classroom guide for vanishing cultures series

Lee & Low Books Vanishing Cultures Teacher’s Guide p.1

Classroom Guide for Vanishing Cultures series

by Jan Reynolds

Reading Level *Reading Level: Grade 4 Interest Level: Grades K–6 Guided Reading Level: P *Reading level based on the Spache Readability Formula Themes World Cultures and Traditions, Native Peoples, Family Life, Environments and Habitats, Customs and Traditions VANISHING CULTURES series, by Jan Reynolds AMAZON BASIN, DOWN UNDER, FAR NORTH, FROZEN LAND, HIMALAYA, MONGOLIA, SAHARA The books in this series take students around the world to visit seven indigenous cultures and the unique landscapes in which they live. Readers “meet” children in each culture and experience their lives through stunning photographs and straightforward, sensitive text. The books focus on each group’s traditions, values, beliefs, and family life. Readers also learn how each group meets its basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter, and how changes in the environment pose challenges to the continuing existence of the culture. Each book in the series begins with a child asking a family member for a bedtime story. The stories told reflect the traditions and pride of the group; they draw the listener and reader in to a world where a way of life rooted in the past is very much a part of the present. Note In this guide you will first find suggestions applicable to all of the books followed by a specific section highlighting ideas for each individual title. BEFORE READING Prereading Focus Questions Before introducing the books, explore questions such as these with the class.


1. What are some of the things you and your family absolutely need to live? 2. How do you get food and clothing? In what kind of housing do you live? 3. What are some other things you have that you enjoy? What would it be like if you

didn’t have them? 4. What types of activities do you and your family do together? 5. How do you think geography affects the way people live? What might it be like to

live in a cold, far northern region? A desert? A rain forest? Very high mountains? 6. What does the word “vanishing” mean? Why might some cultures, or ways of life,

be vanishing? 7. What do you like about the part of the world in which you live? Why do you think

people might live in remote parts of the world, far away from many of the things you are used to?

Exploring the Book Display the front and back covers of each book.

1. Ask students where they think the photographs were taken. What are the people doing? How are they dressed? What else in the photographs can be

1. identified? 2. Talk about the title of the series: VANISHING CULTURES. Explain that these

books are all about cultures in different parts of the world that are in danger of 3. disappearing. Invite students to speculate on why this might be so. 4. Review the parts of a nonfiction book with students, including the title page, 5. introduction, about the book section at the back, and map. 6. 4. Read aloud the introduction and discuss the author’s statement that “we are 7. all part of the same human family.” 8. 5. Share and discuss the map in each book. In what countries or region of the

world does each culture live? READING AND REFLECTING Setting a Purpose for Reading Have students read to:

• find out where and how the people in each culture live. • identify challenges these people face.

ELL/ESL Teaching Strategies Try using these strategies with students who are English language learners or who are learning to speak English as a second language. 1. Pair ELL or ESL students with strong English speakers are readers who can help explain meanings. 2. Model how to use the photographs to enhance the meaning of the text. As you read aloud, comment on how a photograph provides clues to the words. 3. Provide simple sentence frames to help students use new words. For example: This is a ______. The child helps by __________. The children are eating _______. Positive sentence: Julia used a heating pad to make the aching go away. Literature Circles If you use literature circles during reading time, students might find the following suggestions helpful in focusing on the different roles of the group members.


The Questioner might use questions similar to those in the After Reading section

for each book. The Passage Locator might look for passages in each book that show how

children of that culture play and have fun. The Illustrator might draw scenes from the story that are not illustrated by the

photographs. The Connector might find other books about the culture. The Summarizer might provide a brief summary of the group’s reading and

discussion points for each meeting. The Investigator might find more information about the traditional way of life

depicted in each book. *There are many resource books available with more information about organizing and implementing literature circles. Three such books you may wish to refer to are: GETTING STARTED WITH LITERATURE CIRCLES by Katherine L. Schlick Noe and Nancy J. Johnson (Christopher-Gordon, 1999), LITERATURE CIRCLES: VOICE AND CHOICE IN BOOK CLUBS AND READING GROUPS by Harvey Daniels (Stenhouse, 2002), and LITERATURE CIRCLES RESOURCE GUIDE by Bonnie Campbell Hill, Katherine L. Schlick Noe, and Nancy J. Johnson (Christopher-Gordon, 2000). USING THE BOOKS AMAZON BASIN

Vocabulary Write the following words from the book on the chalkboard. Have students work in pairs and assign a word to each team. Ask students to use a dictionary to learn the definition of their word. Have students fold a piece of drawing paper in half. On one side they should write the word, its definition, and a sentence using the word. On the other side of the paper, students should draw a picture to illustrate the word’s meaning. Set aside time for the teams to present their word to the

class.

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After Reading Use these or similar questions to generate discussion and deepen/extend understanding. Encourage students to refer back to the text and photographs to support their responses.

1. How do the Yanomama feel about the jungle? 2. Why is hunting an important skill for these people? 3. How do the Yanomama “dress up” for a ceremony? Compare this to how you

would dress. 4. Why are rivers important to the Yanomama? 5. How do family members help one another?

Writing Activities You may wish to assign one or more of these activities for students to complete. Set aside time for them to share and present their work.

1. Suppose you are going to change places with Tuwenowa. Identify at least three skills you would need to learn and explain why you would need them.

2. The Yanomama sing heris about the things they do, such as hunting and fishing. Write words for a song about something that you do. You might write your words to the music of a song you already know.

3. Think about the life the Yanomama live. Then write a description for them of something they may never have seen.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES You may wish to use some of the following activities to help students integrate their reading experiences with other curriculum areas. Social Studies Direct students to the map in the book. Have them identify the countries included in the Amazon basin. On what continent is it? What imaginary line runs through it?

Science Have students find out more about the Amazon rain forest. Information students might research includes: birds and animals of the Amazon, plants, the layers of growth in the jungle, the role this region plays in the world’s climate.


Art Remind students that the Yanomama make baskets from materials they find in the jungle. Have students bring in a selection of grasses, vines, twigs, leaves, straw, and other natural materials. Challenge students to try weaving with these materials USING THE BOOKS DOWN UNDER

Vocabulary Write the following words on the chalkboard and review their meanings. Ask students to copy the words and then sort them into four categories. For example, they might choose categories such as people, places, events, animals. Under each category have students list additional words from the book. aborigine walkabout ancestor bandicoot ceremony bush mangrove swamp spear fishing After Reading Use these or similar questions to generate discussion and deepen/extend understanding. Encourage students to refer back to the text and photographs to support their responses.

1. How do the Tiwi regard the land they live on? 2. What is a walkabout? What does it mean to the Tiwi? 3. How do the Tiwi feel about family? How do they honor relatives who have died? 4. How do the Tiwi use fire? 5. Compare the way the Tiwi have fun to the way you have fun.


1. Write a list of questions that you would like to ask Amprenula. 2. Suppose you were swimming in a mangrove swamp and a crocodile came along.

Write a story about what you would do. 3. Imagine that you are going to send a gift to the Tiwi. Add a note to explain what

you are sending and how it is used.


INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES You may wish to use some of the following activities to help students integrate their reading experiences with other curriculum areas. Social Studies 1. Ask students to find out what the term “Down Under” means. What geographical factors inspired the term? 2. On a globe or world map, have students figure out how far it is in miles from the home of the Tiwi to their own community. Science Have students work in groups to learn more about one of the following topics: the bandicoot; anthills, such as the one pictured on the last page of the story; mangrove swamps. Suggest that each group present its findings in a picture talk. Dance Remind students that the Tiwi dance their Dreaming. Ask students to make up a dance that might be their own Dreaming. Invite volunteers to perform their Dreaming and explain what it means to them. USING THE BOOKS FAR NORTH

Vocabulary List the following words on the chalkboard and have students look up each word in a dictionary. Then have students complete a web that includes the dictionary definition,

a sentence from the book with the word, and their own sentence using the word.

shaman sledge nourishing graze lichen traditional occasionally decorative



1. Why is the reindeer so important to the Sami? 2. How is Sara’s family like yours? How is it different? 3. Why don’t the Samis stay in the mountains all year? 4. What beliefs about nature do the Samis have? 5. How might snowmobiles and roads change the life of the Sami?


1. The book tells about a reindeer race, but it doesn’t explain what the rules are. Write a set of rules that you think would make sense for a reindeer race.

2. The Samis enjoy yoiking, singing traditional poetry. Write your own poem about the Sami way of life.

3. Write a compare-and-contrast paragraph explaining how your clothing is similar to and different from Sami dress.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES You may wish to use some of the following activities to help students integrate their reading experiences with other curriculum areas. Social Studies

1. Have students find Lapland or Finmark (a province of Norway) on a world map or globe. Then ask students to find the answers to questions such as: On what continent is Lapland? What pole is it near? What imaginary line is it near? What bodies of water border it?

2. Discuss the role of a shaman for the Sami. What persons in our culture do some of the things a shaman does?

Science

1. Point out that the region where the Sami live is known as the Land of the Midnight Sun. Have students investigate why the sun doesn’t set during the summer months north of the Arctic Circle and why it barely shines at all during the winter.

2. Have students find out more about reindeer: how this animal is adapted to its climate, what its migratory patterns are, what predators it has, and so on.


Students might make booklets, accompanied by drawings or photos, to showcase their research.

USING THE BOOKS FROZEN LAND

Vocabulary Write the following words on the chalkboard and review their meanings with students. Then have students search through the book to find a photograph or place on the map that illustrates each word.

inlet caribou igloo windbreak bay ptarmigan disguised angled After Reading Use these or similar questions to generate discussion and deepen/extend understanding. Encourage students to refer back to the text and photographs to support their responses.

1. How do the Inuit fish? How do they hunt? 2. How do the caribou help the Inuit meet their needs? 3. What kind of transportation do the Inuit use? 4. How does Kenalogak’s father find his way without a compass? 5. Why is it important for Kenalogak’s grandparents to build a new igloo?


1. Suppose you are a weather broadcaster in the Northwest Territories. Write a weather report for the Inuit at Qamanituaq.

2. Kenalogak and Aretak like to invent games. Invent a game that they could play in the snow. Describe the game and explain how to play it.

3. Imagine you are visiting the family of Kenalogak and Aretak. Use your imagination to write a sensory description of your visit. What smells, sounds, and


tastes do you experience? What sights do you see? What things do you touch? Use the text and photographs in the book to help you.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES You may wish to use some of the following activities to help students integrate their reading experiences with other curriculum areas. Science Review how camouflage helps the ptarmigan and hare blend into their landscape and escape from predators. Have students research other examples of animal camouflage and make a bulletin board display. Math Ask students to search for geometric shapes in the photographs. For example, challenge them to find a rectangle, triangle, circle, semicircle, oval, cylinder, and pentagon.

Art Remind students that Jan Reynolds is the photographer as well as the author of these books. Have students look at the photographs to explore the effects of shadow, light and dark, color, perspective, texture, and composition.

USING THE BOOKS HIMALAYA

Vocabulary On the chalkboard, list these words from the book in a column: barter, chore, carded, peak, boulder, route, salute, content. In another column, list these words: greeting, task, combed, happy, path, trade, top, rock. Ask students to match each word in the first column with a word in the second column that means almost the same thing. Encourage students to check their work in a dictionary.


Teacher Tip CULTURAL ADVENTURE WITH JAN REYNOLDS, a video by the author of the series, is available to use with the book HIMALAYA. After Reading Use these or similar questions to generate discussion and deepen/extend understanding. Encourage students to refer back to the text and photographs to support their responses.

1. Why is the market important to the Sherpas and the Tibetans? 2. Why does Yangshi’s father visit the monastery? 3. How do climbers from other places help the people of Namche Bazaar meet their

needs? 4. Why are yaks so important to the villagers? 5. What are some examples of the work people in Namche Bazaar do?


1. Imagine that you are at the market in Namche Bazaar. Write dialogue for a conversation that might take place there.

2. People come from all over the world to climb or hike in the high mountains of Nepal. Others come just to enjoy the beauty. Write an ad appealing to travelers to visit Nepal.

3. Research and develop a Fact File about Mount Everest. INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES You may wish to use some of the following activities to help students integrate their reading experiences with other curriculum areas. Language Arts Have students make a glossary of the Sherpa words explained in the text.

Art In shallow boxes, provide sand and colored salt or sugar crystals for students to make patterned sand paintings like the mandala pictured in the book. Have students work with small sticks to create their designs. Drama Remind students that the Tibetan monks put on plays every year intended to teach people how to behave. Divide students into groups and have each choose a rule that people should follow. Have each group make up a skit illustrating, but not stating, the rule. When students enact their skits, have the audience try to guess the rule.


USING THE BOOKS MONGOLIA

Vocabulary Have students write the following headings on their papers to make a three-column chart: I Know the Word, I Have Seen or Heard the Word Before, I Am Unfamiliar With the Word. Then introduce the following words from the book and tell students to list each word under the heading that fits their knowledge of the word. Students may also add other words from the story to their charts. Have volunteers use a dictionary and context from the book to define each word. cluster portable extended family frisky

dusk dung site fermented


1. Why are horses important to the people of Mongolia? 2. How do Dawa and Olana’s family get fuel? 3. Why do the people of Mongolia move so often? 4. Why do you think Dawa and Olana don’t have many possessions? 5. What are some problems you think the people of Mongolia might face?


1. Imagine that you are spending a week with Dawa and Olana. Write a postcard to a friend back home describing your visit.


2. Write a list of questions you would like to ask the author/photographer about Mongolia, or about her work in general.

3. Imagine you are going to host a large Mongolian celebration. Design an invitation to the event. Mention what guests will do, see, and eat at the celebration.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES You may wish to use some of the following activities to help students integrate their reading experiences with other curriculum areas.

Social Studies

1. Draw attention to the map of Mongolia in the book and have students identify the countries it lies between. On what continent is Mongolia? Point out that this is a mountainous, landlocked nation. Have students consult a political map of Mongolia and find out the following: capital city, desert area, mountain ranges.

2. Tell students that a famous leader, Genghis Khan, united groups of Mongols in the 1200s. Have students research Genghis Khan and how he extended the Mongol Empire.

Health and Nutrition A favorite food of the Mongolians is yogurt. Have students find out how yogurt is made. Bring in a variety of commercially produced yogurts (all the same flavor) and have students compare the ingredients. Which ingredients are probably not in the yogurt Olana’s mother makes? Students may also wish to do a taste comparison and speculate about the reasons why the yogurts don’t all taste the same.

USING THE BOOKS SAHARA

Vocabulary Skim the book for words that may be unfamiliar to students or that are used in unfamiliar ways. Discuss word meaning and use, then work with students to investigate information about the words. For example:


veil Point out that it has a homophone—vale. caravan Discuss its origin, from the Persian word karwan. thorny Identify the base word, thorn, and the suffix –y. washes Point out that this word is a homograph for a verb form of wash. handwoven Identify the two words that make up this compound. porridge Remind students what Goldilocks ate.


1. Why do you think the people of the desert wear robes and cover their faces? 2. How do the people in a Tuareg village work together? 3. How do people get water in the Sahara? 4. What are some things the Tuareg are proud of? 5. What are some things Manda does that you do not do?


1. Suppose you are Manda. Write a journal entry describing a day in the desert. 2. Choose a photograph in the book that shows one or more camels. Write what

you imagine the camel(s) is thinking. 3. You and your family are going to visit the Tuareg. Make a list of things you will

pack for your trip to the Sahara. Explain your choices. INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITIES You may wish to use some of the following activities to help students integrate their reading experiences with other curriculum areas.

Social Studies Have students identify the continent on which the Sahara lies. What countries does this desert cover? In what country are the Hoggar Mountains?

Science Have students do research to learn why the camel is so well adapted to the desert. Students might create diagrams to show how the body of a camel is adapted to this environment. Have students identify whether the camels used by the Tuareg are Bactrian or Arabian.

Art Suggest that students create posters to advertise the camel festival that Manda and his family attend.


COMPARING THE BOOKS If you are using more than one of the VANISHING CULTURES books, you may wish to have students create charts to compare different aspects of life across cultures. Write the name of each cultural group being compared along the top of the chart, and list the topics for points of comparison down the left side. Here are some possible topics: Food, Clothing, Climate, Homes, How Children Help, Roles of Men and Women, Family Life, Geography, How People Have Fun, Beliefs, Means of Transportation, Challenges Faced Today. Have students record appropriate information where the cultures and topics intersect.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR Jan Reynolds is an award-winning author and photographer. Her first book for Lee & Low, CELEBRATE! CONNECTIONS AMONG CULTURES, was honored for Outstanding Merit on the Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year list. Reynolds’s work has also appeared in numerous other publications, including National Geographic, The New York Times, and Outside magazine. She is an avid mountain climber, skier, and adventurer; holds the world record for women’s high altitude skiing; and was part of the first expedition to circumnavigate Mount Everest. Reynolds lives with her husband and their two sons in Stowe, Vermont.

All seven books in the VANISHING CULTURES series were recognized by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) as Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People. Several of the books were also chosen as American Bookseller Pick of the Lists selections. Resources on the Web For reviews, awards for Vanishing Cultures visit: http://www.leeandlow.com/books/amazonbasin.html http://www.leeandlow.com/books/downunder.html http://www.leeandlow.com/books/farnorth.html http://www.leeandlow.com/books/frozenland.html http://www.leeandlow.com/books/himalaya.html http://www.leeandlow.com/books/mongolia.html http://www.leeandlow.com/books/sahara.html To view the electronic version the Vanishing Cultures Active Reader Classroom Guide go to: http://www.leeandlow.com/teachers/guide54.html View other Active Reader Classroom Guides at: http://www.leeandlow.com/teachers


Book Information Amazon Basin $7.95, Paperback 978-1-60060-125-5 $16.95, Hardcover 978-1-60060-140-8 11 x 8 1/2, 32 pages Interest Level: Grades K-6 Reading Level: Grade 2-3 (Reading level based on the Spache Readability Formula) Themes: World Cultures, Native Peoples, Environments and Habitats, Ecology, Customs Down Under $7.95, Paperback 978-1-60060-126-2 $16.95, Hardcover 978-1-60060-141-5 11 x 8 1/2, 32 pages Interest Level: Grades K-6 Reading Level: Grade 2-3 (Reading level based on the Spache Readability Formula) Themes: World Cultures, Native Peoples, Environments and Habitats, Ecology, Customs Far North $7.95, Paperback 978-1-60060-127-9 $16.95, Hardcover 978-1-60060-142-2 11 x 8 1/2, 32 pages Interest Level: Grades K-6 Reading Level: Grade 2-3 (Reading level based on the Spache Readability Formula) Themes: World Cultures, Native Peoples, Environments and Habitats, Ecology, Customs Frozen Land $7.95, Paperback 978-1-60060-128-6 $16.95, Hardcover 978-1-60060-143-9 11 x 8 1/2, 32 pages Interest Level: Grades K-6 Reading Level: Grade 2-3 (Reading level based on the Spache Readability Formula) Themes: World Cultures, Native Peoples, Environments and Habitats, Ecology, Customs Himalaya $7.95, Paperback 978-1-60060-129-3 $16.95, Hardcover 978-1-60060-144-6 11 x 8 1/2, 32 pages


Interest Level: Grades K-6 Reading Level: Grade 2-3 (Reading level based on the Spache Readability Formula) Themes: World Cultures, Native Peoples, Environments and Habitats, Ecology, Customs Mongolia $7.95, Paperback 978-1-60060-130-9 $16.95, Hardcover 978-1-60060-145-3 11 x 8 1/2, 32 pages Interest Level: Grades K-6 Reading Level: Grade 2-3 (Reading level based on the Spache Readability Formula) Themes: World Cultures, Native Peoples, Environments and Habitats, Ecology, Customs Sahara $7.95, Paperback 978-1-60060-131-6 $16.95, Hardcover 978-1-60060-146-0 11 x 8 1/2, 32 pages Interest Level: Grades K-6 Reading Level: Grade 2-3 (Reading level based on the Spache Readability Formula) Themes: World Cultures, Native Peoples, Environments and Habitats, Ecology, Customs Order Information On the Web: http://www.leeandlow.com/order (general order information) http://www.leeandlow.com/books/amazonbasin0.html (individual secure on-line ordering options) http://www.leeandlow.com/books/downunder0.html (individual secure on-line ordering options) http://www.leeandlow.com/books/farnorth0.html (individual secure on-line ordering options) http://www.leeandlow.com/books/frozenland0.html (individual secure on-line ordering options) http://www.leeandlow.com/books/himalaya0.html (individual secure on-line ordering options) http://www.leeandlow.com/books/mongolia0.html (individual secure on-line ordering options) http://www.leeandlow.com/books/sahara0.html (individual secure on-line ordering options)


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classroom guide for vanishing cultures series

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