Literacy Now

Sara Lost and Found. Virginia Castleman. 2016. Aladdin.

Ages 9–12

Summary

Sara Olsen is 10 years old and lives in squalor in an apartment with her older sister by two years, Anna. Their father for all practical purposes has abandoned them while he plays and sings in local bars; he is seldom sober enough to care what his daughters are doing in order to survive. Their mother left a couple of years ago and has not been seen since. Sara is fiercely independent and determinedly loyal to Anna, whose mental instability is apparent when readers meet her. Despite tremendous efforts, Sara can no longer keep their lives on track, and the sisters enter the foster home cycle again.

Over Sara’s objections, Anna is placed in a facility for unstable children whereas Sara is placed with another foster family, the Chandlers. She begins school, is learning to read and write, makes a best friend, learns to love the Chandlers and their young son Kevin, and finds a special project to give back to the community. Just when adoption seems likely, her dad protests the process from his jail cell.

Castleman knows the foster care system well: She was adopted when she was 6 years old from an orphanage. She wrote this story to draw attention to the flawed foster care ­­system and to give a voice to foster and adopted kids. Sara’s story will tug at heartstrings; however, readers will cheer for her to succeed, for she is a heroine in the style of The Great Gilly Hopkins—the book is a must for middle school readers.

Cross-Curricular Connections

English, health, art, social studies

Ideas for Classroom Use

Defining Family

As a prereading activity, explain to students that there are many kinds of families. Have students brainstorm the different types of families that they can think of. If they are stumped, offer them ideas. For example, small families, grandparents, adopted children, foster care families, older age families, stepfamilies, only child, many siblings, and so forth. Beginning with students’ brainstorming ideas, create a list about anything your students know about families. This may include history, traditions, family members, and feelings.

Using cutout figures, create Sara’s families at various periods in her life. Then guide students in creating a bulletin board on which they can pin pictures of their family. Students can share their family pictures with other students. They can also compare pictures to notice the differences among the students’ families. Be sure to send a newsletter home to students’ parents, asking them to send a couple pictures of the family to school with their child.

Mental Illness Among the Young

According to a recent New York City Health Department analysis of city preteens’ mental health, over 145,000 children between the ages of 6 and 12 suffer from mental illness or other emotional disorders—constituting 1 in 5 NYC children, the New York Post reports. Guide your students to research mental health issues and correct terminology. Educating the young about peers who have emotional disorders can go a long way toward building tolerance and understanding.

Vocabulary: The following words may be introduced though research activity or class discussions.

• mental illness, clinical depression, postpartum depression, suicide, dementia, anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, phobia, personality disorder, mood disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, personality disorder, schizophrenia, dissociative disorder, eating disorder
• delusion, hallucination, anxiety, compulsion, obsession
• neurotransmitter, neurochemicals
• psychotherapy, cognitive and behavioral therapy, group therapy, drug therapy, hospitalization
• neurologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric social worker
• stigma

Mental Health Awareness Project

After noting Anna’s mental health issues and symptoms, have students participate in a team project where team members research a specific mental health disorder, gather reliable health information and resources, and present research findings to the class. Using the data gathered, teams will prepare and come to the next class ready to set up their posters at the beginning of the class. Create a Gallery Walk of posters and have students prepare an evaluation sheet of the effectiveness of team creations.

Nutrition

Guide a discussion about the sisters’ diet as the try to survive on their own in the apartment and on the run. List these on whiteboard or easel paper.

Note that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends a daily intake of approximately 1,800 calories per day for the moderately active 10-year-old boy and girl. Of these 1,800 daily calories, approximately 540 need to come from protein sources, 1,170 from carbohydrates, and the remaining 90 calories (<10%) from other sources of dietary sugars.

Divide the class into small groups. Discuss the aforementioned daily caloric intake information with the class. Using USDA-approved food group and calorie charts, instruct each group to plan a daily menu, to include healthy snacks, which will total 1,800 calories per day. Ask each group to share their menu with the class. Have each group replace one meal of their menu with the zero calories of a paper towel. Groups will then add the number of calories in the revised menu. Ask each group to state which meal they replaced and share their findings. End with a discussion of how the loss of one meal’s worth of calories can affect nutritional health.

Mapping My Life

A Life Map is a graphic organizer of pictures and images that illustrate a person’s life; explain pictographs (graduation cap, heart, stick figures) as you present your own map. Use The Life Map Checklist to create your own and share with students. Then, as a group and using the same checklist (with creativity if information is not available in the book), create a Life Map for Sara. Ask students to create their own Life Maps that can be used for any autobiographical writing.  

Resources

Mukherjee, S. (2013, March 26) Most of the NYC preteens with behavioral problems are going untreated. Available at http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/26/1774521/nyc-preteens-mental-health-treatment/

Additional YA Texts With Similar Themes

*Angelais, M. (2014). Breaking butterflies. 2014. Chicken House.
Anonymous. (2006). Go ask Alice. Simon Pulse.
Draper, Sharon M. (2012). Out of my mind. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Nevin, J. (2015). All the bright places. Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Nolan, H. (2007). Dancing on the edge. Harcourt.
Sones, S.(2006). Stop pretending: What happened when my big sister went crazy. Harper/Teen.
*Vizzini, N. (2007). It’s kind of a funny story. Disney-Hyperion.

*Books recommended for mature readers.

Judith A. Hayn is professor of Secondary Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is a member and past chair of SIGNAL, the Special Interest Group Network on Adolescent Literature of ILA, which focuses on using young adult literature in the classroom. Jay Cobern is an English Education graduate student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Recently, I was “invited” to attend a meeting to introduce the latest district initiative. The two district presenters rolled out the plan, which focused on writing across all content areas. As a former English teacher, now an instructional coach/reading specialist, I applaud this effort. Although writing has always been considered an English department “thing,” content area writing lessons will be required of all teachers. The focus on writing is a welcome opportunity to connect the reading standards that have permeated everything we’ve done. By including writing, we are stressing the significance of a comprehensive literacy program. In this way, students will (hopefully) understand the value of writing in all content areas and realize that good writing is necessary to learn, to inquire and, ultimately, to succeed.

As I was listening to the directives, the presenters explained I was chosen because I am one of the “change agents” in the district. I secretly commended myself for this compliment and silently agreed to help spearhead the effort in my building. But then, I realized maybe I’m not that important after all. As a matter of fact, maybe the entire audience really isn’t that valuable.

As praise was being heaped upon me, one of our presenters pulled out his phone. I’m assuming he was checking e-mails or texts and not the time, because there was a clock in the room. I grew more uncomfortable the longer he was checking his phone. At one point, he turned his back to the audience and began talking to someone. His counterpart continued the presentation.
I began to be more interested in the presenter’s phone than in the presentation. I was captivated by the demeanor in which he attended to his phone.

I wondered, what could be so important that this presentation, with principals, assistant principals, literacy coaches, and classroom teachers, was interrupted to check one’s phone? Do we really believe people in front of us need to wait while we check our phones for other, more pressing matters?

Then, we were shown a video that was meant to assist us in understanding and implementing this new initiative. As I was watching the video, I noticed both gentlemen were on their phones, again checking whatever needed to be checked. Although I’m sure they both had seen the video multiple times, I wanted them to watch it again. I wanted them to show me that the video and, ultimately, their presentation was so crucial to the betterment of the district that they had to watch it again. I wanted them to show me that they believed in it. But that didn’t happen. I watched the video, and they focused on their phones.

Here’s my problem: You’ve “asked” me to buy into this opportunity. I get it. I think it’s worthwhile. I believe in what you’re selling. But, as you sell it, you are showing me there are other things more important than this meeting, this initiative. As a matter of fact, this program that you explained is so vital that its success rests on my shoulders is actually so unimportant, that you have to check in with other, more important people and opportunities. You’ve shown me it really doesn’t matter.

As a seasoned national presenter, I have never checked my phone during a presentation. Never. I use my phone for the stopwatch feature and to keep me on track. That’s it. And that’s what I expect from other presenters.

Then I equated this to our students. Although I hope teachers don’t take out their phones while teaching, do we give students our whole self in the classroom? Do we put distractions aside so we can concentrate on the whole person? Do we believe in what we’re “selling”? Maybe we need to “disconnect” more from outside distractions, too.

I left the meeting knowing that I will do what is asked of me because I believe in it. However, there’s a lesson to be learned here: Please know everyone is watching you as you’re on your phone. You are supposed to be modeling to your audience the value of your product. Don’t minimize it by sharing your time with something or someone else. If your project is so important that you called a two-hour meeting after school, be present—totally present—in what you believe in. Otherwise, don’t bother.

Peg Grafwallner is an instructional coach with Milwaukee Public Schools.

It was Tornado Awareness Month. I’d just spent a class period with a group of seventh graders deeply involved in close, authentic readings on tornadoes. We had read about what causes them, their impact, how to protect ourselves from these swirling monsters. It was the last period of the day, so I was just about to collapse into my desk chair and start scanning e-mail when I realized I was not alone.

Brandon was still there, and he was annoyed. Brandon was not yet an energetic reader, so I was not surprised he was annoyed. Of course—we had been reading that day.

“I need to talk to you, Mrs. Scullen.” He paused for effect. “Just so you know, I don’t believe in tornadoes.”

I must have looked bewildered. He continued.

“You know, they can do a lot with computers these days.”

And he was gone. Off to the bus. I sat there with my jaw hanging open, reanalyzing my life choices.

Brandon was an enigma. Not only did he not believe in tornadoes, he also didn’t believe he would ever read and enjoy a book. I had been trying my best to find just the right thing for him. We’d had some successes and some misses, but nothing that really gave him that “good-read” rush of adrenaline that I was hoping he would have.

Then I remembered it was almost time to start my end-of-the-year read-aloud, and I was again hopeful. Like so many books my students read, I knew it would be a slow start, but after a few chapters, they would love the book.

For several years I had used the book Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls to finish our year. This book is hysterical and tragic, sentimental and old-fashioned. It’s a gem of a coming-of-age novel. I used this novel as a read-aloud “year-ender,” because the school library would close for inventory, leaving my students without access to books, and I wanted to keep them reading. Each day my mantra would be, Don’t worry. You are going to LOVE this book.

My students would respond with familiar eye rolls and groans. “This book will never be good!” Jay Berry (the main character’s) sister believed in fairies and made wishes in fairy rings. She played in a treehouse. And she was 13—too old for that! “Oh man, Mrs. Scullen! Seriously? Fairy Rings?”

Just as I said with so many book recommendations for my students, I would repeat: Don’t worry. You are going to LOVE this book. This is a story you will remember forever. Trust me.

There were always one or two Brandons in every class with “the attitude.” Arms folded. Face of disdain for old-fashioned language.

“Have I ever steered you wrong about a book before? Trust me, you will LOVE this book.”

About halfway through the book, Jay Berry gets himself in a jam. Spoiler alert: Jay Berry finds himself in the woods with a chimpanzee and about 100 little monkeys from a circus train wreck, and a still full of sour apple mash in barrels on the way to being fermented into whiskey. I’m betting that none of you have ever been in the presence of 100 drunk monkeys, but Wilson Rawls apparently had.

If you want to build an eagerness to read from a book, read aloud a chapter of a book describing the behavior of drunken monkeys who manage to trick a young man into drinking sour mash and losing his britches in the woods.

Then, ask students to predict what his mama is going to say when he comes home from the woods, drunk and without pants, and tells her a bunch of monkeys tricked him into getting drunk. “Honest!”

Now you have their attention. Even Brandon’s.

The best part happens after the book concludes, when the students—previously full of disdain—had to admit they “did, kinda, sorta, like this book.” Then they ask if Wilson Rawls had any sequels. Did he write anything else? Can we ask him to visit our school?

My response? “Hey, if you are looking for a good summer read, Wilson Rawls did write another book, Where the Red Fern Grows.”

Every child a reader? A book for every reader? Yes. Maybe not this book, but there is one. There is even a book for those who don’t believe in tornadoes.

The task is so big; the work you do in your schools is overwhelming. I get it.

My mantra for you is this. There will be many Brandons. You will have to work hard to win him over, but don’t worry. He’ll get there, as will all the others. You will LOVE this work. This is a story you will remember forever.

Julie Scullen is a former president of the Minnesota Reading Association and Minnesota Secondary Reading Interest Council and is a current member of the International Literacy Association Board of Directors. She taught most of her career in Secondary Reading Intervention classrooms and now serves as Teaching and Learning Specialist for Secondary Reading in Anoka-Hennepin schools in Minnesota, working with teachers of all content areas to foster literacy achievement. She teaches graduate courses at Hamline University in St. Paul in literacy leadership and coaching, as well as reading assessment and evaluation.

Be a Friend. Salina Yoon. 2016. Bloomsbury.

Ages 4–8

Summary

Be a Friend by Salina Yoon is a simple story of being different from the others around you and how that difference can make you special. The simple text has built in vocabulary opportunities and the soft illustrations add a second dimension to the story.

Dennis is a rather regular boy who enjoyed expressing himself in an unusual way. Even when all the other children responded a certain way, Dennis kept his own methods intact. For example, when other children spoke, Dennis acted out his answer. When other children climbed trees, Dennis “became” a tree. Dennis was called “Mime Boy” because of his choice to act out events. The delightful illustrations will help to explain the art of miming to the students.  Even though Dennis is content to be himself, he sometimes would become lonely—feeling invisible and isolated. All these feelings changed when he met Joy, who caught the invisible ball that Dennis kicked. Joy understood Dennis’s emotions and actions and accepted him for who he was. This pairing of friends drew the attention of the other children, who then became interested in the actions of miming and participating in the imaginary scenes Dennis created.

We often have children who move at their own pace or learn differently from the traditional student. Be a Friend takes a look at those differences and celebrates them by encouraging children to stay true to their passions and beliefs even when others don’t understand.

Cross-Curricular Connections

Art (drama), social studies, English, history

Ideas for Classroom Use

What Is a Mime?

This activity builds background knowledge prior to reading the story. Miming is not a common art form practiced today. Students may be unfamiliar with the process of mimes.

Have students brainstorm what they think the word mime means. Encourage and accept all student answers. Discuss prior knowledge and experiences for the word. If know students are familiar with the word, give a quick definition such as “acting things out without talking.” Ask about the game of charades. Create a K-W-L chart of what we know about charades/mimes and what we want to know, leaving a blank for what we learned.

Have students watch a video showing miming such as Mime Act of Balloon Seller by Moinul Haque (D’Source, 2011) to see a mime at work. Discuss the actions as the story is unfolding. With this background information in mind, read Be a Friend and talk about how miming could have made life difficult for Dennis. How does it make Dennis special?

Story Mimes

This activity takes the knowledge learned about mimes and Dennis and incorporates it into familiar stories. After showing the pictures of the different actions both Dennis and the professional mime made, encourage students to try miming on their own. As students feel comfortable, have them present their favorite activity, their favorite story, and so forth. 

Encourage students to wait until the mime is over before guessing what story or activity it is showing. As all students finish their attempts at miming, talk about how challenging it could be to tell a story without using verbal words. This can lead to an open discussion about how it can be difficult to be different within a classroom, family, or community. Refer to Dennis and the end of the story in which Joy helped him to connect with the other students. Use this opportunity to encourage all students to make new friends and accept people who may act differently from themselves.

I Like Me…

This activity encourages students to connect life experiences to Be a Friend in a meaningful way. Encourage students to draw themselves being different. When students talk about things they like to do, they may realize that all people have unique talents and abilities and that we can often find others with similar interests.

As a closing activity, have students write, or dictate with a teacher to facilitate and scribe, how they are different and why they like themselves. Create a story wall outside the classroom displaying how students can connect even though they are different. Perhaps two students like dancing, while two others like sports. Other students in the school can view this story wall and begin to have conversations about accepting differences.

Additional Resources

Mime Videos: This page contains 12 videos showing a variety of mimes, including cartoon mimes.

eVoc Strategies: 10 Ways to Use Technology to Build Vocabulary: This article designates 10 ways to use technology to help with vocabulary instruction. Be a Friend offers opportunities for expanding young readers’ vocabulary to include words such as extraordinary, mime, invisible, imaginary, and individuality. Building children’s vocabulary provides a key to comprehension.

Confessions of a Former Bully: This podcast from ReadWriteThink.org touches on both friendships that can be difficult and the topic of bullying. This podcast can be used to further the discussion of Be a Friend and move into the sensitive topic of bullying at the early elementary level.

Kathy Prater is a reading specialist working with students with dyslexia and an instructor with The Learning Center at Mississippi State University in Starkville, MS. She teaches reading and study skills courses to undergraduate students.

The following is a supplement to the article “Tomorrow’s Leaders,” which appeared in the March/April 2016 issue of Literacy Today. The play vignettes were scripts performed by students as part of the Teens for Literacy initiative between Armstrong State University and a local K–8 urban public school.

Play Vignette 1: Reviewing a Recipe Card

D’Ante: Hey Grandma, let’s make some gumbo for dinner.
Grandma: Ok, we can make it together.
D’Ante: I’ll give you the ingredients and you can cook it.
Grandma: I know all of the ingredients by heart, so I’ll tell you what I need and then you can hand me the ingredients.
They are all written down on the recipe card.
First, I need the soup.
D’Ante: Here you go, Grandma.
What do you need next?
Grandma: I will need corn, potatoes, tomatoes, seafood flavoring, and green beans.
(D’Ante hands grandma all of the ingredients she asked for.)
D’Ante: After we put all of those ingredients in to simmer, what do we do afterward?
Grandma: We are going to let the gumbo cook for 30 minutes and then we will fix the plates for dinner.
(Once the gumbo was done and dinner was served, everyone sat at the table and ate.)
D’Ante: This gumbo tastes so good; I feel like I’m in heaven!

Play Vignette 2: Star Study Tips

Narrator: Today we will be telling a story of three students telling how they are studying for an upcoming test.
Brandon: Hey, are you getting ready for the reading test?
Jah’meria: Yeah, I’ve been studying for that since the teacher told us about it.
Vanessa: What study tips have you guys been using?
Brandon: I’ve been using flashcards to study.
I write down a question on one side, say the answer to myself, and check to see if I am right when I turn the card over. I wrote the correct answer on the back of the card.
Jah’meria: Good idea!
I’ve been looking over all of my notes that I took during class.
I am reviewing them and saying them in my own words to make sure I understand them.
Vanessa: That’s smart. What about you, Brandon?
Brandon: Well, I’ve been testing myself.
Jah’meria: I’ve also been re-reading the text and going over all of the bold words.
The bold words are usually the important vocabulary words and ideas to remember.
Vanessa: Another really great way that I’ve been studying is to create songs or raps to help me remember big ideas.
Brandon: Wow, that sounds like fun.
Jah’meria: My teacher also told me that having a quiet spot to study without any distractions is important.
Make sure you have your supplies ready, like pencils, books, and your notebook.
Vanessa: Making a study schedule is also a great way to study.
Decide how to break up the material and study for a little bit of time each day.
Brandon: She also said that you should take detailed notes during class.
If the teacher writes something down on the board, it is important and you should know it for the test. You can also draw a picture while you are studying if it helps you remember your notes better.
Jah’meria: With all of these great study tips, I know how to prepare for any test now!

Play Vignette 3: “Top 10 Reasons to Read” Countdown

Renee: Presenting…the Top 10 Reasons to Read!
Tatyana: Number 1: Reading is used for other school subjects like social studies and math.
Renee: Number 2: It is used in your everyday life.
Tatyana: Number 3: Reading helps you learn different things and have new experiences.
Renee: Number 4: Reading is used to understand the world around us and travel to exciting places.
Tatyana: Number 5: Reading can improve your spelling and language skills.
Renee: Number 6: If you cannot read, you may be cheated out of something. You might not be able to understand an important contract.
Tatyana: Number 7: Reading helps a person follow directions.
Renee: Number 8: Reading is a major part of college.
Tatyana: Number 9: Reading is an important part of getting a good job.
Renee: Number 10: To be able to write well, you also need to be able to read.
Tatyana: So, be sure to read something today and every day!

Play Vignette 4: Reading Aloud to a Sibling and Researching Eric Carle

Petrice: Hey, Jakaila. Have you heard of the author and illustrator Eric Carle?
Jakailia: Yeah, I really enjoy reading them to my younger sister. She loves the illustrations and the stories.
Petrice: Do you read to your sister with lots of expression to make the story more exciting?
Petrice: I do. Did you know that Eric Carle has illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote?
Jakailia: Wow, I didn’t know that about him. That is really impressive!
Petrice: He is very talented at what he does. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? was actually the first book he illustrated. It has been translated into more than 30 languages around the world.
His artwork was created using the collage technique. He cuts and layers paper to create bright and cheerful images.
Jakailia: That’s so interesting. I never knew that about Eric Carle. I know that he also wrote The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Petrice: Some of my other favorites that he has written are The Tiny Seed and Draw me a Star. A lot of his books are about nature. You should all check out some books by Eric Carle soon.
Petrice and Jakailia: …AND check out the latest edition of the School Times! Extra, extra, read all about it…enjoy!

Anne Katz, an ILA member since 2003, is an assistant professor of reading in the College of Education at Armstrong State University in Georgia.