Today my students impressed me so much! We were reading Jane Yolen’s The Devil’s Arithmetic and discussing the part of the story where Hannah/Chaya experiences the tattooing of Jews in the camps. One of my students raised his hand and said, “Ms. M., that reminds me a lot of Chains“.
Intrigued, I encouraged him to continue.
“Well, the tattooing reminded me of Isabel being branded with an ‘I’ by Mrs. Lockton. In Chains, the ‘I’ is a punishment, a way for Mrs. Lockton to take even more away from Isabel. But instead, Isabel took back the branding and made it hers. She said the ‘I’ stood for Isabel, for her, and not for insolent. And now Hannah/Chaya is taking back the tattoo, making it meaningful to her instead of just giving in and taking it.”
WOW! I had never even thought of that connection, but how great is that? It’s so true, and such a solid connection between the two novels we read this year. I am so proud of my students!
Filed under: comprehension, read alouds, text-to-text connections | Tagged: chains, jane yolen, laurie halse anderson, text-to-text connections, the devil's arithmetic |
The Reading Zone 
That is really great, Sarah. And it totally means that you’re doing something right as a teacher.
What a wonderful moment to have as a teacher!! You have nurtured some students that know how to think critically about books — what a gift you have given them!