So, I finally opened my new Scholastic brochure yesterday and BOY was I in for a SURPRISE!!!
A Hallmark Channel original movie? Say WHAT! Debuts September 20th – lots of things going on this year because it’s the 50th anniversary of the church bombing. O-M-G. It gets even better. Are you ready for the BEST NEWS YET?
It’s the $1 book in this months TAB for Middle School! YUP!
This means you can get yourself a class set for – what – $25? Wowza! Or, you can do like me. I actually just ordered a brand new set of 60 copies of this book a few months ago because my old ones were 10 years old and falling apart. SO… I used about 2,000 of my Scholastic bonus points to order 55 MORE copies of this book for my current 7th graders! I’m going to leave those new class novels in the closet and let this year’s kids have their OWN copies…. and you know what THAT means… that’s RIGHT… ANNOTATING!! We’re gonna mark that book ALL UP! Woo hoo! Can you FEEL my excitement about this?
Wait a minute. Do NOT tell me that you aren’t already signed up with Scholastic book clubs. Surely everyone is, right? If you’re not, go sign up here and you can order your copies today. Over half of my huge classroom library comes free through Scholastic Book Clubs. Seriously! You are missing out.
Back to The Watsons. I love, love, love teaching this novel unit with my 7th graders. I’m always surprised at how naive so many of my kids are when it comes to racial issues. I really, really enjoy some of the mature conversations I can initiate with my students when we read this book.
So, what will we be annotating? Why, figurative language of course! This book is majorly JAM-PACKED with excellent figurative language examples. In fact, my whole figurative language unit in 7th grade revolves around this book! I really step it up with my 7th graders and expect them to both identify and analyze figurative language. If you teach this novel or plan to, you are definitely going to need to check out Margaret Whisnant’s stuff for this novel. Specifically, get her Vocabulary Pack, and you’ll be ALL SET for teaching figurative language with this novel!
Check it out here: The Watsons Go to Birmingham Vocabulary Study by Margaret Whisnant
I would go so far as to say it’s the most useful $4 I’ve ever spent on TpT. And hey, you might as well go ahead and get the whole novel pack if you can swing it! Margaret’s stuff is always of the absolute highest quality.
Now.. I haven’t even told you the BEST part about teaching this novel. It’s the audiobook. Seriously! LaVar Burton narrates the audiobook and I have *never* heard a better audiobook performance – and I listen to audiobooks daily. Do you remember him?
Child of the 80’s or 90’s? Go ahead and press play. You know you want to! LaVar Burton is the Reading Rainbow guy. And let me tell you. He narrates this story with so much personality, fun, and humor, that every kid in your class will LOVE it. I swear it. You will enjoy it, too! I’ve listened to it so many times for my own pure enjoyment. Really.
As for as the actual story itself… I could go on and on about this awesome, heart-filled family book, but watch the trailer above and you’ll have a great idea about the book. It’s the 1960’s, and you’ll see an African American family travel from the comfort of Flint, Michigan, to a racist south that they could have never imagine existed. And it isn’t even too serious. There is so much humor in this book. Have you started reading it yet? Go, go, go!
There will be so many resources out there this year with the 50th anniversary, movie, etc. so go ahead and get your super-cheap novel copies and prepare to teach this book! I plan to start in September.
I love Reading Rainbow and I love Scholastic! Reading your post just made me nod my head! 🙂
Hunter's Teaching Tales
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I have never heard of this book! You have definitely made me want to read it, though, even though I don't teach this! That was an awesome sell! And I'd love for my kids to get to annotate in a book…I'll have to think on that!!
Thanks for linking up!!
Amanda
Collaboration Cuties
I LOOOOOOOVE this book – I just "found it" this past April. I'm trying to decide if I want to use it with my kids this year because it is actually 5th grade SS curriculum. We'll see. I guess I need to decide quick if I want them to have their own copy!! That's sooooo awesome.
Jivey
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We do an entire integrated unit for social studies and language arts on Civil Rights! I'll have to remember that Hallmark has a movie now! The Watsons Go to Birmingham is one of our book club choices. I love it! Thanks for sharing this information – I had no idea! Several teachers actually used it as their read aloud but I used Kizzy Ann Stamps because I thought it actually fit better with the history piece. Love it! Thanks so much again for sharing 🙂
Amanda
My Shoe String Life
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If I taught the older ones, this book would def be on my must read list 🙂
BTW: love the blog redesign, especially in time for football season, so cute!
Who Dat!
Darnee
Tales From Two 2nd Grade Classrooms
I have 8 copies of this book for literature circles, but I haven't used it for a while! Thanks for reminding me how much I missed it! I LOVE Scholastic book order club too! That's how I got most of my class sets of books!
P.S. TOTALLY LOVE YOUR NEW BLOG DESIGN ERIN!!!!
Joanne
Head Over Heels For Teaching
I love this book!!! I literally LOL every time I read it! I even cried once or twice!!! Such a beautiful portrayal of family !
I need to break this bad boy back out before I do my Newbery study! Woohoo!
Alison
Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'
I remember reading this one to my fifth graders–what a wonderful novel! Thanks so much for sharing how you use it with your students! I will pass your post on to a former teaching partner…
Smiles,
Sarah @ Hoots N Hollers
This is one of our class novels for fourth grade, and I love it! It is a great way for the kids to learn more about reality during the Civil Rights Movement, although we have to do a LOT of discussion ahead of time to build schema. I am beside myself with excitement for the movie!! I always thought they needed a movie, but I had no idea about this! Thanks for the heads up.
Vicky
I haven't read this one, but now I can't wait! I love reading multicultural literature. Thanks for sharing!
Where did you get the audio book?
I purchase all of my audiobooks from Audible.com and listen with an app on my iPhone. You can also buy the audiobook on iTunes. 🙂 Erin
AHHH!!! This is one of my favorite books (surprise since we usually agree), and I think I will be purchasing a set for my class as well. Can't wait to see that movie either!
Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late
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So glad you shared!!!! Can't miss this opportunity since I teach an hour from Birmingham! Best part: I got 27 books for FREE because I already have points to spend! Just spent $3.50 on shipping.
One more thing about the audio: Is it one long track or separated into chapters?
I am so glad you wrote about this, Erin. I hadn't seen this post before but I have been reading around about this book because I am considering using it as a read aloud with my 4th graders. Since we learn all about the states and regions in 4th grade, I am looking for great read alouds that correspond with varying regions of the country.
I am almost embarrassed to admit this, but I have never read this one. I can see that you recommend it heavily for 7th grade, but what does everyone think about for 4th grade? I teach in a tiny town with almost no racial diversity. Any advice?