Multicultural/Gobal Literature - 14 Cows for America

Part One 

Book Information: Deedy, C.(2009). 14 Cows for America. Peachtree Publishers 

Genre: fiction 

Grade Level:  2-6 I would recommend this book for the slightly older elementary student. This book's theme is simple, but the storyline is more complex.  

 

Part Two

Personal Connection: This story really hit a personal note for me because it is based off of the September 11th terrorist attack in New York City. I was not directly affected from the attack, but I still remember where, when and what I was doing when I learned about the attack. It is really one of those things I will never forget. The book is about a tribe in Africa learning about the attack and how they react to the news, with compassion and kindness, just how American aided each other in that time of need.

Thoughts About Craft: Carmen Agra Deedy writes a fantastic story that is upheld by Thomas Gonzalez's illustrations. His illustrations use color in a very natural and realistic way. The attention to detail and accuracy is impeccable. The illustrations give the reader a glimpse into what an African tribe looks like. 

Part Three 

Critique: Overall, I felt that this book is very "global and multicultural". The book takes an American tragedy and shows how another country viewed/reacted to it. It was an interesting perspective and delivered the message very well. The reader gained knowledge about the workings of an African tribe as well as learned a lesson about kindness. This book would be a great addition to any classroom. 

Part Four   

Lesson Sketch: 

 

Grade: 5th 

Lesson Objective:  

        The students will be able to: 

                 - Write a one page letter addressing a way to help a struggling person or place 

                 -  Describe their definition of kindness 

         * Lesson is based off the Common Core standard of "Text Types and Purposes" Grade 5 - 1. "Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting apoint of view with reasons and information."  a-d 

Lesson Outline: 

            1. Read and discuss 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy 

            2. Each student will write their personal definition of kindness 

            3. Each slip of paper will be attached the the "kindness wall" in the classroom. 

            4.  Students will think of a person(s), place, country, town or charity that could use kindness/help

            5. Students will then write a one page letter addressing how they would help

Links to Outside Resources: 

• This website is for kids and would help students get acquainted with country/region if that is who they chose to help   http://www.timeforkids.com/around-the-world
• This is more of a resource for the teacher. This video shows how kindness is integrated into the classroom and the world beyond. http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-videos/6813-kind-kids-club
• This is kind of like a game of kindness, but on a larger scale. My students can each get a boom boom card  and perform that act of kindness. Every time the student complete the card, they will share what they with the class and put a sticker on the game board. Once our game board is full, my students will get something special(ex:15 minutes free-play)  http://boomboomcards.com/  

 

             

 

 

Caldecott Book- The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

Part One 
Book Information: Burton, V. (1942).The Little House.New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin

Genre: Children's picture book

Grade Level: 3-8 I would recommend this book for older elementary and middle school students. The book can just be about the Little House being sad over the years or older students can see the deeper meaning of the passage of time and the implications of suburbanization.




Part Two
Predictions: When looking thorough the titles of the Caldecott books, this one caught my eye. Then I went to pick up the book and the front cover won me over. I tend to base the books I read off of the front cover illustration, so this was no different. At first, I flipped through the pages and could tell that this book had beautiful illustrations and conveyed the movement of time. In just the few seconds I took to look over the book without really reading, I could see emotion and time displayed together.

Thoughts About Craft: The book contained amazing illustrations by Virginia Lee Burton. The words were always on the left side of the book, while the pictures were on the right side, until the Little House began changing. Then the pictures spread onto both pages. I think this was deliberate in conveying the movement of time and changes that time brings. The Little House was always the main focal point in the illustrations. I could see the emotion in the house as if it was a person. From being happy in the Spring to being lonely and abandoned in the city to being fixed-up and moved back to the country. The illustrations were very deliberate in color and expressed the passage of time.

Part Three
Critique: Overall, I fell in love with this book! The setting of the story, the point of view, and the plot were well thought out and written. The Little House was the main character of the book; her emotions were described, her likes and dislikes, what she saw and how she looked. This gave the house a human like quality that I (and students) could relate to. The setting involves the big idea of urbanization. This is a theme that younger children are not introduced to, but older students could recognize the actual time periods in history and issues of those time periods. This makes the book very versatile in the grade levels it can appeal too. I can defiantly see why this book won the Caldecott award and it may be one of my new favorite children's books.

Part Four
Lesson Sketch

Grade: 3rd

Lesson Objectives:
      The students will be able to:
            - identify and describe the four seasons(winter, spring, summer and fall)
            - create four diagrams of the different seasons
            - answer questions about the four seasons

Lesson Outline: 
          1. Listen to and discuss The Little House  by Virginia Lee Burton
          2. View other books or the internet to gather more information about the seasons
          3. List and describe the four seasons as a class
          4. Fold two pieces of paper into 4 sections, labeling the seasons and a square for the description
          5. Use magazines, the internet, newspapers or draw/color to depict the four seasons 
          6. Describe the four seasons next to the pictures/drawings for each
          7. Take a 10 question quiz about the four seasons

Links to Outside Resources:
 -I can use this worksheet to help students with descriptive words about the seasons  http://www.kids-pages.com/folders/worksheets/Nature/page4.htm
- Here is a fun song about the seasons for students to listen to  http://www.kidsknowit.com/educational-songs/play-educational-song.php?song=Why%20Do%20We%20Have%20Seasons
- This webpage is interactive and will give students the opportunity to practice what objects/things go in each season  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/scienceforkids/seasons/seasons.htm
- If you would like to do a lesson for older students on the implications of urbanization, there is a short Walt Disney film based on the book that would be great to show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y881yjtFluQ

Touchstone Book -The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Keats, E. (1962). The Snowy Day. New York, New York: Penguin Young Readers Group

This book is a Touchstone classic picture book. This book is ideal for Kindergarten,1st, 2nd and 3rd graders.

I really enjoyed the illustrations throughout the book. They are very unique and colorful, which I think students would like. The pictures are very simple, but convey the story well. Ezra Jack Keats used several different textures in his illustrations that give more depth and dimension. I also found it interesting that the depiction of snow had many different colors included in the pictures. There was green, blue, pink and purple splashes with the white. This gave the snow a more whimsical look.

 I  liked that the author tied the text and the illustrations together in certain areas. There were two sentences that that ended in "like this:" and "like that:" where the illustration showed footprints in different directions. It is important for authors to tie the text and the pictures together for children to relate to. The plot is very relatable for students, because the activities Peter does in the story may be ones they have done in the snow before. However, the setting is very subjective because if a child has never seen or played in snow before, they probably would not relate or understand the story very well.

The Snowy Day provides a great relationship between illustration and text. A lesson for a kindergarten class can follow the Common Core standard of "With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts)."  The lesson objective would be for students to be able to describe how the author connects illustrations and the story and then create their own story and illustration. I will ask the class three questions: what their favorite illustration is? How does that picture go with the story? Would you have drawn the picture differently?

I will use this website http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/fun-games/the-snowy-day-read-aloud/, Ezra Jack Keats actual webpage, to show an animated, read-aloud version of the story. This will give the students another opportunity to hear and see, with moving pictures the story. I can play this song to inspire my students on what they can write their story on about snow.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuMt_NDOaxQ . My students will then create their Snowy Day activity story. This will be one to two sentences describing what activity they have done or would like to do in the snow(ex: build a snowman or go sledding). The students will then draw a picture of themselves doing the activity on the same paper, just as Keats does in the story. An additional resource for this lesson would be to add vocabulary with this list  http://pearsonfoundation.org/downloads/2010rft/RFTR2010_Lexile_Vocabulary_Activities.pdf  to have the students incorporate at least one word from the list into their story.