Spuds by Karen Hesse
Join Our Community
Access this resource now. Get up to three resources every month for free.
Choose from thousands of articles, lessons, guides, videos, and printables.
By Jennifer Schams
Spuds is a heart-warming tale about Maybelle, Eddie, and Jack who want to help their hardworking Ma. They plan to steal potatoes that are left to rot at a nearby farm. They dig through the night and haul their loot home only to find out that it is mostly rocks and dirt. Ma is upset when she learns what they did and sends them to the farmer to confess. With heavy hearts they tell the farmer, only to discover that they helped him out and can do so each year after the harvest.
Possible strategy instruction:
- C: Retell the story.
- C: Recognize literary elements (genre, plot, character, setting, problem/resolution, theme).
- A: Trade a word/guess a word that makes sense.
- A: Flip the sound.
- F: Use punctuation to enhance phrasing and prosody (end marks, commas, etc.).
- F: Read the text as the author would say it, conveying the meaning or feeling.
- E: Ask someone to define the word for you.
- E: Voracious Reading
