Counting on Grace, Elizabeth Winthrop

 Counting on Grace, Elizabeth Winthrop

Winthrop, Elizabeth. Counting on Grace. New York: Yearling, 2007. Print.

Children's Choice List.

Grace is twelve years old, growing up in 1910, the era of the textile mills--and child labor. Grace desperately wants to help her mother at the mill, but the task requires a worker to be right handed, and unfortunately, Grace is left handed. She works at it, but also makes mistakes that have consequences for her and her family. But on Sundays, Grace and her friend, Arthur have special lessons from their teacher. Together, they write a letter to the Child Labor Board. An undercover enters Grace's town in order to collect evidence for the board. Grace's brief relations with this investigator and the photos he took truly change the Grace thinks of herself, as well as her family's future.


Electronic Resources:

An Interview with Elizabeth Winthrop 
This link will bring readers to a transcription of an interview with Elizabeth Winthrop concerning Counting on Grace. Winthrop reflects on the girl who represents the book and how the pictures similar to this became circulating about; the photo on the cover one was once on a stamp in 1998. The Q & A with Winthrop will shed some light on much of the implicit meaning behind her novel.


Teacher's Guide
Provides a great deal of additional electronic resources for teachers who want to extend the learning of the historical context of Counting on Grace for students to make further connections with the real story within in the historical fiction.

Teaching Suggestions:

Key Vocabulary:

anonymous boast brindle bureau certification commotion conjure cringe disturbance

doff droning drudgery feeble gravelly hasty kerosene lantern menace muddle

notion overseer peevish pinafore portly prattle precise premise puny roving

scribe shiver solemn stupefied temporarily torment wringer

 

 Before Reading:
Ask students to discuss what they know about immigration today and about people who are seeking jobs. What age requirements for work are established today? Encourage them to keep this discussion in mind when navigating mill life with Grace.

Responding to the Text:
 In response to Counting on Grace, ask students to reflect on the characters in the novel using the following questions in their journals: Which other character in the story is Grace most like? Which character is most different? Why? Which character has the most empathy for Grace, and why is this significant?