Lesson 10: A Single Shard, Chapter 5

Think-Pair-Share

Say these Directions: Using the Think-Pair-Share routine, respond to the following questions about Chapter 5 of A Single Shard by (1) independently forming ideas, (2) sharing and refining their ideas through brief discussion with their partner, and (3) sharing their ideas with the whole class.

• Ask: What role does observation play in Chapter 5 of A Single Shard? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • Tree-ear observes Kang, another potter, carrying slip and secretly firing his pottery. Tree-ear is curious about what Kang is up to and observes him incising clay and using slip to decorate a pot.

• Ask: How is this similar to or different from Tree-ear’s observations in previous chapters? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • At the beginning of the story, Tree-ear secretly observes Min making pottery. When he becomes Min’s apprentice, he observes and learns directly from Min without having to hide. In Chapter 5, Tree-ear goes back to secretly observing as he watches Kang to figure out what he is doing with the slip.

• Say: Make a prediction about Tree-ear’s observations and how they might affect the plot of the novel.

  • Kang’s use of slip will influence how other potters make pottery in the village. Tree-ear will tell others about what he saw Kang doing.

Connection to Today’s Learning: 

• Say: Today, you’ll revisit mentorship and learning in A Single Shard and discuss the causes and effects of Tree-ear’s curiosity in Chapter 5.

Introduce New Words Using Morphemes

Target Words: slip, incising

Say these Directions: Use the Unit Vocabulary graphic organizer to track the Target Words you learn throughout Unit 2. Write the Target Words in the first column of the Unit Vocabulary graphic organizer.

Part 1: Decode the word using morphemes

Introduce the Words: Write the words slip and incising on the board and pronounce them.

• Say: Have you seen these words before? If so, where?

• Ask: How was the word slip used in Chapter 5 of A Single Shard? What context clues tell you the word’s meaning?

  • The potter Kang carried two bowls of slip to his workshop; Tree-ear observed Kang using slip to paint indentations on clay. Context clues: “Clay, mixed with enough water to be semiliquid . . .”

Identify the Roots: Underline the root incis in incising.

• Say: The root incis comes from Latin incisus meaning “to cut.”

• Ask: Do you know any other words with this root?

  • incision, incisor, incisive

Identify Affixes: Circle -ing in incising.

• Say: When the suffix -ing is added to a verb, it shows that an action is ongoing.

• Ask: How does -ing (“an ongoing action”) connect to the idea of incising?

  • the ongoing act of cutting something

• Language Connection: In Spanish, incisión means “incision” or “cut.” Both words share the first four letters of the Latin root incisus.

Encoding Practice:

• Say: Now cover the words. In your Personal Dictionary [or on your whiteboard], write slip and incising from memory — use what you know about the root and suffix in incising to help you spell it correctly. Check your spelling against the board.

Part 2: Meaning Focus

Discuss Affix and Root Meanings

• Ask: How does knowing that incis means “to cut” and -ing signals an ongoing action help you understand incising?

  • the ongoing act of cutting the surface of something

Determine Meaning:

• Ask: Using what we know about incis/-ing, what do you think incising means?

  • incising: cutting the surface of

• Say: Work with a partner to locate a verified definition for each word in a dictionary or online vocabulary resources.

Additional Morpheme Examples

• Ask: We listed incision, incisor, and incisive as other words that share the root incis. What do each of these words have to do with “cutting”?

  • incision: a cut made into something (e.g., in surgery)

  • incisor: a front tooth used for cutting food

  • incisive: sharp and direct, as if cutting right to the point

Morpheme Encoding Practice

• Say: Now write two of these additional morpheme examples from memory — for example, incision and incisor. Use the spelling of the shared root incis- as your anchor: that part stays the same across all the examples. Check your spelling.

• For MLLs: Notice whether any of these example words have a cognate in your home language. Write it beside the English word and note whether the morpheme spelling carries over.

Part 3: Verify Meaning

Build Word Relationships

Write incision next to incising.

• Ask: What is the relationship between incising and incision?

  • Incising is a verb; a cut made into a surface by incising is called an incision.

Prompt students to add the words to their Unit Vocabulary Graphic Organizer. Allow students to share their work. Once sharing is complete, affirm the connection: 

Connection to Today’s Learning: 

• Say: Understanding vocabulary such as slip and incising will help you discuss key events in Chapter 5 of A Single Shard with precision. As you engage in discussions about the text, use these words to describe the pottery-making process that Tree-ear observes in this part of the novel.

Transition students to partnerships to discuss mentorship in Chapter 5 of A Single Shard.

Part A: Revisiting Mentorship (RL.6.2, RL.6.3) (15 minutes)

Turn and Talk

Remind students that mentorship and the role of learning are central themes of A Single Shard.

• Say: In earlier lessons, we’ve discussed mentorship, or the knowledge, influence, or guidance given by a more experienced person to a person with less experience. Mentorship is a partnership between a mentor (the person with more experience) and a mentee (the person seeking to gain experience). Mentorship and the role of learning are central themes of the story A Single Shard. Remember themes are the big ideas or messages in a story. Themes are supported by details and events from the story. Let’s explore how Chapter 5 shows the central themes of mentorship and learning.

Say these Directions: Respond to the following questions about mentorship using the Turn and Talk routine.

• Ask: Based on what you’ve read in A Single Shard so far, what is the connection between mentorship and learning? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • In A Single Shard, Tree-ear begins to learn the process of pottery-making through his mentorship with Min. The more Tree-ear works with Min, the more steps he learns in the process, including how to prepare clay so it can be used to make different items.

• Ask: Which characters in the novel are mentors? Which character (or characters) is a mentee? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • Min and Crane-man are mentors. Tree-ear is a mentee. Both Min and Crane-man are individuals with more experience that share their knowledge with Tree-ear.

• Ask: What are some of the responsibilities of mentors and mentees in the novel? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • Crane-man is responsible for showing Tree-ear how to survive, including finding food and shelter. Min is responsible for showing Tree-ear tasks related to making pottery; he is also responsible for providing Tree-ear with a midday meal each day he works. Tree-ear is responsible for following directions, learning as much as he can, and doing what Min asks him to do.

During the class discussion, help students make the connection between mentorship and characterization in the novel.

• Say: In Lesson 6, we described the traits of Tree-ear, Crane-man, Min, and Min’s wife. This is one part of characterization, the process of describing how characters look, act, think, and feel. In the novel, as in real life, mentorship shapes the way characters think, feel, and behave.

• Ask: How do mentor relationships impact the characters? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • Tree-ear becomes increasingly interested in the pottery-making process as he works with Min. Min’s unwillingness to let Tree-ear progress to working with clay starts to shape how Tree-ear thinks about the future. Instead of thinking, “Any day he’ll let me throw a pot,” Tree-ear thinks more long-term to “maybe this season.” Tree-ear also adapts his behavior and works harder to avoid criticism from Min.

Part B: Discussing Curiosity and the Stages of Learning (RL.6.2) (15 minutes)  

Move students into small groups of 3–4 students. Remind them that they have closely read and discussed Chapter 5 of A Single Shard. Now, they will further engage with the novel through the Group Accountability Share, rereading a passage from the text and answering questions to continue exploring the theme of mentorship and the “stages of learning” in the text.

Group Accountability Share

In their small groups, have students reread the sections of Chapter 5 in which Tree-ear observes the potter Kang, from “Over the next few days . . .” to “. . . darted about like fish in his mind” and from “Flickering lamplight caught Tree-ear’s eye . . .” through the end of the chapter.

Say these Directions: Respond to the questions in your group following the Group Accountability Share Routine. When you finish discussing the passages from the text, you will add details to your Stages of Learning graphic organizer.

Model the routine, demonstrating how to build on others’ ideas to reach consensus. Practice one of the prompts together as a whole class to establish a clear example. Then have students work in groups to collaborate and agree on a single response. Finally, invite one student from each group to share and explain their group’s answer.

• Ask: How did your group decide on its answer? What details or events from the text support your answer?

  • Responses will vary.

• Ask: The author explains that as Tree-ear walked home after observing Kang, “no answers surfaced among the questions that darted about like fish in his mind.” What does this sentence mean? What might this suggest about both Tree-ear and Kang? Use details from the story to support your response.

  • This means that Tree-ear was confused by what he saw and does not have an explanation for what Kang was doing. This might suggest that Tree-ear is inexperienced and is unfamiliar with this technique or that Kang is doing something unusual that other potters in the village do not typically do.

• Ask: What is Tree-ear curious about? How does his curiosity influence his actions? Use details from the story to support your response.

  • Tree-ear is curious about what Kang is doing with the slip. The brick-red and white slip Kang used was not used by any of the other potters. His curiosity leads him to observe Kang at the kiln to see what his fired pots might look like and to later observe Kang incising the clay and painting the slip into the incisions.

• Ask: In Chapter 5, how does Tree-ear’s careful observation of Kang reveal the importance of curiosity and close watching in becoming more skilled? What does he learn that he could not learn alone? What is the connection between curiosity and learning? Use details from the story to support your response.

  • Tree-ear’s careful observation of Kang reveals that curiosity and close watching can lead to learning how to do new and innovative techniques. By watching Kang, Tree-ear learns about a skill or technique that he has not seen Min or anyone else do. No one else is using the brick-red or white clay. Curiosity can lead to learning something new.

Say these Directions: When you have finished discussing with your group, add new details and ideas to your Stages of Learning graphic organizer.

• Ask: What stages of learning did Tree-ear show in Chapter 5? Add this information to the appropriate columns of the Stages of Learning Graphic Organizer. Include details from the story to support your response.

  • Observation of a master: Tree-ear watches Kang incise the clay and paint white and red slip into the incisions.

Transition students to the Look Back activity to reflect upon what they read and discussed in Chapter 5.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Complete the Quick Write by answering the following comprehension question:

In Chapter 5, how does the author use Tree-ear’s role as a mentee to develop a theme of learning? Include details from the chapter in your response.

Say these Directions: 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?

Then, 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.