Ruby Holler A Novel Study Using Primary Sources About the

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Ruby Holler
A Novel Study Using Primary Sources
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About the book Ruby Holler

• Author Sharon Creech
• Genre Fantasy or historical fiction
• Setting not explicit, many clues
• Characters
• Dallas and Florida orphans
• The Trepids orphanage caretakers
• Tiller and Sairy eccentric foster parents

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Arrival at Boxton Creek Orphanage

• The twins arrived as babies on doorstep of the
  orphanage.
• There was no letter telling who their parents
  were or where they came from.
• The box had old newspapers and brochures. Two
  brochures were about Florida and Dallas, Texas.
• And so, the twins were named Florida and Dallas.
• Throughout the story, they are also called The
  Trouble Twins.

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Orphanages

• Home for orphans (children without family)
• Several children of different ages may live there
• Sometimes managed by government or religious
  institutions

Danish Lutheran Orphan Asylum Chicago Daily News,
Inc., photographer. 1906
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As orphans, the twins never knew their parents
and wondered . . .

• What were our parents like?
• What will we be like when we grow up?
• Who will teach us what we need to know?
• Who can we trust to be our role model?

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Role Models

• As they went from the orphanage to different
  foster homes, the twins began to look for adults
  that might become role models in their lives.
• A role model is a person who helps us think about
  what we want to become and whom we can trust.

"As a small kid, all you saw were those
professions teacher, preacher, miner."Edgar
Ramsey, 8-28-1994
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After we read the novel

• We will use primary sources in the Primary
  Source Tool Kit and the Library of Congress
  American Memory web site to further explore the
  world of Ruby Holler.

Discovering American Memory Primary Source Kit
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Primary Sources (The Real Thing)

• Historical records that have survived time
• Come directly from personal experiences or
  observations
• Print formats letters, photographs, posters
• Audio formats interviews, oral histories
• Motion pictures or videos
• Artifacts articles of clothing, jewelry, tools,
  etc.

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What Do You See?Guide

Discovering American Memory What Do You See?
Photo Analysis Guide
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Primary Source Photographs

• Children
• Rhoads, Harry Mellon, photographer
• Between 1910-1920.

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How Does It Read?Guide
Discovering American Memory How Does It Read?
Guide
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Primary Source Original Letters

• The Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers
  Collection
• Letter to Alexander Graham Bell from J.T. Barker,
  December 27,1909
• Tells of leaving deaf daughter in childrens home

Letter from J.T. Barker to Alexander Graham Bell,
December 27, 1909
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What Do You Hear?Listening Guide
Discovering American Memory What Do You Hear?
Guide
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Primary Source Oral History

• Spoken stories or tales
• Used to pass along knowledge
• Usually in the form of interviews, anecdotes

Lessons learned from parents about work Bill
Pascrell, October 10, 2001
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On Your Own

• Explore the Primary Source Tool Kit for the novel
  Ruby Holler.
• For each task you will use a different primary
  source and complete an analysis guide.
• Use the analysis guide to deepen your
  understanding.
• Think about the way you analyzed the primary
  source as you complete your task.

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Task 1

• Select one primary source photo from the Primary
  Source Tool Kit.
• Analyze the photo using the What do you see?
  guide.
• Write a compare/contrast paragraph about life in
  an orphanage using the information from the photo
  and details in the story.

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Task 2

• Read the letter written to Alexander Graham Bell
  by J.T. Barker in the Primary Source Tool Kit.
• Analyze the letter using the How Does It Read?
  guide.
• Write a letter to Dallas and Florida from either
  their mother or father explaining why they were
  placed in the orphanage.

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Task 3

• Listen to the audio clip on the CD about making a
  secret sauce.
• Analyze the audio clip with the What Do You
  Hear? listening guide.
• With a partner, create an interview with
  questions and answers to reveal Sairys secret
  recipes in Ruby Holler. Include a story that
  tells why she made the recipes. The interview may
  be written or recorded.

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Task 4

• Use the Library of Congress American Memory site,
  or the print copy in the tool kit, to read the
  poem written by Helen Keller for Alexander Graham
  Bell entitled Autumn.
• Complete the How does it read? guide to analyze
  the poem.
• Write a poem about the place called Ruby Holler,
  using the voice of Dallas, Florida, Tiller or
  Sairy.

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Task 5

• Use the Library of Congress American Memory site,
  or the print copy in the tool kit, to study the
  brochure about Florida.
• Complete the What do you see? or How does it
  read? guide to analyze the brochure.
• Create a poster or brochure about the place
  called Ruby Holler. You may chose the viewpoint
  of either Dallas, Florida, Tiller, or Sairy.

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Resources for Ruby Holler Primary Source Tool Kit

• Task 1 Children Orphanages Photos
• Item 1a Angel Guardian home, boys working in
  rows in a garden house.
• Item 1b Children, some knitting and others
  holding toys, at the Danish Lutheran Orphan
  Asylum
• Item 1c Children Playing ring around a rosie
  in one of the better neighborhoods of the Black
  Belt, Chicago, Illinois.
• Item 1d Seven children sitting on and gathered
  around a small sofa in the American Home-Finding
  Society

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Resources for Ruby Holler Primary Source Tool
Kit, continued

• Task 2 Letter
• Item 2 Letter from J.T. Barker to Alexander
  Graham Bell
• Task 3 Audio Clip
• Item 3 Audio clips to accompany Ruby Holler
  Novel Study (locally produced CD)
• Task 4 Poem
• Item 4 Autumn poem by Helen Keller
• Task 5 Poster or Brochure
• Item 5 Florida brochure and broadside

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You are now entering Ruby Holler, the one and
only Ruby Holler! Your lives are never going to
be the same Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech
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Primary Source Resources(In Order of
Presentation)

• S3 Chicago Daily News, Inc., photographer.
  Danish Lutheran Orphan Asylum, 1906. Photographs
  from Chicago Daily News, 1902-1933.
  http//lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/i?ammem/cdn_at_f
  ield(NUMBER_at_band(ichicdnn003429))
• S6 Ramsey, Edgar. As a small kid, all you saw
  were those professions teacher, preacher,
  miner. 1994. Working in Paterson Occupational
  Heritage in an Urban Setting. http//memory.loc.go
  v/service/afc/afcwip/sla020/sla02002.mp3
• S9 Discovering American Memory What Do You See?
  Photo Analysis Guidehttp//memory.loc.gov/learn/ed
  ucators/workshop/discover/guide4.html

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Primary Source Resources(In Order of
Presentation)

• S10 Rhoads, Harry Mellon. Children.
  1910-1920. History of the American West
  1850-1920 Photographs from the Collection of the
  Denver Public Library. http//photoswest.org/cgi-b
  in/imager?00190877Rh-5877
• S11 Discovering American Memory How Does It
  Read? Guide http//memory.loc.gov/learn/educators/
  workshop/discover/guide3.html
• S12 Barker, J.T. Letter from J.T. Barker to
  Alexander Graham Bell. December 27, 1909. The
  Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers.
  http//memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collIdmagbel
  lfileName169/16900129/bellpage.dbrecNum0

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Primary Source Resources(In Order of
Presentation)

• S13 Discovering American Memory What Do You
  Hear? Listening Guide http//memory.loc.gov/learn/
  educators/workshop/discover/guide2.html
• S14 Pascrell, Bill, U.S. Congressman. Lessons
  learned from parents about work.
• October 10, 2001. Working in Paterson
  Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting.
  http//memory.loc.gov/service/afc/afcwip/dta028/dt
  a02810.mp3

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Teaching Resources

• Creech, Sharon. Ruby Holler. Scholastic, Inc.,
  2002.
• The Library of Congress American Memory
  http//memory.loc.gov/ammen/index.html
• Thinking about Primary Sources, printed guide,
  adapted from a workshop conducted by Ursula
  Marcum, AAM, June, 2001 distributed at An
  Adventure of the American Mind Workshop, March,
  2005.
• Primary Source Analysis Guide, Adapted from the
  Material Culture Analysis Guide by Gretchen
  Sullivan Sorin, State Univ. of NY at Oneonta, at
  American Membory Educators Institute,
  Washington, D.C., July 20, 1999.

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Credits

• This presentation was prepared in partial
  fulfillments for An Adventure of the American
  Mind workshop, Chris Jennings, Instructor
  Denver, CO, Spring, 2005.
• Special thanks are extended to Jeannette
  Robinson, Seattle WA, for editorial and technical
  consultations.
• Lesson materials and Power Point were designed by
  participant, Jacalyn Robinson, Elementary Media
  Specialist, Adams 12 School District,
  jacalyn.robinson_at_adams12.org