Saint Louis Armstrong Beach

Musical, Tragic, Loyalty, Fluid, Thoughtful and Heartbreaking

Saint Louis Armstrong Beach by Brenda Woods

Published by Nancy Paulsen Books

Copyright 2011

Coretta Scott King Honor Winner

“Brenda Woods capture all the sad and radiant glory of New Orleans in her exquisite Saint Louis Armstrong Beach. She ably uses the Hurricane Katrina tragedy to open up large themes of love, loyalty, and the eternal power of music. Highly recommended.” –Douglas Brinkley, historian and the author of The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast

This book written by Brenda Woods is a compelling story about a boy named Saint Louis Armstrong Beach. He lives In New Orleans and plays the clarinet for tourists. He doesn’t think the hurricane is anything to worry about until the whole city is ordered to evacuate. Saint is a boy who has a lot of confidence and his best friend is a stray dog whose name is Shadow. When the hurricane is coming he refuses to leave without Shadow. They have to find a safe place to ride out the storm so they flee to a neighbor’s attic and its up to Saint to save them all. This book showcases the courage and strength that the people of New Orleans had to have in order to survive Hurricane Katrina. This story is full of hope and you will want to keep reading to see how Saint stays alive.

Description: Fiction

Suggested Delivery: Independent Read

Reading Level: Lexile Framework- 660L

Electronic Resources:

Teacher Vision
This website has free printables that include pre-reading research activities that will educate students about Hurricane Katrina. This will be a good site to have children learn more about Katrina and what the hurricane was.

Teacher Scholastic
This website has the latest news on hurricane Katrina and how people can help. The children can also read storm stories similar to Saint from the book. For teachers there is a section for teaching tips about Hurricane Katrina. This will be a great site for teachers to use for resources when teaching about this topic.

Brenda Woods
This is the authors personal website and features a biography about Brenda and also summaries of each book that she has written. The children can learn about the author and also see if any of her other books interest them.

Key Vocabulary: Swaying, Virtuoso, Versatility, Evacuate, Triumphed, Rummaged, and Sapient.

Teaching Suggestions:

1. Use this text for a social studies lesson to inform students about the storm Hurricane Katrina that happened in New Orleans.

2. Use this text for a science lesson to teach students about hurricanes.

3. Use this text and have students research different types of weather that can occur.

Comprehension Strategies:

Pre-reading- Before reading have the students complete a KWL chart to demonstrate their prior knowledge about Hurricane Katrina. They will also write what they hope to learn from the text.

During Reading- Have the students make predictions throughout the story. Make sure they write all their predictions down.

Post- Reading- Have the students get into groups and discuss the story. They will discuss whether or not their predictions were accurate and also any questions they might have had while reading this book. The will also have to fill in the last portion of the KWL chart, which is what they learned about the storm and evacuation strategies etc.

Writing Activity- Have students write an expository poem about Hurricane Katrina and about how Saint survived. Have the students add specific details and facts in their poem. The students can also illustrate their poem.

Woods, Brenda. Saint Louis Armstrong Beach. New York, N.Y.: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2011. Print.