Comics, Comics, and More Comics!

Hi everyone! I was feeling like I needed to branch out to a different (more fun) type of Jazzy Journal this week! I wanted to do something with the drawings in this novel because I feel they play such a huge role in bringing the story to life. Ultimately, I decided I wanted to share some comics from the first half of the novel and talk a little bit about how I felt about them and why I liked or disliked each one. 

1.

This is the first comic that I want to talk about and I absolutely loved it. It was on page three so this was right at the beginning of the story. One aspect of this drawing that I found so engaging was that it incorporated history (because it was right after a comic explaining the Veil had become mandatory to wear at school) and humor. I thought this was such a funny drawing because as you can see the children didn't really want to wear their Veils. I also thought this was one of the first visuals that demonstrated rebellion. 

2.

Unlike the comic I talked about earlier, this was one of the parts of the book that I found more disturbing. As you can see, I included a group of comics in this picture to further explain the comic on the bottom. The bottom comic is a drawing of the police beating the people that were outside of the building that was on fire. This beating took place after the police told the people outside that they were forbidden to help rescue people from inside the building on fire. At times like this when I was reading the book, I found myself forgetting that this is a memoir and this is something that ACTUALLY happened. It definitely made me sad to read that and I felt that it was almost told in a very casual way which made me as a reader think that things like this were not unusual. 

3. 

One thing that I really liked about this comic was that I felt like it represented Marji's character well. This drawing shows the mind of a child in such perfect resemblance. When Marji heard that her grandpa was a prince her mind immediately painted this picture of wealth and glory. I think that is true to what a lot of young children might picture when they picture a prince. All in all, I thought this comic did a great job of reinforcing the child's perspective that the beginning of the book is written though. 

4.

 

The reason why I picked these last comics to show was because I thought they were so touching. They really show the strong family theme in this novel. As you can see, the dad that was in prison let his daughter ride on his back even when he was in pain because it made her happy. This part of the book, along with the drawing, really touched my heart and made me feel something as a reader which I think is an important quality of a good book.

A Poem of Self Acceptance inspired by Ari

I wanted to write a poem about self-acceptance inspired by Ari. Throughout the book, Ari struggled with self-acceptance of his sexuality. He struggled with accepting his feelings because some of the people he was surrounded by were homophobic (extended family). He struggles with handling and accepting his true feelings for Dante, and felt ashamed for the way he felt. Later in the story when he was finally able to accept his sexuality and his true self, he reflected on his past feelings of shame by saying, "I thought of that look on my mother's face when I'd told her I was ashamed I thought of that look of love and compassion that she wore as she looked at me. 'Ashamed? Of loving Dante?' I took Dante's hand and held it. How could I have ever been ashamed of loving Dante Quintana?" (Sáenz 359). I can only imagine that this acceptance that Ari expresses and feels was one of internal freedom. I hope to capture that feeling in the poem I wrote below.

Internal Freedom

Self-acceptance can be hard to do,

especially when no one knows what you're going through.

It can be hard when you bundle all your feelings inside,

lock them up and throw the key to the side. 

But once you realize it's okay to be you,

you can start accepting all the parts no one knew. 

You can grow your love for yourself,

which will help you take better care of your mental health. 

You will be in a happier state,

and notice that smiling has become your new fate. 

You will be able to retrieve the key you threw to the side,

and unlock the freedom from inside.  

-Nadia Abukhadra 

Unit Plan ELA Standards and Research

I'm doing my unit plan on the book The Girl Who Drank The Moon. I'm really excited to continue to create this unit plan and see how everything comes together in the end!!

To start, when I researched this book, it came up as a fifth-grade reading level book. I had originally thought this book would be perfect for fifth graders, and this just confirmed it! So, I'm planning my unit plan for fifth graders. 

Some ELA fifth grade guidelines that I want to include in my process of creating my unit plan are:

5.1.1.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. 

5.1.2.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from detail in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speakers in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. 

5.1.3.3: Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text. 

Goals:

Some goals that I have for this lesson plan based off some of these ELA standards are:

-Activities comparing and contrasting settings and characters in the book. 

-Determine the major themes in the book as we read the book, and then have a reflection activity on them.

-Including an activity where I have the students do a group project (to be determined what the project is; maybe creating a kahoot or presentation for the class) and include quotes from the text and being able to explain why they included them or thought they were important. 

Research:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3JXsIk3kJ4

- This is an interview with the author where she talks about her book The Girl Who Drank The Moon. I think this would help prepare me to teach this Unit Plan. I also think it would be beneficial to perhaps showing the students a clip from the interview so they have a better understanding/some background knowledge before we dive into the book.

http://www.suzyred.com/The-Girl-Who-Drank-the-Moon.html

-This source is one that I could gather a lot of inspiration from. There are different lesson ideas that I think would be engaging to include in my unit plan in teaching The Girl Who Drank The Moon. For example, pictured on the website in a jeopardy game for the book. I hadn't thought of that before seeing in on this source but that definitely made me intrigued. I think a jeopardy game might be a fun way to "quiz" the students on different aspects of the book.

https://quizlet.com/228597335/the-girl-who-drank-the-moon-flash-cards/

-I liked this quizlet for this book because it included page numbers with the answers. I think if I created my own quizlet for my unit plan I could use some inspiration from this quizlet. I also think that it might be helpful to see what other people think are the valuable things to take away from this book, and looking at other teacher's quizlets show me what they value from the book! 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/40813940361127259/

-I really like this worksheet outline for comparing characters! I think this would be a resource that I could just print off and give to the students to work on. I think that since most compare and contrast worksheets look the same it would be kinda pointless for me to create my own when I could just use one already made in an organized, easy-to-read outline. 

https://fifthgd.weebly.com/uploads/4/6/9/1/46913849/compare_contrast_settings_answers.pdf

-I found this ELA standards worksheet that shows exactly how to compare and contrast the setting of a novel in an efficient and effective ELA way. I think this would be such a helpful source in creating my unit plan! I could pull so much useful information from this source that would help me create an activity where the students could compare and contrast the setting in the book. 

The Girl Who Drank The Moon Unit Plan

Week One: 

-Let's take a quick look at the book, what do we infer the book is about based on the title, back of the book, and cover? 

-Make a list of the class's book predictions and hang the big sheet of paper somewhere in the classroom where everyone can see it. 

-Read the first third of the book 

-On Friday, have everyone pick their favorite character and plan out how they're going to dress up like them for school on Monday. I will also have everyone bring in one small prop that they feel represents their character. I will have a sheet of paper designated for every character with some inspiration of things that could help students decide what to wear and what props to bring (keeping this pretty vague and left up for interpretation).

Week Two: 

-To start off, have the students write down what was their favorite part of the book that we read last week? Once everyone has their scene, I would have them draw it for 10-15 minutes and then have the class do an "art gallery" and walk around and look at everyone's favorite scene and their interpretations of what it looked like.

-Read the second third of the book 

-Spend a day in The Girl Who Drank The Moon world ( this is where the classroom is all decorated with glow-in-the-dark decorations and there are different stations around the room where the students can interact with different aspects of the book. For example, there would be a huge tube of slime in one section of the classroom where they could play with the swamp that Glerk lives in)

Week Three:

-We will have a recap of what we read last week, and then dive right into reading the last third of the book

-Finish the book 

-Roll play week! During this week we will act out the different major scenes as we read the chapters. Each student will have a chance to play a character in the role plays. This is meant to be a fun activity not an anxiety-provoking one.

Week Four:

-Final Discussion of the book (answer any last-minute questions) 

-Kahoot about the book to make sure everyone has a good understanding before diving into presentations. 

-To finish off the book and the week, group presentation on assigned chapters.

The Book Thief Passages

"He reached over and grabbed hold of The Shoulder Shrug. No explanation was required. It was obvious that the girl had stolen it from the fire. The book was hot and wet, blue and red--embarrassed--and Hans Hubermann opened it up. Pages thirty-eight and thirty-nine. "Another one?" Liesel rubbed her ribs. Yes. Another one" (Zusak 125-126).

I chose this passage to discuss because I think it's a very important part of the novel and story's development. To explain this passage further, this is when Liesel steals a book called The Shoulder Shrug from a Nazi book burning. This is significant because this is an area of the novel where the readers can see power from Liesel. She shows how she refuses to conform to the beliefs of the Nazis by doing actions that revolt against their beliefs. In my opinion, this builds character development because it shows how Liesel refuses to blindly follow everything that Nazis suggest and believe what they want everyone to believe. 

"In her room, she prayed. Hands and knees, forearms against the mattress. "Please, God, let Max survive. Please, God, please..." Her suffering knees. Her painful feet. When first light appeared, she awoke and made her way back to the kitchen. Papa was asleep with his head parallel to the tabletop, and there was some saliva at the corner of his mouth. The smell of coffee was overpowering, and the image of Hans Hubermann's stupid kindness was still in the air. It was like a number or an address. Repeat it enough times and it sticks" (Zusak 400).

I chose this passage to discuss because I believe it has great significance. To further explain some events that lead up to this passage, this passage came after Hans gave bread to an elderly Jewish man. By doing this, he endangered his family and Max (the Jewish man that was hiding in their home). I think this is an important passage because it really shows the true character of both Hans and Liesel. As readers, we are able to see the overwhelming kind personality that Hans has and his huge heart. We are also able to see the kindness that Liesel has learned from Hans. When Liesel is praying it is obvious how much she cares for Max and how much kindness she has in her heart. 

I think both of the passages are significant parts of the novel and show immense character development.