Lesson 13: A Single Shard, Chapter 7, Part 2

Turn and Talk

Have students take out A Single Shard and their Journals. Review the homework prompt from the previous lesson.

• Lesson 11 Homework: Students were instructed to respond to the following prompt:

  • 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.

Say these Directions: Use the Turn and Talk routine to share your Journal responses.

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

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, you’ll discuss the “trying” and “failing” stages of learning in Chapter 7 before analyzing the characters’ responses to failure and fear to make connections to your own life.

Fluency Practice

Target Words: feigned, guffaw, shard, kindling

Have students turn to the beginning of Chapter 7 of A Single Shard.

Say these Directions: Today you will be practicing fluency—the ability to speak naturally and easily—by reading excerpts from the text with accuracy.

Students should read from “Min was the only potter” through “. . . in a loud guffaw of laughter.”

• Ask: What does it mean to read with accuracy?

  • to correctly read and pronounce the words that are written

• Ask: What does reading with accuracy sound like?

  • Each word on the page is read or spoken aloud; each syllable is pronounced correctly.

Model Fluent Reading: Model reading the first two paragraphs of the section aloud. Think aloud as you decode the target vocabulary word feigned to show the connection between the letters and the sounds they make.

• Say: I’m going to pause at the word feigned to make sure I pronounce it correctly. It has the same letter pattern as the word reign, which is pronounced with a long a sound, so I think feigned is pronounced the same way. I’ll reread the sentence to try it: “Whether genuine or feigned, his concentration on his own work had never wavered…”

• Ask: While reading, what did I do to make sure I read with accuracy?

  • paused to decode unfamiliar words

Class Echo-Read: Reread the first two paragraphs of the section aloud. This time, have students read aloud with you.

• Ask: Did you read the paragraph with accuracy? Why or why not?

Partner Read: Place students in pairs. Have the first partner read the remaining paragraphs of the section of Chapter 7 aloud while the second partner listens. Then prompt them to switch roles, having the second partner read the same section aloud while the first partner listens. Remind them to focus on reading with accuracy. Call attention to the target vocabulary word guffaw. Encourage students to decode the word as they encounter it in the text.

• Ask: Did you experience any challenges reading with accuracy? Why or why not?

• Ask: How can we improve our ability to read with accuracy?

Time permitting, repeat this process using excerpts with the target vocabulary words shard and kindling.

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

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: The author of A Single Shard often uses challenging and unfamiliar words in the text. Reading the text with accuracy helps us to better understand the important ideas in a text. As you engage with Chapter 7, notice any challenging or unfamiliar words you encounter, and use the strategies we practiced today to help you read with accuracy.

Prompt students to take out the annotations they made while reading Chapter 7 for homework.

Part A: Discussing the Stages of Learning (RL.6.3) (10 minutes)

Engage students in a whole-class discussion to answer the prompts below.

• Ask: What examples of trying and failing from the stages of learning did you read about in Chapter 7? How do the characters respond when they make mistakes? How does the character’s experience with trying and failing contribute to the plot? Cite text evidence to support your response.

  • Min tries the incising technique developed by Kang. Although the incision work is beautifully done, Min experiences failure when the pottery comes out of the kiln with brown spots on the glaze.

• Ask: What do these examples tell you about the process of learning? How does the process of learning help to drive the plot?

  • Learning is a lifelong process, even for people who have mastered a craft. Trying and failing are not limited to people learning a skill or craft for the first time.

Prompt students to add these examples to their Stages of Learning graphic organizers.

• Ask: What do the events in Chapter 7 reveal about the connections between failure and learning? Cite text evidence to support your response.

  • The events in Chapter 7 show that Tree-ear and others learn from the mistakes they make. Min’s reaction to the imperfect pottery helps Tree-ear better understand just how difficult it is to make celadon pottery.

Part B: Discussing Failure, Success, and Fear (RL.6.3) (20 minutes)

Organize students into small groups of three or four to continue discussing significant events and ideas in Chapter 7 of A Single Shard.

Academic Talk Stems

Say these Directions: Now you will participate in the Academic Talk Stems protocol to discuss and respond to the prompts below.

Before beginning the activity, provide students with sentence frames and talk moves to help them engage in an academic conversation about Chapter 7. For example:

• “I want to add on to what ____ said because ____.”

• “I disagree with ____ since ____.”

Briefly model the use of a talk move before having students practice two moves in a guided group exchange. Students should use two or more moves during their discussions. Students may record their responses and any questions they have during their discussions on the Reflect and Respond graphic organizer.

Prompt students to take out their copies of A Single Shard. Invite volunteers to read the excerpt from “To Tree-ear’s surprise, Min’s wife was waiting for him” through the end of Chapter 7 aloud. Have students respond to the prompts in their small groups following the Academic Talk Stems protocol.

• Ask: What was Min’s response when he failed to create pottery using inlay?

  • Min smashed the pots into piles of shards in the yard.

• Ask: How do you respond when you don’t succeed the first time?

  • I can get very frustrated when I don’t succeed the first time. I respond by letting myself feel upset before reflecting on why I wasn’t successful and what can make me successful when I try again.

• Ask: How does Min show both mastery and failure in this excerpt?

  • Min’s inlay work is beautifully done, despite it being only his first attempt. He fails at making the glaze on the pottery perfect.

• Ask: How can mastery apply to different parts of a person’s life and experience?

  • People can be a master of some skills while still learning and developing others.

Invite students to read the excerpt from “Tree-ear spoke almost before he thought” through “Tree-ear shook his head, smiling, and settled down at last” aloud. Remind them that they discussed the author’s use of descriptive language and imagery to describe the fox in Lesson 12. Remind students that descriptive language and imagery help readers gain a deeper understanding of the characters’ experiences and events in a story.

• Say: In the novel, the fox is a cultural symbol, a thing that represents a specific meaning or belief.

• Ask: What does the fox represent in this excerpt? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • The fox represents danger; it is an omen of bad luck.

• Ask: How did Crane-man respond when he saw the fox? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • When Crane-man saw the fox, he was too afraid to carry on his journey to the monastery, and he walked back down the mountain to the bridge where he and Tree-ear now live.

• Ask: What does Crane-man mean when he says, “I have come to believe that foxes could not possibly be as clever as we think them”? Why is this important? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • Crane-man means that he now sees that the fox was just a fox and not a symbol of something greater that should have prevented him from making his journey. It shows that Crane-man has reflected upon how he reacted in a moment of fear and changed his behavior.

• Ask: How does the interaction of the fox and Crane-man affect the plot? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • Crane was on his way to join a monastery when he saw a fox, which he took as an evil omen. Instead of becoming a monk, he went to live under the bridge, where he eventually took care of Tree-ear.

• Ask: How do you respond when you are faced head-on with a fear or challenge?

  • Responses will vary

Prompt students to reflect upon what they read about trying and failing in Chapter 7.

• Ask: How does Tree-ear respond to discouragement and failure in Chapter 7? What does his reaction reveal about the connection between persistence and learning difficult skills? Use details from the text to support your ideas.

  • Tree-ear responds to Min’s failure by closely examining the shards of broken pottery. Like Min, he is frustrated by the brown spots on the glaze. However, he acknowledges that Min’s “failure” was outside of his control. Despite this setback, Min’s wife tells Tree-ear to go collect more clay to make slip. This shows that even though Min “failed,” it’s important to keep persisting to achieve mastery.

• Ask: In what ways is failure an opportunity, or chance for a better situation, in the novel and in your own life?

  • Crane-man failed to make it to the monastery. However, this failure led him to start a different kind of life and to eventually come to care for Tree-ear. It was a chance for Crane-man to reflect on and grow from his choices, including changing his views about fear. In my own life, failure is a chance to figure out what is working and what is not. It is an opportunity to learn.

Transition students into the same partnerships they were in during the Launch.

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: First, consider your response to the Journal prompt from Lesson 11:

• 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.

Say: Use the Turn and Talk routine to discuss the following prompt:

• What are some strategies that Min could have used to handle his disappointment and frustration differently? How might a change in Min’s behavior have impacted Tree-ear?

Respond to the following prompt in your Journal:

• Write about a time when you tried to follow a process but did not succeed at first. What steps were missing from the process? How did you (or didn’t you) fix the issue?

Then read the first half of Chapter 8, through “His voice fell to a whisper. ‘I agree—Ajima.’” As you read, consider and take notes in response to these questions:

• Who are the mentors in Tree-ear’s life?

• How do those mentors help move the plot along toward resolution?

• What do they say or do that shows this?

Cite text evidence to support your responses.