Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Internet Hunt
Based on the novel by Mildred D. Taylor

Directions: Click on the links (underlined words) to go to a website. Find the answer to the question(s).
Use the Back button, of your browser, to return to this page.
Or Bookmark the hunt page and use the bookmark to easily return to the hunt. printer version

1. What kind of climate does the cotton plant require? Look it up.

Based on this information, could a cotton plant thrive in your yard? Explain.

2. What is the seed pod of the cotton plant called?

3. Mama talks about taking the cotton to Vicksburg to be ginned.
What is the purpose of ginning cotton?

4. How are the seeds of the cotton plant used today?

5. Mama talks to Pa about spraying the cotton plants against insects.
What insect can be very damaging to cotton plants?

6. Mama suggests to the other families that they not shop at Wallace's Store. This is called a boycott.
Why did the people in Tallahassee, Fla organize a bus boycott?

7. Cassie, Little Man, Stacey, and T.J. attend a separate school from the white students.
This is called segregation. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court said that segregation of public schools
was not allowed. What happened three years later, in 1957, when 9 black students went to school
at Central High School, Little Rock, Ark.?

8. Ms. Taylor describes the white children's Jefferson Davis County School.
She says the Mississippi State flag is flown above the US flag.
Is this correct US flag etiquette? What is the rule? (Use the site's resources to find the answer. Check out the links on the left side.)

9. Describe the kind of black person Mildred D Taylor wanted to show in her book.

Do you think she met this goal?

10. The story is rich in great vocabulary words. Look these words up using an online distcionary or a paper one.

Then use each in a sentence.

a. exasperation

b. patronize

c. chide

d. obnoxious

e. humiliate

f. banish

g. summon

h. fragile

Think and Respond:

What did the election of Barack Obama as President mean for the civil rights movement in the United States?

"Tisn't he who has stood and looked on, that can tell you what slavery is
--'tis he who has endured." John Little, 1855

Extend your understanding:

* Common Experience writing activity | * Government - The Common Good

* Civil Rights - What are yours? activity | * Make a crossword puzzle based on the story's vocabulary (vocab list)

* Mystery Disk History Challenge | * Learn about some Outstanding African Americans.

* Emancipation Proclamations activity | * ReadWriteThink - Timeline generator | Timeline how tos

*Think about characters - Make a set of Character Trading Cards. - Planning sheet

* Watch - A Class Divided - compelling video

* StoryCorps: Reflecting on Democracy and Segregation listen to this story

* Extraordinary Women Activity | * Explore Born in Slavery @ the Library of Congress.

* Map worksheet - Estimate distance traveled on the underground railroad

* Examine the demographics of your legislature.

* Should Legislative District Apportionment decisions be made to give an advantage a subgroup?

The background image on this webpage is a demonstration plot of cotton plants growing at Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.

Save a tree - use a digital answer format - Highlight the text. Copy it. Paste it in a word processing document. Save the document in your folder. Answer on the word processing document in a contrasting color (not yellow) or font (avoid fancy ones like , ). Save regularly.