THE TRUTH ABOUT SPARROWS

Gradually, Sadie began to accept her circumstances and tried to do something to make life better. She got a job at a shrimp plant in the morning before school, handled herself at school with patience, and became a friend to a down- and-out man she called Mr.<br><br> Sparrow. Awards Bank Street Best Children 9s Books of the Year Children 9s Books: 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, New York Public Library IRA Notable Books for a Global Society, 2005 VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers, 2004 Author 9s Biography Marian Hale lives with her husband on Copano Bay in Rockport, Texas, just twenty miles from the Aransas Pass Seawall where the story in the book takes place. She was inspired to write the book from stories told by her parents while growing up in the Aransas Pass Seawall during the Great Depression.<br><br> This is her first novel. Related Titles Dislocation How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata.<br><br> Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt. Depression Era/Drought of 1930s The Amazing Thinking Machine by Dennis Hasely.<br><br> Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. Dust by Arthur G. Slade.<br><br> Hitch by Jeanette Ingold. The Journal of C.J. Jackson: A Dust Bowl Migrant by William Durbin.<br><br> Lizzie 9s Storm by Sailly Fitz-Gibbon. 1 A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories by Richard Peck. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse.<br><br> Saving Grace by Priscilla Cummings. Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards by Katelan Janke. A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck.<br><br> Classroom Connections See Henry Holt and Company: The Truth About Sparrows Teacher 9s Guide www.henryholtchildrensbooks.com/teacherguides/truthaboutsparrows.htm This website provides a short author 9s biography and a lesson plan. Items include a pre- reading activity, questions for discussion, and a writing activity. Connections by Dorothy Grimsley, Instructor, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Geography " Have students use maps and determine the route that the family might have taken from Missouri to Texas.<br><br> " Locate Aransas Pass on a map and do research on the area. History " Many families had to move because of the Depression and drought of the 1930s. Have the students research this era and make reports.<br><br> " Have students compose a PowerPoint presentation to show how the Depression affected our country. " The Wynn family moved to Aransas Pass, Texas so Sadie 9s father could get a job shrimp fishing. Have the students research Texas history, Aransas Pass and shrimp fishing.<br><br> Language Arts " Have students locate and read other fiction titles that are set during the Depression. " See Related Titles. Connections by Elizabeth Dumas, Good Hope Middle School, West Monroe Grade 6 ELA Unit 3: Historical Fiction This title can be utilized in the following activities by student historical research groups interested in the Great Depression Era.<br><br> Activity 3: Resources for Exploration: Fiction and Nonfiction Bibliographies Activity 4: Determine Influence of Setting on Characters. Chapter 4 from this book is a good excerpt for the teacher to use to creview and model the use of first person pronouns in telling a story from a particular character 9s point of view. d Grade 8 ELA Unit 5: Novel Activity 1: Sustained Silent Reading. This book can be included on a recommended independent reading list for students.<br><br> It can then be used for the other follow-up activities in this unit. Social Studies Unit 8: Transitions to the Twentieth Century Activity 9: The Rise of Huey Long. Excerpts from this book can be read to illustrate life during the Great Depression and the national climate during Huey 2 Long 9s ascension to the national political stage.<br><br> Web Links Book and Author Henry Holt and Company: The Truth About Sparrows Teacher 9s Guide www.henryholtchildrensbooks.com/teacherguides/truthaboutsparrows.htm This website provides a short author 9s biography and a lesson plan. Items include a pre- reading activity, questions for discussion, and a writing activity. Henry Holt and Company: Marian Hale http://www.henryholtchildrensbooks.com/authordetails.asp?ID=Hale Biography of author Marian Hale.<br><br> Holtzbrink Publishers: The Truth About Sparrows http://www.holtzbrinckpublishers.com/HENRYHOLTBYR/Book/BookDisplayLarge.asp?B ookKey=1532176 This website gives a description of the book, brief reviews, awards list, and a link to read an excerpt. Powell 9s Books www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=0805075844 This website provides an extensive summary and synopsis of the book. Through the Looking Glass Children 9s Book Review http://www.lookingglassreview.com/The_Truth_About_Sparrows.html Review of the book.<br><br> History Aransas Pass, Texas http://www.aransaspass.org/history.htm Site includes history and interesting old photographs. History of Port Aransas, Texas http://www.port-aransas.k12.tx.us/PORTA/Port-Aransas-history.html This site includes a detailed account of cRagtown d where migrant workers lived in Port Aransas during the Depression. ThinkQuest http://www.thinkquest.org/library/search.html Search United States History, 20 th Century http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01794/ Information about the Great Depression.<br><br> http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312210/ Information about the Depression and a lesson plan for Hesse 9s Out of the Dust that would be useful for The Truth About Sparrows. 3

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