This is an auto-biographical tale of Jacqueline Woodson's experiences growing up in the Deep South in the 1960s and early 70s.
She still feels the effects of Jim Crow laws and prejudices, but also struggles with a learning disability that goes unrecognized for many years. Still, she finds encouragement and learns to fuel her love of writing through her struggles.
The book is written in free verse, which I've mentioned several times is a fantastic entry to text for reluctant readers.
There are fewer words per line, the structure of the poems ends (pretty much) on each page, and students gain confidence as they read and comprehend the story rather quickly. They gain confidence as they make steady progress through the book, as it goes very quickly.
The publisher, Random House, offers a Teachers' Guide for the book.
It includes five discussion questions, and several teaching ideas (love the Equality Party idea!), but teachers will have to write their own lesson plans. (Ignore the map that transposes NM and AZ! LOL!)
For your 7th grade poetry standards, the guide offers one teaching idea:
"Explore why Woodson may have chosen poetry vs. prose to tell her story and the effect this has on the reader. Have students choose their favorite lines and rewrite them into prose. How does this affect the emotion behind the words, the author’s purpose, and the pictures that are created in our minds? Or does it? Have students create their own historical haiku poetry books while studying a civil rights unit and read/perform them at an assembly. Or have them write their own mini-memoir in verse, chock-full of imagery."
The guide correlates this to a 4th grade writing standard, but it is easily adapted to the following ELA standards for 7th grade:
7.RL.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.
7.RL.5 Analyze the structure of a text, including how a drama or poem’s form or structure contributes to its meaning.
There are also a few FREE resources posted to my favorite pay-for-teaching-resources, TpT, for this book.
