Theme: With the book, Brothers, you can introduce your students to the History of the Great Potato Famine, Building of the Transcontinental Railroad, Immigration, Foreign Language, Chinese-American culture and Irish-American culture.

Pre-reading: Show the students the cover of the book, read the title, author and illustrator’s name. Ask them what they think the book will be about. Have the students look at a globe or world map to locate China, Ireland and the United States.

Reading: As you read, show the book’s illustrations and ask students to study the illustrations. What details can they find in the pictures? Have them look closely at the expressions on the faces of the characters – how do they change during the story? Ask the students how they think the characters are feeling. Can they tell by the illustrations? Find China, Ireland and California on a world map. Ask students to find San Francisco.

Interviews: Have students interview someone close to them. Ask them to discuss the many types of relationships – friendship, love, parenthood, etc. Encourage students to share what they have learned.

Math: Ask your students what devices made math easier before the invention of calculators? Introduce your students to an abacus (and demonstrate how to use it, if possible). They are typically made by stringing large beads between hardwood frames. The beads are then moved with your fingers up and down inside the frame to perform addition, subtraction, division and multiplication tasks.

Science: The Chinese practice traditional Chinese medicine. How is this method different from Western medicine? On page 27 of Brothers,  Shek uses a Chinese scale to weigh the herbs which will be used to treat his brother’s illness and disease. Have the class explore other method of Chinese medicine such as acupuncture, feng shui and tai chi.

Science: The potato famine killed over a million people in Ireland. Discuss with the class how the weather, a surge of illnesses, fungal spores, and other events contributed to the failure of the potato crops which caused the famine.

Plant Potatoes: If you look at the skin of a potato, you’ll notice brown spots with little bumps in the center. These bumps are where potatos sprout seedlings.

To grow potato plants, first, cut the potato into pieces, making sure that each piece has one or two bumps. Let them sit overnight.

Then spread 2 inches of soil in the bottom of a pot. Put 3 to 4 potato pieces into the pot and cover them with another 1 inch of soil. Do not completely fill the pot with soil. Water the soil well. Place in a sunny area.

Once the baby plant begins to grow, put more dirt in the pot and build it up around the sprout’s stem. Do not cover the plant with the soil. Leaves will appear in about a week. As the plant grows, continue pushing dirt up around the stem. Water regularly so that the soil is moist but not soggy.

In about 8 weeks, the potatoes will be about the size of golf balls. You can eat them once they get to this size or you can wait until they get bigger.

After growing potatoes, ask the class is they were easy and fun to grow. Try and make the connection why potatoes were so important in the past and the present to many people’s health and wellbeing.

Literature: Read Irish-Americans-Coming to America by Tom Diegnan. Find out what happened to Ming’s brothers by reading Coolies written by Yin. If you really enjoyed Brothers write a review and post it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, so others can enjoy your reading experience.

Art:  Realistic painting uses light and shadow. Ask someone to model for the class and have your students observe how shadows and light fall on the model. Talk about different art techniques. Explore watercolors by mixing primary colors to make secondary colors. Experiment with different brush strokes.

Bulletin Board: As a follow up to the reading, put together a list of the entire classroom’s nationalities (both sides of the family). Post it on the board to initiate conversations about America being a melting pot. Then, invite students to interview family members to discover how, when and under what circumstances their ancestors came to this country. Have the class draw family trees and display the results.

 

Brothers Lesson Plan

Created by Yinauthorvisits.com

Common Core Lessons: Created for yinauthorvisits, this packet of lesson plans is ready to download and print for use in your class. Designed for Common Core Standards for the 3rd Grade, the packet may be adjusted for grades higher and lower. Feel free to use and enjoy all or parts of the plan.