Unit 6

What Are Our Connections to the Past?

First Contact

A good mystery story has many suspects. As a detective such as Evan interviews each suspect, he realizes all suspects have different details that stand out to them.  In the "Case of the Broken Vase" to the left, details that stand out are a shoe, carrot,  and a skateboard. 


Each person's viewpoint contains some information about what happened in the past. However, not all viewpoints contain the same information. Some viewpoints, such as Mom's in Evan's detective story, express bias (prejudice in favour of or against something) sometimes in an unfair way.

Other viewpoints miss recording important facts. Dad's viewpoint does not include the skateboard or the carrot.  It is important for readers to listen to many voices to find all the evidence and reasons behind the situation(s).  The more people's perspectives the detective hears, the more detectives gain a fuller picture of what happened. Then, the detective can come to some conclusions about a past event based on evidence. 

In a similar way, history is made up of clues. Historians put pieces and stories together to understand the events more fully.  They learn about cause and effect and why and how the event occurred.  

In this lesson, you will
  • listen to a speaker's feelings
  • identify points of view


Activity


Click each coloured row for information about the activity.

Preview the selection on pages 152 to 156 of Literacy in Action 6B by reading the title, headings, and captions, and by looking at the images.


Make a prediction of what the story is about and from whose point of view it is being told.

Answer the first section of questions on the document First Contact Questions.





Document: First Contact Questions
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  1. Download the document First Contact Questions
  2. IMPORTANT NOTE: When the download screen opens:
      • Click the "Open with" button.
      • Select "Adobe Reader".
      • Click "OK".
      • You will then be able to view the document First Contact Questions
      • Can't view the file? View Skill Builder: Saving Dynamic PDFs.

Read the note from the author on page 156.


The author is Nicole Nicholas and she was 16 years old when she wrote this fictional story.

Read the selection on pages 152 and 153, then, answer the second section of questions on the First Contact Questions worksheet.


Learn about Ellipses


Before reading further, search page 153 for these sentences:

  • It couldn't be a spirit then... could it be a boat?
  • After my death, my son, John, will continue...

The three dots that appear in the sentences are called ellipses and they can be used for different purposes in writing:

  • in the first sentence, the ellipsis shows a pause in the writer's thinking
  • in the second sentence, the ellipsis shows that words have been left out

Now, read the rest of the selection on pages 154 to 156.

Answer the final section of questions on the document First Contact Questions. Consider what does this selection tell you about the speaker's point of view?

Save

How to save a file:

  1. Have the file open and select Save As from the File menu.
  2. Name your First Contact Questions in this format: jsmith_firstcontact and save the file to your Documents folder.

Formative Assessment

  1. This worksheet is similar to homework, which is an opportunity to practise important concepts in the lesson. The worksheet is NOT for marks.
  2. However, your teacher may ask you to submit this worksheet to check on your progress so be sure to save it in your Documents folder.
Compare your responses with those in the key by clicking here.