Becoming Critically Literate

  Description from the publisher: " Abdul loves to tell stories. But writing them down is hard. His letters refuse to stay straight and face the right way. And despite all his attempts, his papers often wind up with more eraser smudges than actual words. Abdul decides his stories just aren’t meant to be written down…until a special visitor comes to class and shows Abdul that even the best writers—and superheroes—make mistakes." Text Features:  Fictional picture book. 'About the author and illustrator' back matter. Critical Literacy Suggestions: Read & Discuss:   BEFORE reading: Read the blurb and discuss why writing might be hard for Abdul; have students share their personal experience about what makes writing hard for them (or what used to be hard when they first started to learn to write). Ask students what a 'role model' is and discuss how role models can inspire us to try hard things and grow. Have students predict what Abdul learns from the class'...

Description from the publisher: "Based in part on a 100-year-old family journal, Rosemary Wells brings to life a story that the diary’s fragile pages tell. It’s the story of a wooden rocking chair handmade in about 1825 by her great-great-grandfather, an immigrant Jewish boy who made his way to America from Germany in the early 1800s. In 1807, Sam Siegbert is born in southern Germany. Sam’s favorite pastime is carpentry, much to his father’s displeasure. His mother says he has a gift from God in his hands. After moving to America, he builds a wooden chair with the word  WILLKOMMEN  on the back. The chair’s back panel was later marked with  welcome s by four generations of the family in four different languages. After the family lost track of the old chair, the author created a new life for it among new owners from other corners of the world. All the families who loved the chair came to America, escaping religious conformity, natural disasters, tyrannies, war, and supersti...