Feathers in the Wind

theme, fluency, vocabulary, making predictions, character, plot, character’s motivation, critical thinking, opinion writing

The play recounts a Jewish folktale about a boy who spreads rumors. Its purpose is to prompt readers to reflect on how the message of the tale is relevant today. 

The play has eight scenes, with the first and last scenes creating a present-day frame to present and reflect on the folktale.

The play includes a few challenging words (e.g. rumor, flushes) and a Yiddish word (shtetl) defined in the text.

No specific prior knowledge is required.

Introduce the play’s setting by having students look at the illustration on pages 20-21. Ask: Where and when do you think the play might take place? Explain that it is set in a Jewish village in Eastern Europe at the end of the 19th century. People spoke a language called Yiddish, and there are many folktales from this culture. Bubby, one of the characters’ names, is Yiddish for grandmother.

• Distribute the vocabulary activity to preview challenging words. Highlighted words: gossip, rumor, Yiddish, rabbi, flushes, consequences
• Call on a volunteer to read aloud the Up Close box on page 21 to set a purpose for reading.

• Assign parts and read the play aloud as a class. After reading, discuss the close-reading and critical-thinking questions.
  

Close-Reading Questions (20 minutes)

• Based on Scene 1, what can you predict Bubby’s story will be about? (making predictions)
  You can predict that it will be about someone who spread gossip and had a bad outcome.
  
• Reread the conversation between Jacob and Golda in Scene 2. What can you infer about Jacob from these lines? (character)
  You can infer that Jacob likes to get attention by telling stories about other people. He might think his stories are funny.
  
• Based on Scenes 2 and 3, what idea does Jacob get from listening to Miriam talk to her customer? How does what happened in the market change in Jacob’s retelling? (plot)
  He gets the idea to spread a story that Miriam’s honey cakes have bees in them. In the market, one bee was buzzing around and Miriam shooed it away. In Jacob’s story, a swarm of bees was covering the cakes.
• Why do you think he tells the rumor about the bees? How does he convince the other kids that it could be true? (character’s motivation)
  Answers will vary. Some students may say that Jacob likes to be the center of attention and make the other kids laugh, or that he enjoys sharing unflattering news about people. He convinces others by exaggerating what he saw in the market, and making them think the crumb could be a bee’s eyeball.
  
• In Scene 4, Jacob says the story about bees is “just a funny joke.” What makes him realize that it isn’t? (plot)
  Jacob overhears Golda saying that people have stopped buying her mother’s cakes. He knows that because of his story, Miriam’s business is suffering.
  
• Why does the rabbi tell Jacob to let the feathers fly out of his pillow? (theme)
  The rabbi wants Jacob to learn that spreading gossip is like letting feathers fly in the wind. Once a story is told, it can spread everywhere and there’s no way to take it back from all the people who have heard it.
  
• In Scene 6, how has Hannah changed as a result of hearing Bubby’s story? (character)
  Hannah realizes that spreading rumors about the new girl, Katie, isn’t “funny,” as she said in the beginning. It could hurt Katie. Hannah decides to reach out and be kind instead, by inviting Katie to sit at her lunch table.
  

Critical-Thinking Questions

• At the end of the play, Jacob tries to make up for what he’s done. Do you think it will be possible for him to completely fix his wrongdoing? (critical thinking)
  Answers will vary. Some students will say that by telling everyone the truth, Jacob could get the word out that Miriam’s cakes do not have bees in them. Others will say that, as the rabbi explained, some “feathers,” or words, can never be brought back because they spread to too many places to gather them all.
  
• This play takes place at a time when gossip spread by mouth from person to person. Think about how people communicate now. How might the story’s message be even more important today? (theme)
  Today, people communicate in many ways, including by text and email, and on social media. It is much easier to reach a large number of people, and gossip can rapidly be shared over and over. It is even harder to “undo” a rumor once it has started. So it is all the more important to think about the consequences of your words before sharing them.

• Have students work in small groups to complete the theme activity. Then have them respond to the writing prompt
  

Create video responses

• As a variation on the writing prompt, have students videotape themselves explaining why gossip is harmful, using examples from the play. Their video should be addressed to other students, to help them understand this important idea. Then have them share their videos with you and their classmates on Flipgrid. This platform allows video sharing on any browser or mobile device, using the controls you choose to set. Go to Flipgrid.com for more information.