Summary:
Leo is a ten year old boy living in San Francisco. In the year 1906, everything that made the city everything it was changed. Within a minute an Earthquake destroyed 500 blocks throughout San Francisco. As this is happening you see Leo's life change as he faces death, saves people's lives, and finds what he's lost. While doing this and learning who his true friends are Leo is able to move on with his life and over come the disaster that he was forced to face.
- Disaster
- Traumatic
- Courage
- Survival
- Friendship
Teaching Strategies:
Key Vocabulary to Help With Understanding:
- Earthquake: A shaking or trembling of the earth that is volcanic or tectonic in origin
- After Shock: A smaller earthquake that occurs after a larger one
- Vibrations: A continuous slight shaking movement : a series of small, fast movements back and forth or from side to side
- Rubble: Broken pieces of stone, brick, etc., from walls or buildings that have fallen
- Collapsed: To break apart and fall down suddenly
- Scorching: To burn a surface of so as to change its color and texture
Electronic Resources:
I Survived: This scholastic website that contains all the I survived series books is a great resource for students to learn about the different books in the series and more about the events that took place in each of them. It also has interactive activities such as activities that connect the students with the book.
Earthquakes: This is a really useful tools for students to learn about earthquakes. They can learn about the latest earthquakes, play games, look at different animations, and even get ideas for science projects.
Before Reading Activity:
As a pre-reading activity for this novel have students learn about the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. The History channel provides a really good explanation of the earthquake and even some videos that would be useful to introduce students to the affect that it had on the city.
During Reading Activity:
As a during reading activity have the students create a wordle using the key words that make up this book. Words that describe what was happening around Leo and words that explain how Leo is feeling and what he is going through. After students create the wordle have them write a short explanation why they chose that word and how it pertains to the story. This will help students to understand the vocabulary and how they affect the story.
After Reading Activity:
This story affected many different people, rich, poor anyone. Using what the students know about the story, and about the earthquake have the students write a short story from a different perspective of someone going through what Leo went through. This will force students to think about how some so traumatic affects so many different people.
Writing Activity:
What Leo went through was unbearable, however many of the things that happened to him before, during, and after the earthquake could have been a lot different. Have students change an aspect of the novel that would affect the outcome. For example what if Leo never went through the fire to save Morris. What would happen to Morris and Leo?