Strengths: This has a lot of good details about what daily life was like in the South at this time. When a poisonous snake is left on the Hunter's porch and nearly kills his daughter, other members of the community help him arrange to go to Detroit to work in the auto industry there. Hunter was in the army, but returning black soldiers have been warned that letting whites know about their service and medals could put them in danger. In their talks, Gabriel finds out about the man's past. His father agrees, knowing that Gabriel wants to watch out for Mr. Since Gabriel is grounded from riding his bike for two weeks, he offers to help out at his father's garage. Hunter will work at the garage, but his shift will start after Lucas' ends.

Both of Gabriel's parents went to Oberlin college and are considered progressive in their beliefs about race, but the other mechanic, Lucas, is very mean and rumored to be a member of the KKK. The one snag? It's 1946 in South Carolina, and Mr. Meriwether Hunter also helps fix the bike, and since he does such a good job and Gabriel's father is in need of a mechanic at his auto repair shop, Gabriel offers to talk to his father. Luckily, a man pushes him out of the way of the oncoming car and saves him. The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USAįor his twelfth birthday, Gabriel gets a brand new Schwinn bicycle, but almost comes to grief after running a red light. And I ran two miles towards a 100 mile challenge. My favorite example of training kicking in is when I wrote a perfect five paragraph essay on Sci Fi Junior High.Īnd yes, I did indeed read six books yesterday. And if you have no idea what RACES writing is, it's okay to ask 8th graders to give you some hints.Īre you finding school tough, O Middle School Students? It's okay to practice writing on your own even if you have no assignments! When I was in 8th grade, I wrote an entire, horrible 320 page novel! On a 1958 Smith-Corona electric typewriter, no less.

The point being: if you read enough and WRITE enough, it is very easy to complete assignments. Having read the following book the night before, I used my lunch time to answer eight questions on this book according to the rubric. Farnsworth and Ruth Wakefield for biography wax museums and completed countless other projects for a variety of subjects), I asked one teacher for the assignment. One nine weeks, I managed to accumulate 500 AR points. Since I don't like to ask students to do things I am not willing to do (E.G. Here's a fun fact: Our sixth graders, in the absence of Accelerated Reader this year, are doing book projects to reinforce their RACES writing skills.

The unsung hero of birdsong usa