The Inquisitor’s Tale

The protagonists of a journey story often learn important lessons as they travel. What are some of the lessons about life that Jeanne, William, and Jacob learn? How do they learn these lessons? What evidence in the story shows that they have learned these lessons?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt asks students to identify lessons the three children learn but does not specify the number of lessons. By choosing a number of lessons, you can tailor this prompt to your students’ ability level and the time you have available. After identifying the requisite number of lessons, students are asked to find evidence that follows a before-during-after pattern for each lesson: What are the children like before learning the lesson, what formative experience changes them, and what are they like after learning the lesson?

 If you suspect your students will struggle to derive this pattern from the prompt, you might guide them through setting up a graphic organizer in this pattern before they attempt to answer. If your students are ready for a challenge, consider extending this assignment by asking them also to discuss how the lessons the children learn support larger thematic ideas found in the text.

 Differentiation Suggestion: Students still developing higher-level abstract thought may not immediately note the key phrase “lessons about life” in this prompt and may focus on “lessons” more concretely. For instance, they might note that the children receive religious instruction about specific Biblical and Talmudic stories without explaining how they apply to real-life behavior beyond the confines of the stories themselves. For these students, you might offer an example or two of “life” lessons the children learn.

English learners, students with dyslexia, and those with attentional and executive function challenges may find it difficult to search large portions of text for evidence; reasonable accommodations for these students might be reducing the assignment by allowing them to focus on just one character or a smaller number of lessons or allowing them to work with a partner or small group. If students are responding to this prompt in writing, students who struggle with written expression might be allowed to answer in the form of a graphic organizer instead of in full written paragraphs.