A Thanksgiving Story

By Eve Bunting. Illustrated by Beth Peck

Bibliotherapy

SPED 620

Diana Ramírez

A bibliotherapy to explore how Thanksgiving Celebration could go beyond religion.

To explore how the Thanksgiving celebration can be

applicable to our modern world.

To discuss how a religious celebration such as Thanksgiving

can go beyond religion.

To understand the displacement crisis in Colombia.

To explore part of the solution to the displacement crisis

from the students’ point of view.

To read, analyze and write a narrative text.

To promote social awareness in our students so that they can get to know this part of our social and cultural reality as they assume a commitment towards it.

This lesson is designed for grades 5 through 7. This lesson is inserted in an Integrated Thematic Unit.

This particular lesson could take three class periods.

The time line for the entire Integrated Unit could take 15 to 18 class periods.

“How Many Days to America?” is the story of refugees from a Caribbean island, who embark on a dangerous boat trip to America where they have a special reason to celebrate Thanksgiving.

This is a beautiful picture book where the reader is invited to explore political and geographical information to confront his/her predictions.

In our home country thousands of people live the same story everyday. This lesson is an invitation to the reader to put on displaced people’s shoes. The reader can think about ways to give them a reason to be thankful for.

After the soldiers go, Father tells the family, “We must leave right now.” “Why?” the boy asks. “Because we do not think the way they think, my son. Hurry!”

A Thanksgiving story that knows no season, religion or race, but is for everyone all year 'round

Globalization: Regional

Ethnicity

Religion

Displacement Crisis

Social and Cultural crisis of a country.

During the month of November, students have developed a web quest to find information on the history of Thanksgiving Celebration. By the time this lesson is presented, students know very well the religious implications this celebration has.

1. Students will be asked to discuss in their groups their prior knowledge on the Thanksgiving celebration.

2. They will also discuss different reasons a person or a whole population in our modern world will have for them to move from one place to another.

3. Students will discuss in their groups for approximately 10 minutes, they will assign a reporter and teacher will write on a paper important conclusions.

4. Finally, teacher will announce that such discussion is connected to the new story they will read. Students will share their predictions on how the discussion is connected to the theme of the story.

 

1. By looking at the title and cover picture, why can you say this Thanksgiving story is not a traditional story on this celebration?

2. Reading the back cover, why do you think this people are emigrating?

3. Where do you think they are from? Why can you tell that?

4. What do you think this story is about after this first approach to the story?

PRE-READING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS DURING THE READING5. Why do you think the kids were hid when the soldiers came?

6. Why are the reasons this family have to leave their village? Are these reasons expressed in the book?

7. Do you think the family have planned this trip ahead? Why?

8. Let´s describe their journey to America. According to our predictions, which could be those places where they stopped before arriving to America?

9. Why was it meaningful for this family to celebrate Thanksgiving day?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AFTER THE READING

10. Do we celebrate thanksgiving in our country?

11. Is there a reason why people with different religious affiliations should not celebrate this day?

12. Let´s think of possible similar situations people here in Colombia can experience?

1. Use a map of North and South America (including the Caribbean islands) to trace the possible journey the family in the story might have had to arrive to America.

2. Research on the Caribbean islands’ social problems to establish the possible origin of this family. They will have to plan some presentations with their findings.

3. Complete a flow map to establish the sequence of events of this story.

STUDENTS WILL:

4. Retell the story orally using the flow map.

5. Follow one character (each group will be assigned a different character) to explore his/her feelings during the story. They will complete a special chart teacher will design for such purpose.

6. Carry out a web quest, pre-designed by the teacher, on displaced people in Colombia.

STUDENTS WILL:

7. Complete a questionnaire as a result of their web quest, informing important aspects of displacement in Colombia such as: causes, social effects, humanitarian actions, organizations offering support to displaced people.

STUDENTS WILL:

To wrap this project and as a way to compile all the information gathered, students will write a story of a displaced family in our region (Valle del Cauca) moving to our city (Cali).

They will follow a prewriting plan in which elements of our bibliotherapy are included such as:

Cause of leaving.

Spatial Movements. (from one village to another)

Sequence of events.

Character roles.

Time period. (Chronological)

Social factors implied.

In their story, they will also include a way Caleños (people from Cali) can give them a reason for them to be thankful for.

For this purpose the class will brainstorm how the Caleño government and community can help to provide displaced people with a solution, once they arrive to the city.

Statistics: Number of displaced people per 100.000 inhabitants in every region (departamento)

Everyday in our country, in every corner of our cities, we see images like this.

20 years old and a widow

"I’m six months pregnant, yet I feel none of the joy of a newly-wed woman and expectant mom.

I haven’t smiled since the day a group of men came to the house asking for my husband. They took him outside to talk, then they shot him twice. After that I went to live to the city.

I cry a lot. I think about my baby and how he’ll never know his father. I think about his future, and how I’m going to raise him.

Nobody in the village can understand what happened or why they killed a man as upright as my husband, who had no links with any side in the conflict. After they shot him, and because of the armed groups everywhere, many people left the area: you know, when one lot arrives the next is sure to come soon after, and it’s always us civilians who bear the brunt.”

Hundreds of stories like this are told everyday. It is time to create a social awareness in our youth to have a hope of change for the future.

Bunting, Eve. How Many Days to America? A Thanksgiving Story.

http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/3093/?mission=1722

http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf

http://www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/idpSurvey.nsf/wCountries/Colombiaa

http://www.desplazados.org.co/

http://wilstar.com/holidays/thankstr.htm