Before you read this post please understand that I firmly believe reading, modeling reading, teaching reading...so pretty much everything related to teaching reading...should always be authentic. Please use this post as a recommendation for a fabulous book to use with students and a professional resource to support your teaching (especially of the signposts in Notice and Note)!!!
Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli has quickly become one of my FAVORITE interactive read alouds. The characters are relatable to students, the writing is witty and clever, each chapter alternates being told from the point of view of Jake or Lily, and it shows such a realistic story of sibling relationships, friendships, and learning to understand others better as you begin to grow up. Jake and Lily is AWESOME for teaching so many things...character development, standards on point of view, and Notice & Note Signposts. Here are just a few of the signposts present along with a brief description of the text at those points. I should warn you that I am adamant about not "spoiling" the ending of books (which drives my students crazy when they try to squeeze info out of me), so this post will include signposts only part way though. My purpose is also to expose you to the potential this text has to create powerful teaching and learning, not give you all the right answers. It's up to you to use this as a springboard to go deeper with each signpost! :)
Again & Again
Right off the bat we get the opportunity to learn about Jake & Lily's past, just how connected they are, and what a unique relationship they have. We read story after story of how they are unable to play hide and seek, wander far apart on the beach but maintain a sense of being together, of a bruise appearing on Jake from where Bump (the neighborhood bully) hit Lily's arm and Jake knowing Lily was in trouble and rushing to her side... (to name a few...) Most significant of these stories is their waking in the middle of the night every year on their birthday at the train station, after the same dream, to the smell of pickles.
Contrasts & Contradictions
Shortly after reading about Jake and Lily's past, Jake starts realizing and pointing out that he and Lily are very different in many ways, despite being twins and having a history of similarity. Up to this point the book has clearly focused exclusively on Jake and Lily alikeness through sharing a room, having a special connection they call their "goombla," and receiving yearly identical presents from their Poppy (the name they've given to their grandfather). So Jake's sudden shift to pointing out differences becomes a distinctive contrast.
Again & Again
As Jake continues to point out all the ways they're different, Lily begins to point out or create situations to "prove" their alikeness. We continually hear Lily's response of, "We're the same." to Jake's, "We're different." This shift in Again & Again from showing how they are the same to showing how they are different foreshadows the conflict in the story.
Words of the Wiser
As Jake and Lily begin to grow apart Poppy begins to give Lily advice about how to "fix" their relationship and regain their "goombla." Poppy's first advice is explaining to Lily that Jake is just going through a phase & to cool it. (p. 29)
Memory Moment / Aha Moment / Words of the Wiser
In the chapter titled "Jake" on p. 65-72, Poppy brings Jake and Lily to a park outside town. While they lay under the stars he tells them of an experience he had 10 years ago in the Atacama Desert. (Memory Moment - look for foreshadowing of Jake & Lily's internal conflicts later on of feeling alone.) At this point in Poppy's life he was "searching for himself" after the death of his wife. One night he drove out the desert and just started walking, walking, walking, walking, until he finally looked up (literally and figuratively) for the first time and realized that he was still part of the earth and connected to everyone and everything here. He realized that even though he felt unbelievably lonely and alone, that he wasn't truly alone and that there's a difference between being alone and being lonely. (Poppy's Aha Moment - he uses this to share wisdom and advice, which also ties in Words of the Wiser) The author uses Poppy to explain to Jake and Lily that there are times in life when you feel lonely, alone, abandoned, etc, but that he's learned to recognize that you aren't really alone and need to find connections to other things that hold meaning in your life.
Words of the Wiser
As the story progresses Lily feels more and more alone as Jake develops other friendships. Poppy tries several times to advise Lily on finding "Just Lily," as he calls her. Getting mad, finding a best friend, finding a life, finding a hobby...all suggestions to help her feel less abandoned and more independent. He continues to give Lily different advice throughout the story, many ineffective, and my favorite involving a coconut.
Tough Question
As Lily deals with feeling abandoned, Jake wrestles with his newfound group of friends and a few bullying actions on the part of Bump. At the end of the chapter called "Jake" on p. 235, Jake finds himself contemplating, "Why do you even care what a goober thinks about you?"
And that's where I'm going to leave you to discover the remainder of the book on your own...happy reading!!!
No comments