January's Sparrow

Enthralled, Empowering, Heart Warming, Intriguing and Mesmerizing

January’s Sparrow by Patricia Polacco

Published by Philomel Books

Copyright 2009

           

            In this captivating story readers will follow the Crosswhites, a family who must flee their Kentucky plantation they work on. They feared for their lives and their plantation master. January, a close friend of the family had been badly beaten and possibly killed by him. When the family fled their plantation they had to leave behind their most valuable possession a wooden sparrow that was carved by January. The family had to travel through the river all piled up in a boat where they headed for Indiana. Indiana was a free state and when they arrived they were told by a guy holding a lantern to walk up a bank. They continued on until they met a woman named Aunt Della who took them in and fed the family. They stayed happily in Indiana until one day their sparrow ended up on their doorstep with a note that read, “I found you”. How the family deals with this news and stand up against the slave catchers will engage readers to want to read what happens next.

Description: Fiction                                              

Suggested Delivery: Small Group Read

Reading Level: Lexile Framework- 760L

Electronic Resources:

The Underground Railroad

This website provides information on The Underground Railroad such as a timeline, faces of people who escaped to freedom and more information for students to learn about The Underground Railroad.

Reading Rockets

An interview with the author Patricia Polacco on the website Reading Rockets.

Author's Website

This is the official website for the author Patricia Polacco. Her site includes videos, books she wrote, a section for teachers, a section about the author and also a fun section for children that includes puzzles and other interactive activities.

Key Vocabulary: Smote, Thundered, Overseers, Commenced, Windalight, Whittled, and Paddy Rollers

Teaching Suggestions:

1. Use this text to for a social studies lesson to explain the various groups and movements and social conflicts leading to the Civil War.

2. Use this text to discuss what the Underground Railroad is and how slaves escaped.

3. Use this text for a science lesson to discuss what a sparrow is since it is a major symbol in this book.

Comprehension Strategies:

Pre-reading- Before reading this book, have the students look up the definitions of the key terms to help set the stage for reading. This book is written in the language of the main characters and if you introduce the vocabulary it will help them understand the text.

During Reading-  Have the students jot down important events that they will add to a timeline after reading the book.

Post- Reading- Have the students complete a timeline after reading this book. This will help the students understand the book in chronological order.

Writing Activity- Ask the students the follow question,

-Even though our nation has made great effort to put an end to discrimination, does it still exist today? Then have the students answer this question and have them include specific examples of discrimination they see today.

Polacco, Patricia. January's sparrow. New York: Philomel Books, 2009. Print.