Students will begin reading "Eric" from Tales from Outer Suburbia Written and Illustrated by Shawn Tan.
Eric allows us to believe that if we give people the space and time they need, if we are kind and generous, beautiful things will grow.
QuickWrite:
Have you ever traveled to or lived in another country? What differences did you notice? What adjustments did you have to make?
Reading
After page 10: What is the narrator's attitude about the foreign exchange student? How do you know. Give evidence.
After page 13: The narator keeps trying to show what he thinks of as kindness and friendliness to Eric. Why is the narrator surprised by Eric's actions? Why does Eric react this way?
After page 14: What is the narrator's attitude about Eric by this point in the story? How is it different from his or her attitude at the beginning of gthe story?
After page 19: how does the narrator's attitude change at the end of the stroy, after seeing Eric's gift? What do you think the family understands- or does not understand- about Eric and his actions?
Graphic Organizer-Point of View
left box: Event from narrator's Point of View
right box: Inference form the illustrations
Writing:
I Wonder Project- Draw what to others is an ordinary, everyday object that fills you with a sense of wonder. It can be an object found in the classroom, at home, or another location. At the bottom of the picture, write a brief paragraph describing what qualities or characteristics about the object fill you with wonder.
Book Cover for Eric Written and Illustrated by Shaun Tan
You must include: Book Title, author and illustrator, Eric Image with an object that shows his curiousity. Color your Cover. Background must be in color as well.
Eric also reminds us that even if people appear unmoved, uninvolved, they are not without emotion and internal life. Tan admits that Eric is perhaps a little autobiographical in this regard:
"As an adolescent people would always say I was not expressive and they always made the mistake of thinking that I didn’t feel anything, because I didn’t react to things. My mind reacts but usually a long time after the fact – if something exciting happens I’ll just sort of go “okaaaay, let me process that”, and then three days later I’m excited about it, when everyone else has left the room."
Begin on I Dreamed of Flying Like a Bird Written and photographed by Robert B Haas.
QuickWrite:
Imagine you have come to this planet for the first time from another world, Look around you. What types of strange objects do you see? What do you think they do? One thing you are curious about is a phone that can also take pictures and play games. What else do you see? Choose an object and write a two to three sentence news report on what it looks like and what you think it does?
Vocabulary
-aerial (p. 7): in or from high in the air
-critical (p. 7): of extreme importance; key to success
stampeded (p. 14): wildly rushed movement in asingle direction by a mass or animals
mudflats (p. 57): tracts of land lying just below the surface of water
Reading
After page 9, What part of Haas's job do you find most appealing? Which part sounds the most dangerous? Would yo want to be an aerial photographer? Why?
After page 15, How do the photos of the lions and buffalo help you better understand the textual description? What questions do you still have about these animals?
After page 21, How does knowing that Haas was shooting the same scene for "a very long time" make you feela bout this photo? How ,might hving patience and determination help you discover new things in your own life?
After page 58, How does the photo on page 56 connect to the text on page 57? How does the author compare the subjects of his photographs with himself? How does this comparison connect to the book's title?
Eric allows us to believe that if we give people the space and time they need, if we are kind and generous, beautiful things will grow.
QuickWrite:
Have you ever traveled to or lived in another country? What differences did you notice? What adjustments did you have to make?
Reading
After page 10: What is the narrator's attitude about the foreign exchange student? How do you know. Give evidence.
After page 13: The narator keeps trying to show what he thinks of as kindness and friendliness to Eric. Why is the narrator surprised by Eric's actions? Why does Eric react this way?
After page 14: What is the narrator's attitude about Eric by this point in the story? How is it different from his or her attitude at the beginning of gthe story?
After page 19: how does the narrator's attitude change at the end of the stroy, after seeing Eric's gift? What do you think the family understands- or does not understand- about Eric and his actions?
Graphic Organizer-Point of View
left box: Event from narrator's Point of View
right box: Inference form the illustrations
Writing:
I Wonder Project- Draw what to others is an ordinary, everyday object that fills you with a sense of wonder. It can be an object found in the classroom, at home, or another location. At the bottom of the picture, write a brief paragraph describing what qualities or characteristics about the object fill you with wonder.
Book Cover for Eric Written and Illustrated by Shaun Tan
You must include: Book Title, author and illustrator, Eric Image with an object that shows his curiousity. Color your Cover. Background must be in color as well.
Eric also reminds us that even if people appear unmoved, uninvolved, they are not without emotion and internal life. Tan admits that Eric is perhaps a little autobiographical in this regard:
"As an adolescent people would always say I was not expressive and they always made the mistake of thinking that I didn’t feel anything, because I didn’t react to things. My mind reacts but usually a long time after the fact – if something exciting happens I’ll just sort of go “okaaaay, let me process that”, and then three days later I’m excited about it, when everyone else has left the room."
Begin on I Dreamed of Flying Like a Bird Written and photographed by Robert B Haas.
QuickWrite:
Imagine you have come to this planet for the first time from another world, Look around you. What types of strange objects do you see? What do you think they do? One thing you are curious about is a phone that can also take pictures and play games. What else do you see? Choose an object and write a two to three sentence news report on what it looks like and what you think it does?
Vocabulary
-aerial (p. 7): in or from high in the air
-critical (p. 7): of extreme importance; key to success
stampeded (p. 14): wildly rushed movement in asingle direction by a mass or animals
mudflats (p. 57): tracts of land lying just below the surface of water
Reading
After page 9, What part of Haas's job do you find most appealing? Which part sounds the most dangerous? Would yo want to be an aerial photographer? Why?
After page 15, How do the photos of the lions and buffalo help you better understand the textual description? What questions do you still have about these animals?
After page 21, How does knowing that Haas was shooting the same scene for "a very long time" make you feela bout this photo? How ,might hving patience and determination help you discover new things in your own life?
After page 58, How does the photo on page 56 connect to the text on page 57? How does the author compare the subjects of his photographs with himself? How does this comparison connect to the book's title?