Felicia R. McKinnon
Purpose:
1. To introduce students to characters of the time of World War II.
2. To promote aesthetic response to literature.
3. To write a journal entry about the character and her life.
Materials:
Valerie Tripp's
Meet Molly
of the American Girls Collection, Literary Logs.
Grade Level:
Grade two
Procedures:
-
1. Before reading this book students will have been given a background on "What is war?" and how war affects people by reading
The Butter Battle Book.
For this book, I will give some background information about where Molly lives and her family. I will also explain that in this story a world-wide war is going on (this will serve as the first mention of World War II); battles are being fought in Asia, Europe, North Africa, Russia, and the Pacific, but the whole world is involved.
-
2. After discussing this preliminary information in such a way as to motivate students to want to know more about Molly, I will prepare them for their personal responses. For example, I might say:
____
"Imagine that the year is 1941. You go to school every day, play with friends after school. Your mother has been home with you when you got home from school, and your father has come home from work at the same time every day. But now, because of the war that your country is in, your mother has to work, and your father has to be a soldier in the war. This is what happens to Molly, and happened to many other children during the war. As you listen to the chapters in the story, try to imagine what life would be like if your life were like Molly's."
-
3. As students read or listen to chapters 1-4, I will ask them to write their responses in their literary logs. Some sample ways to respond are:
A question I have is . . . .
|
I began to think of . . .
|
I felt _____ when . . . .
|
|
I know the feeling of . . . .
|
This made me think of . . . . . . .
|
|
I love the way . . . .
|
I hope . . . . . . .
|
|
I realized . . . .
|
I wonder why . . . . . . . . . .
|
|
If I were . . . .
|
I like Molly because . . . . . . .
|
-
4. Each book will take about four to five days for students to finish. A response should be made after each chapter so that once the series is complete, students will have a complete literary log to refer to for other culminating activities.
