Page 170 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade6_Flipbook

reflecting on marley:
aCTIvITy 2.17
Textual evidence
Learning Targets
• Identify and interpret textual evidence.
• Write a response to a prompt, using textual evidence to support a thesis.
Preview
In this activity, you will read a memoir and use textual evidence in response to a writing prompt.
Setting a Purpose for Reading
• YouwillnextreadanewspapercolumnwrittenbyJohnGroganaboutthedeathof his dog Marley. Mark the text by underlining or highlighting phrases, sentences, and clauses that tell why Grogan loved his dog despite his many faults.
• Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.
my Notes
About the Author
John Grogan (1957 – ) is a newspaper columnist and the author of the bestselling memoir Marley and Me, a book based on the ideas in the article you are about
to read. Marley and Me has been adapted into a young reader’s edition, several children’s books, and a major motion picture. Grogan says he began writing in school because he “was so bad at everything else.” In addition to Marley and Me, he has written articles for numerous magazines and newspapers.
memoir
Saying Farewell
to a Faithful Pal
by John Grogan, Inquirer Columnist
1 In the gray of dawn, I found the shovel in the garage and walked down the hill
to where the lawn meets the woods. There, beneath a wild cherry tree, I began to dig.
2 The earth was loose and blessedly unfrozen, and the work went fast. It was odd being out in the backyard without Marley, the Labrador retriever who for 13 years made it his business to be tight by my side for every excursion out the door, whether to pick a tomato, pull a weed, or fetch the mail. And now here I was alone, digging him this hole.
3 “There will never be another dog like Marley,” my father said when I told him the news, that I finally had to put the old guy down. It was as close to a compliment as our pet ever received.
Unit 2 • The Power to Change 143
LearNING STraTeGIeS:
Marking the Text, Graphic Organizer
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