Title: One Crazy Summer
Author: Rita Williams-Garcia
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
Lexile Score: 750L
Suggested Delivery: Small group or read aloud
Words to describe this book: award-winning, funny, unforgettable, heart wrenching,
Summary: Delphine and her younger sisters Fern and Vonetta, fly over to California one summer to visit their mother who abandoned them years ago. During their stay, they attend a Black Panthers camp where they learn about the significance of the group and the impact they have had on society. The girls experiences in California during 1968 create them to have one crazy summer!
Key Vocabulary:
Before Reading Activity:
After Reading Activity:
Electronic Resources:
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement
This link gives students the opportunity to explore pictures, videos, and different forms of media on the Civil Rights Movement. Information on the Black Panther Party is included to help students connect the material from the text and give them more background information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsgEVaH7f5I
A book trailer to get students motivated and interested in reading "One Crazy Summer". The students are provided with visuals and significant characters that will be in the story. Also, the creator of the video mentions important historical figures that will be brought up in the book (students can get background information on these characters prior to reading).
Writing Activity: Be a Journalist. Have students research the Black Panther movement. What aspects of the organization were covered most prominently in the media? Does their public image match Delphine’s experience with them? Ask students to write a magazine or newspaper article (or a letter to the editor) about the Black Panthers from Delphine’s perspective.
Activity can be found on: http://files.harpercollins.com/PDF/TeachingGuides/0060760885.pdf
Author: Rita Williams-Garcia
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Reading Level: 9 - 12 years
Lexile Score: 750L
Suggested Delivery: Small group or read aloud
Words to describe this book: award-winning, funny, unforgettable, heart wrenching,
Summary: Delphine and her younger sisters Fern and Vonetta, fly over to California one summer to visit their mother who abandoned them years ago. During their stay, they attend a Black Panthers camp where they learn about the significance of the group and the impact they have had on society. The girls experiences in California during 1968 create them to have one crazy summer!
Key Vocabulary:
- Abandon - to leave and never return
- Black Berets - a type of headgear typically worn by people of armed forced
- Revolution - a sudden, extreme, or complete change in the way people live, work, et
- Excursion - a short trip
- Gawk - to stare at someone in a weird way
- Pry - to look closely
Before Reading Activity:
- Have students use the think-aloud strategy. Read the back of the book to the students. What do they know about the time period in the 1960's? Do they know what the Black Panther Party is? Have them ask themselves if the understand the information they just heard/read.
- In the novel, the author mentions many significant historical figures. Have students use the Directed Notetaking Activity strategy to write down important characters on the left side of the paper. On the right side, have them write their significance to the story. This will help them better understand the importance of all the characters mentioned throughout the book. Also, they can record any questions they have regarding the person's impact or their reason for being mentioned.
After Reading Activity:
- Use the Questioning the Author strategy. Why did Rita Williams-Garcia write this narration in the perspective of Delphine? Read the poems on pages 196-197 and 198. Why do you think the author put these into the story? What were their impacts on the story?
Electronic Resources:
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement
This link gives students the opportunity to explore pictures, videos, and different forms of media on the Civil Rights Movement. Information on the Black Panther Party is included to help students connect the material from the text and give them more background information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsgEVaH7f5I
A book trailer to get students motivated and interested in reading "One Crazy Summer". The students are provided with visuals and significant characters that will be in the story. Also, the creator of the video mentions important historical figures that will be brought up in the book (students can get background information on these characters prior to reading).
Writing Activity: Be a Journalist. Have students research the Black Panther movement. What aspects of the organization were covered most prominently in the media? Does their public image match Delphine’s experience with them? Ask students to write a magazine or newspaper article (or a letter to the editor) about the Black Panthers from Delphine’s perspective.
Activity can be found on: http://files.harpercollins.com/PDF/TeachingGuides/0060760885.pdf