Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite by Barry Deutsch

Deutsch, Barry. Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite. Harry N. Abrams, 2012.

Lexile Level: GN300L

Book Talk Video: 

Learning Activity

Mirka, the main character of the Hereville series, is a member of the Jewish Orthodox faith, as is the rest of her family. Several times throughout the story, her faith becomes relevant to the plot of the story. I think it's important for students to be able to recognize those moments and discuss how the Jewish Orthodox faith is portrayed in within the story. After reading Hereville, students will identify and discuss with the class the instances in which Mirka's faith was deliberately mentioned within the story, and describe how they thought the author portrayed that faith.

Learning Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.1
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6
Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

Goal

The goal of this activity is to help students identify instances in stories in which potentially sensitive topics, such as religion, are made relevant to the story, as well as to help students determine their thoughts and opinions about how that sensitive topic was handled.

Objective

Students will read a graphic novel, then organize their thoughts about specific sections of that novel and discuss them with the class.

Outcome

The students will have identified instances in which religion were relevant and/or impacted the story, and have shared their thoughts on how this sensitive topic was portrayed.