Painted Words/Spoken Memories written by Aliki Brandenberg

Painted Words/Spoken Memories
Aliki Brandenberg
620L

            The first half of the book describes Marianthe's transition to living in the US without knowing any English. Quickly her name becomes Mari. She learns to express herself through artwork to let her classmates know what she is feeling even if she can't rely to them. After a while she learns English well enough to talk to people, her artwork is celebrated in her class. The second half of the book is about what came before her time in the US, her family is from a country with a lot of strife, famine and crime. Her parents move to the US as refugees/immigrants.

Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards for Picture Book 1999

Learning Activity:
The students will read over the two halves of the book. They will compare the illustrations from Mari’s childhood in the United States with those of her in her homeland during the war.

Standards:
CCSS.ELA-L.RL.3.7 - Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)

Goal:
The students will read the story and be able to point out the different emotions and expressions Mari has between each half of the story.

Objective:
Cognitive –
            The students will read the story and compare images from the two settings in the story, the US and Bosnia.
            The students will write out 5 examples of how characters in each half look different from the other half of the story.
Affective –
            The students will write out how they believe the characters are feeling, comparing the US illustrations to the Bosnia ones.

Outcome:
The students will read the story and can find examples of different emotional expressions within the illustrations.

Encounter by Jane Yolen, David Shannon

(Courtesy of amazon.com) Title: Encounter Authors: Jane Yolen, David Shannon Lexile: 620L Summary: I found this story to be unique in the Christopher Columbus lore, it is from the perspective of one of the natives that first encountered Columbus. The story’s protagonist is first plagued by a vision of dread of a great bird swallowing his tribe. As the story unfolds and Columbus comes into contact with the protagonist tribe, the young boy realizes that Columbus and his ship are the gigantic bird that will eat his tribe. The mystical men from the sky, as the tribe believes their origin, gives trinkets of little worth to the tribe and only hungers for the gold displayed on the tribesmen. As the story concludes we see the protagonist being stolen away on Columbus’s ship and find that he is now an old man reflecting on his lost tribe. Selling Tool: Commentary, I enjoyed the darker take on the story and it’s accompanied brooding imagery, but it is a biased view, or perhaps better stated as a selective view of the events of Columbus’s life. It is absolutely a negative portrayal of how Columbus treated the tribesmen on his landing, and for all the evidence quite accurate, but it does diminish his contribution to history. I think in dealing with biographies it’s important to take in the whole account of the person before condemning them, as this story has. I don’t know enough about Columbus to accurately make an assumption on his character, nor do I know enough of the political and socio economic events of the 1400’s, but I do think that this story is worth being on the library shelves, simply as an alternative to the nobel literature about him. As is often the case, a person's history cannot be revealed from a single source but often will take multiple investigations to really understand the full context of person. Activity: The unique treatment of this book comes from the alternative perspective of the narrator in reflection of Christopher Columbus. Students will create a research presentation that evaluates two perspectives of a historical event. Learning Standard: CC.4.R.I.1 Key Ideas and Details: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Learning Goal: Students will understand the difference in perspectives of historical events through research. Learning Objective: Students will develop and present research that analyzes two opposing sources of a historical event. Learning Outcome: Students will present a completed research presentation that considers two perspectives on a historical event.

Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters by Michael Mahin

Mahin, Michael, and Evan Turk. Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2017.

Lexile Level: 620L

Please click here to find the nomination for this book for the 2017 Caldecott Award