Get to Know Your Neighborhood With The Vanderbeekers Book Club!

This class aims to dive into and discuss the Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, by Karina Yan Glaser. We will explore the amazing characters that this author created, and will also explore the unlikely character that is their neighborhood, Harlem N.Y.
The class will follow a Book Club format where we read approximately 3 chapters per week and explore themes of neighborhoods, personal interests, family dynamics and what it means to be a part of a community. Week-by-week, students will also explore their neighborhoods, personal interests, and sense of community by completing a series of journal entries, maps, Venn diagrams and collages. 

This is the breakdown of the 8-week course:
Week 1: The teacher will introduce the book, and begin with a read aloud. Students will be introduced to key vocabulary related to writing a brief summary, character descriptions and map making. Homework- 1) Create a map of your house/apartment. 2) Brief written summary of chapters 1-3.
Week 2: Discussion of chapters 1-3. Students will review the Vanderbeekers' favorite holiday recipes, and students will share their favorite holiday/family meals. Students will review neighborhood description in the first 3 chapters, and begin to map out their own neighborhoods. Homework- 1) Create a basic map of your neighborhood (given a visual organizer). This map will be ongoing. 2) Brief written summary of chapters 4-6. 
Week 3: Discussion of chapters 4-6. Students will be shown different examples of a Rube Goldberg Machine, and review the Rube Goldberg Machine built by the Vanderbeekers'. The class will also discuss the reasons the Vanderbeekers wanted to remain in Harlem. Homework - 1) Complete Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting Harlem with student’s neighborhoods. 2) Brief written summary of chapters 7-9.
Week 4: Discussion of chapters 7-9. The students will be introduced to the book Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson (referred to in chapters 7 & 8). The students will describe the Vanderbeekers neighbors. Homework- 1) Complete the Neighbor worksheet. 2) Brief written summary of chapters 10-12. 
Week 5:  Discussion of chapters 10-12. The students will discuss the Vanderbeekers holiday traditions and their own holiday traditions. The students will be introduced to what petitions are (referenced in chapter 12. Homework- 1) Create a petition that would benefit your neighborhood. 2) Brief written summary of chapters 13-15. 
Week 6: Discussion of chapters 13-15. Students will listen to Dvorak’s Humoresque (referenced in chapter 13). Students will compare the Vanderbeekers’ friendships with their own friendships. Homework-  1) Complete friendship collage. 2) Brief written summary of chapters 16-19.
Week 7: Discussion of chapters 16-19. Children will watch the “How to use lemons to light a bulb experiment” written about in chapter 16. Discuss random acts of kindness. Homework- 1) Complete “random acts of kindness for my neighborhood” worksheet. 2) Brief written summary of chapters 20-23 
Week 8: Discussion of chapters 20-23. Teacher reads Epilogue aloud. This class will culminate in students sharing journal entries, art work and/or maps that they created throughout the 8-week course.