We use cookies to make your experience better. To comply with the new e-Privacy directive, we need to ask for your consent to set the cookies. Learn more.
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
Shirley Temple Wong has difficulty adjusting to life in America in 1947. She and her mother have come from China to join her father in NewYork. Even though she's happy to have her family together again, it's hard to adopt a new language and a different way of life. When she discovers baseball and learns about Jackie Robinson (the first black American to play in the major leagues), she begins to understand how America is truly a land of opportunity.
A timeless classic that will enchant readers who love Jennifer L. Holm and Thanhhà Lại, about an immigrant girl inspired by the sport she loves to find her own home team—and to break down any barriers that stand in her way.
Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to America with a heart full of dreams. Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends.
Then a miracle happens: baseball! It's 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is a superstar. Suddenly Shirley is playing stickball with her class and following Jackie as he leads the Brooklyn Dodgers to victory after victory.
With her hero smashing assumptions and records on the ball field, Shirley begins to feel that America is truly the land of opportunity—and perhaps has also become her real home.
Please note that a brief synopsis of many of the books included here are provided in our Library Builders section. Study guides for the same book are often available from several publishers, so we found it more efficient to give a description of the book only once.
Among the many companies that offer a literature guide or study guide to use with a novel, Progeny Press does a beautiful job incorporating scripture into their literary analysis. I like how their guides begin with more basic comprehension questions and evolve into more challenging questions that encourage deeper thinking. Think of it as moving from who, what and where into the how and why's. With Progeny Press, students are asked to draw comparisons between the literature they are reading and the Bible. Your student will use their own Bible in their preferred version.
New to literature study guides? They are an independent and flexible option for adding a literature component to your language arts. As your student reads a novel, the guide provides a framework, something like a workbook. The guide might suggest each learner read chapters 1 and 2, then answer some questions. Students answer directly in the guide. From a parent's viewpoint, this is a time saver! You can set a schedule if you like, or just open their guide and ask them a question! Students love talking about what they are reading, whether they like it or not. Parent educators get a sense of the investment in the book each child has based on their remarks. In addition, parents could easily develop and add some deeper questions into an essay too.
Progeny Press has many titles to choose from. The age groups overlap in places because, well, that is not an exact science, is it? One student may read a book at age 10 and another at age 14. The age groups help a parent determine if the novel's content is likely appropriate for a child's age. Reading comprehension and literary analysis are an important component of any ELA year. A typical number of novels with guides is 4-6 a year, or 2-3 per semester. Some novels may take only a couple weeks to complete, while others take up to 8 weeks. Guides are currently available as softcover books, PDF format on CD-ROM, or PDF downloads available directly from the publisher at (progenypress.com). The guides are reproducible within one classroom or family.
Each guide includes:
- a concise synopsis of the book
- information about the book's author
- background information pertinent to the story
- suggestions for activities relating to the subject matter
- introduction of literary terms
- vocabulary exercises for each section of reading
- comprehension, analysis, and application questions for each section of reading with discussion of related Biblical themes
- a complete answer key and suggestions for further reading
Product Format: | Softcover Book |
---|---|
Brand: | HarperCollins |
Author: | Bette Bao Lord |
Grades: | PK-AD |
ISBN: | 9780064401753 |
Length in Inches: | 5.125 |
Width in Inches: | 7.625 |
Height in Inches: | 0.5625 |
Weight in Pounds: | 0.2563 |