Kira-Kira

(Kadohata, C. (2004). Kira-kira . New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.)

Summary: Kira-Kira, meaning glittery in Japanese, is how Katie’s sister Lynn views the world. Lynn helps Katie deal with their family’s move from Iowa to rural Georgia, where their parents work overtime to be able to support the family and fulfill Lynn’s dream of owning a house. Lynn helps Katie transition and deal with the changes that came with living in a community with few Japanese. When Lynn falls sick and their parents are working overtime, Katie becomes the one to encourage the Kira-Kira outlook of seeing the beautiful in the ordinary.

Reading Level: Ages 9-12, Lexile 740L

Key words/phrases:

    1. Japanese-Americans

    2. Sisters

    3. Death

    4. Injustice

    5. Rural Georgia 1950s

Suggested Delivery: Individual

Electronic Resources:  

1.   Japanese American National Museum provides students with cultural background on Japanese Americans throughout United States history. Specifically the “Toyo Miyatake Studio / Rafu Shimpo Collection” provides information about Japanese Americans during the 1950s.
2.    Asian Pacific American Historical Timeline Details (1950 to 1959) provides a timeline starting in 1950 of Japanese American history.

Chicken hatchery

Teaching Suggestions:

   Key Vocabulary: Hatchery, Anemia, Sexers, Inoculators, Lymphoma, Union

   Reading Strategies to increase comprehension:

         Before:  Students can read the back cover of the book, and perhaps a summary online (http://www.amazon.com/Kira-Kira-Cynthia-Kadohata/dp/0689856407/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315354768&sr=1-1) and make three predictions about what will happen in the book in their reader’s notebook.

         During: Students can write a brief one to two sentence summary after each chapter to display comprehension of what they have read. The teacher can check in the students reading journal to ensure that the student comprehends the story. If they are not, the teacher can intervene with a reader’s conference to clear up confusion and encourage rereading.

         After: After the student finishes the book, have an informal reader’s conference to discuss it one on one. Analyze their responses to ensure they have reached an understanding of the book and any confusion that may have happened earlier has been cleared up. This is also a good time to go back to the original predictions and see if any of them were correct. During this conference, the teacher could also suggest other books about similar topics that might be of interest to the student. Such books are Weedflower also by Cynthia Kadohata about Japanese Americans; and Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick about siblings with cancer.

  

 Writing activity demonstrating inferential comprehension: Observe one day with the spirit of kira-kira. Write a poem, story, or journal entry in your writing journal of the things in your life which have kira kira in them that you might not have initially noticed before looking at them with the spirit of kira-kira.


  Cynthia Kadohata