003
This material may be freely copied for institutional use. However, this material is copyright and
under no circumstances may copies be offered for sale. The publishers gratefully acknowledge
permission to reproduce copyright material.
Tuck Everlasting
Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt
Synopsis
Winnie Foster, an only child, wants to escape from the excessive control exerted by her
mother and grandmother. She eventually plucks up enough courage to explore the wood
opposite her house, where she comes across the Tuck family. This is a unique family who,
years ago, discovered a spring whose water provides everlasting life. Winnie observes
one of the Tucks drinking from the spring and is naturally inquisitive.
The Tucks want to protect everyone else from their fate as having everlasting life is like a
prison sentence. In an attempt to keep the spring’s powers secret the Tucks kidnap
Winnie, hoping to persuade her of the dangers of eternal life.
A mysterious man in a yellow suit has heard about the spring’s powers, and is searching
for the spring, expecting to make a fortune selling the water. He leads the police to the
Tucks’ hideout, where, unfortunately, Mae Tuck kills the man in the yellow suit and so is
imprisoned. However, Winnie helps in a successful plot to release her.
The novel concludes with the news that the spring has been destroyed.
Prior learning
This clever novel uses an adventure story to explore the desirability of eternal life. Before
the pupils study the novel it might be interesting to consider this issue, and the
associated idea of being able to terminate your life.
Study areas
Because the characters in this novel are so well created, the reader is engaged in the
characters’ personal suffering. Readers will want to discuss the problems that the Tuck
family face, but they will also identify with the problems Winnie has growing up.
Possible areas for study include:
Creative writing: Running away from home.
(Writing to entertain. Yr7, Wr5; Yr8, Wr6; Yr9, Wr5)
Diary writing: Dealing with the problems of over-protective parents.
(Writing to imagine. Yr7, Wr7; Yr8, Wr5; Yr9, Wr5)
Writing to analyse: The rights and wrongs of trespass.
(Writing to analyse. Yr7, Wr18; Yr8, Wr16; Yr9, Wr16)
Writing to persuade: The man in the yellow suit’s advertising leaflets.
(Writing to persuade: Yr7: Wr15; Yr8: Wr13; Yr9: Wr13)
2
Teacher’s
Notes
© Harcourt Education Limited, 2003
Tuck Everlasting
Group discussion: What should be done with underage individuals who break the
law?
(Group discussion. Yr7: S&L12; Yr8: S&L3; Yr9: Wr10)
Drama: Act out the conversation between Winnie and her parents when they are
reunited.
(Drama Yr7, S&L16; Yr8, S&L14; Yr9: Wr12)
Teacher guidance
Support Sheet 1
This support sheet leads pupils through the process of writing a piece of persuasive
writing. The pupils’ task is to produce the speech that either (a) Tuck might have written
to persuade a crowd of people not to drink the spring water to achieve eternal life, or
(b) the man in the yellow suit might have given to a crowd of people to persuade them to
drink the spring water and achieve eternal life. The pupils are provided with the
appropriate page references to research the protagonists’ contrasting views. They are also
given brief notes about what might be expected in a piece of persuasive writing. Finally, a
word bank is offered to encourage the pupils to extend their vocabulary. It would be possible
to treat this piece of work as either a written task, or a speaking and listening task.
Literacy Framework Objectives
Year 7: S15, Varying the formality of language; R6, Actively reading for information;
R8, Inferring and deducing information; R16, Distinguishing between the attitudes of
characters and author; W6, Portraying character through writing; W15, Writing to
persuade; S&L17, Extending their spoken repertoire.
Year 8: S12, Varying the formality of language; R4, Reading actively for meaning;
W6, Conveying a sense of character in writing; W7, Creating tone in writing; W13,
Writing to persuade; S&L14, Develop dramatic effects.
Year 9: S9, Varying the formality of writing; W13, Writing to persuade; S&L12, Using a
range of drama techniques.
Support Sheet 2
This support sheet leads pupils through the process of producing a piece of explanation
writing. The pupils’ task is to write the constable’s report of events surrounding the killing
of the man in the yellow suit, and Winnie’s role in freeing Mae Tuck from jail. The pupils
are given the appropriate page references so that they can remind themselves of the events.
They are then given a Crime Record Sheet template. Finally, a word bank is offered to
encourage the pupils to extend their vocabulary, and to use an appropriate written style.
Literacy Framework Objectives
Year 7: S15, Varying the formality of language; R6, Actively reading for information;
R8, Inferring and deducing information; R16, Distinguishing between the attitudes of
characters and author; W6, Portraying character through writing.
Year 8: S12, Varying the formality of language; R4, Reading actively for meaning;
W6, Conveying a sense of character in writing; W7, Creating tone in writing.
3
Year 9: S9, Varying the formality of writing; W16, Writing to analyse.
Teacher’s
Notes
© Harcourt Education Limited, 2003
Tuck Everlasting
Support Sheet 3
This support sheet asks pupils to respond to a range of metaphors, and then encourages
them to write their own images. The metaphor that is used to open the novel is given, and a
commentary is provided to show what someone thought about the metaphor. Pupils are then
asked to reflect on four more metaphors from the novel. Afterwards, pupils are asked to
create their own images to describe four different sounds.
Literacy Framework Objectives
Year 7: W14, Using words with precision; R12, The writer’s craft; Wr8, Experimenting
with language.
Year 8: W11, Appreciating figurative language; R7, Appreciating implied meaning;
Wr6, Experimenting with figurative language.
Year 9: W7, Recognising layers of meaning; Wr8, Writing poetically.
4
Teacher’s
Notes
© Harcourt Education Limited, 2003
Tuck Everlasting
1
Persuasive writing –
Everlasting life
In Tuck Everlasting the man in the yellow suit plans to become immensely rich by selling
the water that gives eternal life. However, the Tuck family try to prevent anyone learning
about the water because they know how miserable eternal life is.
Imagine that the man in the yellow suit is trying to persuade a crowd of people to buy
some water so they can have eternal life, while Tuck is trying to persuade them not to.
Your task is to prepare the speech that one of these characters might give. You can
choose which of the speeches to prepare. Make the speech about 200 words long.
Once you are happy that the speech you have prepared is very persuasive, practise it,
and then be ready to give your speech to the rest of the class.
Planning
a
To help you plan your speech, complete the table below. The page references will
take you to moments in the novel when people talk about the advantages and
disadvantages of having eternal life.
Page
29
Jesse
30
Jesse
40/1
Mae
47
Tuck
54
Jesse
65/6
Miles
73
b
Character
What they say about eternal life
The man in the
yellow suit
In a persuasive speech you might expect the following: writing in the first person;
some short sentences for effect; personal opinion; examples; rhetorical questions;
appeals to the listener.
You might want to use some of these words in your letter:
indestructible, timeless, monotonous, everlasting, liberty, immunity, immortality,
tedious, isolated.
5
Pupil
Sheet
© Harcourt Education Limited, 2003
Tuck Everlasting
2
Explanation writing –
Police report
Introduction
At the end of Tuck Everlasting Winnie helps Mae Tuck escape from jail. The constable
tells Winnie that this was a criminal act, but that she was too young to be punished by
the law. However, the constable would still have had to fill in an official report of the
events.
Imagine that you are the constable. Your task is to write the official report about the
incidents surrounding the murder of the man in the yellow suit, and the escape of Mae
Tuck from prison.
Planning
Copy the template below in your book, and use it to write your report. The report
should be about 250 words long, so leave enough space when you draw your template.
Treegap Constabulary.
Crime Record Sheet.
Accused:
Recording officer:
Description of event:
Signed:
Date:
Notes: These page references will provide important information for the report:
pp.72–7
The man in the yellow suit is killed. The constable witnessed the crime.
pp.88–90 Winnie helps Mae escape from jail.
pp. 92–3
Winnie is discovered in the cell.
You might like to use some of the following words in your report:
struck, impact, collapsed, apprehended, restrained, detained, clambered, concealed,
prised
6
Pupil
Sheet
© Harcourt Education Limited, 2003
Tuck Everlasting
3
Creating metaphors and similes
Introduction
In Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt creates a wide range of metaphors and similes. These vivid
comparisons make her writing interesting. Each metaphor or simile encourages you to think
carefully about what the comparisons suggest about the things being described. For
example, look at the way the novel starts.
‘The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the livelong year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning.’
What did you think about when you read this image? Here is what someone else wrote
about it:
The image of a Ferris wheel suggests excitement and enjoyment, so the summer must have
been enjoyed. However, being at the top of the circle means that they are now anticipating
something, probably something frightening, like you do at the top of the Ferris wheel. This
leaves the reader anticipating that something frightening is going to happen in the novel.
Task
a
Complete the following table. Record what each of the images makes you think about.
Page
b
Image
What the image makes me think
6
Mae sat there frowning, a
great potato of a woman.
63
... the birds were celebrating,
giving the new day a brass
band’s work of greeting.
64
The mist was lifting now, as the
sun poked up above the trees.
66
A dragonfly, a brilliant blue jewel …
Now, see if you can create some original images to describe the following sounds.
The sounds
My metaphors
A father shouting when he is angry
The school canteen
A can of fizzy drink being opened
A rusty gate opening
7
Pupil
Sheet
© Harcourt Education Limited, 2003