Avon, 1991

Summary: This is a coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old Ute, Cloyd. He's hostile and in trouble with everyone, including himself. His desperation comes to a head when he is sent to live with an old rancher. That summer proves a turning point in Cloyd's life.

Level: RL: 5 IL: 5 - 10

Themes:

adolescence;
survival
discrimination

Activities:

1. Before you read Bearstone, explore the meaning of "villains" and "antagonists" with a small group. Individually, write down what they mean to you. Think of three villains that come to mind, and write a description of each. Now contrast and compare your ideas and your villains and come up with a group definition. Explore dictionaries and thesauri and a few encyclopedias, and if possible the CDROM American Heritage Dictionary. This dictionary will access for you every entry that includes the word "villain", which should include famous villains and many different aspects of the word. Modify your definition if you wish. Prepare a one-sheet handout, an overview of villainy, ending with an invitation to explore your completed video or hypercard stack on villainy when your project is done.

Plan and produce a simple, man-in-the-street, video-recorded survey about the definition of a villain and examples. Include reasons why the respondents chose the examples. Hold your unedited film until later in the project.

Cloyd sees Rusty as the villain of Bearstone. What would Cloyd's definition of a villain be? List Rusty's villainous acts from Cloyd's point of view. How does this description fit in with your group's investigations? Does Rusty have ANY redeeming features? Explain. Can a villain have any good qualities? If you need to revise your definition, do so now.

With your group, brainstorm three lists of villains. Begin by reviewing the descriptions from your group and your video survey.

1. historical villains
2. literary villains
3. living villains

Now each member of the group choose one villain from each list to research. The purpose of this research will be to expand your one page overview of villainy to an extended video or hypercard overview of villainy for use as a library resource. Create a general plan for your final product before your group lists what information and material will be needed for each of your choices. These lists may depend somewhat on whether or not your equipment can import sound, film, or photos to a hypercard stack. It may also depend on which books containing literary villains are easily available to your classmates, for that section of your product should be able to be used as an inviting reading selection tool for other students. If you are preparing a hypercard stack, plan a section where stack users can add their own ideas about villains, or additional suggested names, or full-length contributions for any of the three kinds of villains. Now when you edit your survey film, you will have a precise plan of how you will use the chosen clips. [A number of Reading Rainbow shows contain well-edited, simply edited video surveys. Their formats may provide you with editing and presentation ideas.]

Conferencing checkpoints have not been included with this activity. Plan these with your teacher and librarian before you begin. When your project is ready to become part of the library resources, invite a select number of school staff to a preview of your product. As part of your presentation, include suggestions of how you think teachers and students could use this new resource tool. Ask them if they can think of additional ways. Offer some specific services that your group has agreed it might provide, individually or as a group. [Some members of the group may feel qualified for a certain area]. Possible services:

orienting a group or a class to this resource

supervising a student doing additional research for one of the lists

helping a group design and create and edit a video survey

Note: See Grace for a set of activities regarding heroes and heroines.

2. Cloyd can hardly read, and is too proud and angry to accept Walter's offer to teach him. Programs such as Literacy Volunteers of America helps non-readers and poor readers. Contact this organization and learn as much as you can about how the program works, and what are the qualifications for volunteering. Could YOU become a volunteer? Prepare a bulletin board designed to attract and solicit new Literacy Volunteers. Use a set of criteria. Be sure you include a pocket with phone numbers, a mail application, and how interested people can contact you for further information. Ask new volunteers to mention your name when they communicate with Literacy Volunteers. Ask Literacy Volunteers to give you feedback on any inquiries they get that include your name. Also locate a place on an electronic network where you can put an invitation especially designed for that group and for a computer screen. Arrange for feedback of any success through that medium. After an agreed-upon period of time, analyze the results. Write up your results, including what you felt were the best aspects of your effort, and improvements that you would suggest if a different group were to solicit volunteers.

3. Bears have been important symbols to man since prehistoric times. Prepare a description of Cloyd's feelings about bears, using examples from Bearstone. Now describe how those feelings influenced his behavior, again using examples. Research the history of bears as symbols, including North American Indian lore. Create a hypercard stack based on the bear in Indian lore.

4. The grizzly bear's fate has many facets. With a small group, review Bearstone and list, with page numbers, what you can learn about it from the story. For instance, on page 134, you learn that the punishment for a hunting guide to allow illegal killing of a grizzly, or failure to report a dead grizzly to the Department of Wildlife or to a game warden can be loss of his guide license. This could be described as a legal effort of protection. From your list, derive questions that would lead to a full understanding of the current situation regarding the grizzly, or the lone eagle mentioned on page 112. . Categorize your questions, and divide the research among the group after planning how you can communicate the resulting information within a permanent, appealing, useful product. Design your product so that future developments in the history of the grizzly, researched by another student group in a year or two, can be easily incorporated within it.

5. Cloyd almost succumbs to hypothermia. Re-read this section of the book with three thoughts in mind. Identify places where Cloyd or his rescuers made any mistakes, and that could have resulted in his death. Identify places where something happened that helped save Cloyd's life. And lastly, imagine some what-ifs that could have changed this part of the story. For example: What if Cloyd were higher in the mountains, had warmer clothing on, and got lost instead of running into another camper? If the story is being read aloud [and it makes a great read-aloud], three groups could listen for a divided assignment, then share the results. Now begin researching hypothermia as well as other dangers of exposure to the cold. How high would Cloyd be in Colorado? After you have an overview, decide on a what-if, and list the specific information you will need to create a good alternative plot for this part of the story. Now research for the material you have focussed on, and gradually develop and fill in your what-if story. This is a good place to use a double-entry journal. Try collecting the facts on the left hand side of the journal, and your reactions, decisions, or further questions on the right hand side. This will allow you to collect ideas out of sequence and guess where you might plug them in. You can also gather more than you might need, and then review your notes or the resources you've documented after you have thought about more plot ideas.
See a sample entry

Have your group or class prepare a library display of survival kits. Design a questionnaire that will clarify some of the more subtle facts. You may want to contact a state agency or a local expert in survival. (For instance:

Q. Why is the whistle plastic instead of metal?
A. Because metal will stick to lips in sub-freezing temperatures.

Q. Why must the candy be Charms?
A. Charms or other candy or powdered drink made with glucose is okay. Candy made with sugar doesn't give such quick energy, and it draws body water into the stomach.)

After the group has examined the displays and filled out the quizzes on their clipboards [decide if they all need to answer all questions, or if the quiz should be divided into sections, and then the group share questions and answers], have a read-in of the group's what-if stories. Conclude the Display activity and read-in by distributing a bibliography of survival non-fiction and one of survival fiction, which should include Bearstone What-IfS This activity could take place during lunch. The visiting group could examine the kits first, then eat a bag lunch as they listened to the read-in.

6. Walter, the rancher, makes one last try at mining gold within a Colorado mountain. Trying to imagine just how this mining technique works and how it looks may be confusing to some readers. Just how does water dripping on carbide make a headlamp work? And what does a copper "spoon" look like, and why does it need to be copper? And what does a "contact" look like, or a gravity ore chute? With a partner or a small group, create a "how-to" for mining a contact lode. Begin with the information you can glean from chapters 14 and 15 in Bearstone. Before you expand on this information through research, use what information you have so far to brainstorm possible formats for your how-to. One format you might consider would be a videotaped animation using plasticene or acrylic clay. Browsing through a number of how-to books could suggest other ways you might present your material. Your how-to must include:

A sequence list of specific steps in the mining process. This should be placed near the beginning of your product.

A glossary

Charts, diagrams, illustrations, to show how things work, or what something looks like. To help your group decide what needs such clarification, develop a list of possible visuals BEFORE you begin your research. Your initial curiosity or confusion will probably be similar to users of your product. Later, you can add to this list as you learn more about the mining process. When your product is in draft form, preview it with other groups of students and ask them what seems to be missing in explanations or visuals.

7. Read Racing the Sun by Paul Pitts, or some other novel that also deals with Native Americans and discrimination and culture conflict. Contrast and compare the two stories. How are they alike and how are they different? Which is more important? Explain. Document the painful experiences of the main character in each story, and if and how each is resolved. Now plan a final activity suggested by this information. Discuss in conference with your teacher and follow through. [A small group could each read a different novel that includes the same theme, and design a culminating group activity.]

Resources:

Alford, Monty. Wilderness Survival Guide. Alaska Northwest, 1987.

Dixon, Franklin W. The Hardy Boys Handbook: Seven Stories of Survival. Simon & Schuster, 1980.

Edmonds, Margot. Voices of the Winds: Native American Legends. Facts on File, 1989.

Harris, Geraldine. Spirits, Heroes and Hunters from North American Indian Mythology. Schocken, 1982.

Hirschfelder, Arlene. Happily May I Walk: American Indians & Alaska Natives Today. Scribner, 1986.

Jay, Michael. Camping and Orienteering. Warwick, 1990.

Kramer, Kathy. "Park Faces People-Bear Dilemma." Christian Science Monitor. Nov. 10, 1992, p. 12.

Knickerbocker, Brad. "Eagle Soars in Numbers, a Win for U.S. Preservation." Christian Science Monitor. June 19, 1994, pp 1,6.

Liptack, Karen. North American Indian Survival Skills. Watts, 1990.

McNamee, Thomas. The Grizzly Bear. McGraw-Hill, 1984.

McVay, Vicki. Sierra Club Wayfinding Book. Little, Brown, 1989.

Maniguet, Xavier. Survival: How to Prevail in Hostile Environments. Facts on File, 1988.

National Geographic Society. Wilderness Challenge, 1979.

Paulsen, Gary. Haymeadow. Delacorte, 1992.

Pitts, Paul. Racing the Sun. Avon, 1988.

Platt, Charles. Outdoor Survival. Watts, 1976.

Scales, Pat. "Bearstone & Beardance ." Book Links. May 1994. 21-26.

Shepard, Paul and Sanders, Barry The Sacred Paw: The Bear in Nature, Myth, and Literature. Viking, 1985.

Tansell, Rod. To Fight the Wild. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986.

Tegner, Bruce & McGrath, Alice. The Survival Book. Bantam, 1983.

Waldman, Carl.Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Facts/File, '88.

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Prepared by Audrey Conant, MEMA Board

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