Lesson 11: A Single Shard, Chapter 6

Turn and Talk

Have students take out A Single Shard and their Homework Journals.

• Lesson 10 Homework:

Respond to the following prompts in your Journal:

• Have you ever been as curious as Tree-ear? Did your curiosity influence your actions? What did you learn as a result of your curiosity?

Read Chapter 6 of A Single Shard. As you read, annotate the conversation between Tree-ear and Crane-man to identify connections to the theme of mentorship.

Say these Directions: Use the Turn and Talk discussion routine to share your responses to yesterday’s homework.

Once students are finished discussing, take two or three quick responses from students to share with the whole class.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, you’ll discuss descriptive language and analyze the role of mentorship in Chapter 6 of A Single Shard.

Generating Context

Target Words: emissary, replica, inlay

Say these Directions: Take out your Unit Vocabulary graphic organizer and record the target words emissary, replica, and inlay in the first column.

Introduce the Words:

Write emissary, replica, and inlay on the board and pronounce them.

• Ask: Have you seen any of these words before? Where?

• Say: Context clues are words or phrases in a text that help readers determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Read aloud this sentence from Chapter 6 of A Single Shard:

“Tree-ear! Have you heard? A royal emissary comes to Ch’ulp’o!”

• Ask: What word or phrase in these sentences provides a context clue about the meaning of the word emissary?

  • royal

• Say: Sometimes context clues appear in the same sentence as the target word. Other times, we need to read the surrounding sentences and paragraphs to find more context clues that show a word’s meaning. What are some other clues in the text that show what emissary means? (“on a tour,” “assign . . . commissions,” “for the palace”)

• Say: Use the context clues to write your own definition for the word emissary.

Determine Meaning: Invite students to share their definitions of emissary with the class.

Share the verified definition of emissary:

• Say: An emissary is an agent sent to represent another person or group, especially a government.

• Say: Write the definition of emissary in your Unit Vocabulary graphic organizer.

• Say: Now, draw a picture of an emissary, and write an original sentence using the word.

Repeat this process for the words replica and inlay.

Allow students to share their work. Once sharing is complete, affirm the connection. 

Connection to Today’s Learning 

• Say: Understanding vocabulary such as emissary, replica and inlay helps us understand important plot points in Chapter 6 of A Single Shard. Today, as we discuss Chapter 6, pay attention to how the arrival of the royal emissary affects Tree-ear and Min and how Min’s production of many replicas reflects his character trait of perfectionism and his mastery of the pottery-making process. Also notice the description of inlay in Kang’s pottery.

Prompt students to take out their copies of A Single Shard. Keep students in a whole-class format to engage with the text.

Part A: Using Descriptive Language (RL.6.4, L.6.5.a, L.6.5.c) (15 minutes)

Briefly review with students what they learned about connotation and connotative meaning in Lesson 7 before introducing figurative meaning.

• Say: Connotations are the ideas or feelings that go beyond a word’s literal meaning. Writers carefully choose words with different connotations to create specific meaning for readers. Consider these sentences:

  • “I walked down the street.”

  • “I trudged down the street.”

  • “I strolled down the street.”

• Say: Walked, trudged, and strolled are synonyms. Although all three sentences have similar literal meanings, they have different connotative meanings.

• Say: Before we look at the feeling each word carries, let's name what they share. The denotation of a word is its literal, dictionary definition—the basic action or thing it points to.

• Ask: What is the shared denotation of walked, trudged, and strolled? Why does it matter that these three words have nearly the same denotation but different connotations?

  • All three words denote the same basic action—moving on foot. Because their denotations are so close, the connotation is what does all the work. Trudged makes the walk feel heavy and tired; strolled makes it feel light and easy. Writers can pick words with the same denotation on purpose so the connotation tells the reader how to feel about what's happening.

• Ask: What do you think the connotation of each sentence is?

  • The first sentence has a neutral connotation, the second sentence has a negative connotation, and the third sentence has a positive connotation.

• Say: Writers often choose between words with similar denotations but different connotations. Even when two words technically mean almost the same thing, one word may sound more positive, negative, admiring, critical, formal, or emotional than another.

• Ask: Why might an author choose the word trudged instead of walked?

  • It helps readers feel the character’s exhaustion or discouragement.

• Ask: Why might an author choose strolled instead of walked?

  • It creates a calmer, more relaxed feeling.

• Say: In addition to connotative language, authors also use figurative language in their writing. Figurative language is words or phrases that do not have a literal meaning. In other words, they have a meaning other than the definitions of their individual words.

• Say: Some examples of figurative language are metaphor (comparing two seemingly dissimilar things by saying one is the other), simile (comparing two seemingly dissimilar things using the words like or as), and personification (giving human characteristics to nonhuman things).

Work with students to come up with examples of metaphor, simile, and personification. Correct misconceptions as they occur.

Share with students this excerpt from Chapter 6 of A Single Shard:

Say: Review this excerpt from Chapter 6 of A Single Shard:

"On every vessel—blooming from wine cups and jugs and vases and bowls—the simple eight-petaled flowers caught one’s attention and seized it as if they would never let go. The slight imperfections of Kang’s vessels disappeared in the light that seemed to blaze from the pure-white blossoms.”

• Ask: What examples of figurative language do you notice in this excerpt?

  • “blooming from wine cups,” “seized it as if they would never let go,” “the light that seemed to blaze from the pure-white blossoms.”

• Ask: Which words in this excerpt have especially strong positive connotations? How do those connotations affect the reader’s impression of Kang’s pottery?

  • “blooming,” “blaze,” “pure-white blossoms,” and “seized” create a vivid and powerful impression of beauty and attention.

• Ask: Which words could be replaced with more neutral words that have similar denotations?

  • “blaze” could become “shine”; “blooming” could become “appearing”; “seized” could become “caught.”

• Ask: How do the connotations change even though the denotation stays similar?

  • “Blaze” sounds more powerful and dramatic than “shine.” “Seized” feels stronger and more forceful than “caught.”

• Ask: How would the meaning or feeling change if the author used simpler or more neutral words instead?

  • If the author used words like “flowers” instead of “blossoms” or “shined” instead of “blaze,” the pottery would seem less vivid and impressive.

• Ask: How does this language help you envision or understand what is being described?

  • This language helps me envision just how vibrant and beautiful the chrysanthemums on the pottery are. They show that the flowers are enough to distract from the fact that Kang is less skilled than Min.

Say these Directions: Work with a partner to revise this paragraph using figurative language to make it more descriptive and engaging for the reader. As you revise, think about how words with similar denotations can create different moods or impressions.

• The potter placed the vase on the shelf. The vase was green with shades of blue, gray, and violet. He placed a branch from a plum tree in the vase. The plum branch made the vase even more beautiful.

  • The potter extended his arm like the neck of a giraffe to place the vase on the shelf. The green vase shone brightly, a gentle sea of blue, gray, and violet swirling beneath the surface of the glaze. He placed a branch from a plum tree, its blossoms winking joyfully, in the vase. The plum branch greeted the vase as an old friend, making the vase even more beautiful than before.

Take two or three quick responses from students to share with the whole class.

Part B: Give One, Get One (RL.6.2) (15 minutes)

Prompt students to open their copies of A Single Shard to the excerpt beginning with “That night Tree-ear tossed about, restlessly awake” and ending with “He could not yet tell Min of Kang’s idea.”

Invite volunteers to briefly summarize this section of the text.

• Ask: What does Tree-ear confide in Crane-man, and why? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • Tree-ear confides that he has learned of an idea, “a new way” of doing something that “could lead to great honor.” He asks Crane-man whether sharing this idea would be stealing. Tree-ear confides in Crane-man because he trusts his judgment and advice.

Connect students’ responses to what they discussed in Lesson 10, emphasizing the themes connected to mentorship and the supportive relationship between Tree-ear and Crane-man.

• Say: Tree-ear views Crane-man as a mentor when it comes to topics such as ethics, morality, wisdom, and advice.

Give One, Get One

Direct students to access their Give One, Get One graphic organizer. Prompt students to begin the Give One, Get One protocol to deepen their understanding of mentorship within the assigned excerpt.

Say these Directions: For each focus question below, rotate to a new partner. Use your existing annotations and specific text evidence as your “give” while recording a peer’s insight as your “get” on the Give One, Get One graphic organizer.

As students rotate, circulate to confirm that students can articulate how Crane-man acts as a moral mentor to Tree-ear and how this relationship helps develop a central theme or life lesson.

• Ask: What is Crane-man's point of view on stealing? Do you agree with Crane-man’s point of view? Why or why not?

  • Crane-man’s viewpoint is that if someone takes another person’s idea through “stealth or trickery,” then it is stealing. I agree with Crane-man’s point of view. Kang does not want anyone to know about his new technique, and Tree-ear only figured out what it was by observing Kang without his knowledge or agreement.

• Ask: How does this conversation help readers better understand the mentor–mentee relationship between Crane-man and Tree-ear? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • This conversation shows that Tree-ear sees Crane-man as an important source of wisdom and guidance. Tree-ear knows he can ask Crane-man a difficult question without judgment and trust that Crane-man’s advice will be helpful. Tree-ear takes Crane-man’s advice to heart when he thinks about how he used stealth to discover Kang’s idea.

• Ask: How does Crane-man’s advice in Chapter 6 help Tree-ear understand the values needed to learn something difficult? What evidence shows how moral guidance and practical learning go together?

  • Crane-man’s advice helps Tree-ear understand that when you’re learning to master a craft or a skill, it’s unacceptable to steal others’ ideas. His advice shows that knowledge needs to be willingly given or earned. He also helps Tree-ear understand that it is better to do the honorable thing than to try to take glory that did not belong to him.

Quick Write

Direct students to engage in a Quick Write to wrap up what they learned from the Give One, Get One activity. Prompt students to review the second question (How does this conversation help readers better understand the mentor–mentee relationship between Crane-man and Tree-ear?) and to think about the ideas that resulted from their discussion. Explain to students that they will use the ideas from their discussion to write a two- to three-sentence response. Remind students to grab the best piece of evidence they “gave” or “got” to support their ideas.

Quick Write Prompt: Write a two- to three-sentence response explaining what the conversation between Crane-man and Tree-ear in Chapter 6 reveals about their mentor–mentee relationship. Use at least one specific piece of evidence from the Give One, Get One activity, and be sure to use the word mentorship or mentor in your response.

Read Chapter 7 of A Single Shard. As you read, annotate parts of the text that show the “trying” and “failing” stages of learning. Then respond to the following prompt in your Journal:

• How did Min respond when his vases disappointed him? How does his response connect to the themes and ideas in the story? Use text evidence to support your answers.