Web of Respect

The Power of

 Grade Level : 4

Objectives

• To discuss and define friendship between individuals who differ in religion, age, and/or race.
• To analyze and interpret the main character's feelings about his devotion to his own religion and his ability to have a friendship with a person of another faith.
• To learn how an author uses flashbacks to convey the characters' feelings. To use a story map to link these flashbacks to the conflict and resolution of the story.
• To learn about the value of symbols to reflect a person's cultural and religious traditions.

Vocabulary

friendship--see lesson plan to create a class definition	Menorah--candelabra used for the Jewish holiday of Chanukah	graven [image]--To sculpt or carve; engrave. To stamp or impress deeply; fix permanently.
carving--an object carved from wood, stone, or other material; often represents aspect of a culture, tradition and/or religion	guardian angel--(definition taken from the book) Messengers of god sent to watch over humans.	religion--Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.

Pre-assessment	Ask the children what they know about the holidays of Christmas and Chanukah. Sort the information into two categories: symbols, traditions, and their significance within a religion. List this information on chart paper in a 't-chart'. If any of the above vocabulary is mentioned in the discussion, tell children that they may revisit these words as they read the book and do the activities. THINK, PAIR, SHARE What is friendship? Who is a friend? Ask the children to write a brief definition of 'friendship' and/or 'friend' independently. Have them share their ideas with one person and merge them into a joint definition. Have each pair describe aloud what definition they created. Discuss all of the students' ideas and create a class definition of the terms.
Reading	Elijah's Angel by Michael Rosen. This is an emotional story about a friendship between a young Caucasian Jewish boy and an elderly African-American Christian man. Rosen and Robinson collaborated to create words and illustrations to portray the characters' genuine feelings about each other. The sharing of religious traditions is but one of the remarkable exchanges between the books protagonists Elijah and Michael.
Activities	#1 Read, think, and discuss Read the book aloud to the class. Use the following set of questions to help guide brief discussions about the plot. Procedure: Who is telling the story? How do you think that (Michael's) 'voice' affects how the story is told? How would you describe Michael? Elijah? Tell about each character's appearance, personality, and job/hobbies/role in life. What did Elijah tell Michael each day when he visited the store? How do you think Elijah felt about the stories he told Michael? How do you think Michael felt about these stories? Recall each story that Elijah told Michael about the carvings he created. Write on chart paper the title and moral of each story. Note: add to this list Michael's interpretation of how and why his parents have "Fruits of the Earth" (Save for future activity) What did the carvings represent? Have you ever seen carvings that depict things? Why do you think Michael liked going to Elijah's store? Use words to describe Michael's emotions after he received the angel. (List these on the board.) Why do you think Michael had 'flashbacks' to Elijah's stories about his carvings when he was thinking about what to do about the angel? Describe the symbols and traditions Michael's family used to celebrate Chanukah. (List these on the board.) What are some traditions you observed in the illustrations that people use to celebrate Christmas? (List these on the board.) As the story ends, what did Michael decide to do for Elijah? How do you think Michael felt about giving the Menorah to Elijah? How do you think Elijah felt? Why?  Allow the children to take ample time to observe the illustrations. (There are several two-page scenes that portray much of the emotion within the plot.) Write the children's responses on chart paper and save them for future activities within this lesson. It is a good idea to keep all lists from the above questions grouped separately for use in the following activities.
	#2 Story Map: What is a 'flashback' and how is it used in story structures? Use the following (or another kind) of graphic organizer to create a story map for Elijah's Angel. Do this on a computer, chart paper, and/or on individual sheets. Discuss the 'flashback' as a literary tool used by authors to develop a story and allow readers to infer characters' feelings. Materials: story map(s) graphic organizer markers, pencils, 3 different colored markers for each child chart paper, 3 different colored markers (including a black marker) photocopies of the pages that describe "Fruits of the Earth", "Slavery Days," and "Obey God and Live" (enough for 3 groups of students, one for each student)  Procedure:  Ask the children to tell what they think is a 'flashback'. Write these on chart paper. Share and examples of how flashbacks can guide people in their actions. Ask each of the children to fill-out a graphic organizer to retell the sequence of the story. Note: Remind them to fill in only the basic parts of the story and to leave the bottom circle and arrow unlabeled. Display a large version of the story map (computer or on chart paper). Elicit information from the students' maps to complete the class map. Ask the children if they think Michael had flashbacks when deciding what to do with the angel. Encourage children to use parts of the story to substantiate their answer. Refer to the chart from Activity #1: describe each of the stories Elijah tells Michael about his carvings. Point to the problem bubble of the graphic organizer. Using 3 different colors, draw arrows from this bubble to the empty bubble. In this empty bubble list: stories about "Fruits of the Earth," "Slavery Days," and "Obey God and Live". Then link this new bubble to the 'rising action' bubble. Explain that these flashbacks are exactly what Michael was thinking about at these points in the story. Ask the children why they think he "flashed back". Divide the class into 3 groups and give each one a copy of one of the excerpts from the book (i.e.,"Fruits of the Earth", "Slavery Days", and "Obey God and Live"). In the groups, the students should do three things: THINK, WRITE, AND SHARE the meanings of each of these parts of the text. Decide if it was important for the author to include these flashbacks at all. Discuss whether or not the students think that the author needed the flashbacks to make the story more interesting and powerful. Answer a question: How did the use of flashbacks influence Michael's actions? Optional: Ask the children to think about times in their lives when a flashback guided their actions. Elicit many examples, act them out in skits, story map them, and share. This activity could best be completed with assistance from another adult. The text that tells about the carvings and their stories is short and may require prompting questions for discussion.
	#3 Role playing: What would you have done with the angel if you were Michael? The students will review the problem of the story and its solution. Then they will role play similar situations in their lives when they received a gift that did not specifically reflect their personality, culture, etc. Materials: story maps (see Activity #2) Procedure: Reread the part of the book when Michael first receives the angel and he thinks about being Jewish and having a graven image. Use a 't-chart (below) to describe the action in the story and the character's feelings. ACTION FEELINGS SOLUTION Michael, a Jewish boy gets an angel from his Christian friend for Christmas. He feels confused about whether or not a Jewish boy like him can keep this kind of graven image. Michael shows it to his parents, they discuss how nice it is to have a friend like Elijah. Michael returns the gesture by giving Elijah his homemade Menorah.   Discuss why Michael feels so confused about his gift. (He is Jewish and doesn't believe in angels, etc.) Elicit similar situations that kids could face (e.g., 4th grade kid gets a Barney videotape for his birthday from a distant aunt, etc.). List these on the 't-chart'. Divide the students into several small groups and assign some of the situations to be role played. Assign actors and a narrator for each group. The narrator will tell the story from the main character's point of view (similar to the first-person narration in Elijah's Angel). Perform and discuss how the solutions reflected an understanding of the feelings of each character. Optional: Students can write stories or plays in first-person that are modeled after the plot of Elijah's Angel. The stories can be non-fiction.  Students can describe fictional and true to life stories to role play. Be sure that the students understand how to narrate in first-person (model this concept if necessary). It may be possible that the children will suggest only a few examples similar to Michael's. In which case allow some groups to be performers. Enlist the other children in a small, quiet group to predict the best possible outcomes for the situations. Also, discuss what they think that the characters are feeling about their actions.
	#4 Can religion, race, and age affect friendship? Remind the children of their definitions of friendship. Recall the friendship that occurred in Elijah's Angel. Suggest the concepts of appearance, interests, professions, roles in life, and culture as categories to describe people. Prepare a list of pairs of students who know little about each other. Keep this list for use in Step #4. Materials: 2 Venn diagrams per student, copies (see Venn) 2 different colored markers, pencils chart paper and 3 different colored markers (including black) Procedure: Draw a giant Venn diagram on chart paper using a black marker. Using the two other colors, write separately in each Venn facts about Michael and then about Elijah. Remind the children to think of the categories mentioned in the above activity summary. Use black marker to enter attributes that they share in the center of the circle where the outer circles overlap one another. Discuss obvious differences between Michael and Elijah and what made their friendship possible. Ask the students if they thought the characters' differences should have prevented them from sharing their traditions with each other. Write the categories on the chart used by the students to describe Michael and Elijah. Pass out the copied Venn diagrams. Ask each child to use the categories to describe themselves in one half of their Venn. Use only one color for themselves. Assign pairs and ask partners to recopy their own attributes onto the remaining circle on their partner's Venn. Remind students to use the same colored marker as they did on their own sheet. In pairs the students need to determine 3 or more similarities. Have them write these similarities in pencil and on the center overlapping space of the Venn. Share findings with the class. Ask students to write single words and/or simple phrases to describe themselves. This will make it easier for children to write it quickly the second time.
	#5 The power of art in showing emotion Discuss how people show their friendship through actions, words, gifts, etc. What do the students in your class do to thank their friends for their friendship? How did Elijah and Michael show their friendship? Show the illustrations in Elijah's Angel that depict enlarged hands. Ask the students why they think Robinson (the illustrator) chose to paint hands in this way. What do hands symbolize? Giving? Love? Caring? Materials white paper for watercolor painting watercolor paints, brushes, small cups of water, small cut sponges to use as blotters newspaper (to cover the tables) fine line permanent black ink markers chart paper small, lined note cards Procedure: Brainstorm a list of ways in which students show they care about someone (i.e. actions, words, gifts, etc.). Write these on a chart. Look at Robinson's illustrations and note where and why she enlarges the hands of certain characters and in specific places in the plot. Ask students to choose an instance when they showed their affection to another person (or when they received affection from someone). Students should sketch their selection on the white paper and retrace it with permanent marker. Ask students to enlarge the hands of the giver depicted. Cover the desks (tables) with newspaper to protect from spills. Use watercolors to paint and the small sponges to blot away excess water and color. While the paintings dry, students will write an explanation of the depictions on the note cards. Attach the note cards to the dry paintings and display. Students can make these pictures into greeting cards for friends or other special people. Look for other artists who use similar techniques as Robinson to show emotion in their works.

Websites

Smithsonian American Art Museum This link is within the on-line collection of the museum. It contains four of Elijah Pierce's carvings with information about the themes of each work of art. The graphics are beautiful! [Smithsonian]

Elijah Pierce Website  Many resources for background information, including a biography and articles about Pierce's art. [Columbus State University]

Celebrations Mini-Unit: Hanukkah The University of Utah sponsors a site full of mini-units on various topics. Included in this lesson is a full explanation of the holiday of Hanukkah, activities for reading Elijah's Angel and The Christmas Menorahs. The author includes a "prereading" activity for Elijah's Angel to assess children's thoughts on human differences and friendship.

Light in Festivals Describes how light is an important element in many religious and cultural celebrations [Utah State University]

African American Art on the Internet This site sponsored by the Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus offers numerous links to African American art and artists.

Books

Elijah's Angel by Michael Rosen. At Christmas-Hanukkah time, a Christian woodcarver gives a carved angel to a young Jewish friend, who struggles with accepting the Christmas gift until he realizes that friendship means the same thing in any religion. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992. (FIC)