Making Meanings
We Are All One
First Thoughts
1. Take out the circle drawing you made before you read the story. Add any new ideas you have about the statement “We are all one.” (You may want to refer to your reading notes.)
Shaping Interpretations
2. How does the peddler show that he believes “we are all one”?
3. Like almost all stories, “We Are All One” is built on a series of
causes and effects. Think of how the peddler’s good deeds affect what happens to him. Copy the chart below, adding other examples of the peddler’s actions and their consequences.
| Action (Cause) | Consequence (Effect) |
| 1. Saves ants from flood. | 1. Ant queen promises ants’ help. |
| 2. Saves centipede from bird. | 2. |
| 3. .... | 3. |
4. What message about life do you see in this folk tale? State this theme in a single sentence. (Be sure to think about the story’s
title.)
5. Do you believe the peddler would have gone on his journey if the rich man hadn’t offered a reward? Why or why not?
Extending the Text
6. Do you believe that people who help their fellow creatures are always rewarded in some way? Explain your response.
7. Choose one of the following examples of people living today, or think of your own example. How might the person act on the belief that “we are all one”?
• an eighth-grader living in a big city
• the head of an international corporation
• a senator from your state
Choices: Building Your Portfolio
Writer’s Notebook
1. Collecting Ideas for a How-To Essay
“We Are All One” shows how kind actions toward others can lead to a positive outcome. Try writing simple instructions on how to live life with the philosophy “we are all one.” Base your how-to instructions on what you learned from the story as well as from your own experiences.
Creative Writing
2. We Are Not All One
The peddler’s wife doesn’t seem as concerned about the welfare of others as her husband is. Imagine that she is the one who goes looking for the magic herb, hoping to receive the reward. Write a new version of the tale. Does the wife stop to help the ants and the centipede? What are the consequences of her actions? Is she rewarded or punished for her behavior?
Art/Critical Thinking
3. Universal Lessons
Which of the proverbs below do you believe best expresses the theme of “We Are All One”?
• “It is not only giants that do great things.”
—traditional Liberian• “Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.”
—Confucius, Analects• “The trees and all nature are witnesses of your thoughts and deeds.”
—traditional Winnebago
Make a drawing or a collage that connects the proverb you choose with the folk tale. Attach a note explaining your choice.
Creative Writing/Technology
4. Literary Adventures
Write a “choose your own adventure” story, in book or hypermedia form, to teach the lesson “we are all one.” Use the characters, settings, and events of the folk tale. On each page or screen, give readers a choice of actions to take (will they stop to help the ants or move on?); each action should lead to certain consequences. You may want to check a published “choose your own adventure” story for format.
Grammar Link: Mini-Lesson
Using Commas with Items in a Series
Use commas to separate items in a series. The items may be single words or groups of words.
EXAMPLES He slept, awoke, and began searching again.
He saw tall buildings, fierce soldiers, a shining palace, and a queen on a throne.
Without commas to separate the items, the words would slide together in a jumble. By showing where one item ends and another begins, commas help the reader make sense of a sentence.
When a series of adjectives all modify the same noun, don’t use a comma after the last adjective.
INCORRECT He had always loved the cool, dark, mysterious, forest.
(You wouldn’t write He had always loved the mysterious, forest, would you?)
CORRECT He had always loved the cool, dark, mysterious forest.
Hint: Use a comma where you could also use the word and. (You would not say “the mysterious
and forest.”)
Try It Out
Copy the sentences below, adding commas to separate the items in a series.
1. The old peddler helped the ants the centipede and the rich man.
2. The centipede was orange red and yellow.
3. The peddler scared the bird away by running waving and shouting.
4. The kind gentle helpful peddler was rewarded in the end.
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