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Sharon

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Sharon is Currently Reading

Sharon is currently reading

Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement

by Lucy Calkins

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Aug 21, 2012 04:01AM

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Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

by Candace Fleming (Goodreads Author)

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Sharon said: " I'm working on my CC fifth-grade reading and writing standards. Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming is a DCF book for 2012-2013. This book has a Lexile of 930 -- a stretch text for fifth graders. For this chapter I will work on key ideas and details for r I'm working on my CC fifth-grade reading and writing standards. Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming is a DCF book for 2012-2013. This book has a Lexile of 930 -- a stretch text for fifth graders. For this chapter I will work on key ideas and details for reading (R1, R2) and text types and purposes (W1). See standards below.

In the beginning of Chapter 2, author Candace Fleming quotes famous pilot Amelia Earhart as saying, "It is best to begin at the beginning," but the author doesn't take this advice. Instead, the book starts with an author's note about how Earhart and her husband perpetuated myths about the pilot to maintain and enhance her image as a heroine. One of the myths was that she first observed an airplane in 1908 at age 11 while attending the Iowa State Fair. The author explains how this could not be true because the Wright Brothers and Henri Farman of France were the only pilots of the time and they weren't flying in Iowa in 1908. In another example the author explains how Earhart curled her hair every morning while pretending to have naturally curly hair. The author discusses how it is difficult to discern fact from fiction, especially when the subject is intentionally creating myths, as Earhart did. Then after the author's note, comes Chapter 1, titled "July 2nd, 1937: The Morning Hours." Frankly, I found this chapter confusing as I read about her flight over the Pacific to Howland Island to refuel. "Wait," I thought, "isn't this about her disappearance?" I skipped to the final paragraph of the chapter, which reads: "Where, they wondered, was Amelia Earhart?" "Hmmm," I thought, "where is the writer going with this?" I started reading Chapter 2.

Why does Fleming elect not to "begin at the beginning"? Maybe Chapter 1 is hook. After rereading the chapter, I learned how finding Howland Island from the air is difficult. Fleming supports this idea by giving the island's dimensions. The Pacific island was only 2 miles long and a half mile wide. Furthermore, she tells us that a Coast Guard ship was in the area to aid Earhart's landing by turning on searchlights at midnight. Fleming builds the tension of the chapter by detailing the radio messages between the ship and Earhart -- with the first messages heard at 2:45 a.m. and the last at 8:45 a.m. Earhart's first message is "Cloudy and overcast." The author explains that she was calm. The rest of the message is lost due to static. The ship's radioman says at one point that he is unclear whether the ship's messages are getting through to Earhart. At one point they lost contact for 30 minutes. At another point they lost contact for 45 minutes. The messages become increasingly disturbing. The writer quotes Leo Bellarts, one of the ship's radio crew, who sensed the pilot's despair. "I'm telling you, it sounded like she would have broken out in a scream. ... She was just about ready to break into tears and go into hysterics ... I'll never forget it." Fleming's depiction of this scene hooked me as a reader.

So, why the author's note? Sometimes author's notes are in the front of the book; sometimes they are in the back of the book. I am curious about the juxtaposition of the author's note and the first chapter. I am wondering about Earhart's mysterious disappearance in light of the author's discussion of fact versus fiction throughout the pilot's life. Will the author comment on the facts of the pilot's disappearance before the book ends?

Even though Fleming quotes Earhart about the importance of beginning at the beginning, as a writer Fleming knows the greater importance of a good hook. So, instead of focusing Chapter 1 on Amelia's childhood, she launches into the mysterious disappearance of the famous pilot and then writes Chapter 2 about Earhart's early life. The opening chapter not only outlines the difficult landing that Earhart was attempting, but also creates tension, showing how static interfered with radio messages between the pilot and the ship's radio crewmen. She ends the chapter with the poignant question: "Where, they wondered, was Amelia Earhart?" ... so her readers will want to know more.

Reading standards could be: (1) Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. (2) Determine two or more main ideas of the text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text. The writing standards could be (1) Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information. (a) Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer's purpose. (b) Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details. (c) Link opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses.
(d) Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented. ...more "

Aug 13, 2012 06:34PM · see review