Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Seedfolks

(Image taken from Google.com)

Seedfolks 
Fleischman, P. (1997). Seedfolks. New York: Scholastic Inc.

Awards: Best Books for Young Adults (ALA), Quick Picks for Young Adults (ALA), Best Books (School Library Journal), A Publishers Weekly Best Book, Notable Trade Books in the Language Arts (NCTE), Buckeye Children’s Award (Grades 6–8), and Golden Kite Award Honor Book
Suggested Delivery: Individual or Small Group
Lexile Reading Level: 710L
Age Range: 9-11 years
Grade Level: 4-6

About the Book: Seedfolks is a wonderful book that explores character development in a unique way-through the voices of thirteen characters. People from different walks of life come together to create a community garden in a diverse urban area, which helps themselves grow as well as their relationships with other people.

Keywords: Culture, Diversity, Friendship, Understanding, Growth, Community

Electronic Resources:

Students can create their own Voki online after reading the book based on one of the characters. They can use their inferencing skills to create an additional narrative for a character. They will be able to create an image for the character as well as choose a background image. Students can then use their own voice or the text to speech feature to record their narrative.

Wasatch Gardens is an organization in Utah dedicated to creating community gardens for youth, schools, and the general community. Students can go on this website to see a real world example of how a community garden works. It includes pictures, tips, and information on how to start your own garden.

Vocabulary:
-Vacant: Empty or void, not in use
-Immigrants: A person who migrates to another country
-Thrive: To grow, to be successful
-Pacifism: Opposition to war or violence
-Decorum: Dignified propriety of behavior, dress, speech, etc.
-Solitary: Alone

Reading Activities:
-Before reading the text, students can be given an Anticipation Guide. It should have statements on it that the students can either agree or disagree with. Some examples of statements could be: “People in a neighborhood always get along”, “People of different races should keep to themselves”, or “Nature is a way for people to be drawn together”.
-During the reading of the text, students can participate in Choral Reading. Have students in groups of two or three take turns reading aloud a chapter to the class. This will promote fluency, self-confidence, and motivation while reading.
-After reading the text, students can make a Found Poem out of a page or chapter in the book. Let them choose a character to focus on, and they can create a poem based off of the words, phrases, and passages from their selected page or chapter. Reframing the words can impart new meaning on the text and help students make connections to the characters on a deeper level.

Writing Activities:

Students can select an event from the book which they can then write about as one of the characters from Seedfolks, focusing on the characteristics of the character they choose and the way they tell their story. These pieces can be shared with the class and “added in” to the book.

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