📚 Part 1: Notice and Record Evidence

Text: Use your class copy of Langston Hughes’s “Thank You, Ma’am.” Do not copy the whole story. Write a short quotation or precise paraphrase, and include a page or paragraph reference when possible.

Learning target: I can explain how a character’s actions, motivations, challenges, and choices shape a story.

Success criteria:

☐ I can describe a character and support my idea with evidence.

☐ I can explain why a character makes a choice.

☐ I can explain how a choice affects the story.

☐ I can listen respectfully and consider another interpretation.

Vocabulary Support

Motivation: a reason a character acts.

Consequence: what happens because of an action or choice.

Compassion: care and concern for someone who is struggling.

Responsibility: accepting the results of your actions and doing what is right or needed.

Perspective: the way a person understands or views a situation.

Character-and-Choices Evidence Chart

1. Roger

Action: What does Roger do? Give a quotation or precise detail.

Motivation: What might Roger want, fear, or need? Explain your inference.

Challenge: What problem or pressure does Roger face?

Choice and consequence: What choice does Roger make, and what happens afterward?

2. Mrs. Jones

Action: What does Mrs. Jones do that reveals her character?

Motivation or value: What may guide Mrs. Jones’s actions? Use evidence.

Challenge: What difficult situation does Mrs. Jones handle?

Choice and consequence: How does one choice by Mrs. Jones affect Roger or the story?

✏️ Part 2: Analyze Perspective, Theme, and Choice

Grades 5–6 sentence starters: The story shows that __________. One detail that supports this is __________. This matters because __________.

Grades 7–8 sentence starters: Although __________, the story suggests __________. The interaction between Roger and Mrs. Jones develops this theme by __________. A detail that supports this interpretation is __________.

Grades 5–6: State the choice, name two details, and explain the result.

Grades 7–8: Evaluate the choice from two perspectives. Explain which interpretation is more convincing and why.

Differentiation and Respectful Discussion Supports

For EAL learners: You may use a labeled detail, a short quotation, a drawing before writing, or oral rehearsal with a partner. Try: “Roger chooses to __________ because __________.” “This affects __________ by __________.”

For additional support: Focus on two key moments in the class copy. Use feeling and action words such as worried, hopeful, embarrassed, firm, helped, refused, chose, and changed.

For advanced learners: Support two different interpretations of a difficult choice with two details for each interpretation. Then judge which interpretation is stronger.

When discussing the story, avoid assumptions about people’s families, communities, cultures, or experiences. Refer to the text and listen respectfully.

CCSS alignment: RL.5.2, RL.5.3, RL.7.6, RL.8.3.

🧑‍🏫 Teacher Answer Guide

Accept varied wording when students support an interpretation with accurate evidence from their class copy.

Roger: He attempts to steal Mrs. Jones’s purse, is stopped, admits what he did, stays when invited, washes his face, eats with her, and later shows gratitude. Possible motivations include wanting money for blue suede shoes, acting under pressure, and later wanting to earn trust or make a better choice. His consequence is that Mrs. Jones’s response gives him safety, food, advice, and an opportunity to reconsider his behavior.

Mrs. Jones: She catches Roger, takes him home, gives him food and care, speaks honestly about her own past, and gives him money for the shoes. Possible motivations include compassion, practical wisdom, responsibility, and a desire to guide rather than humiliate him. Her choices affect Roger by changing the situation from punishment alone to trust, reflection, and possible growth.

Perspective: Roger may first see Mrs. Jones as an obstacle or authority figure, then as someone unexpectedly compassionate. Mrs. Jones may see Roger as a young person who made a harmful choice but is capable of responsibility and change. Strong answers explain that perspectives develop as events unfold.

Theme: Possible themes include compassion can open the possibility of change; people should take responsibility for choices; forgiveness may be offered without ignoring wrongdoing; and one respectful response can influence another person’s decisions. Answers must connect the theme to two accurate details.

Scoring look-fors: 1 point for a relevant claim, 1 point for accurate evidence or paraphrase, 1 point for explaining motivation or challenge, and 1 point for explaining a consequence or character change. For the extension, look for a specific line or incident plus a clear explanation of how it reveals character or provokes a decision.