One Green Apple

There are lots of good children's books out there, but I am so excited to share a book I think is GREAT!  One Green Apple by Eve Bunting is one of my favorites.  Bunting shares a simple story about a young immigrant girl, who speaks no English, on her first day of school in America.   Children will empathize with the main character -- they are able to imagine what it would be like to be in a country where they dressed differently than everyone else and spoke a different language.  This story truly teaches compassion, warmth and friendship.

Since children can empathize with the main character, this is a great book to make text-self connections and build on their schema (background knowledge).  Sound familiar?  Yep, children can make connections to most books!  When students connect what is happening in the story to events in their own like you know they understand what they are reading!  The more connections a child makes, the better!  There are also opportunities in the story to infer or draw conclusions because so much of the story deals with human emotions. 

Below are a few questions to guide your thinking conversation with your child. As always, the questions above are just a guide to enhance your comprehension conversation with your child.  Only ask your child questions when it feels natural and will help enhance their understanding of the meaning this story is sharing.

1.  Read to the end of page 6.  Ask your child:  What does the author mean when she says students looked at the girl coldly? Why do you think some kids would look at her like that?  What do you do when you have a new student in your class?

2.  Read to the end of page 7.  Ask your child: How do you think the girl feels about being the only one in her class to wear a dupatta?   Can you think of a time when you felt different?

3  Read to the end of page 12.  Ask your child:  How would you feel if you could not communicate with your teacher or friends?

4.  Read to the end of page 14.  Ask your child:  Why do you think Farah picks a green apple?  What do Farah and the green apple have in common?

5.  Read to the end of page 19.  Ask your child:  Why do you think the boy wants to stop Farah from putting her green apple into the machine?

6.  Read to the end of page 28.  Ask your child:  How do you think Farah feels?   

7.  Read to the end of page 32.  Ask your child:   What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach us? 

Happy reading and conversing!