Michelson, Richard. Across the Alley. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2006.
Lexile Level: Not found
Book Selling Tool: Infographic
SUMMARY: The picture book Across the Alley is told from the perspective of a young Jewish boy living in Brooklyn, and his unusual and very private friendship with his next door neighbor, an African American Boy. The boys have different interests, but unfortunately not the ones their families would like them to have. The beautiful watercolors and narrative tell the story of this unique relationship, and the change that the two boys are able to make together.
GOAL: Students will recognize that character's actions can create important change, even on a small scale. Students will also distinguish similarities and differences between two texts written by the same author.
OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to describe the characters and their actions by including at least three details about each person’s traits and actions. (Cognitive)
Students will be able to evaluate the effects of characters actions by including at least 3 details of the change the characters were able to make in each text. (Cognitive)
Students will be able to compare each text by including at least four similarities and four differences that they observe from the two texts. (Cognitive)
OUTCOMES: Students will create a two-way book, showing their understanding of Across the Alley and As Good As Anybody, both by Richard Michelson. The book will include details about the main characters, the important actions taken by the main characters, the change that the characters were able to bring about, and important similarities and differences between the two texts.
LEARNING ACTIVITY: Students in third grade will read Across the Alley and As Good as Anybody (another text by Richard Michelson) as a class. As Good as Anybody is about Martin Luther King Jr. a Baptist preacher from Atlanta, and Abraham Joshua Heschel, a rabbi from Poland. The text describes their childhoods and how they came together and became friends, sharing the same message of peace and acceptance. The class will discuss the settings and characters of both books, focusing on the similarities and differences. (For example, they are set in a different time and place, but both portray a white Jewish boy who becomes friends with an African American boy and are able to make a difference.) Students will then create a two-way book. In one direction the book will be about Across the Alley and starting from the other end of the book, it will be about As Good As Anybody. Student will create a cover for each book, a page describing the main characters, a page listing the character’s actions throughout the book, and a page describing the changes the characters caused. The middle page spread will ask students to list the similarities and differences they notice in both books. Students will be able to provide illustrations on each page.
Michelson, R. (2017) Richard Michelson, Poet and Children’s Book Author. Retrieved from http://www.richardmichelson.com/
STANDARDS:
NYS Social Studies Standards: Civic Ideals and Practices: 3.8b Across time and place, communities and cultures have struggled with prejudice and discrimination as barriers to justice and equality for all people.
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events
Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters
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