https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq Teaching students about divorce. en-us 2017-04-27 18:07:54 UTC 2017-05-07 01:24:13 UTC hello@padlet.com jbeckquest https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170242052 This is a heart-warming tale about a boy, Leigh Botts, and his letters he sends to author Mr. Henshaw. In this story, Leigh's parents go through a divorce. Leigh decides to write a letter to Mr. Henshaw and, as the story continues, he keeps writing Mr. Henshaw, answering his questions and revealing to Mr. Henshaw his life. One notable quote is, "Maybe I was mad about other things, like Dad forgetting to send his child-support payment." This story details Leigh's upbringing through these letters and shows his pain and sorrow as he enters into his teenage years.

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I would use this book in a literature circle with students. It would be a choice they got to make to read this book with a group. Within the group, they would discuss questions such as, "In chapter __, why do you think Leigh was feeling this way?" and "Why does Leigh not want to respond to Mr. Henshaw's questions? Why does he eventually answer him?" The students would be responsible for teaching the class Leigh's characterization through the lens of divorce through the textual evidence within the letters.]]> 2017-05-05 17:45:38 UTC https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170242052 jbeckquest https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170244075 This is a tale about the difficulties that present themselves when living at two homes. It details struggles such as, "Which house did I leave my school books at?" It shows frustrations that characters Mark and Evan face within this duel-setting dynamic. As the story continues, the boys make use of the help their teacher gives them. This helps the boys become more organized and more accepting of their reality.

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I would have this book in my library as a book the students would be able to choose from for reader's workshop or free read. I would place it on top of the bookshelf on a book display, along with other choice selections, in order to draw students towards it who can relate to the constant back-and-forth of divorce. I might individually suggest it to students who I knew were going through this type of dynamic.


]]> 2017-05-05 17:53:28 UTC https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170244075 jbeckquest https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170262089 This is a poem that is from the perspective of a child who went through divorce. It details the child's life of living without their father. At two years old, the family went through divorce. The style of the poem is great as it goes through the child's different ages chronologically (starting with kindergarten, then school plays, then becoming 16 years old, then beginning college.) The poem asks at the end, "But why did I lose my dad?"

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This poem would be great for a daily selection of poetry (if a classroom does a little bit of poetry every day!) The poem has a classic ABABCDCDEFEF... format which would be good to dissect and ask the students about. Additionally, the sequence would be a good discussion point as well.]]> 2017-05-05 19:27:48 UTC https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170262089 jbeckquest https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170263333 This is a picture book that directly deals with the struggles and changes that are found in divorce. It looks through the perspective of a dinosaur family - this helps the child remove themselves from the book ever so slightly so that it is not too emotionally-straining to read. The book really helps students understand the new terminology through a page dedicated to divorce words. Also, the book contains a lot of hard truths associated with divorce such as divorces are usually final and that they might have to ask their parents for attention (in lieu of acting out!)

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I would use this book with a student one-on-one who I knew was going through a divorce situation. I would also suggest this book to social workers to use with students whose parents are divorced. The conversations with this book in a one-on-one setting are endless as the book is very honest and upfront. This will allow the conversation to be honest and upfront as well.]]> 2017-05-05 19:37:33 UTC https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170263333 jbeckquest https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170264888 This is a picture book about a girl named Emily. She wants to be an artist! When she is undergoing a divorce (her dad is leaving her house), she begins her "blue period" where she only paints in blue, as did Pablo Picasso did for a while. This book uses blue as a symbol for sad and Emily uses this artistic medium/choice to deal with her sadness.

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I would use this book as a read aloud for students during a snack time. I wouldn't use this book to draw extended lessons from because not every child might be able to relate to its content, unless I was using the book to introduce the idea of symbolism. That being said, I would ask discussion questions to the kids such as, "What does blue symbolize?" and "Why does Emily want to only paint in blue?" This would allow for students to gain the understanding of going through sadness without many drawn-out lessons.]]> 2017-05-05 19:48:38 UTC https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170264888 jbeckquest https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170266776 This is a young adult novel about 6th grader Karen. In this story, Karen's parents are getting a divorce. They fight and argue. There are many characters who try to help Karen - her mother, her grandpa, and her teacher Mrs. Singer. Additionally, her brother Jeff is so distraught that he runs away. Karen tries everything she can to stop the divorce, including pretending to be sick and sending her parents anniversary cards. Nothing works.

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With this book, I would talk about characterization a lot. I might have student groups do x-rays for one of the characters and then share their character with the class. Additionally, I think it would be great to use a multi-modal medium to help explain the characters in groups (such as Coggle!) where the students would be able to list the different character traits and actions the characters took. ]]> 2017-05-05 20:04:13 UTC https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170266776 jbeckquest https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170334955 This picture book is about Alex, who lives in two homes. He goes back and forth between his father's house and his mother's house. The book is from the perspective of this little boy Alex who tells the readers about the two different homes. He tells about having two rooms, two houses he goes to, two sets of friends, and more. This book is great because the boy is totally content with the situation and brings out the positives - he gets two of everything!

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I would use this book in a read-aloud with students to help them understand when families have divorce. I would do this because of the large amount of divorce in the world today - just about everyone either is in the situation or has a friend who does.]]> 2017-05-07 01:00:48 UTC https://padlet.com/jbeckquest/a1qlpnr93igq/wish/170334955