Follow Your Dreams

1
Follow Your Dreams

• Reading Ladder
• Starting Conversations

Compiled by Anita Phillips, 2011.
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The
Sheppards Granddaughter
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Red Moon over
Sharpsburg Weed
flower Tofu Quilt
Three Cups of Tea The Secret
School Running Shoes
Dreams Can Come True...
What do you want more than anything else? What
would you give to have your dream come true?
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Running Shoes by Frederick Lipp Jason Gaillard

• A young girl in Southeast Asia has a dream of
  going to school. More than anything else, she
  wants to read and learn. The gift of a pair of
  running shoes makes it possible for her to run
  approximately five miles to school. She not only
  overcomes the obstacle of distance but the
  obstacle of discovering that there are only boys
  there. She earns their respect and they accept
  her into the school. Driven by an inner desire
  to know and learn sometimes it is a desire that
  we cannot define what or why but we know we must.
  
• A wonderful book to introduce the concept of a
  passion for learning that will drive people to go
  the extra mile. A picture book to read out loud
  and revisit on your own.

4
The Secret School by AVI

• The children in this rural community have a
  problem,
• their teacher left town. Will they have to
  repeat their
• grades when the new teacher comes next fall. No
  way,
• there is only 2 months left in this school year.
  Now how
• could a group of students work together to solve
  this problem?
• Could they teach themselves? The boys and girls
  step up to learn together, led by a young girl
  with amazing determination.
• Thinking about why we go school, this book builds
  well on the previous book. An easy novel that
  would be good for a read aloud or shared reading.

5
Three Cups of Tea by Sarah Thomson, Greg
Mortenson, David Relin, and
Jane Goodall.

• There are children who do not have schools to
  attend. Girls are especially denied the
  opportunity to learn. As a result, poverty and
  poor health prevails in families.
• When one man has an idea on how to fight
  ignorance and war with books and learning, people
  step up to help. Considering the lives of others
  can make us think more deeply about our own. How
  can we make a difference?
• This book is a little more challenging to read
  but would be a great book to read out loud with
  interesting cultural perspectives on going to
  school. This book provides many opportunities for
  conversations.

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Tofu Quilt
by Ching Yeung Russell

• A Young girls struggle in Hong Kong to break
  out of her extended familys cultural
  expectations and follow her heart. Her mother is
  her roll model and her grandfather plants the
  seeds. Girls can do more than keep house. This
  book helps build independence in deciding for
  yourself, should I do my best in school? What is
  in it for me? What if my family or friends say
  no?
• This is a good read-to-self book in poetic style
  to share in discussion circles such as RTI.

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Weedflower by Cynthia Kaddacta

• Sometimes we do not fit into the culture of our
  school. Sometimes it really hurts when you do go
  to school. What if prejudice and fear keeps you
  from learning?
• When Pearl Harbor is bombed, fear and prejudice
  sends thousands of US born Japanese families to
  interment camps. Good teachers do not like to
  teach at these camps.
• You are invited to think about how not having the
  opportunity to go to school can lead to severe
  boredom, anxiety, and uncertainty for a future.
  There is always two sides to the story. A very
  different boy shows Weedflower that there are
  many ways of knowing and learning.
• Another good independent read that helps us think
  about how an education comes to us in many ways.
  

8
Red Moon over Sharpsburg
by Rosemary Wells

• History repeats itself. Today, as in the days of
  the U.S. Civil War, many young people live in
  countries torn with war and loose their
  opportunity to go to school.
• When all hope is ripped away, young people can be
  quite determined and diligent in following their
  heart. What if ignorance and prejudice is
  prevalent in your society? The young medical
  research doctor who tutors his young neighbor
  girl during the war with the states inspires her
  to study science in a time when science was only
  for men. How can education help drive away
  ignorance and superstition?
• This book connects strongly to the themes in the
  previous books, furthering a historical
  perspective on current social issues. It is a
  very good independent read and great for
  discussions in book circles.

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The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
By Jacqueline Kell

• The grandfather in this story feeds his
  granddaughters
• curiosity for nature and the desire to become a
  scientist
• in a time when a girl was praised for her skill
  in the art of
• needlework.
• Society norms and expectations play a strong role
  in a childs education. What if their
  educational goals and expectations do not match
  with what you want or what you are interested in?
  What will you do when you grow up? Will you be
  able to choose? Developing self-determination
  will have a powerful effect on our future.
• A little deeper thinking, new ideas to consider,
  and invitations to connect with struggles of
  young people of our near past. An excellent
  book to tie into exploring and learning from
  nature.

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The Sheppards Granddaughter by Anne Laurel
Carter 

• Another perspective to consider, what if you are
• happy with your cultural traditions and you
  do not
• want to go to school for book learning. You
  believe
• that important people in your life can teach
  you what
• your heart yearns for most.
• The grandfather teaches the young girl the wisdom
  of a sheepherder. The brother in the story
  teaches her math and science so she can stay home
  and take care of the family sheep. When she has
  to go to school at age 16 she is at the top of
  her class. But she discovers that learning
  English will open many doors.
• We do learn from many people in our lives and in
  ways we might not fully understand. But when
  circumstances change and we have a fight to win,
  there are important lessons and skills we must
  reach out to learn on our own.

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Continuing Conversations

• If you noticed that the main characters in these
  books were girls, you also probably noticed that
  there were boys, fathers, and grandfathers who
  played in an important part to support the dream
  that was in their hearts. Education has been
  expressed as a basic world-wide human right.
  There are still powers in charge today who would
  prevent young people from obtaining the education
  they desire. I encourage you to keep reading
  about young people who overcome the struggle to
  go to school. Their stories truly make a
  difference in the lives of so many.