Literature Discovery Guide - The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Level 3 guides are recommended for grades 5-8. Each guide is designed to be completed in five weeks, which allows students to work through six to eight guides in a typical school year. What will Kit choose, reputation or compassion? When her grandfather dies, Katherine Kit Tyler is forced to leave a carefree life on Barbados to go and live with her aunt, the only family that she has left. Kit arrives at the Connecticut Colony in April of 1687 and is dismayed by the bleak landscape. Her misgivings deepen as she is introduced to the Puritan ways of her new family, and she soon finds herself at odds with Aunt Rachel and Uncle Matthew--and the entire community. When she tries to escape the oppressive surroundings of her new home, Kit encounters the Widow Tupper, a Quaker who is believed to practice witchcraft. The friendship between Kit and Widow Tupper grows, but not without consequences. Kit is accused of being a witch simply because of her association with the widow, known to all as the Witch of Blackbird Pond. Transforming the language arts program by establishing a tradition of literary exploration has profound results. Blackbird & Company literature discovery guides enable students to independently analyze and respond to great stories while freeing up the teacher's schedule to read and discover alongside their students. Empowering teachers to become mentors releases them from the confines of a tedious, and often frustrating, language arts schedule and affords golden opportunities to nurture the child's heart and mind.