One crazy summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia

Williams-Garcia, Rita.  One crazy summer. New York: Amistad, 2012.
Lexile Level: 750L
Awards: National Book Award Finalist, 2010; Coretta Scott-King Award, 2011; Newberry Medal Honor, 2011; Scott O'dell Award for Historical Fiction, 2011.

Book Byte Review

https://vocaroo.com/i/s1pyvtXtyX99

Learning Activity

Delphine grows up a lot over the course of her crazy summer. You are going to make Delphine a scrapbook of her summer adventures in Oakland with her 2 sisters and her mom, Cecile. In your scrapbook, please include the following: 

1. At least 4 different photos (or hand-drawn pictures, or computer rendered images) 

2. A caption for each photo of about 100 words 

You can recreate scenes from the book to capture them digitally, or you can create them by hand or on the computer. Your captions must describe why the picture is significant and must help to explain how the event contributed to her growing up.

After we create our scrapbooks, we will all have a good old fashioned scrapbook party where we tell stories about the pictures we took. (This is what people did before FB, IG, SnapChat and Twitter) 😄 

Learning Standards:

RL.6.6. Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text 

Learning Goal:

Students will find details in the novel that support the development of the main characters point of view. 

Learning Outcome:

Students will create a scrapbook that illustrates the details that support the development of Delphine’s character. 

Learning Objective:

Students will create a scrapbook containing images of significance from the novel One Crazy Summer, and write captions that explain how the author develops the point of view of the main character, Delphine.

When you Reach Me

By Rebecca Stead

Stead, Rebecca. When you reach me. Wendy Lamb Books, 2009.

Summary: 

This book is set in NYC in the 1970s. Miranda and Sal walk home from school every day. Miranda’s mother has talked to her about being safe so she feels comfortable doing this even if there is strange homeless person living under the mailbox on her street. One day when Miranda and her best friend Sal were walking home from school, a boy that they didn’t know came out of nowhere and punched Sal in the stomach. After this happened, Sal stopped hanging out with Miranda and weird things begin to happen. Miranda starts getting strange notes, notes that she doesn’t understand nor does she know who was giving them to her. The more notes she gets, she becomes more and more confused. Some of the information in the notes hadn’t even happened yet. Miranda is determined to figure out the mystery behind the notes.


Lexile Level: 750L
Grades: 4 and up
Domain: Affective

Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.2
Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3
Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.

Goal

Students will be able to predict the outcome of a story by analyzing clues.

Objective

Using a pre-writing worksheet, students will identify and write down two mysteries from When You Reach.
Using a pre-writing worksheet, students will identify and write down two clues that they find in the book that could assist them in making predictions

Outcome
Students will write a short mystery story that includes clues a reader could use to try and predict or solve the mystery.
Students will read one of their classmates story and try to solve the mystery.

Book Review:

I really enjoyed this book. I feel that the characters were well developed. I liked the way the author gave us the background information about the main character, her back story per say. There are many times where an author attempts to explain the history of the characters but it ends up being awkward, it just doesn’t flow with the story. I thought the way the author provided the information seemed natural and an organic part of the story. I love books with a twist that you didn’t see coming. I never suspected the laughing man was the future Marcus. I knew he had to be part of the story in some way but I couldn’t figure it out. I still wonder why he ended up being a homeless person. What happened to him to lead to this? If he went back to the future to save Sal, then I would think he would know when Sal was going to be in trouble and could show up then. He won’t have to be living in the streets waiting for a random time. I am still processing the ending. So did Sal die in future so Marcus decides to build the time machine to save Sal based on what Miranda says in the letter she writes him? But if Marcus did build a time machine and saved Sal, than Sal would be alive in the future so there would have been no need to build the time machine. So many questions but that, to me, makes a book. A good book stays with you long after you finish it. If a book makes you think and ask questions than the author did their job.

There were many times during the book that the author used foreshadowing. First, she stated at one point, that the story all started the day Sal got punched. Miranda’s favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time, Miranda was getting anonymous notes, Marcus and Miranda talk about time travel. The origin of the laughing man was vague which made me wonder what his role was going to be in the story.

The popular culture references the author uses, such as the 20,000 Pyramid, helped me to visualize the story. The clothes that Miranda’s mother wears are definitely clothes that were in style in the 70s. I don’t know if a kid reading this book today would be able to picture the story taking place in the 70s. I don’t know what else the author could have done to achieve this though. I was able to picture in my head some different scenes but I won’t have immediately associated them with life in the 1970s without the popular culture references.

I would classify When you Reach Me as science fiction. It is set in the real world but it asks the question, what if time travel was possible?

I think kids would enjoy reading this book if they give it a chance. But it does seem like fantasy books are quite popular so it might be a hard sell. Given that, a hook I would use would be to ask questions that appeal to their sense of curiosity. “What would you do if you could change the future? How do you right a wrong?”

Read Alikes

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

Konigsburg, E. L. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1967

Nate the Great series by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman. 1972-2015, Nate the Great, book series, Random House, New York.


I don’t know the Nate the Great series would be too young for the age group I had in mind, fourth grade, but the series might be good for struggling readers.

Alexander Hamilton: The Making of America

by Teri Kanefield
Kanefield, Teri. Alexander Hamilton: The Making of America. Abrams Books, 2017




Summary

This is a biographical account of Alexander Hamilton. The book details Alexander Hamilton’s life from birth to death. The author explores Alexander Hamilton’s contribution to America.

Lexile Level: 1170

Grades: 4th and up

Domain: Cognitive

Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3

Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.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.RI.3.3

Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical

Goals

Students will be able to explain Alexander Hamilton’s historical contributions.

Objectives

Student will be able to identify four important contributions that Alexander Hamilton made that help make America what it is today.

Outcome

Students will write a short essay about Alexander Hamilton.

Students will describe four major ways Alexander Hamilton affected the creation of the United States of America.

Selling Tool
My book talk video

The Girl Who Owned A City

By O.T. Nelson
Nelson, O. T. The girl who owned a city. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, 1975.



Summary

A virus that only affected people above the age 12 wipes out all the adults in the world. Lisa and her younger brother struggle to stay alive by scavenging for food among forgotten and abandoned houses and businesses. At night, Lisa and her brother barricade themselves inside their house in order to protect themselves from gangs of children. Lisa realizes to stay safe, she must team up with the other children on her street to protect themselves against a roaming gang that has been terrorizing them. Lisa becomes the leader of the group and devises a way to keep them safe. She comes up with the idea of creating a fortress. She and the children move to a local high school and turn it into a fortress. Many children join her and their fortress becomes a city. Her leadership is challenged by a gang of children and she must fight for her city.

Lexile Level: 660L

Grades: 4-6

Domains: Affective


Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3

Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.8

Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s).

Goal

Students will understand the evolution of characters in a novel.

Objectives

Students will understand the characteristics that two characters display at the beginning and end of a novel.

Outcome

Students will complete a character map for two characters. The character map includes personality traits, how the character interacts with other characters in the novel, how the character influences the storyline, and changes that occur to the characters by the end of the novel. They must include evidence from the book to support their answers.


Selling Tool:

Even though I did not make this book trailer, I thought it was an excellent way to promote the book to students.


https://youtu.be/jYsglEBcIWk


Rebecca Foody. "The Girl Who Owned a City by O. T. Nelson book trailer" Online video clip. YouTube, 1 Apr. 2015, 9 Dec. 2017.

Fever 1793

By Laurie Halse Anderson


Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever 1793. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2002.



Summary:

Maddie is a fourteen year old living in Philadelphia during the 1793 outbreak of yellow fever. As the residents of Philadelphia fall victim to this terrible disease, Maddie is trying to keep her family safe. When Maddie’s mother contracts yellow fever, she sends Maddie and her grandfather to the countryside to keep them safe. Maddie is worried for her mother but she too can not falls sick with yellow fever. She and her grandfather fight to return to Philadelphia and once there, they realize the impact yellow fever has on the city.

Lexile level: 580L

Grades: 4th - 7th

Domain: Cognitive

Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.1

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

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.2

Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3

Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.


Goals:

Students will learn about the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia 1793 and understand the events that occurred during this epidemic.

Objectives:

Students will be able to explain how the yellow epidemic began in Philadelphia 1793.

Students will be able to identify the causes of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia 1793.

Students will be able to explain the behavior of the residents of Philadelphia in response to the yellow fever epidemic.

Outcome:

Students will create a wordle that includes the following information:

Causes of the yellow fever epidemic

Treatments

Behavior/feelings of the residents


Selling tool


Supplemental information:

http://www.wordle.net/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY5jXKo8Das (video about the yellow fever epidemic)


IMDEBESable. “"Fever - 1793" - Historic Philadelphia Documentary [HD].” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Oct. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY5jXKo8Das.