About this story:
This is a Asian-American inspired story about a girl who loves to dance. In the beginning, you find out that she has just been named the leading female role in the upcoming ballet recital. As she is walking home from dance class with her friends, she is being mocked by one of the boys, loses her temper, grabs her bag and swings it at him. Unfortunately, she looses her grip on the strap and it goes flying into the nearby fish store window. As the owner comes out asking how she's going to pay for the damage, she agrees to work it off by helping him at his store. As she starts to work for him, she quickly sees that he is a grumpy man who doesn't find pleasure in hardly anything in the world--expect for his precious angelfish. With the help of her grandmother, she soon finds out that the reason for his grumpiness has to do with the Chinese Cultural Revolution. She learns the importance of showing compassion to others and that everyone has struggles that they deal with every day.
What comes from this book:
After the reading of this story, you can expect your students to not only get a glimpse at the Chinese Culture, but to also understand that even though people are vastly different, they all have the same requirements when it comes to needs: everyone needs a friend to show compassion and understanding. The lesson learned here is that people aren't grumpy because they hate everything. There is bound to be something that happened to them that caused them to turn that way and judging them based on how they deal with that struggle is just as bad.
Classroom uses for this book:
Students will learn a lot about the Chinese culture from this book. The Chinese Cultural Revolution actually happened, so it could be used as the base of a research project. It could also be used as a cause-and-effect book project.
Further information about this book:
Yep, Laurence. Angelfish. New York: Putnam's, 2001. Print. ISBN: 0-3999-23041-6
This is a Asian-American inspired story about a girl who loves to dance. In the beginning, you find out that she has just been named the leading female role in the upcoming ballet recital. As she is walking home from dance class with her friends, she is being mocked by one of the boys, loses her temper, grabs her bag and swings it at him. Unfortunately, she looses her grip on the strap and it goes flying into the nearby fish store window. As the owner comes out asking how she's going to pay for the damage, she agrees to work it off by helping him at his store. As she starts to work for him, she quickly sees that he is a grumpy man who doesn't find pleasure in hardly anything in the world--expect for his precious angelfish. With the help of her grandmother, she soon finds out that the reason for his grumpiness has to do with the Chinese Cultural Revolution. She learns the importance of showing compassion to others and that everyone has struggles that they deal with every day.
What comes from this book:
After the reading of this story, you can expect your students to not only get a glimpse at the Chinese Culture, but to also understand that even though people are vastly different, they all have the same requirements when it comes to needs: everyone needs a friend to show compassion and understanding. The lesson learned here is that people aren't grumpy because they hate everything. There is bound to be something that happened to them that caused them to turn that way and judging them based on how they deal with that struggle is just as bad.
Classroom uses for this book:
Students will learn a lot about the Chinese culture from this book. The Chinese Cultural Revolution actually happened, so it could be used as the base of a research project. It could also be used as a cause-and-effect book project.
Further information about this book:
Yep, Laurence. Angelfish. New York: Putnam's, 2001. Print. ISBN: 0-3999-23041-6