How I Learned Geography

How I Learned Geography
Written and Illustrated by: Uri Shulevitz
Published by: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux 2008
Grade Levels: 2-5

Genre: Picture Book, Multicultural, Biography

Caldecott Medal Honor Book

Theme/Skill: It talks about refugees, maps, geography, Uri Shulevitz, survival, and hospitality. 

Synopsis:  This book is based on Uri Shulevitz childhood memories as little boy and tells the story of his family who had to flee their homeland to live in another country during the war.  At the time the food is very scarce and the family does not have a lot of money to buy anything.  One day, the father spends his money on a map rather than bringing home food for his family to eat.  The boy ends up using the map and studying it.  It takes his mind off of being hungry and allows him to visit in his mind every place that he studies on the map.  In the end, the boy uses the map as a form of survival by traveling to places using his imagination and going to places he would have never dreamed of. 

About the Author and Illustrator: Uri Shulevitz
Uri Shulevitz was born on February 27,1935 in Warsaw, Poland.  When he was only four, the Warsaw Blitz occurred and his family had to flee their homeland.  After eight years, the family eventually ended up in Paris in 1947.  Ever since he was young, he had a fascination for drawing and in Paris created comic books just like the French ones.  Two years later, in 1949, the family moved to Israel.  There he worked numerous jobs including a rubber-stamp apprentice, a carpenter, and a dog-license clerk at Tel Aviv City Hall. In Tel Aviv, he studied literature, anatomy, and biology at the Teachers' Institute.  He also studied at the Art Institute of Tel Aviv.  In 1959, he studied painting at the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York City and drew illustrations for Hebrew books.  He published his first book in 1963 entitled, The Moon in My Room.  Since then he has become known as an illustrator and author and published many children's books.  He is also a Caldecott Medal Winner for The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship and honors for The Treasure, Snow, and How I Learned Geography.  He currently lives in New York City. 

Source used:   http://us.macmillan.com/howilearnedgeography/UriShulevitz

Pre-Reading Activities:

In pairs, have children complete the Anticipation Guide that is attached by answering true or false to the questions.  Remind them that these are simply what they think and it will not be graded.  In their pairs, have them discuss what they think the answer is and then come to an agreement and right true or false.  This anticipation guide talks about war and map skills.  Then when you are reading the book aloud, remind them to look at their answers and decide if they were right or wrong.  Then talk about Uri Shulevitz the author, and who he was.  Show them a picture of him when he was young and explain that the book is based on his childhood memories and something that really happened to him.  Talk about World War II and the effects it had on him in Poland when he was just a little boy.  Then start to read the book. 

Go to Attachment A

Post-Reading Activities: First ask questions about the text in general about Uri Shulevitz such as: Why did he have to move? What was his life like? What kind of places did he go to? What did he use to help distract him from hunger? Create a web diagram with the name Uri Shulevitz in the middle and record the answers to the questions down.

Then give pairs a couple minutes to make sure their new answers for the Anticipation Guide are correct. Then go over the answers and have students hand in their completed sheet.

After this take out a real map and hang it on the board. Explore the different things that children see on a map like cities, water, countries, mountains, deserts, etc. Then give each of them a picture that relates to the book and have them come locate it on the map. Students will learn how to relate photographs to places on the map and be able to learn how to locate them. When this is done students will share with their partner which place they would most want to go visit and why.

Lessons plans cited from:https://childrenslit-socialstudies.wikispaces.com/How+I+Learned+Geography+Reinforcing+Activity

Reflection:  I think that this book has such beautiful illustrations.  It allows children to imagine the places he goes to as well with the details of each picture on the page to go with it.  I think that it has a variety of uses in the classroom that allow teachers to use it for number of different grade levels.  The grade level would depend on what topic the teacher would relate the book to, whether it be older grades to talk about geography and war or younger grades where they would be learning map skills.  The text delivers such an important message using simple sentences that allow younger students to understand the story and what is going on.  I would definately use this book in my classroom!