Book Detail

I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This

Publication Information
Author:  Woodson, Jacqueline Illustrator:  
Title:  I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This Date:  1994
Publisher:  Bantam Doubleday Dell City:  New York
ISBN, paperback:   ISBN, hardback:  0-440-21960-4

Recommended audience:
ABE/ABLE:   Yes ESOL:  
Family:   Young Adult:   Yes
Picture:  

General Information:
Book Type(s):    fiction

HSE Descriptor(s):   

Summary:
A moving story of the friendship between two motherless 12-year-old girls--one black and one white--presents issues of racial prejudice, poverty, and child abuse.

Teaching Ideas:
Because Sherry, Marie, and Lena personify the social pressures and behavior of teen and preteen girls, readers might want to keep a reading journal of examples to use in discussion later. Teachers could use a Venn diagram strategy to compare the similarities and differences of racial attitudes of the black and whites in Chauncey. Students might address the role of mothers in raising girls and what happens in their absence. In order to understand how children are trapped in abusive situations, readers can list what conditions contributed to Lena's plight and then brainstorm what might have been done to help. The open-ended conclusion invites discussion strategies such as Discussion Webs or Agree? Disagree?: Lena did the right thing in running away with Dion or Marie should have told her father about Lena.

Teaching Strategies:
bullet Agree? Disagree? Why?
   http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/agree_disagree_why.pdf
bullet Discussion Webs
   http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/discussion_webs.pdf
bullet Types of Journals
   http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/types_of_journals.pdf
bullet Venn Diagrams
   http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/venn_diagrams.pdf
bullet Unsent Letters
   http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/unsent_letters.pdf

Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword
bullet Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > determination/perseverance
bullet Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > loss
bullet Emotions-Personal Issues > personal issues > group > relationships > friendships
bullet Emotions-Personal Issues > personal issues > individual > physical issues > sexuality
bullet Family > family violence
bullet Family > mothers > mother-child relationships
bullet Social Studies > sociology > social issues > racism > race relations
bullet Social Studies > sociology > social issues > violence > child abuse
bullet Emotions-Personal Issues > emotions > individual > outsider


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