Posts tagged ‘divorce’
59. My Ol’ Man by Patricia Polacco
Retell: When she was growing up, Patricia Polacco spent the summers with her father and her grandmother. In this charming book, Polacco tells the story of the time they found a magical rock that helped them cope with hard times.
Topics: divorce, summer, dads, grandmothers, storytelling, layoffs, magic
Units of Study: Personal Narrative, Memoir
Tribes: attentive listening
Habits of Mind: responding with wonderment and awe
Reading Skills: prediction, monitoring for sense
Writing Skills: using commas in lists, crafting meaningful introductions
My Thoughts: Patricia Polacco is one of my favorite authors and I often read several of her books during the Personal Narrative unit. Most of her books are inspired by moments, people, and places in her life. In the beginning of My Ol’ Man, there are authentic photographs from Polacco’s childhood. This book would be great to read as you are teaching how writers use artifacts to generate notebook entries. When writing about people, my students often make lists of what they like about a person. This book will be great to use as a mentor text to help students move from list writing (“My dad likes tacos. My dad takes me places.) to narrative writing (“One time my dad brought out this book of stamps. I’ll never forget the time when my dad took me for a ride in his 1947 GMC truck.”)
12. Families are Different by Nina Pellegrini
Retell: Nico is an adopted girl from Korea who begins to feel different from her friends because she doesn’t resemble her parents. After closer observation, Nico realizes that there are many different types of families.
Topics: adoption, divorce, families
Units of Study: memoir, personal narrative, social issues
Tribes: appreciations/no putdowns (appreciating our loved ones), mutual respect
Reading Skills: making connections
Writing Skills: developing the heart of a story
My Thoughts: Do not expect subtlety when reading this book. The title hits you over the head with the book’s message. I can’t imagine using this book for higher level reading work. However, I think it could be a good mentor text when teaching writers to revise by developing the heart of a story. Families are Different is written in a style similar to some of the notebook entries my students tend to write: “Hello, my name is______. I live in ______. I’m going to tell you all about my friends.” Halfway through the story, however the narrator begins to reveal some of her thoughts and emotions about being adopted. I can see reading this story and asking students to identify when the author started getting to the heart of the story. I would also read this during a community circle to encourage discussion about respecting differences.
Teachable Texts 