Tuck Everlasting

Cooperative Activity
http://cspace.unb.ca/nbco/pigs/novel/active.html
This site gives ideas of the social dilemmas presented in Tuck Everlasting. It provides questions dealing iwth social issue in the book and similar social issues in our society today.

Social Dilemmas
http://cspace.unb.ca/nbco/pigs/novel/social.html
This site gives ideas and examples of cooperative activities that can be used to help students better understand Tuck Everlasting.

Winnie Foster's Initiation
Hartvigsen, Kip M. and Christen Brog Hartvigsen. "'Rough and Soft, Both at Once': Winnie Foster's Initiation in Tuck Everlasting." Children's Literature in Education. Fall 1987:176-183.
This article discusses Winnie's passage from innocence to knowledge and the challenges she faces as she must see all sides of it-beauty ro ugliness, freedom or slavery, etc.

Teacher View
http://www.eduplace.com/tview/tviews/lojas2.html
This site offers a review of the book and provides ideas for further discussions and activities to be taught.

Hard Religious Questions
Milner, Joseph O. "Hard Religious Questions in Knee Knock Rise and Tuck Everlasting." Alan Review. Winter 1995: 18-19.
This article discusses how Natalie Babbitt takes the basic religious question-if man dies, shall he live again?-and reverses it to ask, if a man were not to die, could he truly live.

Teacher Cyber Guide
http://escoe.k12.ca.us/score/tuck/tucktg.htm
This site has an overview and a review of the book. It provides an objective of what is to be taught and what the students should and will learn from reading Tuck Everlasting. It provides related material that can be compard to the book, such as fairy tales, myths and legends. It rovides activities for the teachers to help the students understand certain themes of the book.

A Novel Story
http://www.humanitiessoftware.com/pages/writon/i302.htm
This site provides a description fo things to teach in the book Tuck Everlasting. It gives themes and topics that can be discussed from the book: life, death, family, love, choices, life cycles, and moral judgement.

Reading Activities compiled by Amanda Angelos
|During Reading | After Reading |

Before Reading Ideas

1. “Drinking Water and Ground Water Kids’ Stuff.” 15 Mar. 2005. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 16 Sept. 2005 <http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/kids/>.
This website by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides information and interactive activities about water. There are word scrambles, matching games, illustrations, trivia, and project ideas. It would be a fun way for kids to think about water, where it comes from, and how to conserve it.

2. “Photo and Video Gallery.” 6 Dec. 2004. USDA Forest Service. 16 Sept. 2005
<http://www.fs.fed.us/photovideo/>.
This forest service website has photographs of forests now and from the past. There are also video clips and a video library that only charges postage. Looking at these photos could help students picture where Winnie and the Tucks lived.

3. “Disney’s Tuck Everlasting.” 2002. Buena Vista Home Entertainment Inc. 17 Sept. 2005 <http://disneyvideos.disney.go.com/moviefinder/products/2884103.html>.
This Disney’s trailer of the 2002 Tuck Everlasting movie could be used to provide students with a taste of what the book is about. The site provides a list of major characters along with basic information—ratings etc. This information could be used to spark students’ interest as well as help them make predictions about the book.

4. “Agreement Announced to Protect More Than 25,000 Acres Of Rainforest on Hawaii Island.” 12 Sept. 2005. Office of Hawaiian Affairs. 26 Sept. 2005 <http://www.oha.org/content.asp?ContentId=427>.
This article discusses conservation issues going on today in Hawaii. It also address the important topic of land ownership. It would be a good way to get students thinking about land, what makes it belong to someone, and how it should be treated.

5. “Natalie Babbitt.” Scholastic. 24 Sept. 2005 <http://www2.scholastic.com/teachers/authorsandbooks/authorstudies/authorhome.jhtml?authorID=8&collateralID=5095&displayName=Biography>.
This website has information on the author Natalie Babbitt. It’s fun to read because it is written by Babbitt herself. It could be used to help students better understand why she writes and what she hopes to accomplish through her writing.

6. Godwin-Jones, Robert. “Fairy Tales by the Grimm Brothers.” 1999. Virginia Commonwealth University. 17 Sept. 2005 <http://www.fln.vcu.edu/grimm/grimm_menu.html>.
This collection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales can help students pick out the characteristics of fantasy writing. The tales are available in both the original German and English. There are links to a German-English dictionary and quizzes about the tales.

7. “NBII Children’s Butterfly Site.” 11 Apr. 2005. National Biological Information Infrastructure. 17 Sept. 2005 <http://mpin.nbii.gov/insects/kidsbutterfly/life-cycle/index.html>.
This page gives lifecycle charts and information about butterflies. The whole website is pretty interesting with links to current biological issues, online Biology journals, and museum information. Maybe students could look at the cycles and then make diagrams of the different stages of their own lives.

8. Ripperton, Lisa. “The Baldwin Project: The Fountain of Youth.” 2005. 16 Sept. 2005 <http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=baldwin&book=thirty&story=fountain>.
This website is about James Baldwin’s retelling of the story of Jaun Ponce de Leon and the fountain of youth. It has side links to thirty other retold James Baldwin stories. It could be used to get students thinking about the different legends about immortality, perhaps the roots of Babbitt’s novel.

9. “Circle Game.” 17 Sept. 2005 <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jonimitchell/75389.html>.
This song by Joni Mitchell talks about the cycle of life. Students could read the lyrics and discuss life and how it seems to cycle. Teachers may also want to play an audio recording of this song to spice the lesson up a bit.

10. “New Perspectives on the West.” 2001. PBS. 17 Sept. 2005
<http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/events/1880_1890.htm>.
This links to a detailed timeline of events from 1880-1890 in the American West. There are also links to lesson plans and quizzes over the information. This is actually extra material that goes with a PBS program about the American West. There are lists of episodes that correspond with the different time periods. This information can help put the book into a vivid historical context.

During Reading Ideas

1. Allen, Daniel. “Myth, Legend, Fable.” 2005. 23 Sept. 2005
<http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/theatre.htm>.
This website explores the differences between myths, folktales, and legends. There are links to examples of each of these types of writing. Students can use this site to see how fantasy writing has its roots in these earlier types of stories.

2. “Rivers and Coasts: The Water Cycle.” BBC. 21 Sept. 2005
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/riversandcoasts/water_cycle/rivers/index.shtml>.
The BBC network provides this kid-friendly site teaches students about the water cycle. It has an animated diagram that makes the concept very easy to see. It can help students visualize the water cycle and why it’s so important.

3. “Ash.” Tree Help Ltd. 23 Sept. 2005
<http://www.treehelp.com/trees/ash/index.asp>.
Chapter one mentions the giant ash tree in the woods near Winnie’s house. This site has information on the different types of ash trees in North America and what they need to survive. It also has pictures and a little explanation of how ash wood is used.

4. Barker, William. “The Water of Life.” 22 Mar. 2005. 24 Sept. 2005
<http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~wbarker/fairies/grimm/097.html>.
There are many stories about magical cures. This website has “The Water of Life,” a fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers. It tells the story of a king who can only be cured by drinking very rare “water of life.” Teachers could read the story or have students read the story in groups. Then students could compare the magical power of the water in the fairy tale with the water in Tuck Everlasting.

5. “Weird Frog Facts.” 2004. 24 Sept. 2005
<http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/weird.html>.
Toads show up throughout the book. This website has diagrams explaining the differences between frogs and toads. It details the life cycle of frogs, provides pictures, and gives interesting facts.

6. Podesta, Melita. “New England Economic Adventure: 1890s Family.” Oct. 2004. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. 24 Sept. 2005
<http://www.economicadventure.org/family/ML1890.pdf>.
Without question, this is my favorite site! This is a link to an excellent pdf file about life in the 1980s. This twelve-page file has tons of information and authentic photographs. It covers many topics including family life, technology, and leisure time. It can really help the reading come alive to students as they more clearly visualize life in this time period.

7. Miles, Kathy and Charles F. Peters II. “The Chemistry of Rain.” 19 May 1996. 24 Sept. 2005
<http://www.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=question479.htm&url=http://earthspace.net/~kmiles/dln/5-96/rain.html>.
Chapter twenty-three talks about the smell of rain. This interesting website talks about rain and the chemistry behind it. This isn’t the water cycle—it’s talking about rain drop shapes and other fascinating information.

8. Whitley, Peggy. “About the 19th Century Decades.” Kingwood College Library. 24 Sept. 2005
<http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/19thcentury1890.htm>.
This website is full of information about American culture in the 1890s. It gives information on art and architecture, business, education, news, literature, fashion, immigration, and technology during this time in American history. This site is a great way to contextualize the book for students.

9. “History of the American West 1860-1920: Photographs from the Collection of the Denver Public Library.” Library of Congress. 24 Sept. 2005
<http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/codhtml/hawpSubjects09.html>.
Who knew there were so many photographs so readily available?! This site is full of old photographs of the American West from 1860-1920. It is amazing how extensive this website is. It really brings the old frontier to life with pictures of Native Americans, old buildings and towns, mines, artillery, automobile racing, and tons more.

10. “Tuck Everlasting Vocabulary.” Quia Corporation. 24 Sept. 2005
<http://www.quia.com/fc/70789.html>.
Students can use this website to review new words. It provides online flashcards of words from the first six chapters of Tuck Everlasting. Teachers may want to hold a class discussion on what to do when students come across new words. They could address different ways to find definitions and strategies for remembering new vocabulary.

After Reading Ideas

1. “Fascinating Facts about the Invention of the Wheel.” March 2005. 3 Oct. 2005.
<http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/wheel.htm>.
The very first sentence in Tuck Everlasting introduces the wheel as a symbol. This site provides information about the origin of the wheel. Students could use this information to make connections between wheels and the book, while learning history.

2. Addison, Amanda. “Tuck Everlasting Quiz.” 24 Sept. 2005.
<http://www.renlearn.com/ar/arquizzes/htm/tuck.html>.
Teachers may use this as a fun way for kids to test their comprehension of the basic plot of Tuck Everlasting. The quiz is only 10 questions and is meant to be completed online. This is especially nice because the computer grades the quiz for you.

3. “Ecclesiastes Chapter Three.” 24 Sept., 2005.
<http://www.christiananswers.net/bible/eccl3.html>.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 contains a well-known passage about timing. This site links to an online version of the King James Version of the Bible. Students can read this passage and then respond either in a class conversation or a writing activity.

4. “Tuck Everlasting Book Review.” 24 Sept. 2005.
<http://www.planetbookclub.com/kids/tucksrc.html>.
After reading the book, students can read this online review of it. This review is really two opinions contrasted with each other on one page. Students can decide if they agree with the reviews or not. Then they can write their own review of the book.

5. Williams, Steve. “Readers Theatre for Interpretive Summary.” 3 Oct. 2005.
<http://www.thinkingscripts.co.uk/ts/rtinterpret.html>.
Teachers may consider this unconventional way to help their students understand the book. This site describes a technique the creator calls “interpretive summary scripts.” Students dramatize chunks of the text and then perform them in a reader’s theatre style. All the instructions are right here!

6. Fayard. “Tuck Study Guide.” 3 May 2005. 3 Oct. 2005. <http://teacherweb.com/IL/WoodlandMiddleSchool/MissJohnsonsLanguageArtsClass/photo3.stm>.
This is a study guide for Tuck Everlasting. It has 26 short-answer questions that students could easily answer if they have read the book, but not if they haven’t. Teachers may want to use it as a study guide, or it would work well for quiz or test questions.

7. Nunes, Julie. “Enrichment Activity Two.” 1998. 3 Oct. 2005.
<http://yennadon.sd42.ca/online/langarts/tuck/enrich/TUCKSG2.HTM>.
Natalie Babbitt uses vivid imagery as she describes the book’s setting of Treegap. This site suggests an activity where students read passages that show imagery. Then, they can look at different types of impressionist art and possibly even create their own impressionist-style painting.

8. “Tuck Everlasting Debate Activity.” 3 Oct. 2005.
<http://imet.csus.edu/imet2/goffa/imet_portfolio/tucklesson/Tuckweb/debate.html>.
There are many important issues that Tuck Everlasting brings up. This site gives instructions for organizing debates based on a few of these key issues—when breaking the law is justified and the death penalty for instance. The site provides a debate outline and rubric.

9. “The Death Penalty.” 2004. Michigan State University Comm Lab. 3 Oct. 2005.
<http://deathpenaltyinfo.msu.edu/>.
Tuck Everlasting talks about the death penalty as a consequence for the Tuck family. This website is an extensive resource for information about the death penalty. It has arguments for and against it, data, and court cases about it. Students can use this information to research and make their own opinions about this issue.

10. Tuck Everlasting. Prod. Jane Startz Marc Abraham. Disney, 2002.
The Disney video has many similarities to the book. Students may be interested to watch the video and compare it with the book. They could speculate about how they would make the video different.

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