Posts tagged ‘asking for help’
38. Ling Cho and His Three Friends by V.J. Pacilio
Retell: Ling Cho is a successful farmer. He feels sorry for his three friends who do not share his success. He thinks of a way to help his friends without making them feel bad. Unfortunately things do not go as planned. His friends learn that it is more wise to ask for help than to take advantage of people.
Topics: harvest, farming, China, asking for help, honesty, friendship
Units of Study: Folk Tales, Talking and Writing About Texts, Social Issues, Poetry
Tribes: mutual respect, personal best
Reading Skills: inference, interpretation, envisionment
Writing Skills: using rhyme and rhythm, incorporating alliteration
My Thoughts: This beautiful book teaches an interesting lesson on asking for help. It also seems to caution against involving friends in business matters. Ling Cho does a favor for his friends by asking them to sell his bumper crop of wheat at market. They were supposed to split the profits. However, each friend ended up keeping the profits or keeping the wheat. The story is told in rhyming verse making it an engaging read.
14. There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar
Retell: It is easy to dislike Bradley Chalkers. He beats up other students, lies about everything, and refuses to do his homework. Bradley’s life begins to change when he meets Carla, the school counselor who inspires him to be a gold star student.
Topics: school, counseling, disagreeing, lying, making excuses, power, trust, friendship, homework, imaginary friends, partnerships, fights, confidence, putdowns, name-calling, safety, sibling issues, self-esteem, rewards, gold stars, asking for help, just right books, love of reading, affirmations, trust
Units of Study: Character, Literary Essay, Talking and Writing about Texts
Tribes: mutual respect, appreciations/no putdowns, right to pass, personal best
Reading Skills: inference, interpretation, empathy, making connections, synthesis
My Thoughts: My heart still aches after reading this book. It’s not a depressing book it’s just that I spent the book fearful that Bradley was going to keep digging himself into holes (not literal holes that’s Sachar’s other book). As you can see from this post’s tags, there are so many ways that one could use this book during interactive read aloud. The book lends itself very well to examining character relationships. Many of the secondary characters make significant changes that affect Bradley. I think many students will be able to make connections to Bradley’s complex relationship with his sister, Claudia. Sachar encourages his readers to try and understand the bully rather than demonize him/her. Bradley reminds me of one of my former students. I think I’m going to buy this book and send it to him.
Teachable Texts 