Lively, Sprinkled with Humor, Engaging, Descriptive, Believable | Reviews “Sweet, funny, and superb.” Kirkus Review “Modern-day readers will have no trouble relating to Turtle…the fast-moving plot will keep them interested in the end.” The Horn Book Magazine Awards
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Bibliography:
Holm, J. L. (2013). Turtle in paradise. New York: Random House.
Holm, J. L. (2013). Turtle in paradise. New York: Random House.
Reading Level: An AR rating of 3.7 (3rd/4th grade) with an interest level of middle grades (4th-8th grade).
Suggested Delivery: Independent Reading, Shared Reading
Summary:
The year is 1935 and the Great Depression is in full swing. Turtle is an eleven-year old girl who doesn't believe in happy endings. She is sent to live with her Aunt Mildred in Key West. Key West isn't anything like the paradise her mother describes, nor is it anything that Turtle had ever seen. It’s hot, sticky, and full of challenges from her rowdy cousins to scorpions. That summer she meets a relative she thought was dead, goes on a treasure hunt, and begins to break out of her turtle-like shell.
The year is 1935 and the Great Depression is in full swing. Turtle is an eleven-year old girl who doesn't believe in happy endings. She is sent to live with her Aunt Mildred in Key West. Key West isn't anything like the paradise her mother describes, nor is it anything that Turtle had ever seen. It’s hot, sticky, and full of challenges from her rowdy cousins to scorpions. That summer she meets a relative she thought was dead, goes on a treasure hunt, and begins to break out of her turtle-like shell.
Key Vocabulary:
Paradise (cover): a place with a lot of beauty
Telegraph (30): a form of communicating through wires that was popular before the phone was invented
Scorpion (31): an insect that lives in hot areas that has a posionous stinger attached to its tale
Sponges (39): a marine animal that has a porous body and lives in colonies (using an actual dried sponge or a picture will probably be more helpful for students to understand)
Bungy (46): local term in the text that refers to a baby's bottom
Wrecker (76): someone who salvages wreckages from sinking ships to sell for a profit
Definitions are based off of dictionary.com
Paradise (cover): a place with a lot of beauty
Telegraph (30): a form of communicating through wires that was popular before the phone was invented
Scorpion (31): an insect that lives in hot areas that has a posionous stinger attached to its tale
Sponges (39): a marine animal that has a porous body and lives in colonies (using an actual dried sponge or a picture will probably be more helpful for students to understand)
Bungy (46): local term in the text that refers to a baby's bottom
Wrecker (76): someone who salvages wreckages from sinking ships to sell for a profit
Definitions are based off of dictionary.com
Historical Vocabulary:
Dust Bowl (4): a region in the Southwest of the United States that suffered from dust storms and drought during the 1930's
Depression (4): also known as the Great Depression, it was a period from 1929-1945 characterized by people out of work, no money, and hunger
Prohibition (12): a law that was passed that prevented the sell or consumption of alchol in the United States
Stock Market Crash (92): when the value of stocks (a type of currency) suddenly lost their value in October of 1929
Rockerfeller (103): John Rockefeller was an wealthy business who specialized in the selling of oil during the early 1900s
Breadline (106): a line of people who are waiting for free food, was common during the Great Depression
Definitions are based off of dictionary.com
Dust Bowl (4): a region in the Southwest of the United States that suffered from dust storms and drought during the 1930's
Depression (4): also known as the Great Depression, it was a period from 1929-1945 characterized by people out of work, no money, and hunger
Prohibition (12): a law that was passed that prevented the sell or consumption of alchol in the United States
Stock Market Crash (92): when the value of stocks (a type of currency) suddenly lost their value in October of 1929
Rockerfeller (103): John Rockefeller was an wealthy business who specialized in the selling of oil during the early 1900s
Breadline (106): a line of people who are waiting for free food, was common during the Great Depression
Definitions are based off of dictionary.com
Before Reading Strategy:
Have an information session that covers the Great Depression. Be sure to ask them what they know to gauge their knowledge level. This will give the students some background knowledge on the historical setting of the book from which to draw connections during reading.
Have an information session that covers the Great Depression. Be sure to ask them what they know to gauge their knowledge level. This will give the students some background knowledge on the historical setting of the book from which to draw connections during reading.
You can also have some of your students or, if you're able to, older students perform this reader's theater script. It is an excerpt from the book that will help generate interest such as, "why does Smokey have to go" and "what will happen next?" |
The reader's theater is from of Teaching Books at http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=20495&s=n |
During Reading Strategy:
Employ the usage of reciprocal teaching to assist students in understanding not only over all comprehension, but also clarify any misconceptions or confusions on details. This will assist students in understanding the text as well as gaining a larger knowledge base to use in future readings. Some of the items in this text that can be clarified through reciprocal teaching is the importance of Shirley Temple and fishing for sponges. However, reciprocal teaching can also be used as a tool to gauge the students understanding of the text through the teacher can ask the students questions as well. So, in all reciprocal teaching can assist students in understanding difficult terms or concepts as well as a tool for teacher to gauge student understanding of the text.
*Information is from the Reading Rocket's article Strategies that Promote Comprehension.
Employ the usage of reciprocal teaching to assist students in understanding not only over all comprehension, but also clarify any misconceptions or confusions on details. This will assist students in understanding the text as well as gaining a larger knowledge base to use in future readings. Some of the items in this text that can be clarified through reciprocal teaching is the importance of Shirley Temple and fishing for sponges. However, reciprocal teaching can also be used as a tool to gauge the students understanding of the text through the teacher can ask the students questions as well. So, in all reciprocal teaching can assist students in understanding difficult terms or concepts as well as a tool for teacher to gauge student understanding of the text.
*Information is from the Reading Rocket's article Strategies that Promote Comprehension.
After Reading Strategy:
Have students chose ten things to put into a "suitcase." To put objects "in" the suitcase have them write the name, draw a picture, or paste a picture from clipart/internet/magazine. This can either be an in-class assignment or a project. Some objects that can be placed into the suitcase are a map of the Key West Islands, a treasure map, and a picture of a family.
This assignment will help students think about the key events in the story and a way to represent those images in concrete ways. By thinking about the key events in concrete form the students' comprehension will increase.
Have students chose ten things to put into a "suitcase." To put objects "in" the suitcase have them write the name, draw a picture, or paste a picture from clipart/internet/magazine. This can either be an in-class assignment or a project. Some objects that can be placed into the suitcase are a map of the Key West Islands, a treasure map, and a picture of a family.
This assignment will help students think about the key events in the story and a way to represent those images in concrete ways. By thinking about the key events in concrete form the students' comprehension will increase.
Inferential Comprehension Writing Activity:
Write a paragraph explaining how the name "Turtle" fits or does not fit the character? Be sure to include an introductory sentence, evidence, and a conclusion sentence.
Write a paragraph explaining how the name "Turtle" fits or does not fit the character? Be sure to include an introductory sentence, evidence, and a conclusion sentence.
Electronic Sources:
Teaching Books Author Book Introduction and Excerpt
http://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=4901
This link will generate interest for students becuase it gives a story of how the book came to be. It also provides the first few pages of the book being read by Jennifer L. Holm. Students will enjoy listening how the story came to be from the author, as well as some direct connections from Holm's story and the book.
Teaching Books Author Book Introduction and Excerpt
http://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=4901
This link will generate interest for students becuase it gives a story of how the book came to be. It also provides the first few pages of the book being read by Jennifer L. Holm. Students will enjoy listening how the story came to be from the author, as well as some direct connections from Holm's story and the book.
This game will assist students in remember details and facts from the story. Jeopardy will also provide a engaging activity that will require all students to participate in order to win. Prizes for winning depend on the teacher. For the document online go to: http://www.scribd.com/doc/161329886/Turtle-in-Paradise-PowerPoint |
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Resources:
Agency, T. E. (n.d.). Strategies that Promote Comprehension | Reading Topics A-Z | Reading Rockets. Reading Comprehension & Language Arts Teaching Strategies for Kids | Reading Rockets. Retrieved August 18, 2013 from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/ 29202/.
Dictionary.com - Free Online English Dictionary. (n.d.). Dictionary.com - Free Online English Dictionary. Retrieved August 18, 2013 from http://www.dictionary.com.
Jennifer, H. (n.d.). Turtle in paradise: Meet-the-author book reading.TeachingBooks.net | Author & Book Resources to Support Reading Education. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=4901.
Turtle in paradise. (n.d.).TeachingBooks.net. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=20495&s=n.
Agency, T. E. (n.d.). Strategies that Promote Comprehension | Reading Topics A-Z | Reading Rockets. Reading Comprehension & Language Arts Teaching Strategies for Kids | Reading Rockets. Retrieved August 18, 2013 from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/ 29202/.
Dictionary.com - Free Online English Dictionary. (n.d.). Dictionary.com - Free Online English Dictionary. Retrieved August 18, 2013 from http://www.dictionary.com.
Jennifer, H. (n.d.). Turtle in paradise: Meet-the-author book reading.TeachingBooks.net | Author & Book Resources to Support Reading Education. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=4901.
Turtle in paradise. (n.d.).TeachingBooks.net. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=20495&s=n.