EXAMPLE OF CONCEPT MAP FOR PINK AND SAY
· The beautifully illustrated children’s book Pink and Say has a fifth grade reading level and is an excellent book to introduce the personal side of the Civil War. As a fifteen-year-old Ohio soldier fighting for the Union army, Sheldon Russell Curtis was wounded and left for dead somewhere in Georgia. After two days of lying wounded in the field, another young Union soldier, an African-American teenager named Pinkus Aylee, rescues Sheldon. Told years later by Sheldon’s great-great granddaughter and the book’s author Patricia Polacco, the story unravels the journey of these two soldiers who quickly become friends. Making their way to Pinkus’ home where Pinkus and his mother nurse Sheldon back to health, readers realize how scared Sheldon is, fearing a return to the battlefront, longing for his own home and mother.
Ultimately, Polacco paints a vivid picture of the destruction and pain of war when Confederate soldiers murder Pinkus’ mother and the young men are captured and imprisoned. Before they are separated, Pinkus reaches out to Sheldon to take his hand, the hand that had once shaken President Abraham Lincoln’s hand. Months later, Sheldon was released fro the Andersonville prison, weighing only seventy-eight pounds, and after his recovery settled in Michigan where he fathered seven children. Pinkus, however, was not so lucky, being hung within hours after his arrival at Andersonville. Polacco challenges her readers to say Pinkus Aylee’s name out loud and vow to never forget him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
· After determining the students’ prior knowledge and providing them with important details of the Civil War, the fifth grade class will read Pink and Say together as a class; the teacher will lead them in a discussion of the main events of the story, informally assessing comprehension.
· The teacher then reviews the importance of character development as well as concept mapping, reviewing the key elements of a good concept map.
· From there, the teacher has the students do a computer-generated character concept map using Kidspiration for either Pinkus, Sheldon, or both.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Samples of Computer-Generated Concept Maps for Pink and Say
1. Character Concept Map for Pinkus Aylee
OR
2. Venn Diagram Comparing and Contrasting Sheldon Russel Curtis and Pinkus Aylee
