Ticket to Curlew
...tells the story of a year in the life of Sam Ferrier. The homesteading experience is presented through Sam’s eyes, which provides an opportunity for students to relate their study of Alberta pioneers to their own lives (Grade 3 Social Studies, Topic A & Grade 4 Social Studies, Topic B).
Students can now share their ideas and responses on a threaded discussion page.
**Please make your students aware of the following**
Student responses may be edited for clarity.If responses are deemed to be inappropriate, they will be removed. Only first names or initials should be used - no other information about the students should be posted.
Some suggestions for student discussion:
Caution: There is much more here than you would ever use with one class. Make your choices based on the needs and interests of your students.
Chapters 1 & 2 – Sam is disappointed that Curlew is not more like Jericho. There are no trees and very few houses. It feels very lonely on the prairie.
Ask those students who have experienced a move to talk about how they felt at first.
Invite students to role-play or write a letter to Sam to encourage him and tell him some good things about the open prairies. (As the students read on they will discover that Sam learns to love the prairies.)
Chapters 3 & 4 – Sam goes for walks around the homestead and discovers that the prairies are not as desolate as he expected.
Invite the students to create a list of Sam's discoveries and then talk about what they might find today if they had the opportunity to go for a walk in the country.
They can also talk about the discoveries they make when they go exploring in their neighbourhoods.
Compare school – then and now
Have students interview their parents and grandparents to find out what school was like in their great grandparents day.
Invite the students to contribute information for a comparison chart.
Students could then write a response evaluating the negatives and positives of schooling in the "olden days" and the present.
Teaching Gregor English
If you have ESL students in your class, invite them to share their experiences in learning how to speak and then read and write English.
Have the students respond to Sam's "teaching methods". Would they have tried a different method to help Gregor learn how to understand English?
If advanced readers are interested in Gregor and Sam's friendship, they may wish to read Josepha, A Prairie Boy's Story by Jim McGugan.
Christmas concert
If you are reading Ticket to Curlew during the Christmas season, have the students brainstorm and chart (or share orally) their favourite holiday traditions and ways of celebrating.
Encourage students to examine the simple values and pleasures of the homesteaders.
Telling the Little Fir Treestory - Sam forgot the book on the night of the Christmas concert and he had to tell the story in his own words.
Have the students practice the telling of a favourite story. Encourage them to make some adaptations to the story (just as Sam did to provide a happy ending).
Prince becomes "King" of the mustangs.
Invite students to respond as to why they think Prince came back to be Sam's horse when he could have run free with the mustangs.
Click here for a list of direct links to web sites included on the student page.
Other books by Celia Barker Lottridge:
The Wind Wagon,
The Name Of The Tree,
Wings To Fly