Touching Spirit Bear Final

Touching Spirit Bear

OBJECTIVE

RL.6.3-Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a

series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or

change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

INTRODUCTION

Cole Matthews is an angry teenager with a talent for getting into trouble. This time, however, he’s facing jail time for brutally beating up a fellow classmate, Peter Driscal. When Cole’s parole officer, Garvey, offers him an alternative to prison in a Native American program called Circle Justice, Cole jumps at the opportunity—even though he’s skeptical of just about anything and anyone. As part of his rehabilitation, Cole is sent by a Tlingit elder to a remote island in the Alaskan wilderness to think about his mistakes and discover his place in the order of things. Winner of the Nautilus Book Award, Touching Spirit Bear is Bolivian-American children’s author Ben Mikaelsen’s gripping tale about how Cole faces his demons and learns to heal.

INTRODUCTION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzQjpZMFm2Y

Read pages 844-847

Open Ended

Based on text details, what do you think Circle Justice is?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best explains why Cole must live in the Alaskan wilderness for a year?

• A. Cole’s father is moving there and Cole has to come along.

• B. The Circle Justice is forcing him to stay there because he cannot get along with the other kids.

• C. The Circle Justice hopes to change Cole’s character by requiring him to learn survival skills.

• D. Cole wants to see a Spirit Bear more than anything else, and Spirit Bears are only seen in the Alaskan wilderness.

Multiple Choice

The following passage (paragraph 3) mainly shows that .

Cole resented the cabin and all this gear. When his father had agreed to pay all the expenses of banishment, it was just another one of his buyouts. Cole had news for him. This was just a sorry game. He twisted harder at the handcuffs and winced at the pain. He wasn’t afraid of pain. He wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything. He was only playing along until he could escape. He glanced back at Garvey. The whole Circle Justice thing had been such a joke. Back in Minneapolis, he had been forced to plead guilty and ask the Circle for help changing his life.

• A. Cole is insincere in going through Circle Justice’s efforts to change his life.

• B. Cole is nervous about staying in the cabin on his own for a whole year.

• C. Cole blames Garvey for getting him into this mess.

• D. Cole is grateful toward his father for paying the expenses to help him change his life.

Open Ended

Paragraphs 3-9

What role does Garvey play in Circle Justice?

Open Ended

Paragraph 23

What is the Spirit Bear?

Open Ended

Paragraph 26 and 29

What is Cole’s attitude toward the Circle Justice experience?

Open Ended

Paragraphs 2, 15, 17

What role does Edwin play in Circle Justice?