Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
This passage shows the moment Brian first touches the birch bark and confirms with his fingers what his eyes already guessed — it is flammable, dry, and powdery. Paulsen lets us feel the test happen in small steps: Brian plucks, rolls, and judges the material before gathering a baseball-sized wad. Copying this passage helps trailblazers-age readers see how a careful observer checks evidence with more than one sense before committing to an idea.
He moved to the trees. Where the bark was peeling from the trunks it lifted in tiny tendrils, almost fluffs. Brian plucked some of them loose, rolled them in his fingers. They seemed flammable, dry an...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell chapter nine in your own words. Begin with Brian trying to make sparks catch on grass and twigs and failing. Then tell about Brian spotting the birch trees with paper-like bark. Then tell about the two hours Brian spends shredding bark into fine hairs. Then tell about Brian learning that fire needs fuel and oxygen and how he discovers the right way to blow on the sparks. Finish with Brian naming fire 'a friend' and 'a guard' and then thinking about his mother and father.
Discussion Questions
- When his first tries with grass and twigs fail, Brian says aloud 'So close, so close...' What does this tell us about what Brian understands about his situation? What does it tell us about how he plans to keep going?
- Paulsen writes the single word 'Paper.' on a line all by itself, right after Brian sees the birch trees. Why do you think Paulsen chose to do this? How does putting that one word alone on a line change the way readers feel the moment of Brian's discovery?
+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide
Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Easily burnable material, such as dry grass or bark, used to catch the first small sparks of a fire.
Item 2
Small sticks and twigs used to grow a flame after tinder has caught fire.
Item 3
Fine and dusty like powder — Brian finds the birch bark peelings nearly powdery, meaning they will burn easily.
+ 5 more vocabulary words in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 5 more questions in the complete study guide
Get the complete study guide — free
Sign up and get your first book with every chapter included. Copywork, discussion questions, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
Sign up free