Why I Picked It Up:
This book had been discussed on so many of the blogs I follow, so I already had it in my mind that it would be a summer read. However, as I started planning a thematic book club for a class of eighth-graders, I quickly put it on my “sooner-than-later” list due to the promise of fitting my thematic question on friendship. I’m so glad I did!
Why I Finished It:
I was oddly attached to this book; the simplicity of content, but the complexity of relationships. Each chapter of this story is a new block with a new group of students tackling an everyday interaction or event. The characters, situations, and relationships are plausible, legitimate, and relatable. Even as an adult reading this, I never questioned if these people could exist in real life – I know that they do. People who are struggling with being bullied, kids who have parents battling cancer, kids who are dealing with the death of a sibling, kids who are frightened for the safety of their parents, etc. As I said: the read is simple, but the characters are complex and require deep contemplation.
Who I Would Give It To:
I think I have seen Look Both Ways suggested for grades 5-9, but I think this could work for high readers in 3rd grade – 8th grade. It is a powerful book club book, independent read, and read aloud.
Integration Ideas:
Theme
The topic of this book is definitely relationships (family and friendships) and each chapter discusses the power or the pain of those relationships. I had my students analyze each section with the following question: How do you know if a relationship is healthy or hurtful?”
In each chapter, the students analyzed the relationships that were occurring. They had to provide text evidence and page number with an explanation as to whether it was evidence of a healthy or hurtful relationship and for the deeper meaning. The students did this using Flipgrid video chat, as well as independent responses to me.
Character Analysis
Since, in our discussion of the theme, we are studying the characters, this is a natural addition. Have students add to their discussion of the theme by analyzing the characters. Each time the students expressed a character’s relationship as healthy or hurtful with someone else, I had them analyze the character. They had to explain the character’s motives and explain a trait they have that either makes them a good friend or a bad friend. Then they predicted how the character’s relationship will grow over time.
Check out our character cards to help build vocabulary when discussing characters. There are a lot of teaching ideas included with the cards.
Figurative Language
At the beginning of the year, I had my students analyze five different types of figurative language. So, the students loved finding the figurative language in this book. For each section (they divided the book into four chunks for book club discussions), they had to find an example of figurative language, identify the page number, explain what type of figurative language it was, why the author used it, and how it helped the reader create a visualization of what was happening.
Here are some examples:
- “TJ shrugged, tossing his science book onto the floor of the metal closet, the smell of feet wafting up from it like a cloud of dust, unsettled.” (page 2)
- “With the dryer whirring in Pia’s ears, it sounded like the two women were whispering in a tornado.” (page 53)
- One to synthesize about how rumors spread:
- “It snaked around, passed from mouth to ear, a hiss-whisper.” (page 86)
- “… the mighty snake of gossip going from a harmless garter to a venomous python.” (page 89)
- “The python had become a boa, strangling him. Wrapped all around his body, squeezing him, squeezing.” (page 90)
- “Gregory’s hands started shaking, the paper vibrating like dry leaves in the wind.” (page 169)
There are plenty more, but these are a few that caught my students’ eyes.
Stay tuned to Rogers Education Consulting on how to pull this book with others into a Thematic Book Club!
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