LESSON 23 TEACHER’S GUIDE
No More Cotton Blues
by George Capaccio
Fountas-Pinnell Level X
Historical Fiction
Selection Summary
Aaron reminisces about life in the 1930s when he was 12. He recalls
an incident between his family, which was sharecropping on a cotton
plantation, and the plantation manager. This incident spurred a move
to Atlanta for a better life.
Number of Words: 3,561
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Historical fiction
• First-person narrative organized in seven chapters
• Chapter headings signal key events in Aaron’s life
• Sharecropping, the Great Depression, New Deal
• Segregation and its effects on one family
• Stand up and speak out for what you believe in.
• You can overcome obstacles and succeed.
• Hardships can motivate changes for the better.
• Conversational language
• Clearly written with strong conflict
• Realistic situation with believable characters
• A mix of short and complex sentences
• Dashes, multiple items in series
• Some figurative language, such as storm brewing up inside and the rains came down
heavy, and the lightning struck
• Multisyllable words: cicada, exasperated, Catalpa
• Realistic four-color drawings support the text
• Seventeen pages of text, easy-to-read chapter headings
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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No More Cotton Blues
by George Capaccio
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge about injustice to visualize the story. Build interest
by asking a question such as the following: What unfair incident have you heard or
read about, and why was it wrong? Read the title and author and talk about the cover
illustration. Note the seven chapter heads. Tell students that this story is historical fiction,
so characters and events are set in a real period of history.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Page 4: Explain that this is a story about how a boy, Aaron, stands up for
his sister, and how that action results in a new life for his family who was
sharecropping on a plantation. Read the sentence: In early spring, the plantation
manager would start giving each family a monthly furnish of about fifteen dollars
to cover expenses until the crop was in. Ask: How long do you think that this
monthly monetary ration would last a family in the mid-1930s? What do you think
Aaron’s family used the money to purchase? What do you think probably happened
once the fifteen dollars ran out?
Page 7: Point out the illustration of Aaron’s family gathered around the dinner
table. Suggested language: Aaron’s grandfather tells the family stories about
slavery times, and how his own mother had been sold and bought like a piece of
merchandise. Aaron wonders if times have really changed that much for the better.
Ask: How do you think knowing about his family’s history might influence Aaron?
Pages 9 –10: Explain that Jim Crow laws mandated the segregation of public
schools, places, and transportation. Point out the sign on the fence. Ask: How do
think this law might affect decisions that Aaron makes in the future?
Page 14: Explain that Aaron’s uncle had left sharecropping to seek a better life.
Read the sentence: My uncle’s stories started me thinking about the kind of life I
wanted to have someday. Ask: What kind of influence do you think Uncle Eugene
might have on Aaron?
Now go back to the beginning and read to find out how Aaron’s world finally
changed for the better after he stood up for what he felt was right.
Expand Your Vocabulary
berating – rebuking or scolding
angrily and at length, p. 5
furnish – equip with what is
needed, to supply; give, p. 4
Grade 6
plantation – a large estate or
farm on which crops are
raised, often by resident
workers, p. 2
2
settle – a financial agreement,
short for settlement, p. 13
sharecropping – working land or
growing crops, p. 2
Lesson 23: No More Cotton Blues
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Analyze/Evaluate Strategy
the text carefully and form an opinion about it.
and to consider
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the book.
Suggested language: How did Aaron speak out to right a wrong? What spurred him to
take this action, and how did he feel afterwards?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Aaron stands his ground when
Boone berates his sister.
• People have to work to make
changes in their lives.
• The story has a strong conflict
that is resolved at the end.
• Aaron thinks relocating to the
city would result in a more
advantageous life.
• In order to gain respect, people
need to speak out and take
action.
• The narrative has a friendly tone,
as if a relative were relating a
story.
• Despite his poor sharecropper
background, Aaron eventually
became successful.
• Sometimes it takes a catalyst to
spur a radical change.
• The author includes authentic
details about life in 1930s
Georgia.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text to read aloud for a readers’
theater. Remind them to vary tone, pitch, and volume as if they were the narrator
relating a family story that occurred long ago.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using
examples from the text. Remind students that learning common suffixes found in
words such as memorable, Depression, fiercely, and threatened can help them discern
the meaning of the new word.
Grade 6
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 23.9.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s
Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the
comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Cause and Effect
Have students identify causes and their effects, and
recognize and use cause-and-effect text structure to locate information. Remind them to
pay attention to signal words such as because, so, and since. Model how to add details to
the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:
Think Aloud
Sharecropping had a variety of consequences for Aaron and his family. In
the “Effects” column, write: Aaron dreamed of another sort of life outside
of Jefferson County. Also write: Ardell’s back ached and the heat made
her faint.
Practice the Skill
Encourage students to share their examples of another book that uses cause and effect to
tell how a character’s life is influenced by specific actions.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the writing prompt on page 6. Remind them that when
they think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understanding.
Assessment Prompts
• On page 2, why is the second paragraph important to the book?
• The author probably wrote this story to
_______________________________________________.
• In the second paragraph on page 6, the phrase one-way ticket to ruin means
_______________________________________________.
Grade 6
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Have students listen to the audio or online recordings. Make sure
the text matches the students’ reading level. Language and content should be accessible
with regular teaching support.
Vocabulary The story includes some similes that might be unfamiliar. Explain the
meaning of expressions such as like a viper that’s been stepped on (page 5) and like a
squall of wild cats (page 8).
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: What crop did Aaron’s
family harvest on the plantation?
Speaker 1: How did Boone get even with
Aaron’s family during the settle?
Speaker 2: cotton
Speaker 2: He cheated them out of the
money they should have earned for the
cotton harvest.
Speaker 1: Knowing Boone’s
character traits, how might he
run the plantation store where
families were forced to shop on
credit once their furnish ran out?
Speaker 1: What type of business did
Uncle Eugene own?
Speaker 2: a movie house
Speaker 1: What did the sign in the
drugstore say?
Speaker 2: Colored Section
Speaker 1: Why did Aaron disagree with
the preacher’s sermon?
Speaker 2: He didn’t believe that
patiently sitting around would activate
change for the better.
Speaker 2: Boone probably
cheated the sharecroppers by
inflating the price of the goods
he stocked in the store. He knew
the poor families had no choice
but to shop there on credit each
month when their money ran out.
Lesson 23
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 23.9
Date
Critical Thinking
No More Cotton Blues
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text Who owns the farmland cultivated by the
narrator and his family?
The farmland is owned by Oliver and Charlene Hopkins.
2. Think within the text Why does Turner, Aaron’s father, grab Boone’s
arm?
Boone berates his daughter and threatens his son.
3. Think beyond the text Why was sharecropping an unfair system?
It was unfair because the sharecroppers did much of the work for
little reward. They never had a chance to improve their lives or
own their own land.
4. Think about the text What effect does moving to Atlanta have on
Aaron?
Aaron has a better life in Atlanta. He works at the movie theater,
and later writes for the local paper, eventually becoming an editor.
Making Connections Many books explore injustice. What other book can
you think of that describes the plight of people who have been treated unfairly?
Explain the situation in the book and why it was unfair.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
11
Critical Thinking
Grade 6, Unit 5: Taking Charge of Change
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5
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First Pass
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Name
Date
No More Cotton Blues
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in two or three
paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
On page 18, the writer describes how Aaron and his family transformed
from poor sharecroppers to successful employees, and how Aaron uncovers
hidden talents that help him to achieve his dream of a better life. What
obstacles did Aaron face? What qualities do you think Aaron possessed that
made him succeed despite multiple obstacles? How did these qualities help
him succeed?
Grade 6
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Lesson 23
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 23.9
Date
Critical Thinking
No More Cotton Blues
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text Who owns the farmland cultivated by the
narrator and his family?
2. Think within the text Why does Turner, Aaron’s father, grab Boone’s
arm?
3. Think beyond the text Why was sharecropping an unfair system?
4. Think about the text What effect does moving to Atlanta have on
Aaron?
Making Connections Many books explore injustice. What other book can
you think of that describes the plight of people who have been treated unfairly?
Explain the situation in the book and why it was unfair.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 6
7
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Student
Lesson 23
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 23.13
No More Cotton Blues • LEVEL X
page
11
No More Cotton Blues
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
The ladies wore their finest hats and fanned themselves to
keep away the heat. I remember the preacher, a tall, dignified
man with short white hair and a thin mustache. I can still hear
his voice and the way his words flowed over us. He urged us
to have patience. Better times were coming, he kept repeating.
I had trouble believing him. I knew there was something wrong
with the way things were, and I didn’t think sitting around,
waiting for a change to come was the answer.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/88 × 100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 6
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414273
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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