One Crazy Summer

One Crazy Summer
Author: Rita Williams-Garcia
Published by Amistad in 2010
 
Award: Coretta Scott King Award 2011
Suggested Delivery: Small Group Read
Reading Level:
Lexile Measure: 750L
Grade Level: 4th-5th

Key Words:
1.      Family Life
2.      Black Panthers
3.      Childhood
4.      Motherhood
5.      Civil Rights

Vocabulary: spinning straw (2), glommed (19), winos (23), stucco (34), suspiciously (35),“the pokey” (48), treason (79), revolution (126), excursion (153), “Afua” (210)

Summary: In the summer of 1968, Delphine and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are sent to Oakland, California to spend time with their mother, who they have not seen for seven years. Despite the time they have spent away from each other, the girls and their mother, Cecile, remain distant. To occupy their time, the girls to attend a summer camp run by the revolutionary Civil Rights group, the Black Panthers. Through their experience, the Delphine and her sisters learn more about themselves, their mother, and what it meant to be an African American female in the 1960’s.

Teaching Strategies

Before: The first step of the lesson should consist of determining what students know about the Civil Rights Movement and the condition of African American rights in the 1960s. In order to assess this, the group should complete the “Know” and “Want to Know” columns of a KWL chart. Because the book assumes that students have a basic knowledge the players in the revolution and the series of events that took place in this time period, students should also do some research to fill in the background of the novel. Using resources from the library, students should look for information on the following:

·  The Black Panthers: what their position was, the controversy that surrounded them, their propaganda and their portrayal in the media.

·  Timeline of the movement

·  Important people: Kennedy, MLK, Malcolm X

During: It becomes obvious that there are many different characters in the novel that play mothering roles. Throughout the novel, make a chart comparing the characters of Cecile, Delphine and Sister Mukumbo. What are some of the qualities these women have that make them good or bad mothers? What are some of the things they do for the children in their lives, in order to support them and make them feel loved?

After: First, students should finish their KWL charts with the information they gathered while doing initial research as well as examples they read about in the novel. Secondly, students should add their own mothers to the comparison chart, and record the qualities they appreciate in their mother. They should consider the question of whether their perspective of what it means to be a good mother has changed throughout their reading experience.

Writing: As it is clear from their portrayal in the book, the Black Panthers are a controversial group. After quickly describing their purpose, what are the positives and negatives associated with the group? How could they have been better at sharing their message?

Electronic Sources:

Timeline of Civil Rights Movement events. Includes links to each event to give further information.
o  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/resources/res_facts.html
Song clips from the Civil Rights Era. Can be used to give students a first-hand perspective from African Americans themselves. 
o  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/resources/res_audio.html

Williams-Garcia, R. One Crazy Summer. New York: Amistad. 2010.