Seedfolks

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

 “Continuing Stories”

In this activity, students choose a character and, using the author’s characterization techniques and the novel’s themes, create an original, continuing narrative that explores this character’s conflicts and experiences in the garden and community the following year.

Many of the characters’ stories are left with unresolved conflicts. For example, Fleischman never states whether Curtis’s efforts to win Lateesha back are successful, if Kim’s bean plants allow her to feel closer to her father, or how Maricela feels after giving birth. Choose one such character whose arc you would like to resolve or further explore.

• Brainstorm: Identify both the internal and external conflicts your chosen character has struggled to overcome in the story, and consider how those conflicts relate to the novella’s themes. Next, identify areas of this process that are left open or only partially resolved, and decide which of the novel’s themes you can best explore by continuing the story. Finally, identify and list key stylistic techniques Fleischman has used for characterization so that you can incorporate them in your own writing.
• Plan: Once you have the conflict, character, and theme, outline or quickly draft your narrative. Get feedback from peers and/or a teacher to ensure that your story supports your chosen theme, that you explore internal and external conflicts, and that you are incorporating stylistic elements for characterization.
• Final Draft: Make any changes to your plan or draft based on feedback from peers or your teacher and then create your final draft.
• Showcase: Share your story with your classmates.

Teaching Suggestion: Discussing and listing some of the missing, unsatisfying, or unresolved questions the author leaves hanging may help make the first step more approachable for students. Some students may find it easier to imaginatively continue a character’s story arc before identifying and incorporating specific literary elements such as theme, conflict, and characterization. Finally, students may have differing attitudes toward Fleischman’s themes or lessons, with some feeling the story is realistic and others considering him too idealistic. It may help to verbally acknowledge these attitudes and make a clear judgment call regarding whether students must maintain Fleischman’s positive outlook.

Differentiation Suggestion: For ESL students and students with processing challenges, simple question sets and graphic organizers provided at the brainstorming, planning, and drafting phases may aid in organizing and implementing ideas. To incorporate multiple learning styles, consider allowing students to draw or storyboard (for visual learners) or perform (for kinetic learners) instead of writing them; students might also work in pairs or small groups. Advanced learners who have demonstrated mastery of theme and structure, Fleischman’s use of style, and characterization may benefit from a more open-ended approach. Consider allowing them to invent their own character or even write their own instructive narrative about community.