Night of the Twisters

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Community Bonds”

In this activity, students will work together to build community.

In the aftermath of the tornadoes, the community works together to help each other heal and the town to rebuild. Let’s learn from their cooperation and generosity to build our class community.

• Identify ways the community came together after the tornadoes.
• List ways we can help our class community become even stronger.
• Decide on one focused action you will take to build our class community over the course of the next week.
• Take your action.

Reflect in your journal about the theme of Community and Close Bonds in the novel, the action you took, and how we built the theme of Community and Close Bonds in our class.

Teaching Suggestion: Rereading a scene or two together, identifying actions the characters took, and discussing how those actions helped the town could guide some brainstorming. Also, talking about strengths and challenges in the class can help build a framework students can focus on as they prepare their community actions. For example, if the class likes yoga and gets distracted after lunch each day, a group could lead the class in yoga. Students might work individually or in small groups.

Paired Text Extension:

“Stories of People Pitching In to Help Communities” by NPR includes a five-minute listen option and written interview about a project documenting people positively impacting communities in different ways. The resource can offer examples and inspiration for community building.

Teaching Suggestion: Reading or listening to the interview could be a place to start brainstorming at the beginning of this project. It could also be a way to wrap up and discuss ideas for extending the learning beyond the classroom. Students could have ongoing actions they take to build community in their homes or neighborhoods.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or students who find writing more challenging, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Steps taken before the tornadoes impact the outcome.

• How does preparedness help the characters? (topic sentence)
• While crafting your essay, incorporate at least three quotations and additional details to build your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate which character was most prepared for the storm.

2. The final parts of the novel describe the community a year later.

• What does the gathering at the end of the book symbolize? (topic sentence)
• As you build your essay, incorporate at least three quotations and other details to prove your analysis.
• In your conclusion, explain a lesson the reader can infer from the ending scenes.

3. The novel focuses on Dan’s perspective.

• How does Dan grow throughout the novel? (topic sentence)
• Include at least three quotations and clear reasoning to develop your ideas.
• In your conclusion, make a prediction of a way in which Dan will remain forever changed.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Reflect on Mrs. Smiley and how she drives characters’ decisions, plot points, and the theme of Community and Close Bonds. How is Mrs. Smiley the heart of the novel? What are her main character traits? How does she interact with other characters? How do others feel about her? As you write your essay, include at least three quotations and additional details and reasoning that build your ideas. Cite quotations with page numbers.

2. Consider Dan’s explanation of red-letter and black-letter days at the beginning of the novel. How does this frame the novel? Which are stronger for Dan: red-letter or black-letter days? How are they connected? What lesson(s) does the novel teach about these days? As you construct your essay, incorporate at least three quotations, as well as other details and clear analysis. Cite quotations with page numbers.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. How do Dan’s feelings toward helping his family shift over the course of the novel?

A) Dan enjoys being around his family, choosing them over friends. After the tornadoes, though, he blames them for his losses.

B) Dan is indifferent to his family before the tornado, irritated by them during the tornado, and indifferent again in the aftermath.

C) Dan dislikes his family, except for his brother, until the tornadoes force him to realize he cares for his parents and grandparents too.

D) Dan loves his family but is sometimes annoyed by them. Then, he worries and fears for them. After the storms, he treasures them.

2. Which of the following is the best example of Community and Close Bonds?

A) The trucker driving Aunt Goldie to the hotel

B) People eating potluck a year after the storms

C) The president visiting Grand Island and speaking

D) Dan’s feelings toward Ryan before the tornado

3. What literary strategy does the author incorporate into this quotation?

“Nobody knew for sure where Aunt Goldie was that night…or the next. Or the next.” (Chapter 4)

A) Irony

B) Metaphor

C) Imagery

D) Foreshadowing

4. What does Dan mean when he talks about “black-letter days”? (Chapter 1)

A) Days worthy of a celebration

B) Days recorded in a diary

C) Days a person forgets easily

D) Days bringing extreme trauma

5. What best describes how Arthur and Dan feel about attending Aunt Goldie’s summer classes?

A) They do so out of obligation, scheming to escape them.

B) They enjoy the classes most of the time but didn’t enjoy last summer’s.

C) They plan to attend each year but then end up disliking them.

D) They love the classes and wish they could attend more often.

6. Which of the following best describes the way Dan feels after his father tells him to help his mother more?

A) Defiant and stubborn

B) Uncaring and nonchalant

C) Hurt and regretful

D) Delighted and eager

7. What literary strategy is used in the following quotation?

“The roaring had started somewhere to the east, then came bearing down on us like a hundred freight trains.” (Chapter 6)

A) Personification

B) Simile

C) Understatement

D) Alliteration

8. Which literary strategy does the following quotation use?

“Our furniture, clothes, books were haphazardly mixed into the wreckage. Papers were scattered everywhere. Like white bats, they fluttered up and over the foundation in the gusting wind.” (Chapter 6)

A) Imagery

B) Flashback

C) Foreshadowing

D) Allusion

9.  Which best describes the boys’ feelings about the cause of the tornado in Chapter 10?

A) Dan believes Arthur brought it on by using his bull roarer.

B)  Arthur believes Dan brought it on with his attitude toward Ryan.

C) Both boys worry that they might have been a factor.

D) Neither boy worries that he might have been a factor.

10. Which of the following best explains why Dan and Arthur laugh when they find Mrs. Smiley?

A) A release of stress

B) Unkind mockery

C) Stacey’s joking

D) Mrs. Smiley’s joking

11. What does Stacey’s offer to help with the baby in the police station reveal about her?

A) She is trying to forget her problems.

B) She is compassionate and giving.

C) She likes to show off.

D) She is fearless, even in tragedy.

12. How does Dan feel when driving the police cruiser?

A) Terrified and sick

B) Angry and resentful

C) Embarrassed but brave

D) Nervous but proud

13. What causes Dan to get tired of drinking soda pop?

A) It’s all they have to drink when there is no clean water.

B) It reminds him of his night in the jail cell.

C) Mrs. Smiley offers him soda pop every day.

D) Dan drinks it every day at his job.

14. What made Mrs. Smiley a “shining example” in the neighborhood? (Chapter 12)

A) She made the visiting Mennonites feel welcome.

B) She put out canned goods for the neighbors to take and eat.

C) She offered hospitality to the visiting president.

D) She made the biggest contribution to the potluck meal.

15. After the tornadoes, what best describes the help the residents get?

A) They come to each other’s aid immediately, and soon volunteers and the government help with supplies and rebuilding.

B) The community helps each other for weeks before others step in with additional aid.

C) Many people swiftly move out of the community and scatter.

D) The infrastructure has been so damaged that no aid is possible.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does first-person narration impact the novel?

2. What actions illustrate the appreciation that community members feel toward Mrs. Smiley?