Eureka!

This Is the Dream

Publication Information

Author: Shore, Diane & Alexander, Jessica

Illustrator: Ransome, James

Title: This Is the Dream

Date: 2006

Publisher: Harper Collins

City: New York

ISBN, paperback: 978-0-06-055519-1

ISBN, hardback:

Recommended audience:

ABE/ABLE: Yes

ESOL:

Family:

Young Adult: Yes

Picture: Yes

General Information:

Book Type(s): nonfiction, poetry, historical fiction

HSE Descriptor(s): social studies

Summary:

Accessible poetry and vivid illustrations portray the dreams and accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement. The illustrator uses interesting collages for some borders and the endpapers.

Teaching Ideas:

Although the vocabulary is not simple (and might require some pre-reading preparation), this book contributes an easier reading level to a text set on Civil Rights. Teachers might begin with a K-W-L strategy to determine what students know about the Civil Rights Movement. Readers may want to read or listen to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech alluded to in the title of the book. ESOL and beginning readers will be able to read the illustrations to understand and discuss the changes wrought by Civil Rights. A copy/change strategy might encourage readers to write verse about one expanded aspect of Civil Rights or some event not covered in the book. Students with special interest in art could examine the collage art, create their own collage of a Civil Rights issue, and write a statement or paragraph to accompany it.

Teaching Strategies: