Offers an option to revisit the text to demonstrate comprehension through discussion and writing about reading.
Song in the City
AFTER READING
Write About What Emmalene Is Thinking Say: Readers learn about characters in a story from • what the character does and says • how the character reacts to events, and • what others say and think about the character Understanding the characters helps readers feel as if they’re getting to know the characters and makes reading more enjoyable. Revisit pages 20 and 21. Ask: What is Emmalene thinking as she walks away from Grandma Jean? More to Explore Book Club Discussion Have children meet in small groups to think about the text and discuss the questions below. • Someone Like Me/Memorable Characters Emmalene helps Grandma Jean understand that one thing she likes about the city she lives in is listening to the sounds. Imagine that Emmalene was visiting you in your neighborhood. Where is one place that you enjoy that you’d like to take her? What do you think she’d enjoy about this place? Enhance Well-Being and Build Life Skills Say: Emmalene finds joy in each sound she hears—from the tapping of her white cane on the sidewalk, to the bus’s boom, to the wind flapping. To her, each sound is a city song. Grandma Jean depends more on her sense of sight than on what she hears. When Emmalene covers Grandma Jean’s eyes, Grandma Jean finally understands what Emmalene appreciates about the sounds she hears. Why is it important to stop and listen and try to understand what your friends and family are saying or asking? Have children turn and talk with a partner. Then select a few children to share their thinking with the class.
Have children work as a group to fill in thought bubbles for what Emmalene might be thinking. Some examples: Why can’t Grandma Jean hear what I hear? or I wish I had a way to make Grandma Jean hear the song I hear. Finally, read aloud page 39. Ask: What has changed about how Emmalene is thinking? Why? Invite children to draw Emmalene and write in thought bubbles what Emmalene is thinking at the end of the story. You may wish to share some sentence frames for children to use, such as: I want Grandma Jean to know ______ or I’m glad she understands ______. Practice Fluency: Echo Reading This book’s rhyming narration and colorful sound words that also rhyme encourage reading aloud with a rhythm varying the volume, expression, and emotion. Read pages 2 to 7 and read aloud a sentence or part of the text first, and then ask children to repeat it back together, mirroring your expression, fluency, rhyme, and pacing. Make up your own melody and try reading it again as a song. Activity: A Song of Sounds Invite children to make up their own sound songs. Have each child think of a sound and draw a picture to show what the sound represents. For example, the sound tweet-tweet represents a bird, and the sound woof-woof represents a dog. Then have children work in small groups and set their sound words to a simple melody the class knows. Ask volunteers to share their pictures and sound songs with the class. Spotlight: Daniel Bernstrom Like Emmalene, author Daniel Bernstrom is visually impaired. He’s had limited eyesight since he was a child. When he read picture books, he appreciated the sounds of words because he struggled to see the illustrations. As Daniel’s vision got worse, he found a rhythm and beauty in what he could hear, and that inspired him to write Song in the City . He hopes that readers will use their own sense of hearing and listen to the rhythm in everyday sounds.
Further connect with the text and its relevance to children’s lives. Options are provided for book club discussion, enhancing well-being and building life skills, practicing fluency, a creative activity, and an opportunity
to share more insight on the book’s author or illustrator.
Connect to Other Texts Preview or review other texts in this or any other Rising Voices library that are also linked to the theme Someone Like Me/Memorable Characters. Ask: How are the people in these books similar to Emmalene or Grandma Jean? How are the people in these books similar to someone you know in real life?
ISBN 979-8-225-06361-0. Pack ISBN 979-8-225-06368-9.
Rising Voices: Honoring the Richness of Black Stories
RVHRBS_TC_G1_SongintheCity.indd 2
8/19/25 3:05 PM
Promotes text-to-text connections with other books in the Rising Voices libraries.
Teacher’s Guide • 15
Sample Teacher’s Guide | 11
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs