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One
Came Home "Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief." C. S. Lewis It was 1871. 13-year-old Georgie Burkhart stood with her family on a hill above Placid, WI, at her older sister's funeral ... her sister's FIRST funeral. Georgie was not convinced that the body parts in the casket were Agatha's. But, she was the only one who doubted. After all, there was little doubt that the shreds of blue-green fabric on the corpse were parts of the gown that Ma had made for Agatha. Billy was convinced. He was the one who danced all night with Agatha in that gown at the ball. Even Grandfather Bolte who had given Georgie his Springfield rifle knew that Agatha was dead. Only Georgie held out hope. And, who knew Agatha better than Georgie? Who else grew up with her and knew how much she loved nature? Who else had seen Agatha dance in the street as a feathered mass of passenger pigeons flowed over her head? Who else knew that Agatha really didn't love working in the family store like Georgie? Who else knew Agatha's hopes and dreams? Who else saw Billy McCabe kiss Agatha after she had agreed to marry someone else? Who else knew why Agatha ran away? No one. Only Georgie. Georgie knew that her family had sent the sheriff to try to find Agatha who had run away with a group of pigeoners following the migration of the passenger pigeons. It was the sheriff who returned with a decomposing body wearing Agatha's dress. A plan grew in Georgie's mind. What if the pigeoners were holding her sister captive? Georgie's only reasonable choice was to run away to Dog Hollow where the pigeons roosted. Impossible by herself. Who could she get to help her? The handsome Billy McCade, of course. Their path took these unlikely partners, Georgie and Billy, through dangerous territory. They came face-to-face with one of the most dangerous creatures alive. Clues led them into a nest of thieving outlaws. But did they survive? Did Georgie find her sister alive or confirm the reports of her death? The mystery and adventure in One Came Home provides exciting reading which ends rather anticlimatically. While the passenger pigeons in their glory days were part of the backdrop of the story their story seemed to be clipped short. We here at Kids Wings would have liked to seen their story woven as a more intregal part of the story rather than as two informational paragraphs at the end of the story. The Kids Wings literature guide for One Came Home encourages active learning in discussion cards, dialectical journaling, choral reading, comprehension activities, interactive discussions in writing lessons, a final Jeopardy-type game and materials to make literature circles fun. Also included are the instructions for daily 15-Second Summaries which facilitates a fun, fresh summarization and review of the story before beginning reading each day. On the 4th day, the first 45 seconds might look and sound like this:
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Links for Amy
Timberlake's Life The
Last Passenger Pigeon, Martha (youtube.com) Folk
Song about the last passenger pigeon, Martha
The Kids Wings literature guide PLUS interactive Jeopardy-type game, perfect for lesson plans, handouts, or projection on your SmartBoard, is now available. This
Kids Wings Activity Guide Contains:
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