Winter, J. (1988). Follow the Drinking Gourd. Illus. James Ransome. New York, NY: Random House.
Brief Annotation: This is a story about an African-American family during the time of slavery in the America. The family takes the journey of ‘following the drinking gourd’ (the big dipper) in order to receive freedom. The family goes into a lot of hardships and challenges but eventually find the freedom they are looking for in Canada.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Grade Level: 3-5
Readers who will like this: Readers learning about slavery, readers who enjoy characters overcoming a challenge and fighting for what they want
Response/Rating (1-4): 4-Another book I would love for a unit!
One question you would ask before a read aloud: Have you ever heard of the Underground Railroad?
Reading Strategies Connection: A good instructional strategy that would be beneficial in this story is “Book Talks” (Tompkins p. 14). “Book Talks” is a motivational strategy that gets students interested in reading books. The teacher shows the book, summarizes it without giving away the ending, and reads a short excerpt aloud to hook students’ interest. The teacher then places the book in the classroom library for students to read. This is an informal activity that will develop oral language, comprehension, and content areas for any grade level. The teacher is not the only one that can give a book talk, students can too. Students can give a book talk on a book they really enjoy reading. We have done casual book talks in our class and it has prompted me to read several of the suggestions given! Motivation is an important quality to pass onto students in their journey or reading.
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