Title:
First Crossing: Stories about Teen Immigrants
Bibliographic Information:
Gallo, D. R. (Ed.). (2004). First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.
Weekly Requirement:
Pleasure Reading Middle School/High School
Plot Description:
First Crossing is a compilation of ten short stories about teen immigrants in the United States. The stories are about teens from Mexico, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, China, Romania, Palestine, Sweden, Korean, Haiti, and Cambodia. The stories all talk about how the teens adjust to American life and customs. Some stories include teens who are just arriving to the United States, other stories include teens who have been there awhile, and there is even a story about a girl who was adopted from another country as a baby. All of the teens do the best they can to adjust to their new lives despite some of the difficulties they encounter.
Quantitative Reading Level:
Gunning-Fog 9.2
Qualitative Reading Analysis:
All of the stories are told with American English with occasional words used from the various countries of each teen. Each story is told in chronological order. Some of the stories are told in first person and others are told in third person. The story "Make Maddie Mad" where a girl wants to make a girl named Maddie angry is filled with examples of alliteration like make Maddie mad, similes like mad as a hatter, and idioms like steaming mad and hopping mad.
Content Area:
English Language Arts Reading Literature Grades 9-10
Maine Common Core Content Area Standard:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6
Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
Curriculum Suggestion:
Personal Thoughts:
The story The Swede by Alden R. Carter is one that I highly recommend. It is a heartbreaking story that will have a profound impact on students. It tackles difficult issues like racism, bullying, and peer-pressure in a way that is real and haunting. It shows what can happen when people allow themselves to hate others for their nationality and what can happen when people allow themselves to succumb to peer-pressure and do things they know are wrong.
Plot Description:
First Crossing is a compilation of ten short stories about teen immigrants in the United States. The stories are about teens from Mexico, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, China, Romania, Palestine, Sweden, Korean, Haiti, and Cambodia. The stories all talk about how the teens adjust to American life and customs. Some stories include teens who are just arriving to the United States, other stories include teens who have been there awhile, and there is even a story about a girl who was adopted from another country as a baby. All of the teens do the best they can to adjust to their new lives despite some of the difficulties they encounter.
Quantitative Reading Level:
Gunning-Fog 9.2
Qualitative Reading Analysis:
All of the stories are told with American English with occasional words used from the various countries of each teen. Each story is told in chronological order. Some of the stories are told in first person and others are told in third person. The story "Make Maddie Mad" where a girl wants to make a girl named Maddie angry is filled with examples of alliteration like make Maddie mad, similes like mad as a hatter, and idioms like steaming mad and hopping mad.
Content Area:
English Language Arts Reading Literature Grades 9-10
Maine Common Core Content Area Standard:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6
Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
Curriculum Suggestion:
Personal Thoughts:
The story The Swede by Alden R. Carter is one that I highly recommend. It is a heartbreaking story that will have a profound impact on students. It tackles difficult issues like racism, bullying, and peer-pressure in a way that is real and haunting. It shows what can happen when people allow themselves to hate others for their nationality and what can happen when people allow themselves to succumb to peer-pressure and do things they know are wrong.
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