In English Language Arts, students have been engaged in reading the novel Bud, Not Buddy while learning to construct written responses to a Focus Question Task (FQT). They have been introduced to the TO-SEEC paragraph model, which includes a Topic Statement, Elaboration, Evidence, and a Concluding Statement. Recently, students crafted their first FQT written response, discussing what makes Bud a survivor, utilizing a graphic organizer and teacher modeling. As the school year progresses, students will continue to practice the TO-SEEC format in their paragraph and essay writing. Below is a sample of student responses.
Greidy Y.
In the novel, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, Bud Caldwell’s perseverance makes him a survivor. To begin, Bud shows perseverance when he gets locked up in the shed with a big vampire bat. To survive the night, Bud decides to kill the vampire bat. But when he does try to kill it, he realizes that it was a hornet’s nest. According to the text, “I raised the rake over my head again, closed my eyes and swung it like I was Paul Bunyan chopping down a tree with one blow. The only sound I heard was a kind of rattling like a couple of pieces of paper rubbing together or like dry leaves blowing around in the wind. The next sound I heard was like if I had turned on a buzz saw in the shed” (Curtis 27-28). Bud accidentally breaking the hornet’s nest is important to his survival because his original intentions were to kill the vampire bat to continue sleeping without having to worry about the bat sucking his blood out while he sleeps. Furthermore, Bud perseveres when he comes up with a way to spend the night more comfortably after he found out that the library was locked.The text directly states “When I got to the back windows, I almost busted out crying. Somebody had gone and put big metal bars on the windows. I headed back to the Christmas trees. They were low enough to the ground that no one could see me unless they were really looking” (Curtis 37). As a result of Bud seeing that he had no way inside the library, Bud decides to spend the outside under a Christmas tree, even though it would be uncomfortable. This shows that Bud is willing to do anything to get to what he wants. In conclusion, Bud’s experiences illustrate that his ability of perseverance is very strong, and it helps him survive many problems he faces.
Shane Q.
In the novel, Bud, Not Buddy by Cristopher Paul Curtis, Bud Caldwell’s independence makes him a survivor. To begin, Bud, a homeless orphan, displays independence when the foster family (The Amoses) that adopts him traps him in their shed, where Bud must escape from an angry swarm of hornets, without help. In the text, Curtis describes, “...and now there were about six thousand hornets flying around the tiny shed and every one of them was looking for me!” (Curtis 28). Bud’s usage of independence is important to his survival because if he lacked it, he would not last a day. Without this skill, Bud would require constant help and support, whereas independence grants him the belief that he can survive on his own. Bud demonstrates this when he escapes the shed on his own. If he had help on his task, this would be a different story. But despite his loneliness Bud is able to escape the shed by himself because of his independence. Furthermore, Bud still shows an immense amount of independence when he runs away from the Amos’ household, and has to wake up by himself very early the next day by himself, or else he will not have time to get food. The text explicitly states “I’d have to wake up real early if I wanted to get to the mission in time for breakfast, if you were one minute late, they wouldn’t let you in for food” (Curtis 44). As a result of Bud’s independence, he is able to survive while being ‘out on a lamb’. Independence is granting him the ability to get up on time, make plans, get food, and find places to sleep all without help. This skill is very important in the ‘real world’ for many of the same reasons, like taking care of things by yourself. Ultimately, Bud’s experiences illustrate that his independence plays a big role in his survival, as a result of escaping the hornets and being out on a lamb.
