Read Aloud Thursday: A Young Sudanese Refugee Comes to America

I read another Karen Lynn Williams book aloud to my students this week, My Name is Sangoel.  If you haven't done so already, check out Williams' website. I think I've found a new favorite author!!

　
Check it out:
A TEACHER’S GUIDE FOR MY NAME IS SANGOEL

Book description (from back flap/author's website):Sangoel is a refugee. Leaving behind his homeland of Sudan, where his father died in the war, he has little to call his own other than his name, a Dinka name handed down, proudly from his father and grandfather before him.

When Sangoel and his mother and sister are resettled in America, things are supposed to be better but life in their new home is strange and lonely. The refugee camp seems better than this place where no one can pronounce his name and some even make jokes about it. Sangoel quietly endures the homesickness and ignores his mother’s suggestion that he might want to take an American name. He finally comes up with and ingenious solution to this problem and in the process begins to make friends and perhaps feel a little at home.
Co-authored with Khadra Mohammed and Illustrated by Catherine Stock in bright detailed scenes this is a poignant story of identity and belonging that will help young readers understand the plight of many children around the world as well as in their own neighborhoods.

Behind the Story (from author's website):
Four Feet Two Sandals, takes place in Peswar, a refugees camp in Pakistan. Khadra and I knew we wanted to write another book about a refuge child after resettlement in the US, a child who has left the camp, an a story about a refugee from another part of the world, a boy this time. My Name is Sangoel again grew out of Khadra’s intimate knowledge of and experience with refugee children around the world. I too was well aware of the importance of names to all peoples as individuals. It is common knowledge that many immigrants and refugees who have come to the United States have had to change their names or for various reasons had their names changed for them. My own grandfather changed his name after emigrating from Hungary. Like Sangoel he felt unwelcome in his new home. He hoped an American name, easier to pronounce would help him fit into a new culture in his new home. In this story Sangoel solves his problem without changing his name.

How I used this book in the classroom:
I read this book to students in my reading intervention small groups this past week. We talked together about the importance of activating background knowledge while reading. I told my students about a movie I saw about the Lost Boys of Sudan, and how many experiences the characters have in this book are shared by the refugees in a documentary I saw about the war in Sudan. They were eager to share the knowledge they had about refugees and Africa.

I also think this book would I work well when talking about connections with my students. Many of my students are ELL whose families have immigrated to America,  and because of this, they connect strongly to the experiences of a refugee.

I'm linking up to Read Aloud Thursday!

Be Well! Read on!

The Threat of a Rising Flood: Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

This morning I finished reading Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes. I enjoyed and and recommend it. My review and suggestions for use:

• This is an excellent book to introduce young readers to the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, the breaking of the levees thereafter, and the ensuing flood. Many late-elementary or middle school students will not know much about Katrina (at least here in CA). Students unfamiliar with Katrina and its effects will find the challenges that these young characters faced unreal.
• Young girls will connect to the studious and mature character, Lanesha. Despite being abandoned at a young age by her family, she is resilient. And even though she is fairly poor, Rhodes presents us with a rich layered character, rather than a stereotypical portrait of a kid from the Ninth Ward of NO.
• Lanesha sees ghosts of loved ones all throughout the book. This element to the book would also engage the young reader that likes a little spookiness to their books (many do). I am not into ghosts per say, but I feel like this aspect of the book reflects New Orleans culture.
• I can definitely see myself reading this book aloud to a group of 4th/5th/6th grade students. The dialogue, characters, and mounting tension would make it riveting to listen to. Just be prepared to plow through it towards the end- your students won't want you to stop reading!
  

From Good Reads:

A 2011 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book

Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. She doesn't have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya's visions show a powerful hurricane—Katrina—fast approaching, it's up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm.

Ninth Ward is a deeply emotional story about transformation and a celebration of resilience, friendship, and family—as only love can define it.

Hardcover, 217 pages

Published August 16th 2010 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

YA Book next in the queue: One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia



From Good Reads: Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past.
 
When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education.
 
Set during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, one crazy summer is the heartbreaking, funny tale of three girls in search of the mother who abandoned them—an unforgettable story told by a distinguished author of books for children and teens, Rita Williams-Garcia.

Hardcover, 218 pages

Published February 1st 2010 by Amistad (first published January 8th 2010)

Be Well! Read On!

Read Alouds Online? Check out StoryBookOnline!

I love love love Read Alouds. Here's why:

• Read Alouds are enjoyable (entertaining) for kids of all ages
• They encourage a love of reading- who wouldn't love cuddling up and hearing a good story?
• Kids are able to listen to text above their reading level which helps them to learn new vocabulary and improve listening comprehension
• Reading Alouds improve fluency. When kids hear competent readers read, they learn how to read out loud well and began to mimic the master reader's expression, intonation, rate, phrasing, etc... 
• Read Alouds engage students that struggle with reading 
• Reading a chapter book (non picture book), can help transitional readers build confidence- so they feel ready to tackle chapter books independently
• They widen students' perspectives and build background knowledge
• Read Alouds are especially essential for non-native speakers for all the reasons mentioned above
• They are an excellent way to teach/introduce a complex subject. I especially love using read alouds to teach middle/high schoolers about history. There are moving picture books about Hiroshima, the Japanese Internment in the US, affects of radiation, civil rights, slavery, etc...

Check out Storyline Online to hear quality picture books read by members of the screen actors guild. I discovered this site a couple of months ago. My students like using this site at home to listen to the books online. Many of my students' parents do not speak English, so this is a great way for them to build their fluency, background knowledge, and vocabulary.


Here's a couple way to use this site:

• You can sit with your student/child as they listen to these books online. Then you can have a conversation about what they read. What did the characters learn? Did this remind them of another book (why?)? What was the most important part of the story? What questions do you have after reading?
• If you're a teacher, you can use this as a listening center in your classroom.
• Have your child/student listen to these books independently. Talk to them about the stories afterwards. 
• Have your child/students read the stories multiple times.
• Turn the volume off, and have your child/students retell the story in their own words.
• Turn the captions on; this helps with word learning! Seeing the words at the bottom of the screen AND hearing them read is an excellent way to build a student's vocabulary.
• Use the provided activities to extend learning.

What are your favorite books to read aloud?

Read On!