A.O.W. #4 Due: Friday, 10/20 Name: Hour:

  1. Chunk the article into manageable (2 paragraphs max.) pieces. Number them. Don’t forget the title/opening!
  2. Highlightat least three words you are not familiar with or that are important and define them on the graphic organizer.
  3. Show evidence of a close reading. Mark up the left side of the text (each chunk) with questions and/or comments that demonstrate interacting with the text. You may also include any confusion you have.
  4. Complete the attached graphic organizer to analyze author’s craft

Female Mentors Give Girls Adventures As Big As All Outdoors; Literally.

By Wichita Eagle, adapted by Newsela staff - 04/27/2016

Time in the outdoors, including shooting and hunting, has helped Little Sister Nastosha (left) and Big Sister Heather Bennett bond and enjoy extra time together.

BUTLER COUNTY, Kan. — The shot’s echo had barely faded when the shouts, high-fives and hugs began in a special turkey season designed to give youths, and the disabled, a first chance to hunt spring turkeys. Nastosha Sweeney stood by her first downed turkey, removing a camouflage mask to show a female face, one that’s becoming more common in hunting.

As a special adviser, or mentor, for the Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors program, Heather Bennett is showing Nastosha the ropes in hunting. Bennett was equally happy to be nearby. “We have girls who have gone all of the way through hunter ed, and want to try hunting and shooting and we don’t have enough ladies to take them,” said Mike Christensen, president of the mentor program. He also said girls want to experience the great outdoors in other ways, too, like fishing or taking nature (viewing) trips, but just don't want to go alone.

Program Needs More Female Volunteers

Christensen’s program started in Wichita, Kansas, 15 years ago. It has spread to many parts around all corners of the state.

As well as hunts for everything from doves to deer, and angling trips for everything that swims, Christensen's program has hosted canoeing, kayaking, bird-watching and hiking trips.

“Basically, if it can be done outdoors, we can set up a trip for it,” he said. “We work with a number of groups that have volunteers that would love to show the Kansas outdoors to more kids and their mentors.”

The goal is to get adults paired up long-term with youths of similar interests. However, Christensen said he is always lacking female mentors for the “Big-for-a-day” events his group hosts, where kids are paired up with adults for a specific trip.

“If we have a girl out, trying shooting or fishing or whatever, we have to have a lady with her, it just can’t be just a guy,” Christensen said.

No Outdoor Experience Needed

Christensen thinks there are already women who could be mentors, and their numbers are growing annually.

Bill Brassard, senior director of communications for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said his group has seen a 20 percent increase in women participating in target-shooting from 2010 to 2014. The number of women who were hunting increased about 34 percent during the same time. Christensen said Pass It On could use females of all levels of experience.

“We can use ladies who already know a lot about the outdoors, and those who don’t know anything or just don’t know where to go,” he said. “We have outfitters and landowners all over the state who want to help. Pass It On also has lots of equipment we can provide. We just need the people to use it and work with these kids. There are always way, way too many kids waiting to get matched.”

Bennett said she had lived her life with no interest in hunting. That changed after she met Sweeney, who developed an interest while taking a hunter education class to learn more about firearms safety.

"We Were Learning So Much Together"

“There’s no way I’d have any interest in hunting if it wasn’t for Nastosha. Her enthusiasm got me into it,” Bennett said one recent morning. “One of the neatest things is that we were learning so much together. That gave us something else in common. We’ve done (Pass It On) hunts for doves, pheasants and turkeys, and they’ve all been so much fun. We did a rifle shooting clinic, too, but we didn’t get a chance to hunt deer.”

After putting the tag on the male turkey Sunday morning, a requirement for their hunting license, they headed into El Dorado for a slow brunch and a lot of fast talking. Amid the gab of at least 15 topics, Bennett said she plans on being a hunter the rest of her life. She was as excited as Sweeney when the girl filled her second permit that afternoon on another young tom.

Mentor's Departure Won't End Girl's Interest

Unfortunately, it was probably their last hunt after about 16 months together. A job change for Bennett’s husband means she will be moving to Washington in a few weeks.

“I feel really bad leaving her, especially at her age,” she said. “At 16, there’s almost no chance anybody else will pick her up as a match, and every girl this age needs somebody like a Big Sister.”

But that does not mean Sweeney is finished with the Big Sister experience. This fall she plans on joining several of Christensen’s Big-for-a-day trips, and she hopes to get her first deer.

As they waited for that second bird, the high school sophomore talked about her plans for the future. They include cosmetology school and, most certainly, becoming a Big Sister to a younger girl and staying active in Pass it On programs.

“Any girl matched with Nastosha is going to have to really like the outdoors,” said Bennett. “But I can promise you if they do, they’re both going to have a really great time. We’ve loved it.”

  1. Author’s claim (what he/she wants us to believe—OPINION + REASON)):
  1. . Text Evidence for claim with MLA: **TE= proof: stats, facts, examples

**MLA= author’s last name in parenthesis at the end of each piece of TE: “Blah-blah-blah” (Author’s LAST name).

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  1. The author’s main purpose is ______because______

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  1. The author’s main audience is ______because______

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  1. The author establishes a ______tone (look at word choice) through the following techniques (include techniques and specific explanation (questions about blah blah, or picturesto capture interest, etc.) a.______

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  1. 3 words I didn’t know (or are ESSENTIAL words) WITH DEFINITIONS

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