Written by Sally M. Walker
Published in 2009 by Carolrhoda Books
Grade 5 and up
ISBN: 978-0822571353
Awards: 2010 Benjamin Franklin Award
2009 Cybil Award finalist
2010 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults finalist
Book Review: Author Sally M. Walker gives readers an inside look at how archaeologists and forensic scientists find, study, and draw conclusions based on their findings. The book shows multiple sites of archaeological digs in Virginia and Maryland. Walker gives the reader details about the sites, the artifacts that are found, and how scientists respect the laws and cultures of the areas and people involved.
Readers will be intrigued by the way the scientists study their findings to learn details about the lives of the colonists in Virginia and Maryland. If you enjoy history, this book takes you deeper into the history of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by showing you how the scientist learn about the colonial times. Also, readers who are interested in archaeology and forensics will find the examples in the text fascinating.
Professional Reviews
Kirkus
School Library Journal
Teaching Ideas
English: (6.1c) The student will participate in and contribute to small-group activities.
c) Summarize and evaluate group activities.
(6.6b) The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of nonfiction texts. b) Use prior knowledge and build additional background knowledge as context for new learning.
1) Students will complete the K and W sections of a KWL chart prior to reading the book Written in Bone. As students read the story, they will complete the L section of the chart. After reading, students will get together small groups to discuss their individual KWL charts. Each group will work together to create a KWL chart that reflects the learning of the group.
English: (8.9) The student will apply knowledge of appropriate reference materials to produce a research product. (8.7d) The student will write in a variety of forms, including narration, exposition, persuasion, and informational. d) Organize details to elaborate the central idea and provide unity.
2) After reading Written in Bone, students will select additional appropriate reference materials to write a research paper on a topic of their choice related to the book. Students will write a paper on one central idea from the text and the additional resources they gather.
Visual Arts: (7.9) The student will create three-dimensional works of art, using various processes to include clay hand-building techniques.
3) In the book, the author talks about how forensic artists use class to do facial reconstructions to get an idea of what the colonists looked like. Students will use details from the book and further research on the colonial times in Virginia and Maryland to recreate an artifact made of clay.
Virginia Studies: (VS.4e) The student will demonstrate knowledge of life in the Virginia colony by e) describing everyday life in colonial Virginia.
English: (5.2g) The student will use effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills to deliver planned oral presentations. g) Summarize main points as they relate to main idea or supporting details.
4) Students will prepare an oral presentation to summarize the information learned from the text to describe what the scientists learned about everyday life in colonial Virginia through their excavations.
English: (8.3c) The student will analyze, develop, and produce creative or informational media messages. c) Use media and visual literacy skills to create products that express new understandings.
5) Students will create an informational media message (flier, newspaper ad, etc.) to alert people to one of the discoveries described in the book.
Paired Titles
Jamestown: The Buried Truth explores the lives of the first settlers in Jamestown. The author details the finding of James Fort and items found within that excavation. Successes and struggles of the early colonists and how they interacted with the Native Americans. The author, William Kelso, is an archaeologist that specializes in the colonial times in Virginia. This book was chosen for its authority and curricular connections. The reading level is on the higher range but for lower level readers sections could be read aloud.
Blood on the River, James Town 1607 is a fictional story about a young orphan who is sent as a page for Captain John Smith on his journey to the New World. This story will be of high interest because students will have background knowledge of the topics covered. This book could be paired with Written in Bone for students to have factual accounts to relate to the events of the story. This book was chosen for its currency and relevance to the Virginia Studies curriculum.
Jamestown, 1607 is a nonfictional book retelling the events, stories, and information about the lives of colonial Virginia. This book includes maps, timelines, source notes, a list of recommended additional reading opportunities, and more. This book was chosen because it is relevant to the Virginia studies curriculum and reaches students ages 8-12, this will allow readers at lower reading levels to have success while reading information that is relevant.
When Objects Talk: Solving a Crime with Science explains the steps and processes used by forensic scientists to solve crimes and use evidence to determine things that have happened in the past. Color photos help to demonstrate the techniques used by scientists. This book is relevant to students ages 10 and up. This book was chosen because it will be of high interest to students who are interested in the scientific side of learning about the history of Jamestown.
Further Exploration
This audiobook preview of the book will allow students to hear the first two and a half pages read aloud to them to pique their interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEiP_tP7vcI
Students can visit the Jamestown Rediscovery site to learn more about this archaeological project: http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=393
Written in Bone was an exhibit for five years at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Students can learn more about the exhibit here: http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/
Students can learn more about Historic Saint Mary's (Maryland) - one of the sites from the book: http://www.hsmcdigshistory.org/
If students are interested in following along with up-to-date information of the archaeological discoveries at Jamestown, they should follow this link for pictures, videos, and new findings: http://historicjamestowne.org/archaeology/dig-updates/
In this article in the Colonial Williamsburg Journal, author Gil Klein discusses the work of Douglas Owsley and William Kelso. http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter13/bones.cfm
Students who are interested in archaeology can learn more about it through the Archaeological Institute of America website: https://www.archaeological.org/
Students who are interested in the forensic side of archaeology can learn more through the SFU Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology website: http://www.sfu.museum/forensics/eng/pg_media-media_pg/archaeologie-archaeology/
Resources
Amazon.
(n.d.). When objects talk: Solving a
crime with science. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/When-Objects-Talk-Solving-Discovery/dp/0822506491
Archaeological
Institute of America. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.archaeological.org/
Audiobooks444.
(2010, September 21). Audiobook: Written
in bone: Buried lives of Jamestown and colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker
[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEiP_tP7vcI
Banner, J.
(n.d.). Jamestown rediscovery
archaeological project. Retrieved from http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=393
Burns, E.
(2015). Book pairings [video file].
Retrieved from https://www.blackboard.odu.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/contentWrapper.jsp?content_id=_4820703_1&displayName=Book+Pairs&course_id=_261452_1&navItem=content&href=https%3A%2F%2Fconnect.odu.edu%2Fp5wbufqx1q6%2F&cR2XilcGYOo=Nrp0uQilIWaks6lhD5o7r21NaNP33PS93gzMN0UhghM%3D
Children’s
Literature Comprehensive Database. (n.d.). Blood
on the river: James town, 1607. Retrieved from http://www.clcd.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/#/bookdetail/1/0/PjnNKIlOMOKNJqjl/bdrtop
Children’s
Literature Comprehensive Database. (n.d.). Jamestown,1607. Retrieved from http://www.clcd.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/#/bookdetail/1/0/PGQmknnokQlPJkkm/bdrtop
Children’s
Literature Comprehensive Database. (n.d.). When
objects talk: Solving a crime with science. Retrieved from http://www.clcd.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/#/bookdetail/1/0/qilMnnnLLNIoNNpL/bdrtop
Children’s
Literature Comprehensive Database. (n.d.). Written
in bone: Buried lives of Jamestown and colonial Maryland. Retrieved from http://www.clcd.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/#/bookdetail/1/1/qjLpKmnoLOJNnMnk/bdrtop
Historic St.
Mary’s City. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.hsmcdigshistory.org/
Investigating
Forensics. (2010). Forensic archaeology.
Retrieved from http://www.sfu.museum/forensics/eng/pg_media-media_pg/archaeologie-archaeology/
Jamestown
Rediscovery: Historic Jamestowne. (2015). Dig
updates. Retrieved from http://historicjamestowne.org/archaeology/dig-updates/
Kirkus.
(2010, May 20). Written in bone.
Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sally-m-walker/written-in-bone/
Klein, G.
(2013). Dead men do tell tales. Colonial
Williamsburg Journal, winter 2013. Retrieved from http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter13/bones.cfm
Preservation
Virginia. (2015). Jamestown, the buried
truth (book). Retrieved from https://preservationvirginia.org/shop/product/jamestown-the-buried-truth-book
School
Library Journal. (2011, May 10). Review:
Written in bone. Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/teacozy/2011/05/10/review-written-in-bone/#comments
Smithsonian
National Museum of Natural History. (2015). Written
in bone: Bone biographer’s casebook. Retrieved from http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/bone_biographers_casebook.html
Smithsonian
National Museum of Natural History. (2015). Written
in bone: Forensic files of the 17th-century
Chesapeake. Retrieved from http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/
Virginia
Department of Education. (2008). History
and social science standards of learning for Virginia public schools.
Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/history_socialscience/next_version/stds_virginia_studies.pdf
Virginia
Department of Education. (2010). English
standards of learning for Virginia public schools: Grade five. Retrieved
from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/stds_english5.pdf
Virginia
Department of Education. (2010). English
standards of learning for Virginia public schools: Grade six. Retrieved
from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/stds_english6.pdf
Virginia
Department of Education. (2010). English
standards of learning for Virginia public schools: Grade eight. Retrieved
from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/stds_english8.pdf
Virginia
Department of Education. (2010). English
standards of learning for Virginia public schools: Grade eight. Retrieved
from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/stds_english8.pdf
Virginia
Department of Education. (2013). Visual
arts standards of learning for Virginia public schools. Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/fine_arts/2013/visual_arts/std_finearts_visualarts.pdf
University of
Minnesota Alumni Association. (2009). Written
in bone: Bone biographer’s casebook. Retrieved from http://www.minnesotaalumni.org/s/1118/noMenu.aspx?sid=1118&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=1839&ecid=1839&ciid=4048&crid=0
Walker, S.M.
(2009). Written in bone: Buried lives of
Jamestown and colonial Maryland. Minneapolis
: Carolrhoda Books.
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