We've just begun our social issues unit with a read aloud of The Hundred Dresses, by Elenor Estes. In researching this book a bit for this blog post, I have learned that the story takes place in 1930's Connecticut! The gist of the story is that two girls in a third grade class pick-on/bully another classmate,Wanda, because she wears the same dress each day, but she insists she has 100 dresses. Wanda Petronski is also an immigrant to America with an unusual sounding name and a bit of a different look about her.
This initial reading will allow us to investigate questions such as: "What is bullying?", "Who bullies?", and "What can be done about bulling?" In investigating these questions we will look at some nonfiction passages. This will lead us to a discussion about how do we know we can trust information we find in a in a text. Additionally, we will investigate what life was like for an immigrant in 1930's America. This will give our third graders a little bit of background knowledge for their immigration unit next year.
Finally, we will be studying some vocabulary from the book, so when you see the word webs coming home please take the time to discuss the webs with your child and if possible use the words during everyday conversation. All of these efforts will help build vocabulary and improve overall reading comprehension!!
Stay tuned for more information about our Social Issues Reading Unit!
