Inside Out and Back Again written by Thanhha Lai

Inside Out and Back Again
Thanhha Lai
800L

            This book is a series of short poems, each one written as a diary entry, by a 10-year-old girl as she becomes a refugee from Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Ha moves to the United States with her family and her poems reflect her viewpoint of leaving her homeland and going to a new and strange culture. She writes about her family, regular kid complaints about education, her brothers, bullying, and all with a backdrop of the Vietnam War events (protests and racism) that surround her in Alabama.

John Newbery Medal – 2012
National Book Award for Young People’s Literature – 2011

Learning Activity:
The students will read through the text and will select three days out of the diary entries. The student will look over what takes place on that day with Ha and her family and explain how events from entry 1 effect events from the next 2 entries and entry 2 leading to 3. The student will present their findings of the three entries in front of the class, explaining what happened and how Ha reacted to it.

Standards:
CCSS.ELA-L.RL.5.3 - Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
CCSS.ELA-L.RL.5.5 - Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.

Goal:
The student will compare three diary entries for their connectedness throughout the story.

Objective:
Cognitive -
            The student will read Inside Out and Back Again and select three diary entries throughout the whole of the text.
            The student will identify plot elements, character descriptions or story progress and then see how those aspects of the 1^st entry lead into the events of the 2^nd, and the 2^nd entry leads into the 3^rd.
            The student will read their findings on these diary entry days to the class, describing how the events are interconnected and how each character in those entries changes over the three chapters.

Outcome:
The student will learn how the story moves across the diary entries within a non-prose format. The student will identify how the events of one day cause the events of the subsequent days.

Selling Tool:

Book Review -

Inside Out and Back Again
Thanhha Lai
Harper, 2017.
288 pages

            The book Inside Out and Back Again written by Thanhha Lai is a series of poems told through the perspective of a ten year old girl during the Vietnam War as she must move from Shanghai to Alabama to flee the conflict. The poems are short and expressive of how the main character, Ha, feels about her daily life with her family and in the transition of moving to a new country. The story is for children 8 to 12 years old and can be incorporated into a poetry lesson plan or one focusing on history about the Vietnam War.

            The story includes a backdrop of the serious issues Ha’s family faces as they immigrate to the United States, racism and bullying. But it also includes aspects of what she experienced in the war itself while she was still in Vietnam. The story takes place during the war, the actual war extended from 1955 to 1975 and when Ha’s family moved to Alabama it was during the Civil Rights movement, 1954 to 1968. That region of the country was in a lot of conflict about race and outside of the difficulties of being a refugee from a war they had to face the backlash from their new neighbors who didn’t want any change to their regular way of life.

            The story describes Ha’s travels as she leaves her home forever, how she feels to lose everything but her family, and how difficult it is to understand why it’s all happening. As the diary entries are told through poems, it makes it easy to interpret in multiple ways for students. While Ha may be writing how her brothers tease her, it’s the mention in her poem of the other children that really hurts her. The book makes good use of emotive language, she describes what happens in brief language but still can tell what is going on in her life. I found the story to be more about racism and bullying than about being a refugee. If the story had focused more on the background, the time Ha was in Shanghai with her family before fleeing, it would pull more history into the story. Overall, it’s a good story to introduce to 3rd to 5th graders when discussing this time period in American history. The difference in perspective, told as through someone their own age, provides a different story than if it was from an adult about the same topic. This might make the content more accessible to students.

The Tale of Despereaux - Tanya Beers

Tanya Beers

IST571: Children's Literature Lit Kit

Book: The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Lesson Plan and Selling Tool:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16cjXaL8cSyXbUa9ltidtRB_1XvcMWBN2-ZpFT4AiTh8/edit 

Tanya Beers

IST571: The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo-Lit Kit

Title: The Tale of Despereaux

Author:  Kate DiCamillo

Lexile Level: 670L

Grade Level:  2nd – 5th grade

Age Range: 7 to 10 years

ISBN #: 0763617229

The Tale of Despereaux is about a mouse named Despereaux, a princess named Pea, a servant 
girl named Miggery Sow, and a rat named Roscuro and how their lives become intertwined in 
a wonderful, magical, tale of destiny about daring to dream the impossible and having the bravery 
to pursue what is told can never be. This fairy tale is a classic for readers of all ages!

Lesson for 5th graders:

Students will read the book, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. They will then examine 
the following worksheet of questions that are based on the reading and answer them in the form 
of a 3 page journal entry. Students will also describe whether they were able to identify with any 
of the characters (how and why) and describe their reactions to that discovery.

*The worksheet of questions that are based on the reading come from this website: 
 https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/teachers/blogs/genia-connell/2017/GC-Despereaux-
9-Questions.pdf.   I really liked these questions for this assignment so I wanted to use them; 
the students are only answering questions 1 through 10 in their writing assignment because I
think answering more than that will result in a paper that is too long for them. This worksheet 
is the only part of this assignment that is not mine.

Learning Standards:

Common Core ELA Reading Standards for Literature K-5 (Grade 5).

5.1. Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing 
inferences from the text.

5.3. Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing 
on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

5.6. Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.

Learning Goal:

Students will examine characters in the reading to determine if they see themselves in those 
characters then express their conclusions in a journal entry.

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will examine the characters in the reading (through answering the worksheet 
questions and writing the journal entry) to determine how they see themselves in the characters 
and real-life situations then describing their conclusions and emotional reactions in a journal 
entry. (Affective)

2. Students will use the reading and the worksheet of questions to examine how real-life 
people can mirror characters in a story by examining the characters in the reading and their 
choices and integrating their conclusions into a journal entry. (Cognitive and Psychomotor)

Learning Outcome:

Students will examine themselves by examining the characters in the book and the choices the 
characters made then expressing their thoughts and emotions about their conclusions in written 
form (journal entry).

Works Cited:

Connell, Genia. “The Tale of Despereaux: A Read-Along Guide”. Scholastic, 30 March 2017,
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/2017/The-Tale-of-Despereaux-
A-Read-Along-Guide/.  Accessed December 14, 2017.

New York State Department of Education. (2011). New York State P-12 Common Core Learning 
Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. Retrieved from 
 https://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-p-12-common-core-learning-standards-
for-english-language-arts-and-literacy.

 

Selling Tool: Book Trailer of The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tXKUnKykoA

Charlotte's Web - Tanya Beers

Tanya Beers

IST571: Children's Literature Lit Kit

Book: Charlote’s Web by E.B. White

Lesson Plan and Selling Tool:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oHFXxFc9_ftJd72XGF9PUs2fje8ZvNQyqBWW-rYuVdk/edit

Tanya Beers

IST571: Charlote’s Web by E.B. White - Lit Kit

Title: Charlotte’s Web

Author:  E.B. White

Lexile Level: 680L

Grade Level:  3rd – 7th grade

Age Range: 8 through 12 years

ISBN #: 0061124958

Fern is a young girl who lives on a farm with her parents and her older brother Avery. Fern 
saves a run piglet on her farm from being killed by her father and decides to keep him for a 
pet and she names him Wilbur. He lives in the barn with the rest of the animals who he makes 
friends with and Fern visits him and plays with him every day. This is a story of life on a farm: 
birth, death, love, and new life; a tale with heart and life lessons that are timeless!

Lesson for 6th graders:

Students will read Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.

Students will research two scholarly sources of their choosing about farming and use them 
to write a 2-page essay about farms and the farming way of life.

a. daily life

b. types of animals common on a farm

c. the purpose that these animals serve

d. anything they found interesting about farming

e. address whether they think that farming is a worthwhile way to make a living today

After the reading and submission of the writing assignment, students will engage in a class 
discussion about the reading by verbally addressing these questions:

1. How would you feel if you were Fern and your father wanted to kill the runt of the litter 
of pigs? Would you see this as part of farm life and accept it or would you feel the way Fern 
did?

2. Why does Fern’s father let her keep Wilbur as a pet instead of killing him?

3. Do you think Fern has matured by the end of the book? If so, how?

4. What are the relationships of the animals in the barn to each other? Are they all friends/
family/enemies?

5. How do you feel about Charlotte’s death and Wilbur’s reaction to it?

Learning Standards:

AASL Standards for the 21st – Century Learner.

1. Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.

1.1 Skills

1.1.1 Follow an inquiry-based process in seeking knowledge in curricular subjects, and 
make the real-world connection for using this process in own life.

1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning.

1.1.3 Develop and refine a range of questions to frame the search for new understanding.

1.1.4 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions.

1.2.2 Demonstrate confidence and self-direction by making independent choices in the 
selection of resources and information.

2. Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, 
and create new knowledge.

2.1 Skills

2.1.1 Continue an inquiry-based research process by applying critical-thinking skills 
(analysis, synthesis, evaluation, organization) to information and knowledge in order to 
construct new understandings, draw conclusions, and create new knowledge.

2.1.3 Use strategies to draw conclusions from information and apply knowledge to curricular 
areas, real-world situations, and further investigations.

Learning Goal:

Students will engage in a lesson about the farming way of life and how the main character 
in the reading, Fern, lives her everyday life encountering real-life issues and situations that 
students can identify with.

Learning Objectives:

1. Through an essay, students will describe the farming way of life (that Fern also lived) and 
how they feel about farming as a way to make a living today in order to learn about an 
occupation that is fading. (Affective and Psychomotor)

2. Students will discuss their opinions and knowledge of the main characters and their lives 
in Charlotte’s Web through a class discussion as a way to identify with real-life issues in the 
reading. (Cognitive)

Learning Outcome:

Students will express their thoughts and emotions about farming and real-life issues in the 
assigned reading through writing and class discussion.

Works Cited:

American Association of School Librarians (AASL). (2007). Standards for the 21st- Century 
Learner. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/
guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf.

New York State Department of Education. (2011). New York State P-12 Common Core 
Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. Retrieved from  
https://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-p-12-common-core-learning-
standards-for-english-language-arts-and-literacy.

White, E.B. Charlotte’s Web. HarperCollins, 1952.

Selling Tool: Poster:

From: https://www.movieposter.com/poster/MPW-24350/Charlotte_s_Web.html