Author: Uhlberg, Myron Title: Dad, Jackie, and Me
Summary: This book is set in 1947 in New York City. This story portrays the passion that a young boy and his deaf father have for baseball; both of them love the Brooklyn Dodgers, and this is a historical time for baseball. Jackie Robinson has just begun to play ball with the Dodgers, and he is the first black man to play in the major leagues. Highlights of the summer of 1947 for this young boy and his father include many days spent together at Ebbets Field watching baseball games. Read this book to learn what this deaf father and Jackie have in common.
Personal rating: **** Great
Rationale: Well written, great illustrations, and believable characters
Reading level: 4.0 Interest level: K- 4th
Thematic Areas: Compassion, endurance, family, hardship
Content Areas: Health, History, Math, Language Arts, Physical Education
Potential Problems or Difficulties: Some students may have a hard time seeing this as a work of fiction, because of Jackie Robinson is in the story. This would be a good opportunity to distinguish to them the difference of historical fiction and non-fiction.
Possible use in classroom:
· The teacher could teach students the rules of baseball and talk about good sportsmanship. Students could then participate in an actual soft ballgame for physical exercise and an opportunity to learn how to work with classmates on a team.
· For a connection to Math, the teacher could bring in a newspaper and discuss the stats of the players and help the students understand what these numbers represent. Then for an activity, the students could use computers or newspapers to look up and compare the stats of different teams, showing similarities and differences on a chart. Prediction of the teams’ end of season standings would be a good activity for students to participate in. Then at the end of the season students could research the actual final stats to see if their predictions were true.
· For younger students the teacher could have student use math manipulatives to work on addition. The students would be given scenario (I.e. Your team has four runs and two children on base. When these children cross the home plate what will be your teams score?) Once the students figured out the solution with manipulatives then they would be asked to represent their solutions on paper. After everyone had completed the assignment students could explain their answers to each other.
· This book could be used to teach a history lesson on the era of civil rights movement. Students could interact in a group discussion about what it would have felt like to be Jackie. They could compare and contrast the “father” figure in the book with Jackie Robinson.
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