In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
by Bette Bao Lord


 

Materials :
You will need the Following Materials to complete this lesson :

Before You Read :
Before you read In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, choose one of the following activities to complete :

1.  In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson is the story of a young girl who moves with her family from China to Brooklyn, New York in the year 1947.  She soon learns that these two places are very different. Check out some images of China and some images of Brooklyn.  then draw a Venn Diagram  on a separate piece of paper, and use it to compare and contrast China and Brooklyn.

Some images of China    Mountains
some images of Downtown Brooklyn
 

2.  What questions do you have about China?  Come up with 2 questions you have about China, and post them at AskAsia's Message Center.  Visit the site every few days to see if anyone has answered your question.

  While You Read :

Read pages 1 - 83 of In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.  After you finish reading, do the following activity.

Imagine that you are Shirley Temple Wong, and write a letter to Fourth Cousin in China.  Tell her about the experiences that Shirley is having in America and how she feels about her new home.

Read pages 85 - 169.  After finishing the book, print off a copy of the baseball word search, and follow the directions on the top of the paper.  All of the words in the activity are baseball terms that can be found in the story.

 

After You Read :

After reading the book choose one of these activities to complete :

1.  Look at some sites on the life of Jackie Robinson.  What was his life like?  Did it have any similarities to Shirley's  life?  How were their lives different?  Then print out the worksheet, and fill out the compare/contrast chart.  Under "compare" write 2 things that Shirley and Jackie Robinson have in common.  Under "contrast" write 2 things that are different between them.

Jackie Robinson sites :

2.  think back on all the events that happened in the book.  which events were important to the story?  Print out this worksheet and use it to summarize the story.

Beyond What You Read :

Choose one of the following activities to complete

1.  Tangrams are an ancient Chinese game.  Visit this Tangram site and play a game or two of tangrams.

2.  Visit this site to learn how to say your numbers in Chinese.

About What you Read :
 

AFter you have finished reading the book and have done all of the activities, you will be graded using the following checklist :

Completeness:

  • Are  all of your activities complete, and do they show that the directions have been followed? _____ (3 points)
  • Are some of your activities completed and show that the directions have been followed? _____ (2 points)
  • Are your activities incomplete and show that the directions were not followed? _____ (1 point)

Quality:

  • Are most of your spelling, punctuation, and capitalization correct?  Is your work neat and complete sentences used?_____ (3 points)
  • Are some of your spelling, punctuation, and capitalization correct?  Is your work mostly neat and complete sentences used most of the time? _____ (2 points)
  • Is the spelling, punctuation, and capitalization used incorrectly?  Is your work not neat and no complete sentences used? _____ (1 point)

Understanding:

  • Do your activities show that you understand the plot, theme, and content of the book?_____ (3 points)
  • Do your activities show that you mostly understand the plot, theme, and content of the book?_____ (2 points)
  • Do your activities show that you do not understand the plot, theme, and content of the book? _____ (1 point)

background graphics by :

Lesson plan by:
Mandee Poole

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