A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck

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A Long Way From Chicago

Richard Peck

Honor - 1999

Grade:

4-7

Topics:

Biplanes, Chicago, the Great Depression, grandparents, Illinois, travel

Summary:

Joey and his sister, Mary Alice visit their Grandma Dowdel every year during their summer vacation. They live in the big city of Chicago, while Grandma lives in a small Illinois town. We learn about small-town life during the Depression. There are seven short stories for the years 1929 through 1942. Grandma's life is different to say the least! Her town has many interesting characters. The story is told by Joe as an adult as he reminisces about those summer trips. Grandma's life makes for fun adventures.

Classroom Connections:

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Author and Book Connections
Richard Peck has written over twenty books including: Strays Like Us, The Great Interactive Dream Machine, Lost in Cyberspace, Father Figure, The Ghost Belonged to Me , Ghost I Have Been, Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death, The Last Safe Place on Earth, and Voices After Midnight.

Featured Author: Richard Peck from Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site http://www.carolhurst.com/authors/rpeck.html
Peck, Richard from Educational Paperback Association http://www.edupaperback.org/showauth.cfm?authid=68
Richard Peck from Penguin Group (USA) Inc. http://www.penguinputnam.com/Author/AuthorFrame?0000020017
Richard Peck from Random House Inc. http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/authors/peck.html
Richard Peck from Mona Kirby's The Author Corner http://ccpl.carr.org/mae/peck/peck.htm


Cool Classroom Connections
Summer Vacation. See how people used to spend their vacations at "Wayback". Explore the "Road Trips" page to see how other people have spent their summer vacations. Write about something funny that happened on your summer vacation. Compare your experience with Joey's.

Wayback: Summer Vacation from PBS's The American Experience http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kids/summer/features.html

Biplanes. Joey got the chance to ride in a biplane. Choose a picture of a plane from the Internet. Write about the things you might see if you were flying over your town in this plane.

Starduster Aircraft http://www.starduster.com/aircraft.html

Cities vs. Small Towns. Compare and contrast life in the city and country. Where do you live? Would you rather live in Chicago or a small town in Illinois. Why?

Grandma. The children spend summers with their grandmother. Read about Grandmothers. Write your own parent or grandparent poem. Read about Grandma Annie O'Neill. Write a story about an older person who is doing something great.

Grandma (Poem) by D. Thibodeaux http://www.angelfire.com/home/barbin/poem.html
"Grandma" (Article about a school volunteer) by A. O'Neill, Detroit News http://www.mppa.org/mppa/1994/feach-story2.html

Depression. The first few stories took place during the Depression. How did the Depression affect the small town?

Main Causes of the Great Depression by P.A. Gusmorino 3rd http://www.gusmorino.com/pag3/greatdepression/
Depression Years (Class project) from Point Grey Mini School, Vancouver, BC, Canada http://trinculo.educ.sfu.ca/pgm/depress/greatdepress.html
America from the Great Depression to World War II from the Library of Congress's American Memory Project http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html
Images of the Great Depression: A Photographic Essay by R.L. Stevens & J.A. Fogel http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/depression/stevens-fogel-photos.html
Photo Essay on the Great Depression http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/photoessay.htm
Photographs of the Great Depression http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blyindexdepression.htm
Great Depression from eduScapes 42eXplore http://42explore.com/depresn.htm

WebQuest & Lesson Plan Connections

Webquest--Parental Decisions (Grade 6) by M. Bonner

http://www.geocities.com/myraannbonner/LongWayfromChicago.html

This activity is based on the book: A Long Way From Chicago by R. Peck.

Book Discussion Guide: A Long Way From Chicago by R. Peck

from Talk It Up! at Multnomah County Library (Oregon)

http://www.multcolib.org/talk/yrca/guides-longway.html

Boom or Bust: Summers with Grandma (Grades 6-10) by D. Freeman & T. Hansen

http://www.chalkwaves.org/ntti_lessons/boom_or_bust_lesson.pdf

This study of the Great Depression uses the book: A Long Way From Chicago.

What Was So Great About the Great Depression? (Grades 6-10) by D. Freeman & T. Hansen

http://www.chalkwaves.org/ntti_lessons/great_depression.pdf

This is a lesson plan for learning about the Great Depression.

Developing Historical Perspective by L.L. Hinkle

http://www.whitevioletpictures.com/education/chicago.html

Here is a unit plan on A Long Way From Chicago.

TeacherVeiw: A Long Way From Chicago by K. Smith from Houghton Mifflin Company

http://www.eduplace.com/tview/pages/l/A_Long_Way_From_Chicago_Richard_Peck.html

This teacher review provides a summary and suggestions for analysis and writing activities.

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Created by Annette Lamb, 10/99. Updated by Nancy Smith, 09/03.

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