Reading for Understanding
Discovering Meaning in Sarah, Plain and Tall
and Blue Heron
Meaning in literature is the primary reason for the creation and study of literature, the living link between the reader and the text. The stories that we read speak to us intimately as we move with the characters and share their emotional highs and lows, social dilemmas, intellectual conundrums, losses, and triumphs. Books expand our ideas of what it means to be what we are -- to be
- a friend,
- a brother,
- a sister,
- a parent,
- a son,
- a daughter, and
- a participant in the drama of family and community.
There are books that leave us wiser, better, and stronger when we close them than we were when we opened them.
This series of lessons in Sarah, Plain and Tall and Blue Heron is designed to increase the student's ability to discover meaning in books. It incorporates the idea that books contain meaning that is available to us through reading with the idea that the meaning is not the same for every reader. The exercises are invitations
- to explore,
- to comment, and
- to share
the literary experience. They are designed to enhance the capability of the young reader to understand and to respond to literature.
Lesson Plans
- Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan, Harper Trophy, New York, 1985. Teaching Plan, activities, and learning assessments.
- Blue Heron by Avi, Avon Books, New York, 1992. Teaching Plan, activities, and learning assessments.
- Reasons for Choosing Sarah, Plain and Tall and Blue Heron .
- Suggestions for adaptation for adult group discussions.
Contact Information
- Sarah Williams and Kallixti hold copyright to all materials unless otherwise stated.
- This page was constructed using BBEdit.
- Photograph taken through the tank at the South Carolina Aquarium on Charleston Harbor in Charleston, South Carolina, made on opening day in May 2000, Olympus D-450 Zoom.
- Send questions, comments, or requests to use these lesson plans to Sarah at ThirdLayer.org.
- Permission is granted to teachers and reading group coordinators upon request, and a comments page will be attached as useful comments are received.
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- the name and e-mail address you wish to have listed
- your grade level
- whether you are a teacher or a student
- a short description (about 25 words) of your particular area of interest.