Teachable Texts

4. Neeny Coming, Neeny Going by Karen English

June 30, 2009 at 12:00 pm 2 comments

Retell: Neeny and her cousin were raised on Daufuskie Island, located off the coast of South Carolina.  Years before, Neeny went back to the mainland to live with her mother.  When Neeny returns to the island, her cousin realizes that Neeny is not the same cousin she grew up with.

Topics: change, family, environmental issues

Units of Study: Social Issues, Character

Tribes: mutual respect

Reading Skills: envisionment, prediction, inference, monitoring for sense, interpretation, making connections

Writing Skills: writing with voice

My Thoughts: This is a great book for the Social Issues unit.  I can imagine a juicy discussion about how much the mainland changed Neeny.  Many of my students travel back to their home countries during vacation.  I think they could make a lot of connections to this book.  I can see using this book as a mentor text for showing how authors write with a distinctive voice.

Entry filed under: African-American Authors, Female Authors, Picture Books. Tags: change, character, environment, envisionment, family, inference, interpretation, making connections, monitoring for sense, mutual respect, prediction, social issues, voice.