The Blueprint
Which kind of text structure tells you how things are the same and different?
What is Comparison or Compare and Contrast?
What is a central idea?
What is the main message or point the author wants readers to understand?
What is a simile? Give an example.
What is a comparison using “like” or “as,” such as “The wind was like a roaring lion”?
What does it mean to cite evidence?
What is using quotes or specific details from the text to support your answer or claim?
How does William’s story reflect the importance of family in Malawian culture?
What is the way William works hard to help his family survive the famine, showing his love and responsibility toward them?
Name a clue word that signals a cause-and-effect text structure.
What are “because,” “since,” “therefore,” or “as a result”?
What’s the central idea of Chapter 5 in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind?
What is the devastating impact of the famine on William’s family and community?
What is the difference between literal and figurative language?
What is literal language meaning exactly what it says, and figurative language using comparisons or symbolism to express ideas?
Find evidence in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind that shows William’s creativity.
What is William using old bike parts and scraps to build his windmill?
Why is maize such an important crop in Malawi, as shown in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind?
What is because it is a staple food that families rely on for survival, and its loss during the famine had devastating effects?
What is the purpose of a chronological structure in a story?
What is to show events in the order they happened?
How can details in a text help you find the central idea?
What is using details to explain or show important events or themes that support the main idea?
Identify the figurative language in this sentence: “The sun was an unforgiving tyrant, scorching the earth.”
What is a metaphor?
How can you use evidence from the text to support an inference?
What is using specific details or events to explain what you think is true, even if it isn’t directly stated?
What role does the community play in William’s journey to build the windmill?
What is the support of friends like Gilbert and the curiosity of the community that inspires and challenges William to keep working on his inventi
Read this sentence: “In the year 2000, crops thrived, but in 2001, drought struck, leaving families struggling.” What is the text structure?
What is compare and contrast?
How is the central idea of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind connected to William’s use of design thinking?
What is William’s resilience and creativity showing how he solved critical problems through design thinking?
What is personification? Write a sentence using personification.
What is giving human traits to nonhuman things, such as “The leaves danced in the wind”?
What evidence from Chapters 5-7 shows William’s resourcefulness, perseverance, and desperation during the famine?
What is an example from Chapter 5, like William enduring the dangerous crowds at the maize distribution center for a small bag of food or William boiling goat skin for a meal?
How does William’s resourcefulness connect to the tradition of innovation in Black communities?
What is by using scrap materials to solve local problems, William reflects the long history of Black communities making something out of nothing and adapting to challenges with creativity and ingenuity?
How does the structure of a chapter help support its main idea? Use an example from The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
What is the cause-and-effect structure of Chapter 5, which shows how drought led to famine, helping explain the challenges William faced?
How can you find the central idea in a nonfiction text with multiple sections?
What is identifying the main points of each section and looking for a unifying theme?
How does figurative language help us understand emotions or challenges in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind? Use an example.
What is by making ideas and concepts easier to visualize, like “the maize plants hung their heads in sorrow,” showing the despair of the drought?
What’s the difference between explicit evidence and inferred evidence? Provide an example of each.
What is explicit evidence being directly stated, like “William loved science,” and inferred evidence requiring reading between the lines, like understanding his passion for science because he kept tinkering with his inventions?
How does William’s story highlight the global importance of access to education?
What is by showing how limited access to schooling in Malawi affects opportunities, but self-learning and determination can still lead to innovation and change?