Hope in my Heart

               Four children have been reading “Hope in my Heart,” a diary written by Kathryn Lasky from the My America series.  They have been developing new vocabulary using context clues to help understand words we aren’t sure of.  Each class we have a discussion to ensure comprehension.  The novels they’ve been reading are diaries of young immigrants which supports our social studies unit on Immigration.  The students have been working really hard in and outside of class.  They worked on a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the novels they read over the summer.  From the readings the students have developed a better understanding of the experiences that immigrants have endured.  Students also watched an interview of a recent immigrant and compared their experiences to Sofia, the main character in "Hope in my Heart."  They are now discussing metaphors and symbols.  Their last assignment compared the past and present view of the Statue of Liberty and they will be using some of the words that represent the Statue of Liberty to write a metaphorical sentence.