Intermediate Guided Reading Lesson Plan
Title:
I Am An American by Jerry Stanley; Scholastic
ISBN 0-590-68444-2
Genre:
Biography
Literacy Core Objective:
Comprehension. Students understand, interpret, and analyze narrative and
informational grade level text.
Content Core Objective:
4th Grade Social Studies Standard I: Students will understand how Utah’s
history has been shaped by many diverse people, events, and ideas.
5th Grade Social Studies Standard V: Students will address the causes,
consequences and implications of the emergence of the United States as a
world power.
6th Grade Social Studies Standard IV: Students will understand current
global issues and their rights and responsibilities in the interconnected
world.
ELL Strategies:
Students reading at this level are likely to be quite fluent speakers of
English although they may need more support with idioms, expressions,
vocabulary, and multiple meaning words. This will affect their ability to
draw conclusions and infer from the text. Encourage these students to use
sticky notes or a notebook to jot questions they have while reading to be
discussed/clarified at the guided reading table during the following session.
Text
Level:
Structure:
Y
Narrative
Informational
Enduring
Understanding:
Purpose for reading
Learn basic
information
surrounding the
Japanese Internment
camps during World
War II
“I Can Statements” Essential Questions:
Why did the U.S.
Government decide
that JapaneseAmericans living on
the West Coast were a
threat to national
security during World
War II?
What was done about
this perceived threat?
Was it fair?
Other ELL strategies can be found at
http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/pages/4x4activity.htm
and tailored to the individual needs of your students.
Before Reading
Vocabulary:
Tier 2 Vocabulary Words: High frequency words that are found across a variety of domains. Provide
student-friendly explanations that tell what a word means in everyday connected language. For more
information, please see Bringing Words to Life by Beck & McKeyown.
internment
hysteria
prejudice
cistern
barracks
furlough
Activate/Build Prior Knowledge:
 Shared reading of the summary on the back cover of the book
 Have students study the pictures on the front cover and on the title page, why do you think the
author has chosen those two pictures to start the book?
Comprehension Strategy:
Summarizing
During Reading
Using appropriate Guided reading strategies, students will be reading at their own pace and teachers
will be listening to students read, monitoring, giving feedback, taking anecdotal notes and running
records.
Attend to Comprehension Within, Beyond, & About the text:
After Reading
Discussion questions:
 Are you surprised to learn about the Japanese internment?
 At the beginning of chapter 1 we learn that in the ten years from 1900 to 1910 the number of
Japanese living in the United States went from 25,000 to nearly 70,000. How do you think this
large, rapid influx of Japanese affected people’s ideas about the Japanese?
 What’s a “truck farmer”?
 What is your response to seeing a headline from a legitimate newspaper that starts, “Brown
Artisans Steal Brains of Whites?” (p. 7)
 Why do you think white Californians were so opposed to the “picture brides”?
 Students may need help understanding the importance of the difference in average value per acre
as described on page 9.
 What do you think about the argument “that maybe the Issei and Nisei who lived there would aid
the invasion”? (p. 16)
 Discuss the importance of the word “rumors” on page 17 and the twisted logic of the German
language students on the same page.
 How do you feel after reading page 18?
 Explain the idea of “group think” and how it relates to “mass hysteria” around page 21.
 Discuss the quote on page 23, “Most Americans have never seen a Japanese and had never
known one as a friend. This as much as anything else explains why they went along with the
decision to remove the Japanese.”
 Are you surprised that 73% of the Nisei had never been to Japan? (p. 25)
 What is your opinion of Mrs. McFarland? (p. 26)
 Why wouldn’t the government take responsibility for any possessions left behind by the
Japanese? (p. 29)
 What is your response to the information on page 31?
 What point is the author trying to make on the bottom of page 33 by saying, “Imagine, not a
mention of chopsticks and soy sauce among the everyday items!”
 Discuss the description of the dwellings on page 37.
 How do you feel about the Japanese being guarded? (p. 41)
 Why do you think Shi would sneak out of the camp? (p. 51)
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Shi says, “They seemed surprised at our command of the English language.” What do you think
the people of Montana were expecting? (p. 54)
On the bottom of page 57 it says that the townspeople came out to see the Japanese. Would you
have been one of them?
Discuss the difference in the experiences of the furlough workers in rural areas compared to near
large cities. Why do you think that is? (p. 59)
Why do you think the military officials were surprised at how few of the Nisei spoke Japanese?
(p. 62)
Discuss the quote on page 64, “…We would dare them to say things like they have in front of
us.”
What do you think about the sorting out questions? What do you think about the 5,700 Nisei nono’s? (p. 69)
What is your opinion about Tom Clark after reading his statement on pages 80-81?
Read the part on page 82 about Captain Inouye’s experience at the barber shop. How do you
think you would have felt if you had seen that first hand? How does it relate to all the “no
bullying” messages you get at school?
Discuss the financial implication of the internment described on page 84.
Attend to Comprehension Within, Beyond, & About the text:
Content Core Integration:(Science, Soc. St., Math, etc.)
Assessment:
Activities:
 Watch the video “Topaz”. This is available
on eMedia. To get to eMedia, log in to
 See attached writing assignment
uen.org, click on Pioneer Library, and then
 A rubric for narrative writing is available here
eMedia. Search for “Topaz”.
http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/l
esson116/narrativerubric.pdf.
 A less wordy rubric is available here
http://mrbraiman.home.att.net/wp2.htm.
*Not all activities will be done in each lesson. Some lessons may take multiple days to complete.
However, all students should be reading each time you meet.
Writing Prompt: Response to Japanese Internment Reading
Imagine that you live in a time when the U. S. Government has gone to war with aliens from outer
space. Interestingly enough, aliens look just like humans, except that all aliens have attached ear
lobes. The government has decided that all people with attached ear lobes must have a shared
ancestor with the enemy, therefore those people’s loyalty to the United States is questionable. All
people with attached ear lobes will be interned for national safety.
Complete the writing assignment that corresponds to your ear lobes. Base your writing on what
you learned about the treatment of the Japanese-Americans during World War II.
Attached Ear Lobes
Suddenly people react differently to you.
You are going to be interned for the
duration of this war. You are allowed to
take what you can carry.
Write a narrative account of your
internment which includes the following:
 Reaction from the people you know
whose earlobes are not attached – did
your friends treat you differently?
 Your reaction to the Government’s
decision.
 How were you treated by the military
personnel who transported you to your
internment camp?
 Where is your internment camp and
what it is like?
 What are some of the typical things you
do on a regular day there?
Not Attached Ear Lobes
You are safe from internment, but are your
parents and your friends?
Write a narrative account of the internment
which includes the following:
 Who do you know who is being
interned?
 Your reaction to the Government’s
decision.
 Tell me about an experience you had
with an AEL (Attached Ear Lobe
person) during the internment period.