Schema: sea, setting Questions to activate background knowledge: Can you think of another time in history where a group of people have been treated unfairly because of the color of their skin? Can you imagine being taken away from your family because of your ethnicity? Why is the title so far from the sea when [...]
Schema: civil wars, traveling alone, the title which is a phrase from the U. S. National Anthem Before beginning, read the guide produced by the publisher which provides a background for understanding: Author’s purpose: The author takes us into the world of a refugee and helps refugee’s to see that they are not alone. POV: [...]
Schema: stories that teach a lesson, folktale, stranger danger The story is written as a modern day folktale featuring the Boo Hag from the Gullah culture of South Carolina. The Boo Hag is a legendary spirit or shape-shifter that wants to live in another person’s body, or it is also described as riding a person [...]
Schema: sticks, playing with sticks Text-to-Text Connections: Over in the Meadow, an old rhyme about the animals in a meadow; the rhyme goes something like, “over in the meadow in the sand and the sun lived an old mother turtle and her little turtle one…” See the lyrics Also a connection with the Gingerbread Man [...]
Schema: making tamales, admiring jewelry Text-to-Self Connections: taking something without permission, not wanting to get caught, getting together with relatives for the holidays, seeing something and then remembering something you forgot about Predicting: Predict what Maria is going to do when her mother leaves to answer the phone. Drawing Conclusions: What conclusion does Maria come [...]
Schema: beginning a new school year, going to a new club, church, or class Text-to-text Connections: Miss Mingo and the First Day of School by Jamie Harper; First Grade, Here I Come by Nancy Carlson Text-to-Self Connections: leaving parents to go to school, being afraid to try something new; what connection did Jake make with [...]
Schema: origami, making a wish Author’s Purpose: to share the experience of learning about Christmas in Japan. Mental Images: The mother describes the lights and trees in California to her son. Organizational Strategy: Flashback: the book begins with the narrator telling the reader that he had not been back to the pond since he was [...]
Schema: Christmas trees, theme of the White House Christmas tree Author’s Purpose: Gloria Houston and her family grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina; the historical fiction story depicts what life was like in the early 1900′s during World War I. Characterization: Characterize the mother in the story and use example from the [...]
Schema: runt, Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White Drawing Conclusions: When we draw a conclusion we should be able to go back and find evidence in the text to support it. When Turk concludes that Runt has been right about being chosen to be a dinner is a great place to talk about [...]
Schema: Frankenstein, Halloween, having a new baby in the family Point of View: The story is told from a monster family’s point of view. From the parents’ point of view, Frankie is the scariest of all of the family. Voice: The voice of the book is that of the monster parents until the end. Then [...]
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