Ms. Krueger's Science and Social Studies Class

This week, students will be analyzing plot and theme through the use of the African folktale, Fly Eagle Fly . When reading with your child at home, you can help him or her to identify fundamental story elements such as character, setting, and plot, in order to increase and strengthen comprehension. Simply put, the plot is what happens in a story, or all the events that the author arranges to tell a story. In almost every story, the main character or characters face a conflict, or problem, and try to find a solution, or an answer. Review with your child that a character is anyone in a story. The main characters are the most important characters in the story. The setting is the time and place of a story. Settings can change throughout a story. All the events that happen in a story make up the plot. Choose a book or story together, and identify the characters and setting. Then discuss what happens in the plot. A conflict is the overarching problem the characters face in a ...

"Some people collect stamps. Other people collect coins. Carol Otis Hurst's father collected rocks. Nobody ever thought his obsession would amount to anything. They said, 'You've got rocks in your head' and 'There's no money in rocks.' But year after year he kept on collecting, trading, displaying, and labeling his rocks. The Depression forced the family to sell their gas station and their house, but his interest in rocks never wavered. And in the end the science museum he had visited so often realized that a person with rocks in his head was just what was needed. Anyone who has ever felt a little out of step with the world will identify with this true story of a man who followed his heart and his passion."