Signpost-Words of the Wiser

1. Signpost-Words of the Wiser

2. Words of the Wiser • What do you think this signpost might be about?

3. Words of the Wiser • Has your mom or dad ever said anything like: Always tell the truth. Haste makes waste. • Authors are, in some ways, like a mom or dad. The include scenes in which wise words are shared. • This advice is probably a life lesson, and if I pay attention to it, I’ll see an important idea the author wants me to think about.

4. Words of the Wiser When you’re reading and a character (who’s probably older and lots wiser) takes the main character aside and gives serious advice, You should STOP and ASK yourself: “What’s the life lesson, and how might it affect the character? Whatever the lesson is, you have probably found a theme for the story.

5. Practice We are going to look at a few scenes from a book titled Riding Freedom. Riding Freedom. It is about a young girl names Charlotte who lives during the mid-1800s. Her parents are dead and she lives in an orphanage. She loves horses, but the oversee3r of the orphanage where she lives forbids her to work with them simply because she is a girl. Life there is hard, and at some point she realizes she cannot stay there, so she decides to run away from the orphanage. Let’s look at a short scene, the one where Charlotte tells a trusted older and wiser adult at the orphanage that she must escape. The friend’s name is Vern, and his job at the orphanage is to take care of the horses. One of the horses is named Justice.

6. Practice • What is the advice that Vern gives Charlotte? • How might this advice affect the character? • Discuss with your group.

7. Practice • Find another place where a wiser character offers the main character some advice. • How might this advice affect the character?

8. Practice