Sahara Special - Esme Raji Codell

Lexile - 660L

Summary - Sahara is a special girl, but not because her file at school tells you she is, or because you see her outside with the special needs teacher, but because she is unique, and understanding and caring. In fact Sahara has a file of her own and this one is only the good stuff. Sahara is a 5th grader, determined to show the world how smart she is and she does. By making new friends and challenging her parents to think differently about her, she creates an image of herself that she sees and makes other people see it too.

Review - This book is more than just a story of a triumphant and edgy 5th grader, but one about overcoming labels and stigmas, and embracing yourself to make you a better person. Esme Raji Codell is a brilliant educator and author, who shares many of her personal experiences with the world to show that no one is alone. This book, like many others she has written over the years, has been made specifically to fill gaps that she has seen in children's literature. She takes these themes and makes them accessible to kids, and also understandable to adults, and her mixture of empathy and awareness makes this book really stand out.

Activity - In the book Cordelia, a freind of Sahara’s has a freind called Beezus who is actually a character in a book, who is your favorite fictional character? Why? What do they do?

Standard -

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 - Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

Goal - Students will be able to understand  the task from the book Sahara Special, but they will use other books to understand and then write about their favorite characters.

Objective -
Students will comprehend and be able to speak about characters in a text other than that being read in the classroom
Students will create and present their findings on different characters to the class as a way of connecting the text to real life

Outcome - Students will be exposed to other characters that they may not have been aware of, and may find new books to read based on their peers presentations.

References -
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/4/
http://www.planetesme.com/saharadiscussion.html