This document provides instructions and materials for a literature unit on the novel Lyddie. It includes: 1) A reading assignment for Chapter 9 with discussion questions about setting, characters, and plot. 2) Vocabulary definitions for words used in Chapter 9. 3) Another reading assignment for Chapter 8 with similar discussion questions. 4) More vocabulary definitions and a learning objective about understanding working conditions in mills. 5) Instructions for a close reading activity analyzing the impact of working conditions based on passages from Chapter 10. 6) Homework assigning reading Chapter 11 and completing notes in preparation for a quiz.

1. DO NOW
Checking for Understanding
Entry Task Quiz!!
• On your own today!
• You MAY use your Notes
• You may NOT use the book 

2. Lyddie
Reading Chapter 9
Chapter Setting
9
Characters
Plot
How do the setting,
character and/ or plot
interact?
Three things Lyddie
notices on her first day in
the weaving room about
the working conditions:
1.
2.
3.
Why do Lyddie’s roomates
tell her she should not go
see Diana?
How does Diana help
Lyddie?

3. Lyddie
Reading Chapter 9
Chapter Setting
Characters
Plot
How do the setting,
character and/ or plot
interact?
9
Lyddie
Worthen
Lyddie is panicked from
the noise and dust of
the machines.
Three things Lyddie
notices on her first day in
the weaving room about
the working conditions:
Concord
Corp.
factory
Boarding
house
Mr. Marsden
(overseer)
Diana Goss
(Lowell)
Diana shows her how to
run a power loom, but
it all happens too fast
for her.
Lyddie’s roommates
warn her that Diana is a
rebel.
Lyddie goes to Diana’s
house. Diana gives
Lyddie paper & stamps
to write a letter to her
mother & Charlie.
1. loud
2. Dusty air
3. No light (small window)
Why do Lyddie’s roomates
tell her she should not go
see Diana?
Diana is a rebel who has
spoken out about getting
better working conditions.
How does Diana help
Lyddie? (paper & stamps)

4. Lyddie
Definitions
goods: (65) cloth
flaw: (65) imperfection, mistake
radical: (67) someone working for change,
especially as relates to society, the
economy or the government

5. Lyddie
Definitions
decipher: (66) read; make meaning of
something that’s hard to understand
infamous: (69) well know for being bad
operatives: (69) workers, especially
workers who operate machinery

6. Lyddie
Definitions
What new words did you define?

7. Lyddie
Reading Chapter 8
Chapter Setting
Characters
10
Lyddie
Worthen
Concord
Corp.
factory
Plot
How do the setting,
character and/ or plot
interact?
How does Lyddie’s first
full day in the weaving
room affect her?
Diana Goss
(Lowell)
Mr. Marsden
(overseer)
What does Betsy do for
Lyddie?

8. Lyddie
Reading Chapter 8
Chapter Setting
Characters
Plot
How do the setting,
character and/ or plot
interact?
10
Lyddie
Worthen
Lyddie wakes up at 4:30
AM, but can’t eat until
7 AM. She goes straight
to work.
How does Lyddie’s first
full day in the weaving
room affect her?
Concord
Corp.
factory
Diana Goss
(Lowell)
Mr. Marsden
(overseer)
Bestsy
Work is very hard, and
Lyddie feels sick and
tired at the end of the
day.
Bestsy gives her some
advice about shoes and
reads to Lyddie to help
her relax. Lyddie loves
the book Oliver.
She has a hard time
breathing, she has a
headache, it’s very hot and
she’s confused at how fast
everything goes. She is tired
and homesick by the end of
the day.
What does Betsy do for
Lyddie?
She reads to Lyddie to help
her relax and forget her bad
day.

9. Lyddie
Definitions
strenuous: (74)
laden: (75)
inferno: (76)

10. Lyddie
Definitions
commenced: (77)
ravenous: (78)
* Why did the author use this word instead of
“hungry?

11. Lyddie
Definitions
fatigue: (78)
* Why did the author use this word instead
of “tiredness?”
_____________________________________
What new words did you define?

12. Lyddie
Learning Objectives
By engaging in a discussion with my
partner, I can analyze one section of
Lyddie to deepen my understanding of
the plot, characters, and setting.

13. Lyddie
Learning Objectives
I can context clues – in sentences and on
the page – to determine the meaning of
unknown words.
I can cite specific textual evidence to
explain what working conditions were
like in the mills and how they affected
Lyddie.

14. Lyddie
Learning Objectives
I can analyze how the author’s word
choices create vivid descriptions of
Lyddie’s living and working conditions.

15. Lyddie
Close Reading
Chapter 10
• Let’s go back and read more closely!
• Turn to page 75-76
• Read along for: How working conditions
affect people.

16. Lyddie
Close Reading
Meet with AT THE SHUTTLE partners!
• ONLY base this information on pg. 75-76
• Step one: match the card to the quote
• Step two: check your answer with me!
• Step three: answer the questions

17. Lyddie
Closely Reading Chapter 10
Question
“Now that she thought of it, she could
hardly breathe, the air was so laden
with moisture and debris.” (75)
1) What does laden mean? How do
you know?
2) What would it feel like to breathe
air “laden with moisture and
debris?”
3) Which Working Conditions Note card
best explains what this quote helps
the reader understand about
Lyddie’s life and work?
Answer

18. Lyddie
Closely Reading Chapter 10
Question
“Even though Diana had stopped the
loom, Lyddie stood rubbing the powder
into her fingertips, hesitating to plunge
her hands into the bowels of the
machine.” (75)
1) What does the phrase bowels of the
machine mean?
2) What is Patterson personifying?
Why does she do this?
3) Which Working Conditions Note card
best explains what this quote helps
the reader understand about
Lyddie’s life and work?
Answer

19. Lyddie
Closely Reading Chapter 10
Question
“Her quiet meals in the corner of the
kitchen with Triphena, even her
meager bowls of bark soup with the
seldom talkative Charlie, seemed like
feasts compared to the huge, rushed,
noisy affairs in Mrs. Bedlow’s house.”
(76)
1) What does the word meager mean?
How do you know?
2) It’s contradictory to say a “meager
feast.” How could this be true for
Lyddie?
3) Which Working Conditions Note card
Answer

20. Lyddie
Anchor Chart
Working Conditions – Anchor Chart
• With your partner, add the three new quotes
to the chart in the right boxes
• Focus: Working and Living Conditions
• Add a question for each quote, too!
Raise your hand when done to check your work!

21. Lyddie
Homework
Homework
• Read all of Chapter 11
• Complete Reader’s Notes Chapter 11
• Be prepared for a quiz tomorrow!