Jessy Ring
7 October 2018
Yolen, J. (1992). Encounter. Orlando, FL: Voyager Books Harcourt, Inc.
Your job is to be on the lookout for words that may be unusual, puzzling, or unfamiliar. Try to figure out their meaning from the context clues around the words. Look up the words in a dictionary or on your dictionary app. Write a definition in your own words. Make sure that you understand the words before you meet with the group because you will be their teacher! Lead your group through a discussion of the words and their meanings.
Page: 13
Best guess using context clues: A type of bread
Definition and synonyms:
My definition: Plants grown in the tropics for their tuberous roots. Similar to potatoes.
Dictionary definition: any of several American plants (genus Manihot, especially M. esculenta) of the spurge family grown in the tropics for their edible tuberous roots which yield a nutritious starch.
Page: 17
Best guess using context clues: Totem or spirit alter
Definition and synonyms:
My definition: a powerful spirit housed in a totem, used by the Tainos people.
Dictionary definition: 1. A spirit of supernatural being of the aboriginal Tainos of the West Indies. 2. An object believed to be the dwelling of a spirit and to possess magic potency.
I will explain cassava by relating it to other tuberous vegetables, such as: potatoes, carrots, ginger or radish. I will explain zemis by relating it to Kachina dolls commonly found in the Southwest United States.
Cassava. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cassava
Zemis. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zemis
Porsha Linder
Yolen, J. (1992).Encounter. Orlando, FL: Voyager Books Harcourt, Inc.
Your job is to choose a paragraph, quote or passage from the book to discuss with your group. Your purpose is to help other students by spotlighting something interesting, powerful, funny, puzzling, or important from the text. You can read parts aloud yourself or ask another group member to read them. Include the page number and reason for choosing the passages.
“Our chief said to us, ‘See how pale they are. No one can be that color who comes from the earth. Surely they come from the sky’. Then he leaped before them and put his hands up, pointing to the sky, to show he understood how far they had flown. ‘Perhaps they have tails,’ said my older brother. ‘Perhaps they have no feet’. “
This passage is a good example of how all humans are capable of judging each other based on superficial assumptions.
"We were given none of these—only singing shells and tiny balls on strings. We were patted upon the head as a child pats a yellow dog. We were smiled at with many white teeth, a serpent’s smile.”
This passage reflects the deeper insight to how the strangers viewed the tribe and offers foreshadowing towards their malicious intentions.
“So it was we lost our lands to the strangers from the sky. We gave our souls to their gods. We took their speech into our mouths, forgetting our own. Our sons and daughters became their sons and daughters, no longer true humans, no longer ours.”
This passage reflects the deep pain that can be caused from forcing people to give up their own culture and replace it with another. It is important for students to understand the mistakes of the past and how we must always consider the value of the cultures of others and work towards a world where each culture is respected and never forced to be given up.
Jessy Ring
7 October 2018
Yolen, J. (1992). Encounter. Orlando, FL: Voyager Books Harcourt, Inc.
Your job is to find connections between the book you are reading and the outside world. This means connecting what you read with your own life, to what happens at school or in the community, to similar events at other times and places, or to other people or problems. Once you have shared your connection to this section of the book, each member of your group will also relate their own connection to the book, although they may refer to a different passage.
Connection: This quote makes me think about the Navajo people who live in my community. In the last couple years, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Navajo language. In 2014, a promising candidate arose for the position of Navajo Nation President, however, he was not fluent in the Navajo language. Even though he was highly qualified for the position, his inability to speak the language cost him the election (Lovett, 2014). The Navajo Nation is seeing a large reduction in Navajo language speakers. Some fear by the year 2020 only 30% of Navajo people will be fluent in the language (Denetclaw, 2017). There are so many Native American languages that are no longer spoken, losing the Navajo language would be a travesty to the Navajo Nation and the four corners area.
Denetclaw, P. (2017, November 16). Data shows huge reduction in Dine speakers. Navajo Times. Retrieved from https://navajotimes.com/reznews/data-shows-huge-reduction-in-dine-speakers/
Lovett, I. (2014, Sept. 26). Presidential candidate in Navajo Nation protests a language requirement. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/us/a-presidential-candidate-in-navajo-nation-protests-a-language-requirement.html
Porsha Linder
Yolen, J. (1992).Encounter. Orlando, FL: Voyager Books Harcourt, Inc.
Your job is to dig up some background information on any relevant topic related to your book. This might include:
This is not a formal research report. The idea is to find some information or material that helps your group understand the book better. Investigate something that really interests you – something that struck you as puzzling or curious while you were reading.
Britannica, T. E. (2015, January 12). Taino. Retrieved October 25, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Taino
En Bas Saline. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2018, from https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/histarch/ebs_taino_culturehistory.htm
Taino Indian Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2018, from http://www.topuertorico.org/reference/taino.shtml
Yolen, J. (1992).Encounter. Orlando, FL: Voyager Books Harcourt, Inc.
According to the author’s notes at the end of Encounter (1992) The Taino were the tribe that inhabited the New World that Columbus “discovered”. The Taino called it “Guanahani” after the island’s many iguanas. These people were friendly to all strangers.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica highlight that the Taino were a “numerous indigenous people” who were “easily conquered by the Spaniards beginning in 1943”. These people were forced to give up their way of life and many were enslaved or worse.