Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

When picking out books for the 20 book challenge, I try my best to look for new content. I don't mean new as in it was recent released. New as in I have never read that genre, never heard of the author, or never heard of the book. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is new to me. Because I plan to teach upper elementary, I make sure to grab books that are both above and below grade level when I am at the library. This book is definitely above grade level. I would love to use this text to teach a reading unit to a 6th or 7th grade class when discussing The Great Depression. 

I was shocked when reading the first few chapters because of how real it felt. It honestly feels like you are in Mississippi in the 1930's during The Great Depression. Mildred Taylor does an excellent job taking you to that place. I suggest using this text as a whole class unit because of how advanced it is. Students would benefit greatly from breaking this text down and analyzing it together, potentially in small groups. Scholastic provides a fantastic reading guide for this book. If I were to actually use this reading guide in my classroom, I would only use a few of the activities. After reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller, I know whole class novel units are no longer the most effective approach to teaching reading or language arts. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry might be my one exception from the personal vow to not use whole class novel units. 

I have only read the first few chapters of this book, but I plan to finish it by tomorrow. I suggest this text for upper elementary for multiple reasons. First, I am impressed with the vocabulary used throughout the chapters. Words such as emblazoned, monotonous, and plaguing are frequently used. Most elementary students would not know these words. That is another reason I love this text. There is so much opportunity to grow as a reader from breaking the chapters down individually and analyzing them. And secondly, the concept of racial segregation can be a tough subject to teach. I think this book is such a raw depiction of The Great Depression.

I also wanted to mention that the Indiana Department of Education has amazing resources regarding civil rights and ethnic education.