Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Table of Contents:


·      Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
o   Reflects Diversity
o   Uses Jigsaw DURING READING comprehension strategy
·      90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis
o   Reflects Diversity
o   Uses found poetry as an AFTER READING comprehension activity
·      Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Linsay Mattick
o   Uses Web 2.0 interface
o   Appropriate Read Aloud for grades 3-4
o   Uses CLOSE reading for a DURING READING comprehension strategy
·      Walking on Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School Edited by Timothy P. McLaughlin
o   Poetry Collective
o   Uses writing frames and templates for a AFTER READING writing activity
·      El Deafo by Cece Bell
o   Graphic Novel
o   Selected from Choice Lists
o   Uses a Directed Reading-Thinking activity for DURING READING comprehension strategy
o   Uses response writing as an AFTER READING writing activity
·      Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown
o   Non-fiction/ biography
o   Can be used to support science lessons
o   Uses Modeling Comprehension as a BEFORE READING strategy
·      Butterflies by Seymour Simon
o   Non-fiction
o   Can be used to support science lessons
o   Uses Vocabulary Cards as a BEFORE READING comprehension strategy
o   Uses a Directed note-taking activity for a DURING READING comprehension strategy
·      Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust By Loic Dauvillier
o   Graphic Novel
o   Historical Fiction to support Social Studies
o   Uses a KWL chart for a BEFORE READING comprehension strategy
·      Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
o   Uses Infographic
o   Historical fiction to support social studies
o   Uses response writing as an AFTER READING comprehension strategy
·      The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus by Jen Bryant
o   Selected from choice lists
o   Uses Read, Write, Pair, Share as DURING READING comprehension strategy
·      Heart and soul: The story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
o   Reflects diversity
o   Non-fiction to support social studies lessons
o   Uses Read Aloud as a BEFORE READING Comprehension strategy
·      Redwoods by Jason Chin
o   Non-fiction/ science fiction to support science lessons
o   Uses Adjunct Displays as a BEFORE READING comprehension strategy
o   Uses Directed Notetaking as DURING READING comprehension strategy
·      Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight For Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh
o   Reflects Diversity
o   Non-fiction to support social studies lessons
o   Uses Modeling Comprehension as a DURING READING comprehension strategy
o   Uses Reader’s Theatre as an AFTER READING comprehension strategy
·      One Came Home by Amy Timberlake
o   Appropriate read aloud for grades 5-6
o   Newbery Award Winner
o   Uses Adjunct Displays as BEFORE READING comprehension strategy
o   Uses Tossed Terms as an AFTER READING comprehension strategy
·      Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
o   Newbery Award Winner
o   Reflects diversity

o   Uses KWL Chart for a BEFORE READING comprehension strategy

Brown Girl Dreaming By Jacqueline Woodson

Brown Girl Dreaming
Written by Jacqueline Woodson
Nancy Paulsen Books
2014
Reading Levels: Lexile- 990, Grade 4

2015 Newbery Award Winner
2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work

“civil rights, desegregation, memoir, powerful, struggle”


Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

Electronic Resources:

This is a link to Jacqueline Woodson’s website. This source can be used by students and teachers to learn more about the author or complete and authors study.

This interview is another source that can be used to learn more about Jacqueline Woodson. In this interview she discusses growing up, coming out, and her relationship with her family.

Teaching Suggestions

1. Vocabulary:
  • Emancipate: free from slavery or servitude
  • Injustice: the practice of being unjust or unfair
  • Scholar: a learned person
  • Furrow: a slight depression in the smoothness of a surface
  • Lilt: a jaunty rhythm in music
  • Immense: unusually great in size or amount
  • Porcelain: ceramic ware made from a translucent ceramic
2. Before, During, and After Reading Strategies:


Before Reading:

Since this book is written in verse and centers on the memories of Woodson’s childhood. Introduce the unique style of writing by asking students to explore their own childhoods in the form of writing an “I am from” poem. Ask students to explore crucial events as well as smaller details that they experienced as a child. Provide students with examples for inspiration

During Reading:

Have students complete an activity following the Jigsaw model while reading to better understand the content of the text. Ask student groups to read and discuss a poem about segregation from the point of view of one of Woodson’s family members or friends. Then, ask students to meet in a second group to learn about each of the other poems. This activity will increase student comprehension by exploring the diverse ways the people in Woodson’s life experienced events.

After Reading:

This book could be used to introduce a unit on the civil right movement in the U.S. Woodson mentions specific significant figures and events throughout the text that are pertinent to the movement. Ask students to select a person or event that she mentions and conduct a small research project on them or it. Students should be able to describe who or what the person or event was and explain their significance to the civil rights movement.

Writing Activity:


Woodson’s book is about searching for her identity through the ever-changing world she’s living in. She uses the quote; “I believe that there is good in us no matter who we are or what we believe in. ”Ask students to look at their own identities by writing a “This I Believe” essay. Walk students through the writing process to examine what they truly believe in and to find elements to add to their essay. Have students publish their work and share with the class to extend the activity further.

Thursday, March 31, 2016

90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis

90 Miles to Havana
Written by Enrique Flores-Galbis
Roaring Brook Press, New York
2010
Reading Levels: Lexile- 790L, Grade- 6

2011 Pura Belpré Honor Book for Narrative 
2011 Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year

“Cuba, immigration, bullying, homeland, refugee”

When Julian's parents make the heartbreaking decision to send him and his two brothers away from Cuba to Miami via the Pedro Pan operation, the boys are thrust into a new world where bullies run rampant and it's not always clear how best to protect themselves.

Suggested Delivery: Independent

Electronic Resources:


This site provides some great teaching suggestions for lessons involving Cuba-U.S. relations. The article gives ideas on how to build schema, consider a diverse range of perspectives on the topics, learn the basic content, and extend learning activities.


This video provides a brief overview of the historical and current situations regarding Cuba-U.S. relations. This video would be useful to present to student since the situation has changed greatly recently and is often a topic in the media. This video would help students understand why the U.S. and Cuba had bad relations as well as understanding why their relations are beginning to change

Teaching Suggestions

1. Vocabulary:
  • Skulk: to move about sneakily
  • Brackish: somewhat salty, unpleasant
  • Petition: formal written request made to an official person or organized body
  • Huff: to react in a fit of anger
  • Bellow: to shout in a deep voice
  • Wafting: moving through air
  • Smoldering: burning slowly without flame
  • Falsetto: a high voice
  • Revelers: people who participate in boisterous merrymaking
2. Before, during, and after reading strategies:

Before Reading:

Present the students with a selection of schema building questions such as the ones listed below. Ask the students to think-pair-share with the person next to them about their responses to the questions, and then allow a few students to share with the rest of the class. After discussing the questions, introduce the book to students and explain how the questions students just answered will relate to the text.

Schema Building Questions:

1.     How far is 90 miles? Can you walk, bike, or drive 90 miles?
2.     What is justice? Does justice only apply to laws or can it apply person to person?
3.     What do you know about Cuba?

During Reading:

Review some figurative language terms with students such as similes, metaphors, and idioms and have students take some notes on what the terms mean. While reading, ask students to make note of any examples of figurative language in the book that they find. Ask students to use post it notes to mark the examples and label them with the quote, page number, and type of figurative language they found. After reading sections encourage students to share their favorite examples of figurative language that they found and discuss some of the meanings or significance of the quote with the class.

After Reading:

Make photocopies of a few pages or passages that are significant to the text. Ask students to select one of the passages and create a Found Poem using words from the text. Students’ poems should reflect an understanding of a character, event, or theme from the story. Encourage students to present their found poem creatively by including art, cutting out and pasting words, or rewriting the poem in verse.

Writing Activity:


Since bullying is a theme in the story, ask students to write their own Public Service Announcement advertisement against bullying. Students can work in pairs or small groups to complete this activity. Ask students to write a storyboard of the scenes they will use in their commercial as well as a script. Use a video camera to video tape the commercials and share the students’ work with the rest of the class.