AUTHOR CONNECTIONS:
Author Jim Murphy won the Newbery Honor Book Award for The Great Fire. You can listen to another of his books Blizzard
- The Storm that Changed American as well. Jim Murphy grew up in New Jersey and became interested in history in middle
school. But he felt that most of the books he read as a kid were boring
and too full of names and dates, and too empty of action. As a result,
he has written over two dozen books, most dealing with American history and has
won many honors for his work. See his photo and learn more about how he
learned to become a writer at http://www.cbcbooks.org/html/jim_murphy.html
CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS:
 Researching
Fire Narratives: Murphy peoples his account of the Great Conflagration
of 1871 with real persons who survived the fire, such as twelve-year-old Claire
Innis or young newspaper reporter Joseph Chamberlin. Utilizing the Web site
“The Great Chicago Fire and The Web of Memory,” have students pair up
to research other firsthand accounts of survivors recorded here. Survivors’
names include: Fannie Belle Becker, Joel Bigelow, Bessie Bradwell, Clarence
Augustus Burley, A. S. Chapman, O. W. Clapp, William Gallagher, John H. Healy,
Mrs. Alfred Heberd, Anna E. Higginson, Justin Butterfield, Mary Kehoe, Fanny Boggs
Lester, Eben Matthews, James W. Milner, Jennie E. Otis, Ada Rumsey, Francis William
Test, Cassius Milton Wicker, and William A. Wieboldt. This outstanding Web
site has electronic images of primary sources—letters about the fire that
people penned to family members—that would further enrich the students’
reports. The findings could be compiled into a book for other classes to
read.
Fire
Prevention Week: Fire Prevention Week is observed annually throughout
the country during the beginning of October. Fire Prevention Week occurs
then because the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October, 8, 1871, taught people
a great deal about fire prevention. To commemorate Fire Prevention Week, have
the entire class prepare an assembly on fire safety for second and third graders
in their school district. Work on creating posters that share fire prevention
tips, as well as acting out skits that speak to important reminders that deepen
students’ knowledge of what to do to be fire safe. Posters and skits
should include the following tips:
- ask parents to keep a working
smoke detector in the house, preferably one for each floor;
- ask parents
to test detectors once a month;
- replace the batteries at least once a
year;
- plan two escape routes out of the home;
- practice keeping
low to the floor;
- know to touch doors before opening them;
- plan
a place to meet the rest of the family after escaping a fire.
Writing
Persuasive Essays: Murphy’s book does an excellent job—as
does “The Great Chicago Fire and Web of Memory” Web site—at debunking
the “O’Leary Legend” as the cause of this 1871 tragedy. Utilizing
these two excellent sources, write a persuasive essay that substantiates the claim
that it was NOT Mrs. O’Leary and her cow that started the fire of 1871. Offer
theories that can be supported by analysis of the facts shared in the superb Web
site.
Peshtigo
Forest Fire: Another terrible fire occurred that same fateful night
on October 8, 1871. It was, in fact, the worst recorded forest fire in North
American history. Known as the Peshtigo Forest Fire, it raged through Northeastern
Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, destroying millions of dollars worth of property
and timberland, and taking more than 1,200 lives. Have the class discover
information about this tragedy, ultimately comparing it to the Great Chicago Fire.
FOR
FURTHER LISTENING AND READING:
 FIRE: FRIEND OR FOE by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent (Clarion, 1998)
FIRE
IN THEIR EYES: WILDFIRES AND THE PEOPLE WHO FIGHT THEM by Karen Magnuson
Bell (Harcourt, 1999)
WE WERE THERE, TOO!: YOUNG PEOPLE IN U.S. HISTORY by Phillip Hoose (FSG,
2001)
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