L. King Perez

Summary

Chico and his family traveled to different migrant camps picking fruits and vegetables for a living. They lived in poor conditions. His first day in the migrant camp to pick grapes, Chico was afraid to go to school. He was afraid of how he would be treated by the other kids because his English was not very good. His teacher in school turned out to be very nice to Chico and that motivated him to try hard in his schoolwork. He soon surprised her with his amazing ability to add large numbers, a skill he learned fom working in the farms and adding large numbers of fruits. At lunch some troublemakers began to make fun of Chico's food. Instead of engaging in a fist fight Chico challenged them with Math questions that theycould not answer. In the end they backed off and left Chico alone. The students were proud of Chico for standing up to these bullies.

Critique

This book is a reminder that every person is gifted in one way or another and student should be encouraged to focus on that gift instead of trying to be something they are not. I believe the story is an encouragement to kids who find themselves in any kind of unfortunate situation. Chico represents a hero for them.

Prompts

p.3 Why did Chico not want to go to school? Discuss reasons why he was afraid.
p.14 Have you ever been afraid and a teacher encouraged you? Share your experience.
p.16 How did Chico's work in the fields help him to do Math?
p.22 How did Chico "fight" the bullies? What lesson can we learn from this method?

Craft Element for mini-lesson

Compare and contrast
Compare Chico's attitude toward school before he confronted the bullies to his attitude after the confrontation. Use evidence from the book to support your answer.… (more)

Summary: Chico Padilla and his family moved from one migrant camp to the next. Their current migrant camp is a camp for picking grapes. It was his parents job to pick grapes all day, while Chico job was to go to school. He was in 3rd grade at a new school. He didn't want to go to school because he felt that it was useless. He wanted to be a race car driver when he got older. But he went to school anyways. When he got to school he met a kid, named John Evans. He was nice to Chico. He even told him about the math fair that the school was having because Chico seemed to be really good at math. But Chico knew that his family would move again before the fair because they were always moving. At lunch the school bullies approach Chico's table to make fun of the new kid. Chico was ok with the bullies making fun of his food, but when they started talking about his mother he had an issue with that. He stood up and handled the issue. But he didn't use violence, he used his math ability. After other students started saying things to the bullies, the bullies left. He started the day not wanting to go, but by the end of the day he actually had a pretty good first day.

Critique: I feel that kids today could relate to this book. There are families out there who are constantly moving from home to home. This is either because parents get new jobs, or money issues. This book shows students that no matter how many schools you move to, you have to remember if you make a new friend, and enjoy yourself, then the fear of starting a new school won't be so scary.

Prompt: Think aloud- Before reading ask students to give their opinion about changing school. Have them talk about their fears. Also do a picture walk with your students. Have them tell you what they think the pictures are saying. Then after reading compare their answers to what really happened.

Craft Element:
Reading/Writing - talk to your students about bulling and explain to them how it is not ok in school. Then have students write about how they can solve a problem without using violence.… (more)