SF-Pushing Up the Sky

Joseph Bruchac wrote Pushing Up the Sky as a play. Why do you think he wrote this play?

• To inform

• To persuade

• To entertain

• To share his research

When does the story take place?

• Current times

• Ten to twenty years ago

• In the future

• A long time ago

The main idea of Scene 1 is the sky is too close to the ground. Give one supporting detail to prove that.

• People can jump right into it

• Arrows get stuck in the sky

• People hit their heads on the sky

• All of the above

Think about what you know about the sky. Is the story Pushing Up the Sky realistic?

• Yes. Of course we can touch the sky.

• The story is not realistic because we cannot touch the sky.

How do the chiefs feel about the problem?

• Relaxed. Everything will be fine.

• Scared. They don't know what to do.

• Surprised. This has never happened before.

• Worried. Bad things keep happening.

Because the sky was too low, what happened?

• A. A tall boy hit his head on the sky.

• B. A little girl lost her ball in the sky.

• C. People went up into the sky instead of staying on earth.

• D. Children went up into the sky to play.

• E. All of the above.

Antlers means

• pointy, sharp objects

• the bony, branching growth on the head of a male deer, elk, or moose

• uneasily; with fear of what might happen

• many things lying around in disorder

What clues in the play tell us what Seventh Chief is like?

• A. He is the only chief to come up with a plan to solve the problem.

• B. The other chiefs and the people of the villages accept his suggestion.

• C. He was the first chief to go into the sky.

• A&C

• A&B

In the second half of the play, how was the problem resolved? What did the people do?

• Everyone went into the sky together

• The people worked together to make a strong wind to blow away the clouds and make the sky clear

• By working together, the people were able to push the sky higher

• The people worked together to make a positive change.

What aspect of nature does this play explain?

• It explains why clouds have holes in them.

• It explains why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears.

• It explains why there is weather.

• It explains why we can see stars in the sky at night