Teachable Texts

6. The Wall by Eve Bunting

July 2, 2009 at 9:00 am Leave a comment

Retell: A father and son visit the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.  The young son describes what he sees and hears on the day of his visit.

Topics: family, Memorial Day, Vietnam War

Units of Study: Personal Narrative, Social Issues

Tribes: Mutual Respect, Right to Pass

Reading Skills: inference, synthesis

Writing Skills: writing sensory details, writing small moments

My Thoughts: The Wall is one of those books that may be difficult to read aloud with a dry eye.  I can see reading this book duing the beginning of the year during the Personal Narrative unit and then rereading it during the Social Issues unit.  I could even reread it yet again right before Memorial Day.  The Wall provides a good example of how a writer can zoom in on a small moment.  The entire book takes place in one location and does not span more than a few hours.  Each line of the book encourages readers to question and infer:  “That couple seems like they’ve lost someone.  Who did they lose?”  You could also reread this book with a Tribes lens.  You could encourage your students to discuss how the boy solved a problem, not by yelling at the crowd of noisy school girls, but by standing next to his reverent father, supporting his moment of silence in a show of solidarity.

Entry filed under: Female Authors, Picture Books. Tags: family, inference, Memorial Day, mutual respect, personal narrative, right to pass, sensory details, small moments, social issues, synthesis, Vietnam War.