Milkweed by Jerry SpinelliPublished 2003

""When you're nothing, you're free to believe in anything."

“This was the ghetto: where children grow down instead of up.” 

“You are what you are" "Which is what? I wondered” 

About Jerry Spinelli Born in 1941 in Norristown, Pennsylvania Has publishd over 25 YA books

Stargirl Maniac Magee Loser

Genre of books: Literature & Fiction

Overview• The book is about a boy in Warsaw, Poland in

the years of World War II during the Holocaust. • It is written in the perspective of a child • It begins in 1939 when the protagonist is a

nameless nobody on the street of Warsaw and he is forced to live the Ghetto

• He witnesses many happening such as the arrival of Nazi and tanks, the building of the wall that separated Warshaw and the Ghetto and the deportation of the Jews in trains

• He relies on agility, stealth, and size to survive and feed those he cares for

• He witnesses humiliation, malice, starvation, illnesses and death

Does the book tell a good story Yes this is a good story. The protagonist is an innocent little boy who learns who he is by having different identities. He is at first a nobody with no name( Stop Thief), then Misha Pilsudski (Gypsy), then Misha Milgrom (Jew brother & son) and finally Jack Milgrom(US immigrant) He lives his life carefree and with no real purpose and no true understanding what is going around him. “He is a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels.” He wants to be a Nazi. Circumstances force him to change his mind and he grows to learn to be part of a family and uses his agility, stealth and size to help those he loves and himself to survive the Holocaust in Warsaw, Poland.

Is the Story Accurate & Authentic

TimeWorld War II 1939 to Liberation of Warsaw by the RussiansDiscrimination of Jews Deportation of Jews in trains

SettingWarsaw, Poland

Germans invade parade of military and tanksForce Jews to paint shops and businesses with yellow star and where arm bands

Warsaw GhettoWall built to separate Nazi from Jews, Gypsy, and othersSmall spacesFood sparse or non existent-Gesia StJews forces to work for the Nazi under work permits

LanguageChild point of viewUsed words such as

Flop: Jewish PoliceJackboots: NazisTata: FatherShalom: Jewish

greeting+babkas: sweet yeast

cake

“Once. I was a human being once.” Janina’s MotherAdult voices are missing. There are a few adults but not really present. People who were not Jews but also in the Ghetto: Gypsy, Catholics,

Whose voice is missing?

Does it connect to current issues?Connection Nazi to Radical Muslims as supremacist groups

Attribute LinkingStrategy 3

Used as an Introductory lesson Designed to help students discuss

difficult issues, while also recognizing that they likely represent different perspectives

Help students to define, clarify, and personalize the roles of victim, perpetrator, and bystander

students look for attributes they share before they discuss issues on which they may differ, the exercise emphasizes commonality over differences 

Lesson 3 Students find a classmate with a similarity such as hair

or eye color, same size hand, height Pairs of students exchange definitions of

discrimination/racism and, if time permits, provide examples. The think-pair-share technique could be useful in this process.

students reach a mutually agreed upon definition of discrimination/racism to take to their next partner.

Do this four times with different characteristics. Share their definitions again, and re-negotiate and a mutually agreed upon definition

At the end of fourth turn, students must write one down a definition of discrimination.

At each turn students do a think pair share and give examples from life as a victim, predator and bystander if applicable or share thoughts

. Using felt-tip markers, have students write their "final" definitions of discrimination on a piece of colored construction paper, and post these around the classroom

Debrief as a class share definitions, similarities/differences and experiences

Character Charts

Strategy 2 Helps students organize information

about major and minor characters in a text

Used to record information about literacy characters, but can also be adapted to record information about historical figures.

Lesson 2 Decide why you are having students

keep these charts To help students more deeply understand

characters in the text To help students develop the skill of

looking for textual evidence To ensure accountability that students are

reading To help students prepare for an essay or

final project As an assessment tool to measure

students’ understanding of the text Decide if want to follow one or

multiple characters Character Charts Students can work individually or in

group

Strategy 1 Helps students practice being contributors

and listeners in a discussion Students ask questions, present opinions,

and share information when they sit in the “fishbowl” circle

Students on the outside of the circle listen carefully. Then reverse roles

make excellent pre-writing activities, often unearthing questions or ideas that students can explore more deeply in an independent assignment

Lesson 1 This format allows students to look at a question

or a text from various perspectives. First, assign perspectives to groups of students.

These perspectives could represent the viewpoints of different historical figures, characters in a novel, social categories (e.g. street urchin, Jew, jackboots or Flops) 

Each group discusses the same question, event or text representing their assigned perspective. 

The goal of this technique is for students to consider how perspective shapes meaning-making.

After all groups have shared, students can be given the opportunity to discuss their ideas and questions with peers from other groups.

Will turn in reflection of what they learned and evaluate their own participation

Fish Bowl