Foreshadowing Days Two and Three

With Halloween last night, I didn't have an opportunity to reflect on yesterday's lesson. We once again reviewed foreshadowing and what it involved. We talked about the fact that foreshadowing can be very in-your-face and obvious, and that in some situations it can be more subtle.

Such is the case in "Harriet You'll Drive Me Wild" (just so everyone knows, I KNOW you're supposed to underline titles, I'm still trying to figure out how to do so). The book opens with, "Harriet Harris was a pesky child. She didn't mean to be, she just was." With that bit of foreshadowing, we are led through a typical day in the Harris household; a day in which Harriet finds herself in one jam after another, from spilling her juice at breakfast to dripping paint on the carpet, to pulling off the table cloth at lunch. Harriet's mother doesn't like to yell (so says the story) but when Harriet was supposed to be napping and instead tore open her pillow, thereby releasing "thousands of feathers" everywhere, she snaps. The text reads, "There was a terrible silence."

How's that for foreshadowing? I paused there and had the children predict what was going to happen next. Most of them said, "Her mom's gonna yell!" And, they were correct. The book ends with Harriet and her mom apologizing to each other and them picking up the feathers. As I read yesterday, I would point out the instances of foreshadowing because they were so subtle.

After the story was finished, we had a discussion about foreshadowing. We discussed all the places it was and how foreshadowing helps move the story along. I asked each child to then apply this idea to their writings.


As with the previous day, we had a quick review about foreshadowing, and discussed the fact foreshadowing involves providing clues for the reader as to what is going to happen next in the story. We also talked about how foreshadowing can be both overt and subtle. I told the kids today that this story had very subtle foreshadowing, that it was there, but I wasn't going to point it out. It was going to be their job to identify the foreshadowing in the story.

"Swan in Love" is the story of a swan that falls in love with a swan-shaped boat named Dora. Although he is ridiculed by the other animals, and although they tell him to find another swan to love, he is true to his one true love. The seasons pass and swan gets older. In fact, one passage reads, "The winters were colder than Swan remembered. He found he was stiffer and slower than he used to be." Eventually, Dora is no longer sea-worthy and she and Swan move die. However, the death is never actually spelled-out, nor is it particularly sad.

When I had finished the story, I had the children reflect on the story and discuss in groups where the foreshadowing was. They identified a number of passages, including the two I felt were most important--the one with Swan noticing the cold of winter, the other describing how Dora was aging.

Through our discussion, the kids figured out that every story has some sort of foreshadowing. We also talked about the ways author's can use foreshadowing to throw you off the scent, so to speak. Many children made some nice observations, one said that "The Westing Game" (one of my favorite mysteries as a child!) was full of foreshadowing and red herrings. It was great!

The kids are still very enthusiastic about their writings, but are concerned because foreshadowing is a difficult device to use (according to them). I have reassured them we will be studying foreshadowing for another week and that their writings are just fine. :o)

A New Literary Device

We began foreshadowing today. I had prefaced the lesson by telling the children yesterday we would be beginning foreshadowing today. It was my sorry attempt at humor by foreshadowing the foreshadowing. :oP

I began the lesson the same way I began atmosphere. I had the kids predict what they thought foreshadowing is, then, I read the explanation from the book as its language and description are far more precise than mine would be. I then introduced another favorite Patricia McKissick book, "Flossie and the Fox". The story is a "Red Riding Hood" story with little Flossie Finley outsmarting a fox.

I began by having the children make predictions as to Flossie's age and when and where the story took place. I then read the Author's Note, which explains the rich dialect in which the story is written. We had a discussion about the fact I'm not making fun of the story or the characters when I read it with my mountain twang, that I am instead honoring Ms. McKissick's granddaddy and his heritage. The kids of course had tales to tell of family members who speak with Southern drawls and all were open and receptive to the tale.

As I read, I pointed out the foreshadowing, as it can be such a difficult concept at first. As I moved into the story, the kids were more and more enthusiastic. They laughed, the predicted, they had comments to share with what I was reading. What a fun story! They particularly enjoyed the ending when Flossie has out-foxed the fox. :o)

When the story was finished, I reread the passages that foreshadowed the story. I then had the children do small group discussions as to how the book would be different without the foreshadowing. We talked about how the foreshadowing made the book more exciting and that without it, we wouldn't really want to read much more than the beginning.

I then told the kids we would be using the foreshadowing in our writing to make it more interesting. I used examples from scary movies and books, reminding the kids that in those situations, someone is usually told, "Don't look in the closet" and they of course, look in the closet. That warning was foreshadowing. I challenged them to come up with a topic and then tell me how they were going to foreshadow the story.

The kids were given time to brainstorm ideas within their groups and then I walked around and conferenced with them as they worked on their circle maps. In one group, two of the children realized they were writing similar stories and decided to have the same setting and have their characters meet up in their individual stories. Their excitement was palpable! When I mentioned this to the other class, quite a number of children decided they needed to create similar stories! :o)

The kids were SO into this creative writing and brainstorming they were very unhappy when class time was up! I promised them I would be willing to listen to the "pitch" their ideas during my recess duty today and I actually had a number of students come up to me to share their stories! I was shocked!

During my conferencing, I reminded the children they could use atmosphere to help us "feel" the creepiness of their haunted houses, that they shouldn't forget the literary device they have already studied. The levels of excitement these children feel generates excitement in me as well! :o)

I know this lesson is going to stretch into two weeks as there is NO way these writings will be ready by next Monday. There are just too many details that need working out. I want these writings to be excellent, and I can tell more time is going to be necessary in order for them to be successful.

I look forward to tomorrow's foreshadowing lesson! :o)