During this once a week, five week course, students will read "Nanea - Growing Up with Aloha" by American Girl.  This book takes place in Hawaii during World War II.  We will talk about the plot as well as some history surrounding this era.  Each week the students must have read 4 chapters to have a conversation about what Nanea has experienced, gone through, and felt.  Each class we will explore the students' ideas of what it would have felt like to live during this time period and in Nanea's "shoes".  

I would also like to encourage the student to journal as they read.  Questions they could ask themselves would be:
*  Why did the character(s) behave this way? What were the motivations of this character?
* Would I have done the same in his/her situation?
* What would I have done differently?
* Do I think what they did was right?  Why or why not?
* How would I feel in this situation?

I would love for this to be a time for students to delve into thinking and empathizing with the characters.  World War II was a time of uncertainty, as it is now with all that is going on in the world, and this would be a great way for students to explore their own feelings at this time.  I look forward to working with your child through this wonderful historical fiction.