The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst PreReading Journal

“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst

Pre-Reading Journal: Think about the colors red and scarlet. Write down all of the things you associate with these colors. Include expressions, objects, titles, etc. Did you think of……………… ? s rt UGA? a e h sunse t s? o Ko ? s t gh i l p sto ? d i A bl oo d? t? a h l s a’ m d an r sun ? n r u b r g u o y dies a l ded pers? a e redh bad tem with Mars? a kickball? cherries? candy? medicine? vitamins? tomatoes? graded papers?

The scarlet ibis is a vivid scarlet bird (50 cm) with a curved bill. The sensitive bill is used to search for food, mainly small animals in the mud along the coast.

flying to their evening roost in the mangrove The scarlet ibises live in large groups and fly in V-formation from their roosts to their feeding grounds. They contrast splendidly with the normal green color of the landscape, the brown of the mud flats and the blue of the sky.

The ibises feed in shallow waters along the coast, in the mud flats and in the lagoons. As is known from the zoo, they have to eat a lot of shrimp to retain their color.

They sleep in large groups in the mangrove trees along the coast, together with herons. In these trees they make their nests (a pile of sticks) and both parents take care of the young.

young bird changing from brown to red

. The ibises breed in young mangroves and if not enough of these trees are found in Suriname, the birds fly away to breed on the coast of Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana or Brazil. In Trinidad they are protected as the national bird of that island, but they did not breed there for the last 30 years.

Each small square indicates the observation of at least 1 (group) of these birds, the medium ones at least 4 observations and the largest ones 10 or more.

DISABILITY CELEBRITY QUIZ Many important people have had forms of learning disabilities. Try to match the description with the name of the important person in the list. Remember, if they can cope with their disability and succeed, others can too! y d s e Albert Einstein This composer was deaf when he composed his tur olep c. Harriet Tubman 9 th Symphony. a fra arc of. Ludwig Beethoven m i , ve n ds r h Magic Johnson d o k l f hi ha dre ea ult n c p a Ludwig Beethoven Although paralyzed from polio, this man became governor m ot s iffic a t to hun. s b u n e d George Patton r a onis ued oad T of New York and was elected president four times. in e t id er e r i e l e d t t c i i s i Tom Cruise rr ho g w ns er bol res Ra i a v n E w H st Franklin D. Rooseveltan o is a She und iti r r i e ic d w lb y d th ife. rgro s Whoopi Goldberg b A y n l Known as Darth Vader in Star Wars, e h p th a ck aus her nde u d James Earl Jones r U an. Ma St ull c t of he this actor overcame stuttering in high school. n Mel Tillis ia hree sk res on t c i at of t James Earl Jones the ves m e e a h g l s at e a m This Sister Act actress has dyslexia but has succeeded in a movie career. A til th un Whoopi Goldberg

DISABILITY CELEBRITY QUIZ Many important people have had forms of learning disabilities. Try to match the description with the name of the important person in the list. Remember, if they can cope with their disability and succeed, others can too! This actor is unable to read even today Magic Johnson because of dyslexia. He learns lines George Patton by listening to tapes. d e p Tom Cruise o l. Tom Cruise e v e g. d n Mel Tillis i r r ne tutte i a t Famous for his athletic skill on the basketball court, ter his s n e this athlete has a reading disability. sic about u y m ines r t Magic Johnson oun rout c Mel Tillis s s Thi orou This war hero could not read until the age of twelve, hum but he became a famous general in World War II. George Patton

The theme of “The Scarlet Ibis” reveals a truth about the effects of love and pride. As we read “The Scarlet Ibis, ” see if you can find passages in which the narrator or Doodle states the essence of theme.

Quotations from “The Scarlet Ibis” “There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and sometimes I was mean to Doodle. ” “I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible, thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death. ”

Now let’s read “The Scarlet Ibis, ” in which… the narrator's brother "Doodle" is born physically handicapped and is expected to die, yet lives. The narrator is forced to take Doodle everywhere in a go-cart. After much effort, he succeeds in making Doodle walk. Then, he is determined to teach Doodle more. . . and find out what the red bird has to do with it!