One Crazy Summer

(Image taken from Google.com)

One Crazy Summer 

Williams-Garcia, R. (2010). One Crazy Summer. New York: Amistad.

Awards: National Book Award Finalist, Coretta Scott King Award (Author), Newbery Honor Book, and Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

Suggested Delivery: Individual or Small Group

Lexile Reading Level: 750L

Age Range: 9-11 years

Grade Level: 4-5

About the Book: Delphine and her two uniquely named sisters travel from New York to California in the late 1960’s to meet their mother for the first time since she abandoned them for a radical new life. While their summer did not turn out to be all that they hoped for, the sisters made the most of it by going to a day camp run by Black Panthers where they learned of their family, their history, and their country.

Keywords: Summer Vacation, Family, Civil Rights, Independence,  

Electronic Resources:

https://www.teachingforchange.org/teacher-resources/civil-rights-teaching/freedom-schools

Students can view this website with guidance to learn more about the freedom schools that were run by the Black Panthers like the one Delphine and her sisters went to.

http://www.ritawg.com/books/

Students can go on the author’s website to learn more about her and the other books she has written. If available in the library, students can read another one of her books like Gone Crazy in Alabama or P.S. Be Eleven.

Vocabulary:

-Riot: a noisy, violent public disorder caused by a group or crowd of persons, as by a crowd protesting in the streets.

-Racism: hatred or intolerance of another race; discrimination

-Negro: of or relating to black people, often African Americans

-Black Panthers: members of a militant black American organization active in the 1960s and early 1970s, formed to work for the advancement of the rights of blacks, often by radical means

-Justice: rightfulness or lawfulness

-Uppity: affecting an attitude of inflated self-esteem; snobbish

Reading Strategies:

-Before reading the text, the teacher can provide the students with vocabulary words from the text. These words can be discussed and placed on a word wall so they can be used and interacted with throughout the use of the text.

-During the reading of the text, students can look for metaphors. After reviewing what a metaphor is, talk about how Delphine’s ride on the go-kart is a metaphor and what it might symbolize. Have students find other metaphors in the story to decode.

-After reading the text, students can use the Questioning the Author strategy. This will encourage students to ask questions of the author and the text. By forming their questions, students learn more about the text. Some questions that could be asked are: What is the author's message? Does the author explain this clearly? How does this connect to what the author said earlier?

Writing Activity:

Students can write a postcard to Big Ma and Pa just like Delphine and her sisters did. After reviewing character traits of the three girls, the students can choose one to write in the perspective of. They can also choose or draw an image for the front of the postcard that corresponds with the story and what they are writing about.