A SINGLE SHARD

Start your experience of this story by introducing the kids to Linda Sue Park, so kids can see the connections between her lived story and her written story. The biography on her website includes some "fast facts" and lists, including former jobs, favorite libraries and teachers, and pets—with photos.

(If you'd like a worksheet for author note-taking and conversation-starting, there's one in our printables set.)

Then share the video below, in which the author tells how A Single Shard came about, and ask the kids what they might like to research and write about someday.

For further information

We encourage you to read through the interviews and biographical articles about Linda Sue Park in our Learning Links at the bottom of this page.

SUPPLIES

• a globe (or Google Earth)

• a printed map of Korea, or the geography worksheet in our printables set

DIRECTIONS

You can track Tree-ear's journey all at once, or in steps as you do the activities in story order.

On a paper map (or our interactive geography worksheet:

• Find and circle the village where the story begins. In the Author's Note we're told that Ch'ulp'o was located in Puan, which is now called Buan County, about 20 miles south of Gunsan on the western coast.

• Find and circle Songdo, now called Kaesong, in the north. (The palace is now an archaeological site.)

• Find Boryeong and Daejon; between them is the general location of Puya, where Tree-ear stops to climb the Rock of Falling Flowers (now Nakhwaam, or Nakhwaam Rock). Draw a flower in this area.

• Circle South Korea's capital city of Seoul, which Tree-ear sees as a beautiful valley.

• Draw a line to show Tree-ear's travels between Buan (or nearby Gunsan) and Kaesong, being sure to go through Puya and Seoul.

Now use the globe or Google to "zoom out" and show Korea within Asia, and Asia in the larger world, in relation to your own location.

Explain that today, North and South Korea are divided into two, roughly along the 38th parallel. This was the dividing line in 1945; in 1953 it was redrawn and named the De-Militarized Zone, or DMZ.  You might want to share some child-level facts about the DMZ.

Tree-ear's journey took him across this important geo-political border, which would not be possible today.

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SETUP

Remind the kids that the point of the snack is to serve a unique food that's meaningful to the story. A Single Shard opens with a scene of hunger, and we later learn that Crane-man often "spent the entire day figuring out how to transform a handful of weeds and bones into something resembled a meal."

Now tell the kids something like, "That reminds me, it's time for a taste of the story!" and lift a corner of a dishtowel to reveal some weeds.

They'll be disconcerted, at the least. Tease them along from there, sort of like this, only feel free to improve on our puns:

"Just kidding—I couldn't find bones to flesh out this snack, and weeds seemed kind of dry, so I went with something else unique. Remember when Tree-ear picks fungus and fern leaves to eat on the job?  Well..."

Play this out as long as you can, talking about your low budget and how resourceful Tree-ear was to make do with nature. By now the kids might be on to you, but in our experience, they'll go along for fun.

"Just kidding! I had to go with something I knew wasn't poisonous. Remember when Tree-ear finds a cabbage core at the dump to contribute to Crane-man’s dinner recipe?"

This one's plausible, so you'll have to really work it, emphasizing how nutritious cabbage is, and that you got yours at the store for Pete's sake, not the dump. Maybe pull a cabbage core from a grocery bag.

"Just kidding! Remember when Tree-ear's hard work and ethics earn the respect of Min's wife, and she feeds him?"

Enjoy watching their faces brighten up with relief as you read the Inspiration below.

INSPIRATION

Tree-ear sat on a stone under the paulownia tree and untied the corners of the cloth. It held a gourd bowl filled with rice, whose whiteness was accented by a few shreds of savory dried fish and a little pile of kimchee—pickled cabbage vivid with seasonings of red pepper, green onions, and garlic. A pair of chopsticks was laid neatly across the bowl.  

Tree-ear picked up the chopsticks and stared for a moment. Of one thing he was certain:  The feast-day banquets in the palace of the king could never better the modest meal before him, for he had earned it.   

—Ch. 3

Tell the kids that Ajima's in town and has been cooking all morning! Have them line up at her/your kitchen for the Modest Meal before them . . . for they have earned it. Then reveal the real snack.

While they're eating, cover talking points like those below.

TALKING POINTS

A reward is so much better when earned—not a gift, or worse, a theft.

• How does Tree-ear show his gratitude to Ajima?

When Tree-ear earns the farmer’s permission to pick up the fallen rice, we see the boy's character right up front. From now on we know to expect honesty from him.

And when he's able to share Ajima's generosity with Crane-man, we see how good it makes him feel to give.

• Was it wrong to share food meant for someone else?

This is an important moment for Tree-ear, because now he’s gone from a dependent beggar to a working provider.  He’s not an unskilled kid any more; he’s a young man with a trade. It’s time for him to give back to the man who’s cared for him 10 of his 12 years.

• Why would Crane-man not have approved of Tree-ear leaving an empty bowl for Ajima to fill?

SUPPLIES & PREP

The list below is for supplies to wrap up the snack for each child, to resemble Tree-ear's cloth-tied lunch. Use a napkin and raffia to wrap a precooked rice bowl and a packet of kimchee, and top it with chopsticks.*

For each child:

• vegetarian kimchi

• cold cooked rice in a bowl

• black paper dinner napkins

• chopsticks (here's a simple how-to-use video)

• raffia for tying

• holepunched tag indicating the meal is from "Ajima's Kitchen" (make your own or use the one in our printables set)

Cover up the rice and kimchi with a scarf (or any fabric) until you're ready to reveal it.

If you want to tease your kids as described above, you'll also need a dishtowel and a few weeds. You might want to have a fern frond and a cabbage core on hand too.

*Alternative presentation: cook rice in the classroom and serve it hot in small wooden bowls, or paper versions, with kimchee, or cook it ahead and serve it cold (as it was for Tree-ear).

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SETUP

Tree-ear’s story is told from his point of view, so we always know what he’s thinking and feeling.  It’s sort of like the author is inside his head with him. But what about the other characters? How do we know what Min, or Crane-man, or the Royal Emissary, or anyone else might be thinking or feeling? 

We know because Linda Sue Park does a beautiful job of describing behavior that shows us, instead of telling us.  For instance, she could have written “Min was too gruff to say it, but he had affection for Tree-ear and would miss him while he was gone.”  Instead, she describes how Min puts his hand on the Tree-ear’s shoulder, then turns away without saying good-bye.

"Showing" helps us understand the character of a character too. What do we know about Min in that moment, without being told outright? 

Now it’s your turn to show how someone is feeling.  

DIRECTIONS

Give the kids a prompt that has no emotion in it, and have ask them to write a scene describing what happens next, showing the emotions without actually naming the feelings. (Or use the creative writing worksheet in our printables set.)

For instance:

Miguel looked up from his desk and saw the teacher standing beside him, holding a clipboard.

Sample response: His heart started to hammer inside his chest and his face got hot. Had she seen him? He slipped his left hand under the desk and wiped it back and forth on his jeans as hard as he could, trying to scrub off the formula.

After the kids write, invite them to read aloud, and talk about what's revealed. For instance, using the sample above:

Feelings: scared, nervous, anxious, embarrassed, desperate

Character revealed: he may have been cheating on a test, but his anxiety about it makes it seem as if he doesn't do it very often

What the reader might think and feel:

• why did he cheat?

• was he under pressure from someone else, or is he hard on himself?

• I know how that feels . . .

• do I feel sorry for him? why or why not?

• what do I want to happen next?

If the prompt had been "Miguel was nervous because the teacher probably had caught him cheating," we'd miss out on all that figuring-out— and our own feelings, too.

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It's fun to try a little bit of Min’s art by pursuing that elusive celadon color, coming up with a design, and then inscribing it on a vase, revealing the darker color underneath.

The finished project can be glued to a "pedestal" for museum display. The templates for the vase and display are included in our printables set.

SETUP

First, have the kids watch this master Korean potter at work, like Tree-ear did from behind the Pawlonia tree:

Then show this video of Korean master potter Kim discussing celadon pottery:

Next, show images of real 12th and 13th century Korean celadon pottery. and share a little about its history and how special it is,

Now tell the kids that a royal emissary is on his way to grant a commission, and all potters are invited (expected!) to produce their best work. Their first challenge is to come up with the perfect shade of celadon; their next is to design a prunus vase.

SUPPLIES

• white acrylic paint

• green acrylic paint

• containers for paint (for individual students, if not sharing)

• paintbrushes

• cups of water for rinsing brushes

• paper plates for mixing paint

• pop-up mounting stickers

• templates for vase and mounting block and museum label (in our printables set) to be printed on white cardstock

• black crayons

• toothpicks

• black cardstock for background

DIRECTIONS

Tell the kids:

Mix green and white paint together on a paper plate until you're happy with your celadon shade. Remember celadon is not one perfect color. but an "indescribable" and "mysterious" wide range of greens, so relax and have fun..

Color the back of your prunus vase with black crayon, heavily, to about an inch (or less) from the edge of the paper.

Paint over the crayon using long, steady strokes, not short dabs. Don't leave puddles or ridges that will take a long time to dry.

When you're finished, close up the leftover paint. While the paint is drying, watch this inspiring video of a master Korean potter inscribing patterns on pottery:

[Cover some talking points, below, while continuing to allow the paint to dry.]

When the paint is dry, cut out the vase. then use a toothpick to inscribe a design of your own.

Our printables set includes images to use as inspiration or to trace using the transfer method. (Images may vary from those shown here).

Cut out the pedestal and glue it to the black cardstock, about a half-inch from the bottom edge. Then cut out the label and glue it to the pedestal.

Finally, use pop-up tabs to mount the vase to the pedestal, like this:

TALKING POINT: Intellectual Property

Tree-ear asks Crane-man if it's stealing to take another’s idea.

• What was Crane-man's answer? [Crane-man's answer is that if the idea has been told, it belongs to everyone; if it’s a secret taken by stealth or trickery, that would be stealing.]

• Why doesn't Tree-ear tell Min about Kang's inlay technique right away?[Tree-Ear had become aware of it by stealth, so he waits until Kang's new technique is displayed for the emissary.]

This is a question just as important today, about anything created by the mind—it's the basis of modern intellectual property law.

There are four main types of protected creations: one is trade secrets, like Kang's.

• Can you think of three other types? [inventions (protected by patents); original written works (protected by copyrights); brand names and logos (protected by trademarks)]

• When can you use someone else's work without permission or purchase? [when it's in the public domain]

If you'd like to take this important topic further, The World Intellectual Property Organization has online resources for teachers, and an interactive "IP Challenge" on their Respect for Intellectual Property site.

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There's no better way to learn a language than to use it!

DIRECTIONS

1. Choose several Korean phrases from Linda Sue Park's introduction and story. (There are seven on the creative writing worksheet in our printables set.)

2. Talk about their definitions, as given in the book.

3. Have the kids write at least one paragraph using a blend of those phrases and English words.

The paragraph of "Korlish" can be about anything, but you might encourage the kids to write a scene from a story—not necessarily with a beginning and end.

You can imagine the fun to be had, for instance, with these three phrases:

• pyunsul odisoyo (where is the bathroom?)

• toduk-nom (bandits)

• gokkam (sweet dried persimmons)

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After reading all the descriptions of potters at the wheel, kids really do identify with Tree-ear’s desire to get his hands on the pottery-making process. But providing a wheel and clay for your kids isn't likely to be practical.

Fortunately, when Tree-ear decides to begin molding clay with his fingers, we've got a fun, simple, doable, enjoyable project to imitate! Molding a monkey is something your kids can really get their hands on and put their hearts into.

And of course, the monkey Tree-ear made for Crane-man turns out to be central to the story, and present in the beautiful, bittersweet resolution.

DIRECTIONS

While talking about how Tree-ear kept a ball of clay with him abd eventually made it into a monkey, pass out balls of clay to the kids. They'll catch on pretty fast and be delighted at the prospect of "doing what Tree-ear did."

Provide a monkey model and pictures of Korean celadon monkeys from the Goryeo period, like this one and this one.

Body: Start with an oblong shape and mold a head and torso and arms and legs from it—this makes their figures as solid as possible, without spindly arms and legs and tails that might break off during the baking or painting process. (If the kids do make separate limbs or heads and then attach them, have them blend pieces together well so that no cracks or lines remain.)

Head: Pay attention to the outward shape of a monkey snout and the placement of ears on the sides of the head. Using a pencil to poke little endents for eyes and nostrils will create a very simian effect.

Details: For kids with more detailed artistic skills, encourage them to add finer details like Tree-ear did, such as the look of fur, and differentiated fingers and toes.

Option: Using polymer clay means these monkeys can be baked and painted with a top coat of gloss that makes them look even more ceramic. It’s wonderful if you have time for all these steps, but the most important part of this activity is to make a monkey out of clay like Tree-ear did. Getting into his shoes, and in this case heart and head, is the most important part.

SUPPLIES & PREP

• earthtone-colored polymer clay, such as terra-cotta. Cut into approximately 1/2 to 3/4 of an ounce per child—if you roll (or have the kids roll) each "serving" into a ball sized between a golf ball and a ping-pong ball, that will be about right. After all, the monkey Tree-ear made fit in his hand.

• paper plates and napkins for workspace and cleanup

• sculpting tools such as toothpicks, chopsticks, plastic knives and spoons, wooden sculpting tools, pencils, etc.

• Option: acrylic paint of a celadon hue (Kids might have fun working together to mix the right color – since there are a there is a whole range of colors counted as celadon from yellow greens to gray greens, it's a fun chance to learn about color and color mixing. Any shade of light shade of yellow, blue, or gray green is fine.)

Option: Triple Thick gloss glaze to create a glossy effect once the acrylic paint has dried.

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You can discuss the narrative arc in any of these three ways; we've found the first to be the most engaging, because it breaks up the discussion into bite-size chunks.

1. Introduce the concept of the narrative arc up front, but save the story's scenes to discuss as you go, pausing to "do what the characters did" in fun hands-on ways, while weaving in discussions and other worksheets.

2. OR introduce the concept and complete the worksheet before the activities, so kids have a review of the story fresh in their heads first, and you can remind them "where we are" on the arc as you go.

3. OR at the end of your activities, introduce the concept, then help kids figure out where the different parts of this story fit on it.

The narrative arc worksheet in our printables set summarizes the story by plot point, and has kids fill in some blanks.