Historical Fiction

The Midwife's Apprentice is a historical fiction book written by Karen Cushman. It is a Newberry Medal Award winner.

• Suggested Grade Level: 3rd-5th grade. The language would probably be confusing to a young reader bcause it is written with an English accent in some of the dialogue.
• Summary: A young girl who does not know her name or age is homeless and discovered sleeping by a pile of dung by a midwife in England. The woman was not caring by any means but gave her a place to stay and food in exchange for hard work. The reader sees the young girl gain confidence, knowledge and purpose throughout the story. The main character, who later names herself Alyce, picks up a lot of knowledge through being the midwife's assistant and after a period of self doubt and experimentation in another line of work. As the plot resolves, Alyce returns with a mission and becomes the midwife's apprentice.
• Classroom Skills & Strategies:
• A great activity to do with this book would be a Hot Seat. This is a role playing activity to build comprehension. A student plays a character in the story, in this case, Alyce, and sit in a hot seat (or a stool in the front of the room). The class interviews them. They can wear constumes and share objects that pertain to the story.
• Anticipation guides could be used to activate student's backgounnd knowledge before reading the book. The teacher would develop four to six statements and the students agree or disagree with them. After the class reads the text , discuss each statement again.
• ESOL Strategies/ Applications:
• A film strip story could be used with this book to help ESOL students visualize and organize the events of the book. The students are given a piece of paper that looks like a film strip. They draw a frame representing the beginning, a few for the middle and one for the end. The students can share these in small groups or whole class.
• Providing pictures of the location, herbs, plants and settings from The Midwife's Apprentice will help the reader get a better understanding of the story and vocabulary associated with the book.
• Read Aloud: Pages 1-5. This selection of pages introduces the main charachter and mood of The Midwife's Apprentice. It is also very graphic and will grab the readers attention.
• Personal Opinion: I personally enjoyed this book. It had a shock factor to it that would help keep the interest of reluctant readers. The author does a great job painting a picture of the scenes in which th story takes place. It is an overal good book.