Six Traits Writing Ideas for 
The Warm Place
Prepared by Annie Weissman using the Puffin paperback of the book

Ideas:
Ruva is kidnapped from her home in Africa. Think about a time when you were lost.

• Where did it happen?
• How did it happen? 
• How did you get reunited with your family?
• Who helped you?

Organization:
The Warm Place has a definite beginning, middle, and end. Fill out the following organizer for her journey. After sharing with a partner, fill out the blank organizer for the time you were lost.

Voice:
Ruva has several “teachers” in the book. Compare the voices of her mother at the beginning of the book and Rodentus when he’s giving Ruva lessons on the trip to America.

Word Choice:
The settings are important in this book. 

• Look on pp. 3-5 of Chapter One and note the words, phrases, and details Nancy Farmer uses to describe Ruva’s African home. 

• Look on pp. 23-24 at the end of Chapter Four and note the words, phrases, and details Nancy Farmer chooses to describe the zoo.

• Look on pp. 63-65 near the beginning of Chapter 11 and pp. 72-73 at the end of Chapter 12 and note the words, phrases, and details Nancy Farmer uses to describe the ship.

Sentence Fluency:
Compare the lengths of the sentences in the opening paragraphs of chapter seventeen on p. 100 and chapter eighteen on p. 106. Why has the author used different sentence lengths for the different situations?