April Independent Book Projects

Over the course of the year, our novel studies in language arts have often reflected our topics in social studies. In April, however, students were able to choose a research topic to partner with a work of historical fiction. In addition to reading and researching, each student wrote a paper to compare and contrast and created a project to present to their classes. 

City of Orphans by Avi; New York at the turn on the century

Gordon Korman's Titanic trilogy; the Titanic

 Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata; the role of dogs in war

War Horse by Michael Murpurgo; the role of horses in WWI

Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan; Mexican immigration during the 1930s

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon; Chicago 1968

Kira Kira, by Cynthia Kadohata; Japenese Americans in the 1950s

Gordon Korman's Titanic trilogy; the Titanic

Gordon Korman's Titanic trilogy; the Titanic

So Hard to Say, by Alex Sanchez; the consequences of bullying

Witness by Karen Hesse; the rise of the KKK

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko; Alcatraz

Timothy of the Cay, by Theodore Taylor; German U-boats

Weedflower, by Cynthia Kadohata; Japanese internment camps

The Cay, by Theodore Taylor; German U-boats

City of Orphans by Avi; food in the early 1900s

The Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt; the Vietman War

Witness, by Karen Hesse; the rise of the KKK

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle; the biography of L'Engle

Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel; zeppelins

The End of Baseball, by Peter Schilling Jr.; the desegregation of baseball

The Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine; the Little Rock Nine

So Hard to Say, by Alex Sanchez; gay rights

War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo; the role of the United States in WWI

Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff; refugees of WWII

Cais read Glory Be, by Augusta Scattergood and researched segregation in the 1960s. 

Garrett read City of Orphans, by Avi and researched the slums in New York City in the early 1900s.