Description
Wandering about on the ridge above his family's farm, Robert Peck comes across a neighbor's cow having difficulty giving birth. Acting quickly, Rob is able to help, and two bull calves are born. He is rewarded by their neighbor and owner of the cow, Mr. Tanner, with a piglet of his own to raise. Rob names the pig Pinky. Putting all his energy into caring for her, he dreams of the day she will become a brood sow and provide his family with a litter of pigs. Rob is the only surviving son in his family, and his four older sisters have all married and left home.
Rob's father, Haven Peck, is a quiet, gentle man who butchers pigs, a job he does not enjoy but performs so he can provide for his family. Mr. Peck cannot read or write, but stresses the importance of education to his son. Although the family is not rich, Mr. Peck teaches them that they are rich in the things that truly matter: they have each other, they have land to work, and they have God's creation to enjoy. However, tough times bring wrenching decisions when slaughtering season comes. Told from a boy's perspective, this story is both funny and moving, as Robert learns about life, love, and death, and what it means to be a man.
Content Warning: Mild Language and mildly mature content.
Progeny Press' Day No Pigs Would Die English/Language Arts curriculum will provide your High School grade student with:
English/Language Arts credit: This is a one-quarter credit high school level Literature curriculum.
Author Biography: Learn more about Robert Newton Peck.
Background Information: Learn about who Shakers really were and are.
Before-You-Read Activities: Learn about Vermont geography and production, Shakers, research paper about 1930s agriculture, pig breed research, as-you-read topic “to be a man”, birth and death themes.
Vocabulary: Understand words used throughout the novel, utilizing a variety of activities to stimulate retention and growth.
Literary Techniques: In context, dialect expressions, diagramming, foreshadowing, mood, contrast, grammar, characterization, author’s tone, comic scenes, conflict, theme.
Moral Lessons and Character Values: Helping/caring for animals, rewards, value of a man, material possessions, true riches, confession, adultery, judging others, pride, fairness, death, wealth, love and forgiveness, coming-of-age.
Activities and Writing Assignments: Units of measure, capstan research, following Shaker beliefs, linking of birth and death.
Suggestions for Further Reading: We include an in-depth reading list of more books by the same author(s) and other books that tie in with, or are similar to, A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck.
All of Progeny Press' Language Arts unit lessons are written from a Christian worldview!
Features and Benefits of a Progeny Press ELA study guide
Printed Workbook Format
- Large 8.5x11 format is convenient to read and easy on tired teenage high school student's eyes
- Every question in our novel unit study has plenty of whitespace for high school level student’s answers
- Encourages neat and clean handwriting practice
- Easily transports without the need for a laptop or other expensive equipment
- Provides a permanent record of the student’s work
- Complete, removable answer key included for the teacher to make grading simple!
CD Format
- Provides the study guide in universally compatible PDF format (works on Mac AND Windows)
- No costly software purchases necessary
- Our PDF Study Guide should be opened with the FREE Adobe Reader program. With the interactive feature, students have the capability of entering their answers directly on the computer and saving their work in progress.
Note: Mobile Devices/Tablets may require alternative app that supports and saves fillable form fields. - Or choose to conveniently print what you need, when you need it:
- Print the whole ELA PDF guide at once
- Print single literature lessons or pages as the student completes them
- Print multiple copies of the entire curriculum study guide for classroom sets
- PDF format makes it easy to use with multiple students
- Complete answer key PDF file included for the teacher!
Formatted with your High School grade student in mind, Progeny Press language arts study guides divide the book into writing assignments and lessons that strengthen their reading comprehension, vocabulary, and refines their critical analysis and writing skills. Each Progeny Press novel study accomplishes all of this without busy work that can drain the fun out of reading and literature! Kids have loved using Progeny Press ELA curriculum in homeschool, co-ops, and private schools around the world for over 30 years!
