We have enjoyed Progeny Press Study Guides in the past, so we were excited to review The Drinking Gourd Study Guide from Progeny Press. This study guide is excellent for teaching about slaves, freedom, truth and justice.
The Drinking Gourd Study Guide
The Drinking Gourd is a short story about a boy named Tommy who finds a family of runaway slaves hiding in the barn. The slaves were following the drinking gourd, which is a constellation in the sky that points the way to freedom. Tommy discovers that his father, Deacon, is part of the underground railway that helps slaves escape to freedom in Canada. Through this, Tommy learns about freedom and justice.
How We Used the Study Guide
The 34 page eGuide is laid out very well in a PDF document and is recommended for Grades 1-3. It starts with some background information about the author and the story. For younger children, the study guide works well when you read the guide to your child and then discuss the answers. If your child is able to read, they can easily work independently. If they do work independently, I like to have a discussion together at the end of each activity to hep reinforce the lessons.
Background Information
We started by discussing the Underground Railroad and spending some time in the evening looking for the drinking gourd and the North Star. We have always enjoyed looking at the sky at night so this story gave us a reason to apply what we have learned in the past.
Before You Read Activities
The first few activities help to teach about the underground railway, the drinking gourd, vocabulary, mapping skills and about slaves so that your child will better understand some of the terms that they will encounter in their reading.
Analyzing and Hands-On Activities
Once we finished reading the book, the e-guide was excellent at summarizing and analyzing the story.
The creative writing and star gazing activities suggested at the end of the study guide are an excellent addition. We thoroughly enjoyed star gazing in the evening.
Just as a side note, there are a few questions that refer to the Bible. Since we are secular in our homeschool, these few questions can be easily adapted without limiting the effectiveness of the eGuide.
Our Overview
The study guides from Progeny Press are an excellent resource to help to teach your child how to better understand, analyze and interpret the literature that they are reading. The Drinking Gourd Study Guide from Progeny Press covers a wide variety of language arts skills and reading comprehension. It can be easily adapted to your child’s learning style.
Progeny Press also has many other study guides for Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, Middle School and High School levels. You can easily download the study guide, print and start learning. We plan to add more study guides from Progeny Press in our homeschool curriculum. Be sure to click here to read more reviews from Homeschool Review Crew.
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