John’s Secret Dreams by Doreen Rappaport and Bryan Collier, ill. New York: Hyperion Books, 2004.  0-786800817-9

Annotation: The life of John Lennon as told through the lyrics of his songs.

Media: pen & ink, watercolor, digital renderings

Rating: 5th-7th 5Q/4P

Curriculum Connection:History through music of the time period

Lesson Plan 5 – Taken from Five Lesson Plan Unit "Learning history through picturebooks about people who live it" See The Bracelet.

•    It’s a wrap! Have students sit in pairs of their choosing. They are to compare/contrast how the authors/illustrators of their books bring out the time period or the time period topic. Teacher adds: “Pick a favorite sentence and picture that you especially like that says it all – gives the essence of the person written about and his/her era.” This part of the assignment will be written and handed in. Teacher models.

        Example: “In John’s Secret Dreams, the author uses many different fonts and colors for her text and she places her words in various ways on the page. The illustrator uses psychedelic circles and patchwork art to convey the feel of the 60’s. My favorite words of the author are ‘His son Julian painted a picture. John responded with a song’. The illustration I especially like is the last one. It’s of someone (John, I assume) holding a candle. There are other candle flames surrounding it. I believe these two examples show the essence of John and the era because John’s life was made of responses in song and the candle is a symbol of the promise he and his peers had for a world without war.”

•    Teacher brings unit to a close with a class discussion: “Is there a story of your life that could be turned into a picturebook for your children to read about in history class?” Prompt by writing a few suggestions on the blackboard: 9/11; Obama; Crossing the Border; Natural Disasters/The Economy/Technology.

lvanburen/6-09