Tenacious Teacher in Training: Stephanie's Children's Literature Blog: Touchstone Book

Part One

Book Information: Polacco, P. (1994). Pink and Say. New York: Scholastic, Inc

Genre: Historical, is classified as Fiction, however Patricia Polacco states it is based off true events she heard through family, particularly her great-great grandfather, Sheldon Russell Curtis, who is one of the main characters in the story

Grade Level: 3-8, I would recommend this book for older elementary students, or middle school students, because the book contains images of wounded soldiers. Also, the book involves multiple deaths, which might be difficult to discuss with younger students.

Part Two

Response to Book: My predications and thoughts about the book’s issues/themes!

I chose this book because I was not familiar with the title or author when I was reviewing our 50 Children’s Literature Touchstones Worksheet. “Pink and Say” also sounded like a unique title, which piqued my curiosity. Before reading the book, I examined the cover and back to search for images or details that might indicate what the story was about. The cover depicts an image of two young boys, one white and one black, both in tattered clothing and reading a book. The cover revealed the story might be about racial inequality or prejudices.

After reading the book, I found the story tackled many difficult issues and themes that are not typically found in most children’s literature. The book confronts controversial themes like the Civil War, race relations, and slavery, during this momentous time in U.S. history. At first, I felt that a book with multiple murders was certainly not fit for the elementary classroom (I won’t disclose which characters in case you want to read the story!). Although, after much thought, I decided that the atrocities and violence that occurred during the time of the Civil War is an important topic to cover with students of all ages because it was a significant time in our country’s history. The story also highlights the friendship of two young boys who are fighting for the Union. I think friendship is a common theme among children’s literature. The book discusses many aspects of the Civil War, including many social, political, economic issues, which are important to discuss with students. For example, I particularly like how the book covered how Say, who was white, could not read and Pink, who was black, could. Most elementary students wouldn’t realize that during these times it was not common for blacks to be educated. I like that this element of the story opens up the conversation about the social and economic conditions of the slaves and even the freed blacks. Small facts like these are carefully intertwined through, which I think it great. The story is presented in a rich and powerful format that can be used by teachers to discuss many language arts and social studies concepts.

Part Three

Critique

Overall, I felt this book was an informative and heart-warming (as well as tragic!) story. This beautifully written and illustrated book teaches students to see history through the lives of the individuals that lived through these specific events. Polacco’s word choice and powerful language allows the audience to sympathize and relate personally to each character. It literally brought tears to my eyes because you begin to identify and empathize with the characters hardships. Also, Polacco’s dialect between her characters seemed to remain true to the Civil War era. The plot of the story highlights the injustices and difficulties during these times. The plot and major themes of war and slavery opens the readers’ eyes to a time in our history where people were treated unfairly and cruelly. It also exposes readers to a time where our country was divided and people fought (until death) for what they believed. The powerful illustrations done in with a mixture of mediums (markers, paint, and pencil) truly capture the southern Civil War setting The detailed faces of her characters are illustrated with a great deal of emotion that speaks to the audience. It a great story to introduce elementary students to the Civil War, which is normally not a topic covered until high school.

Part Four

Lesson Sketch

Grade: 4^th

Lesson Objectives:

The student will:

· Understand how the Civil War affected the lives of men and women in the South.

· Compare and contrast an African American Union soldier with a white Union soldier.

· Analyze how choice of language, setting, and information contributes to the author’s purpose

Lesson Outline:

Listen to and discuss historical fiction book “Pink and Say” by Patricia Polacco.
List reasons the author wrote the book and decide whether or not her choice of language and information aided in accomplishing her purpose.
Make comparisons between historical fiction and non-fiction books about the Civil War.
Work in pairs to discuss and record information about African American and white Union soldiers on their Venn diagram. Write a summarizing statement about their data on the Venn diagram describing how the war affected each.
Complete the 10 question multiple choice quiz for “Pink and Say” assessing their comprehension of the story.