An ELL book

WHO IS GEORGE? by E. Johnson Introduction: This easy-to-read, graphic book of historical fiction is designed for beginning readers and English Language Learners (ELL) who need lots of picture support and clear, simple sentences. Each of the 20 illustrated frames adds to the reader‟s information about George, his family and the era in which he lived. The narrative is written in simple, present tense active voice sentences, while dialog between characters is in speech bubbles. The picture dictionary introduces Colonial era vocabulary in context. Purpose-for-reading questions are listed on the first page. The story‟s historical spotlight is on seven-year old George who lives at Ferry Farm in the Virginia Colony across the Rappahannock River from the town of Fredericksburg in 1739. The title “Who is George?” is intended to keep the reader guessing until the very last page when George is introduced as the „father of our country‟. Though appearing deceptively simple, the content has been thoroughly researched. Since credible documentation about George Washington‟s boyhood at Ferry Farm is limited, some story content is deliberately vague. This book is unique as few easy readers focus exclusively on one short period in the early life of important historical figures. Contents Title page, questions -------------------------------------------------------------------

2

Chapter 1, frames 1-6 ------------------------------------------------------------------

3

Chapter 2, frames 7-14

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4

Chapter 3, frames 15-19

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6

Chapter 4, frame 20

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7

Picture Dictionary

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Teacher‟s Guide

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Chapter 1 and 4 vocabulary --------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Alignment with Standards

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Other colonial materials available on this website: “The George Washington Birthday Book” with Teacher‟s Guide, “Colonial Concepts”, “Maggie and Peter”, “Maggie‟s Dream”

1 SPECTRUM SPRINGBOARD BOOKS. Who is George? © 2011 E. Johnson

An ELL book

A picture story By Etta Johnson

Pictures by Elizabeth Borst

© 2009 E. Johnson

Who is George?

 Is George a boy or a man?

George is . . .

 Is George a father or son?

Read to find out.

 Does George live in a city or on a farm?  Is George good or bad at sports?  Is George alive now or long ago?  Does George write with a marker or a quill pen?  Is George dumb or smart?  Is he mean or kind?

read

 Does he like math or hate it?

SPECTRUM SPRINGBOARD BOOKS. Who is George? © 2011 E. Johnson

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An ELL book

1Chapter 1 1

2

George is a son. He loves to ride around George is a boy. He loves to ride his horse

the farm with his father. They look at

around the farm. He loves to ride down

wide corn fields. They look at big fields

the hill to the river.

of tobacco.

3

4

George lives with his family. They live at George is good at sports. He loves to

Ferry Farm in Virginia. Many farm

race with his cousin Lewis.

workers live there too.

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An ELL book

5

6

George lives a long time ago. He lives with his mother and father.

George is seven years old. He has three younger brothers and one sister.

Chapter 2

7

8 Why? How? When? Where?

George is curious. He likes to go to town with his father. They walk from their

They cross the river on a ferry. They

house to the river.

get off the ferry at the town dock.

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An ELL book

9

10

They go to a warehouse near the dock.

George listens. Father talks to some men.

Father stores his tobacco there. The

He wants to sell his tobacco.

barrels of tobacco are ready to sell.

11

12 Who will buy it, Father? How long will it take?

George watches. He watches the big

George asks questions. The barrels are

sailing ship at the dock. Workers put

full of tobacco leaves. Father sells his

boxes and barrels on the ship.

tobacco to a company in England.

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An ELL book

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The ship takes the tobacco across the ocean. The ship sails from a town in America to a town in England.

14

George is a learner. He learns about buying and selling goods. He learns how ships sail to England.

Chapter 3

15

16 George, come and play with me.

George is a good math student. He likes to add and subtract. He writes math problems in his copy book. He uses a

No, Sam. I cannot play. I must do my work for school.

George is a big brother. Sam comes into the room. George dips his pen into the ink bottle. Sam pulls on George‟s arm.

quill pen.

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An ELL book

17 Schoolmaster will be angry. He does not like messy work.

18

I am sorry, George!

George is upset. A big drop of ink falls on the paper.

It‟s all right, Sam. Don‟t cry! Here, use my hornbook. You can learn the A-B-Cs.

Thank you, George. I will study very hard. Then I will be smart like you.

George is kind.

Chapter 4

19 George, you are a nice, kind boy. You help your father. You respect others. You want to learn about everything. I am proud of you, my son.

20

George grows up. He is a leader. He is the „father of our country.” He is the first president of the United States of America. George is George Washington.

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An ELL book

PICTURE DICTIONARY

PICTURE DICTIONARY

quill pen ink bottle town

warehouse

spot of ink

dock copybook copybook

ferry

river

sailing ship

Ferry Farm field hornbook

Did you read and find out about George?  George is seven years old, but he grew up to be a man.  George lives on a farm with his family.  George is good at sports. He loves to ride horses.  George was alive long ago, but we remember him now.

 George writes with a quill, because there were no markers long ago.  George is nice to his little brother, not mean.  George is a smart boy, not a dumb one. He listens, watches and studies hard.  George was a son, but he grew up to be the father of our country.

 George likes math.

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An ELL book

TEACHER‟S GUIDE Purpose: for beginning readers and English Language Learners (ELL) who need a lot of picture support and clear, simple sentences. Readability: Fog Scale: 2.95 Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 1.3 4 chapters, 20 illustrated frames; word count 490 Make consumable copies of the story p. 1 to 8 for students. LESSON PLANS BOOK INTRODUCTION:  Introduce the title: “Who is George?”  Ask students if they would like to play a guessing game/solve a mystery. Explain that you will all read a book together about a real person. But you will have to guess who that person is. It is a mystery. If you guess who it is as we read, do not say it out loud. Come and tell me. It will be a secret until we finish the book.  Read frames 1 and 2 aloud. Then have students echo read. Discuss each question. We want to read to find the answers to the questions. Have each student choose his favorite question and write it down.  Take turns reading CHAPTER 1, FRAMES 1-6 Before Reading:



Introduce the vocabulary (Ch. 1 vocabulary picture page): horse, to ride, to race, farm, field, hill, river, tobacco plant, cousin, Ferry Farm, Virginia. Discuss.

During Reading:



Read one frame at a time. Start each with “Who is George?” Discuss each frame. Reread. Paraphrase. Ask questions. What did George like to do? Who did he ride with? Did he ride a bike or a horse? Where does he ride? Who are his parents? Is he the youngest or oldest child? (two older half-brothers are at school in England) Where does he live? How are you and George alike? Different? Name all the things George is . . . boy, son, seven years old, good at sports, etc.

 Return to the title page. Which questions does chapter 1 answer? Do you know who George is yet? After Reading Activities:   

Beginning students: Draw a picture of George riding a horse. Label. Intermediate students: Draw a picture of George. Write sentences about what George likes to do. Advanced students: Draw a picture. Write what you have learned about seven-year old George.

CHAPTER 2, part 1- FRAMES 7-10 (divide ch. 2 into two parts, read on two days) Before Reading:  Introduce vocabulary using picture dictionary page: town, river, ferry, dock, warehouse, to cross, to store. During Reading:  Read one frame at a time. Discuss each. Reread. Paraphrase. Ask questions. What does George like to do? Where is town? How do they get there? Why can‟t they walk or ride to town? What is a warehouse? Do we have them today? What do you think George‟s father talked about to the men at the warehouse?  What did you learn about George? George is . . .? After Reading Activities:

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An ELL book

  

Beginning students: Make a picture of George and his father on the ferry or in town. Label the picture. use the picture dictionary page to practice vocabulary. Follow directions/answer questions, e.g.. Show me/Point to ___. Where is the river? What is a ferry? Where is the town? Intermediate students: Draw picture from chapter 2 and write sentences about it. Advanced students: Draw a picture and answer questions under it. Where do George and his father go? How do they get there? Where is the town?

CHAPTER 2, part 2 - FRAMES 11-14 Before Reading:  Introduce vocabulary with using the picture dictionary and ch. 1 vocabulary page: sailing ship, box, barrel, leaf/leaves. Use a map to show where America and England are. Talk about what tobacco was used for in colonial times (pipes) and is used for today (cigarettes) During Reading:  Read one frame at a time. Discuss each. Reread. Paraphrase. Ask questions. What is parked at the dock? What are the workers doing? What is in the barrels? Where did it come from? Where will the ship go? What is George doing? What does he learn?  What did you learn about George? George is . . .  Return to the title page. Which questions does chapter 2 answer? Do you know who George is yet? After Reading Activities:  Beginning students: Make a picture of George looking at the sailing ship. Follow directions/answer questions about it.  Intermediate students: Make a picture from the story and write sentences about it.  Advanced students: Draw a picture. Compare George to yourself. How do you learn new things? How did George learn?

CHAPTER 3, FRAMES 15-19 Before reading:  Materials: blank newsprint, feather quills, bottle of ink. Let students make a copybook out of folded newsprint. Try using quill pen and ink for writing. See how easy it is for ink to drop out of pen  Introduce vocabulary using picture dictionary: copy book, quill pen, schoolwork, school master, ink bottle, blob, hornbook, letters, Samuel/Sam. Show real quill and ink. 

During Reading:



Read one frame at a time and discuss what is happening and who is talking. Ask questions. What is George doing? What does Sam want to do? What happens? Why is George upset? How does he react? How would you react?  What did you learn about George? George is . . .?  Return to the title page. Which questions does chapter 3 answer? Do you know who George is yet? After Reading Activities:  Beginning students: Make a picture of George and Sam. Show whether George and/or Sam are happy/sad/mad.  Intermediate students: Draw a picture of George and Sam. Make your own speech bubbles..  Advanced students: Draw a picture. How does George‟s mother describe him? How would you describe him? Answer the chapter questions, telling why you chose that answer. CHAPTER 4, FRAME 20, Did you Read and find out? Before Reading:  Introduce vocabulary with pictures using ch. 4 vocabulary page: to lead/leader, to grow up/grew up, country, United States of America, president.  Materials: scissors, glue stick 10 SPECTRUM SPRINGBOARD BOOKS. Who is George? © 2011 E. Johnson

An ELL book

During reading:  Cut out the small picture of President George Washington to glue onto the last frame.  Talk about what this page means. Why do you think he is called „the father of our country‟?  Most of the book is about when George was seven years-old. How old are you when „you grow up‟? Could you grow up to be the president of the U.S.? The first president?  Read and discuss “Did you read and find out?” After Reading Activities:  Beginning students: Review all GW pictures they‟ve made. Practice vocabulary.  Intermediate/advanced students: Each student can answer 1to 3 questions posed at the beginning of the book. Write answers on a sentence strip. Then put the sentence strips together to describe George.

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An ELL book

Ch. 1 vocabulary

hill

A man rides a horse. field river

a farm

tobacco plants in a field

corn plants in a field

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An ELL book

barrels of tobacco in a warehouse

tobacco leaf

Ch. 4 vocabulary

George Washington was the first president.

George Washington was a leader.

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An ELL book

ALIGNMENT WITH STANDARDS COMMON CORE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS READING FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS Phonological Awareness RF.1.2. Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). RF.1.3/2.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Fluency RF.1.4/2.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT Key Ideas and Details RI.1.1. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. RI.2.1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. RI.3.1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers RI.1.2. Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. RI.3.2. Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea RI.1.3. Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text. RI.2.3. Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas RI.1.7. Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas. RI.2.7. Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe. RI.1.8. Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text. RI.2.8. Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.

NATIONAL SOCIAL STUDIES AND HISTORY STANDARDS National Standards for History: NSS-USH.K-4.1 LIVING AND WORKING TOGETHER IN FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES, NOW AND LONG AGO NSS-USH.K-4.3 THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES AND VALUES AND THE PEOPLE FROM MANY CULTURES WHO CONTRIBUTED TO ITS CULTURAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL HERITAGE

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