Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Significant Ideas Anchor Chart

RI.8.3

(Example for Teacher Reference)

A significant idea
 is usually not directly stated, but can be inferred from a close analysis of the text;
 can emerge from drawing connections across or distinctions among events and/or
individuals in a text; and
 deepens the reader’s understanding of the text.

The idea of internment was based on dangerous and unsupported assumptions.

How do the authors convey this significant idea?
 Connection between Papa and the enemy as justification for arrest and detention in
chapter 1.
 Riots in which MPs shoot and kill internees show that their assumptions led to
violence and death in chapter 9.
 Connections among Supreme Court cases and closing of camps in chapter 16.
 Connection between Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima bombings in chapter 17.
 Radine assuming Jeanne didn’t speak English; Jeanne not being allowed to be in Girl
Scouts (chapter 20).
 Woman yelling at Jeanne and Kiyo, calling them “dirty Japs” and telling them to “go
back to Japan” (168).
 Connection between the causes of internment (dangerous and unsupported
assumptions as well as fear and hatred) and many people’s response to the terrorist
attacks of 9/11 (to blame all Muslim Americans for the act of a few non-Americans).

1
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Jeanne’s youth impacts her understanding of events in the text.

How do the authors convey this significant idea?
 Distinction between Jeanne’s and Mama’s reactions to Papa’s absence that show that
Jeanne does not understand why Papa was taken away or what might happen to the
family (8).
 Jeanne tries to befriend the driver who will take them to Manzanar (16).
 Jeanne didn’t understand the meaning of inu until she was an adult (60–61).
 Connection between Papa being taken away and Woody’s departure for the war in
chapter 15; Jeanne didn’t understand either departure, but both felt significant to
her.
 Distinction between Jeanne’s ideas about “outside” life in America and the reality
faced by those who left the camps and returned in chapter 16.
 Distinction between Jeanne’s children’s experience of visiting the camp (they were
bored and hot; wanted to leave) and her own experience living there in chapter 22
(it was no place for a child).

Mama has a deep sense of personal dignity, which is threatened by the conditions at
Manzanar.
How do the authors convey this significant idea?
 Distinction between the different homes in Ocean Park (nice, big, special), Terminal
Island (a shack, scary/tough children), Boyle Heights (a slum, cold teacher), and
Manzanar in chapter 2 (worst, unlivable conditions).
 Descriptions of Mama’s reaction to the dealer offering her a humiliatingly low price
for heirloom china (12).
 Distinction between Mama’s and Woody’s attitudes to highlight Mama’s outrage at
the conditions at Manzanar; through dialogue from Mama—“Animals live like this”
(24).
 Descriptions of Mama reacting to the disgusting latrines; wanting cleanliness, privacy
(28–30).

Manzanar pulled the Wakatsuki family apart.

How do the authors convey this significant idea?
 Distinction between mealtimes before and after Manzanar—without shared
mealtimes, the Wakatsukis felt like less of a family.
 Papa has become so broken by internment that he drinks and beats Mama until Kiyo
physically defends her. The family is violently torn apart by their unjust imprisonment (61–

2
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

64).
 Chapter 15 details all the departures of the family from Manzanar; the camp was so
terrible that as soon as Jeanne’s siblings could, they left Manzanar (and therefore their
family).
Papa feels deeply conflicted loyalties, both to Japan and to America.
How do the authors convey this significant idea?
 Analogy that compares the two countries to his mother and father (58); through
dialogue that shows Papa’s frustration at having to “choose” one country over
another (56–57); through a description of Papa burning the Japanese flag (6).
 Loyalty oath discussions between Papa and Woody (and others) show how conflicted
Papa is: he is being asked to show loyalty to the country he has chosen to live in for
most of his life, but which denies him citizenship, and he is being asked to deny the
country of his birth which still offers him citizenship. He would become a man with
no country. (chapter 11)
 Allusion to Japanese national anthem in chapter 11, which shows his loyalty to
Japan.

Papa’s experiences of internment forever changed his identity.

How do the authors convey this significant idea?
 Papa’s arrival at the camp: “the first thing we saw was a cane . . . then Papa stepped
out, wearing . . . a wilted shirt . . . He had aged ten years. He looked over sixty,
gaunt, wilted as his shirt, underweight, leaning on that cane and favoring his right
leg” (41).
 Distinction between Papa before the camps and Papa in camp in chapter 8: Papa’s
“dark, bitter, brooding presence” (59) is “unfamiliar” and a “demon” compared with
the man who “lived in Ocean Park” (63).
 Distinction between Papa and Woody after reentry into “normal” life in chapter 20;
Woody seemed to grow; Papa seemed to shrink.

The experiences of internment led to tension and conflict among the Japanese
internees.
How do the authors convey this significant idea?
 Distinctions among all the different perspectives of those in camp in chapter 9:
“Some retreated. Some struck back” (65).
 “Some meetings turned into shouting sessions. Some led to beatings . . .

3
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Assassination threats were commonplace” (66).

 Pages 68–69: before and at the beginning of the riot, the rioters beat other
internees.
 Distinction between Papa’s and Woody’s opinions about the Loyalty Oath in chapter
11: Papa is conflicted about how to respond; Woody is confident that he should
respond Yes, Yes.

4
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Jeanne’s family found solace and the strength to survive by turning to nature and its
lessons of endurance and patience.
How do the authors convey this significant idea?
 Allusion to Japanese national anthem in chapter 11: nature giving solace and the
strength to endure.
 Translation of anthem: “until this tiny stone will grow / into a massive rock, and the
moss / will cover it deep and thick” (81).
 Anthem “can be read as a personal credo for endurance” (81); nature giving solace
and the strength to survive.
 Analogy to mountains in chapter 12; the mountains will endure, so people can
endure.
 “If anything made that country habitable it was the mountains themselves . . . They
were important for all of us, but especially for the Issei. Whitney reminded Papa of
Fujiyama, that is, it gave him the same kind of spiritual sustenance . . . They also
represented those forces that cannot be resisted, reminding man that sometimes he
must simply endure that which cannot be changed” (87–88).
 Connection among the national anthem (nature gives solace and strength), the
epigraph (mountains endure the running rivers), and chapter 22 (Jeanne finds rock
formations that endured in Manzanar, which remind her that the people have
endured).

Jeanne’s ambivalence toward her Japanese identity was increased and complicated by
her experience at Manzanar.
How do the authors convey this significant idea?
 Distinctions between the women Jeanne knows, her connection to the orphan being
confirmed, the distinction between Jeanne’s and Papa’s views of Catholicism in
chapter 13:

“I had watched a girl my own age shining at the center of one of their elaborate
ceremonies” (101–102).

“I was pierced with envy for the position she had gained” (102).

“Papa exploded . . . ‘How are you going to get married? . . . No Japanese boys are in
the Catholic church. You get baptized now, how are you going to find a good
Japanese boy to marry?’” (103)

 Distinction between Jeanne’s ideas about “outside” life (filled with violence) and the
reality of America (filled with indifference and subtle racism) for those after leaving

5
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Jeanne’s ambivalence toward her Japanese identity was increased and complicated by
her experience at Manzanar.

camp in chapter 16.

 Chapter 20: Distinction between Jeanne’s ideas about herself (she is American) and
how others saw her (she is foreign).
 Chapter 20: Jeanne’s determined attempts to live in the new world—trying to be
American by baton twirling and joining clubs but not being fully accepted by her
Caucasian peers nor her father because she is not Japanese enough.
 Distinction between Jeanne’s ideas about her participation with the Boy Scouts
(chance to be seen as American) and Papa’s ideas (not Japanese, not modest or
proper behavior) in chapter 20.
 Distinction between Jeanne (not American, not someone to include or date) and
Radine (American, someone to include and date) and how they were viewed by
others in chapter 21.
 Distinction between Jeanne’s ideas about femininity (to attract attention, smiling,
confident) and Papa’s ideas (to not attract attention, modest, unsmiling) in chapter
21: Papa’s traditional Japanese ideas conflicting with Jeanne’s typical American ideas
increases Jeanne’s ambivalence toward Papa and her identity.
 Recurring dream: “I see a young, beautifully blond and blue-eyed high school girl
moving through a room full of others her own age, much admired by everyone, men
and women both” (154); Jeanne admires the blond, blue-eyed popular girl and wants
the same popularity, but doesn’t want to “change her face” (154).
 For Papa “Modesty is important,” not a girl who smiles and walks with “an assertive
stride” (154–156).
 Jeanne tries Odori (traditional Japanese dance classes) again: “I lasted about ten
lessons. The teacher herself sent me away. I smiled too much and couldn’t break the
habit. Like a majorette before the ever-shifting sidewalk crowd, I smiled during
performances, and in Japanese dancing that is equivalent to a concert violinist
walking onstage in a bathing suit” (160).
 Jeanne makes progress toward understanding herself, but not yet there: She realizes
that being the queen in this high school world is not who she is (“make believe
carpet”) but is not yet sure about herself (“I did not yet know of any truer
destination”).

6
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

The effects and impact of being interned were experienced long after the closing of and
departure from the camps.
How do the authors convey this significant idea?
 Cloud metaphor to describe the anti-Japanese hatred experienced by those who re-
entered “normal” life after release from the camps in chapter 19.
 Distinction between Woody and Papa after the closure of camps in chapter 20:
Woody grew; Papa shrank.
 Distinction between Jeanne’s children’s experience of visiting the camp (they were
bored and hot; wanted to leave) and her own experience living there in chapter 22
(it was no place for a child).
 “Papa’s life ended at Manzanar, though he lived for twelve more years after getting
out” (176).
 Jeanne took “twenty years to accumulate the confidence to deal with” her
internment experiences (167) and still she knows that “the traces that remained
would always remain, like a needle” (177).

Source: Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki, and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar. Houghton Mifflin, 1973.

7
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Synopsis: Farewell to Manzanar, Chapter 2

Name: Date:
“Shikata Ga Nai”
 Jeanne reflects on growing up near Santa Monica, California, and being one of the only
Asians in her neighborhood and school.
 Jeanne and her family move to Terminal Island after her father’s arrest. Their new home is a
shack.
 The kids at Jeanne’s school on Terminal Island are unkind to her and make fun of her.
 In February 1942, Jeanne and her family are relocated by the government to a minority
ghetto in Los Angeles called Boyle Heights.
 Life in Boyle Heights is difficult; Jeanne and her family are scared about how their family will
stay together if the government moves them to an internment camp.
 Mama receives her first letter from Papa and learns that he is being held at an enemy prison
camp in North Dakota.
 Jeanne feels hostility from her Caucasian teacher. This is the first time she has been aware
of being treated differently by someone for being Japanese. She begins to realize that the
public generally has a negative attitude toward Japanese Americans.
 The government moves Jeanne and her family to Manzanar. When the family arrives, they
are given a dinner of fruit and rice and assigned to a crowded, cold barracks with cots to
sleep on.

8
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Language Dive Guide: Farewell to

Manzanar, Page 12

RI.8.3, L.8.1a, L.8.5a, L.8.5c

(For Teacher Reference)

Note: Language Dives in Modules 3–4 are designed for gradual
release from Modules 1–2. Please carefully read the Gradual Release
section below for complete details.

Sentence

The secondhand dealers had been prowling around for weeks, like wolves,
offering humiliating prices for goods and furniture they knew many of us
would have to sell sooner or later. (from page 12 of Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston)

Rationale

 Daily Learning Target and Focus Standards: To help students to address

the daily learning target (I can analyze how the text makes
connections among and distinctions between individuals, events,
and ideas in chapter 2 of Farewell to Manzanar) and RI.8.1 and
RI.8.3, this sentence serves as textual evidence that provides insight into
how Jeanne sees the relationship between Japanese Americans and non-
Japanese Americans during World War II, leading up to the Japanese
American internment. It also helps students to address L.8.5a as it
contains figurative language (like wolves), and L.8.5c, as it features
words with strong connotations (prowling, humiliating) that impact the
meaning and tone of this sentence. Additionally, it helps students to
review L.8.1a, as it contains a participle phrase (offering humiliating
prices) functioning as an adjective. Supporting Standards: L.8.1c,
L.8.2a, L.8.3a, L.8.4a.
 Guiding Question: To help students understand the guiding question
(What were the causes and impacts of Japanese American
internment camps?) and the Big Idea (Internment camps uprooted
people from their homes and communities, stripped them of their
rights, confiscated their personal property, and forced them to
live and work in these internment camps), this sentence provides a
description of treatment that Japanese Americans experienced as they
prepared for forced relocation to camps.

9
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

 Language Structure: This sentence is compelling because it contains a

participle adjective phrase (offering humiliating prices) with the
purpose of describing a noun (secondhand dealers). It also uses
figurative language (like wolves) and words with strong connotations
(prowling, humiliating) with the purpose of describing how
secondhand dealers preyed on Japanese Americans as they prepared for
forced relocation to internment camps. Invite students to discuss each
chunk briefly, but encourage extended conversation and practice with
the focus structure: offering humiliating prices.
 Practice and Transfer: After discussing the focus structure, students
practice using it to discuss something in their lives. Students transfer
their understanding of the meaning and structure of this sentence when
answering questions during the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment (kind of
figurative language: a pair of reptilian kabuki creatures; connotation
of gaunt); when using descriptions to convey ideas during the
collaborative discussion in the End of Unit 1 Assessment; and during
Unit 2 when writing an argument essay that explores how effectively the
film adaptation of Farewell to Manzanar conveys the text (opportunity to
use figurative language and participle adjective phrases).

Time

10 minutes

Gradual Release in Modules 3–4 Language Dives from Modules 1–2

Materials

 This Guide: the selected sentence, rationale, and lesson timing, as well
as a fixed list of steps and best practices for leading Language Dives
 Sentence Chunk Chart: the sentence chunks for the selected sentence, as
well as a list of options of questions and activities to support student
understanding of the language structures in each chunk
 Note-Catcher: guidance to support students in leading sections of the
Language Dive independently as well as areas for notes from teacher-led
sections of the Dive
 Sentence chunk strips: the sentence chunks written on separate strips
 Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart: questions
students can ask one another to foster the inquiry-based approach to
understanding how English works (Refer to the chart and ask the
questions to model inquiry strategies for students.)
 Conversation Cues anchor chart: continued from Modules 1 and 2

10
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Implement and Foster Student Independence

 Use this Guide along with the Sentence Chunk Chart, note-catcher,
sentence chunk strips, Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive
anchor chart, and Conversation Cues anchor chart.
 Continue to build a culture of grappling. Talk about what perseverance,
discomfort, and risk look and sound like during a Language Dive; develop
tips for analyzing language and norms for calling on peers for support.
Students can use these skills as a way to make meaning across the
school day and in their personal lives.

11
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

 Employ a range of strategies to enable students to understand and apply

the language structures in the Sentence Chunk Chart, including asking
questions and using Conversation Cues, sketching, acting out, identifying
parts of speech, personalizing the language structures, and displaying
some of the questions and activities in the Chunk Chart for students
themselves to consider.
 Draw on your understanding and experience of Language Dives from
Modules 1 and 2 to optimize this new format.

Optimize Conversation Cues

 Use Conversation Cues as often as possible to gradually release thinking

and expression of ideas to students; avoid using Conversation Cues as a
way of searching for the “right” answer. Students often struggle to
create productive and equitable conversation during Turn and Talk or
Think-Pair-Share protocols; Conversation Cues can make the difference.
Recall that the main goals of Conversation Cues are supporting students
to express their ideas (Goal 1), listen to other students’ ideas (Goal 2),
deepen their own ideas (Goal 3), and build on other students’ ideas (Goal
4).
 Consider this model transcription from a classroom where about eighty-
five percent of students are ELLs. The teacher is supporting students to
build their ideas about the choice an author made when writing this
sentence about an athlete’s factors for success: There were many
factors that led to Rickey’s success, but it was support from
others in baseball that was most important. Students can carry the
Conversation Cues into small groups to support their own independent
productive and equitable conversations.
Mr. Valencia: What if I replace but with and? And is also a conjunction.
How would and change the meaning? I’ll give you some time to think.
Emma, you want to give it a shot?
Emma: It is adding on to the, like, the idea, of the first (part of the)
sentence?
Mr. Valencia: Can anyone repeat or rephrase what Emma just said?
Santiago: It would have the same idea as the first two chunks.
Mr. Valencia: Right, and would have the same idea as the first two
chunks. Two connecting, same ideas. So how does but change that for
me? Jazmin?
Jazmin: But would change it.
Mr. Valencia: Can you say more about that, Jazmin?

12
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Jazmin: It would change it because but would say there are many things
happening, but this is the one.
Mr. Valencia: So does anyone want to add something else to that?
Daniel: But is saying this is the main thing happening.
Mr. Valencia: Right, now the sentence is going to the main factor (for
success), or a contrast. But is something that is going to tell us a
contrast. (Exchange continues.)

13
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Discuss Grammar Strategically

 Use grammar terminology primarily as another tool for accessing the

meaning and purpose of a chunk or sentence. If students find themselves
grappling with parts of speech for too long, maintain momentum by
asking what a structure means, or why the author used the structure.
 At the same time, keep in mind that explicit grammar knowledge is an
important component of meeting college- and career-ready standards;
use Language standards as a type of scope and sequence for mastering
grammar in Language Dives.

Process
Throughout the Language Dive

 When referring to a chunk on display, point to it or invite students to

place their finger by the same chunk.
 Record and display student discussion next to or underneath each chunk
on display for visual reference.
 Refer to the Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart
and Conversation Cues anchor chart.
 If productive, invite students to use a translation dictionary and add
vocabulary and collocations to their vocabulary log.
 Students can work on their note-catcher for each item marked with the
icon .

Suggested Sequence for Completing a Language Dive

 Consider preteaching one or two key vocabulary words to the whole

group.

Reconstruct
 First, organize students into small groups of three or four students.
Distribute one set of cut, scrambled sentence chunk strips to each group.
 Then, using the note-catcher , students reassemble the chunks to say a
meaningful sentence to their small group. Once they’ve reassembled the
chunks, they take turns paraphrasing the chunks in order. Next, they
discuss what the sentence is about. Beginning the Language Dive with
this Reconstruct move can challenge and engage students and support
independence.

Deconstruct (Chunks That Are Not the Focus Structure)

14
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

 Reconvene the whole group. Display the sentence chunk strips,

sequenced as a sentence. Read aloud the sentence twice; students read
aloud the sentence with a partner.
 Briefly grapple with the meaning of the sentence and connection to the
guiding question or big idea.
 Display each chunk, chunk by chunk. Students briefly grapple with the
meaning of each chunk. Use the Sentence Chunk Chart to guide student
grappling. Pause for the focus structure.
– As students discuss the highlighted focus structure, be sure they slow
down for extended conversation and practice of the focus structure.
See suggested questions and Conversation Cues in the Sentence
Chunk Chart.
– To provide lighter support: Display one or more of the options of
questions and activities provided in the Sentence Chunk Chart, or an
adaptation of it, to prompt student grappling.
– To provide heavier support: Consider using visuals or realia to help
convey meaning. Use the options of questions and activities provided
in the Sentence Chunk Chart to pose questions requiring careful
consideration. Monitor with total participation techniques and
Conversation Cues. Provide think time and invite partners to discuss
in English or in home-language groups.

Deconstruct (Focus Structure)

 Back in small groups, using the note-catcher  and the Questions We Can
Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart, students discuss the meaning
and purpose of the chunk.
 Reconvene the whole group. Use the Sentence Chunk Chart to provide
additional support in understanding the focus structure.

Practice (Focus Structure)

 Students use the focus structure themselves. Refer to the Sentence
Chunk Chart for specific Practice suggestions on this sentence, and for
heavier and lighter support.

Reconstruct
 Students reconstruct the meaning of sentence, play with the sentence
structure, and make connections to the guiding question, big idea, and
learning target. Refer to the Sentence Chunk Chart for specific
Reconstruct suggestions on this sentence.

Practice (Sentence)

15
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

 Finally, students synthesize and use the sentence structures themselves.

Refer to the Sentence Chunk Chart for specific Practice suggestions on
this sentence, and for heavier and lighter support.

Overall Principles

 For Students: The Modules 3 and 4 note-catcher contains sections that

encourage students to take more of the lead in the conversation. The
Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart supports
students in taking an inquiry-based approach to language in general, and
the selected sentence in particular, thus building greater independence
to discover how English works.
 For Teachers: The Modules 3 and 4 Language Dive Sentence Chunk
Charts provide a list of options for questions and activities to support
student understanding of the language structures in each chunk.
Consider this chart to plan how to best meet students’ language and
content needs. This is different from Modules 1 and 2, in which a fixed
series of steps and questions were provided in the Language Dive Guide.

16
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Language Dive: Farewell to Manzanar, Page 12

Sentence Chunk Chart

(For Teacher Reference)

Sentence

The secondhand dealers had been prowling around for weeks, like wolves,
offering humiliating prices for goods and furniture they knew many of us
would have to sell sooner or later. (from page 12 of Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston)

The secondhand dealers

Deconstruct
 secondhand dealers
“What do you think secondhand dealers do? Can you give an
example?” (They buy people’s used belongings and resell them to
someone else. Anything can be resold, but common items include
household goods, clothing, and books. [subject/noun phrase])
 Students can take 30 seconds to work in pairs to list things they think
secondhand dealers might sell.

had been prowling around for

weeks, like wolves,
Deconstruct
 Ask:
“Can you find a simile in this chunk?” (like wolves is a simile.)
 , like wolves,
“Why do you think the writer used this comparison to describe the
secondhand dealers?” (Because wolves are known to circle their

17
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

prey before attacking. The secondhand dealers were nearby and

waiting to buy Japanese Americans’ belongings for very low,
unfair prices. [preposition + noun = adverb phrase])

18
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

 prowling around
“How can the phrase like wolves help you to figure out the
meaning of prowling around?” (Like wolves tells us prowling
around is something that wolves do. We know that wolves are
hunters that wait on their prey, so we can guess that prowling
might mean that someone is waiting to attack. [phrasal verb])
“What does the connotation of prowling around convey about the
secondhand dealers?” (that the secondhand dealers were waiting
for an opportunity to take advantage of Japanese Americans)
 Students can act out this chunk to internalize the meaning of prowling
around and , like wolves,.
 Students can generate a list of similes that use animals for comparison
and discuss the meaning of each one. They can also consider examples of
what they might use each simile to describe.

offering humiliating prices

Deconstruct (Focus Structure)
 humiliating
“What does the connotation of the word humiliating convey about
the Wakatsuki family’s experience?” (Humiliating has a strong
connotation, and it tells us that the Wakatsuki family and other
Japanese Americans were extremely ashamed and embarrassed by
the prices being offered to them from the secondhand dealers.
[adjective])
 offering
“Can you figure out the function of offering? Is it a noun, a verb,
an adjective, or an adverb? How do you know?” (It’s an adjective.
We know this because it’s describing the noun phrase the
secondhand dealers. [-ing participle]
 Consider explaining to students that in addition to functioning as verbs
and nouns (gerunds),
-ing words can function as adjectives. We call these participles, or
participle adjectives. This chunk is an example of a participle phrase,
which is a phrase that functions as an adjective.

19
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

 Students can use Conversation Cues as they discuss. To provide

heavier support, display a suggested sequence, such as the one
below:
– Goal 1: Let’s take time to think and write or sketch.
– Goal 1: Can you give an example?
– Goal 2: Who can repeat what they said?
– Goal 4: Who can explain why they came up with that response?

20
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

 Students can consult a dictionary or thesaurus to find synonyms for

humiliating. Students can then discuss the differences in connotation
among words with similar meanings (e.g., embarrassing, shameful). To
extend this activity, provide students with large paint chips (these can
usually be purchased at a hardware store) and have students write
humiliating on the darkest shade, and then lighter synonyms on lighter
shades.

Practice (Focus Structure)

 Students had been huddling at their tables, like football players,
_________________________________________________________________.
participle adjective phrase

(Students had been huddling at tables, like football players, discussing the
next play.)  Step 3

– To provide lighter support: “What happens if we move the participle

adjective phrase somewhere else in the sentence?”
– To provide heavier support: Invite students to sketch or act out
students huddling around tables like football players to help them
better understand the meaning of this sentence.

for goods and furniture they

knew many of us would have to
sell sooner or later.
Deconstruct
 Ask:
“Why did Jeanne and her family need to sell their household
goods and furniture?” (because they were being forced to relocate
farther away from the naval base by the US government
[preposition + noun phrase])
 would
“How would the meaning of this chunk be different if the authors
had used a different conditional verb like might or could?” (The
use of the conditional verb would conveys some certainty that the

21
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

family will have to sell their belongings. Might and could express
possibility but not certainty. [conditional verb])
“How do you think Jeanne and her family felt knowing that they
would have no choice but to sell their belongings? What words or
phrases in this chunk and in other chunks add to your
understanding of this?” (They likely felt taken advantage of,
ashamed, and helpless. Prowling, like wolves, humiliating, would
have to sell all help us to understand this.)
 Students can take 30 seconds to discuss in groups other examples from
the text of the hardships Japanese Americans faced as they prepared for
forced relocation.

The secondhand dealers had been

prowling around for weeks, like
wolves, offering humiliating
prices for goods and furniture
they knew many of us would have
to sell sooner or later.
Reconstruct
 Ask:
“What does this sentence tell us about the relationship between
Japanese Americans and some non-Japanese Americans during
World War II?” (Responses will vary but should include that this
sentence provides an example of how Japanese Americans were
being taken advantage of by some non-Japanese Americans. This
suggests that Japanese Americans were not seen as equals or
treated with respect by those outside of the community and that
there was tension.)
“Now what do you think is the meaning of this sentence?”
(Responses will vary.)
“How does the Language Dive add to your understanding of the
big idea that internment camps uprooted people from their homes
and communities, stripped them of their rights, confiscated their

22
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

personal property, and forced them to live and work in these

concentration camps?” (Responses will vary, but look for students
to say that this sentence provides information about the early
stages of this process, when Japanese Americans were forced to
relocate from their homes.)

23
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Practice (Sentence)
 Students can reflect on the tense relationship between Japanese
Americans and those outside of the community during World War II as
presented in the first two chapters of Farewell to Manzanar and
complete the following sentence frame.
The relationship between Japanese Americans and those outside the
community had been growing tense, ___________________,
_____________________________________.
simile participle phrase
(like + noun (+noun) = simile)
([verb + -ing] + noun phrase = participle phrase)
(The relationship between Japanese Americans and those outside the
community had been growing tense, like fire and ice, resulting in unfair
treatment of Japanese Americans.)  Step 4
– To provide lighter support: “What if we divide this sentence into two
or more sentences? What do we have to remove or change?”
– To provide heavier support: Provide students with selected response
options for the simile and -ing phrase.

Language Chunk Wall Suggestions

 Nouns and noun phrases and clauses (people, places, things, ideas): The
secondhand dealers
 Language to compare or contrast: had been prowling around for
weeks, like wolves,
 Adjectives and adjectival phrases and clauses (describing nouns):
offering humiliating prices
 Language to talk about conditional situations: for goods and furniture
they knew many of us would have to sell sooner or later

24
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Language Dive: Farewell to Manzanar,

Page 12 Note-Catcher

(Example for Teacher Reference)

1. In your groups, discuss ways to rearrange the chunks to make a meaningful sentence.

offering humiliating prices

for goods and furniture they

knew many of us would have to
sell sooner or later.

had been prowling around for

weeks, like wolves,

The secondhand dealers

Take turns paraphrasing the chunks in order.

Discuss, sketch, or act out: what is this sentence about?

2. Consider the focus structure.

had been prowling around for

weeks, like wolves,
25
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

What do you want to discuss about this chunk? Refer to the Questions We Can Ask during a
Language Dive anchor chart and Conversation Cues anchor chart for support.

Recommendation: “Can you figure out why the authors used the verb prowling around
instead of a word with a similar denotation?”

3. Complete the sentence frame to talk about students moving around the classroom during
an activity.

Students had been huddling at their tables, like football players, discussing the next play.
participle adjective phrase

4. Complete the sentence frame to talk about the relationship between Japanese Americans
and others outside the community during World War II.

The relationship between Japanese Americans and those outside the community had been

growing tense, like fire and ice, resulting in unfair treatment of Japanese Americans.
simile participle phrase

(like + noun (+ noun) = simile)

([verb + -ing] + noun phrase = participle phrase)

26
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Language Dive: Farewell to Manzanar,

Page 12 Note-Catcher

Name: Date:

1. In your groups, discuss ways to rearrange the chunks to make a meaningful sentence.

offering humiliating prices

for goods and furniture they

knew many of us would have to
sell sooner or later.

had been prowling around for

weeks, like wolves,

The secondhand dealers

Take turns paraphrasing the chunks in order.

Discuss, sketch, or act out: what is this sentence about?

2. Consider the focus structure.

had been prowling around for

weeks, like wolves,
27
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

What do you want to discuss about this chunk? Refer to the Questions We Can Ask during a
Language Dive anchor chart and Conversation Cues anchor chart for support.

Recommendation: “Can you figure out why the authors used the verb prowling around
instead of a word with a similar denotation?”

3. Complete the sentence frame to talk about students moving around the classroom during
an activity.

Students had been huddling at their tables, like football players,

________________________________________________________________________.
participle adjective phrase

4. Complete the sentence frame to talk about the relationship between Japanese Americans
and others outside the community during World War II.

The relationship between Japanese Americans and those outside the community had been

growing tense, ______________________________________________,

simile

___________________________________________________________.
participle phrase

(like + noun (+ noun) = simile)

([verb + -ing] + noun phrase = participle phrase)

28
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Language Dive: Farewell to Manzanar, Page 12

Sentence Chunk Strips

The secondhand dealers

had been prowling around for weeks,

like wolves,

offering humiliating prices

for goods and furniture they knew

many of us would have to sell
sooner or later.

29
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Exit Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 3

RI.8.3

(Answers for Teacher Reference)

Directions: Complete the following questions.

1. Answer Part A, then answer Part B.

Part A

What method do the authors use in the paragraph that starts at the bottom of page 14 to
make a distinction between Jeanne’s teacher in Ocean Park and her teacher in Boyle
Heights? (RI.8.1, RI.8.3)

a. description
b. anecdote
c. metaphor
d. dialogue

Part B

Based on your understanding of the chapter, which statement best represents the
distinction between Jeanne’s teacher in Ocean Park and her teacher in Boyle Heights?
(RI.8.3)

a. Though the teachers actually treated Jeanne the same, Jeanne felt rejected by her Boyle
Heights teacher.
b. Jeanne’s Ocean Park teacher was demanding and funny, but her Boyle Heights teacher
was caring and kind.
c. Jeanne’s Boyle Heights teacher was detached, but her Ocean Park teacher was caring
toward Jeanne and her family.
d. Though both the teachers were effective at doing their jobs, Jeanne’s Ocean Park
teacher was hostile toward her.

30
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

2. Answer Part A, then answer Part B.

Part A

Based on your understanding of the chapter, which statement best represents the
relationship Jeanne sees between her family and the Japanese Terminal Islanders? (RI.8.3)

a. Jeanne is comforted by living with other Japanese people at Terminal Island.

b. Jeanne feels everyone at Terminal Island is suffering from hostility toward Asians.
c. Jeanne thinks Terminal Islanders have a greater sense of Japanese identity than her
family.
d. Jeanne feels frightened and out of place living among those at Terminal Island.

Part B

Which piece of evidence from the chapter best conveys the answer in Part A? (RI.8.1, RI.8.3)

a. “The people around us were hardworking, boisterous . . .” (11).

b. “They would . . . pick on outsiders and persecute anyone who didn’t speak as they did”
(11).
c. “None of these kids ever actually attacked” (11).
d. “They not only spoke Japanese exclusively, they spoke a dialect peculiar to Kyushu” (11).

Source: Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki, and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar. Houghton Mifflin, 1973.

31
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

Exit Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 3

RI.8.3

Name: Date:

Directions: Complete the following questions.

1. Answer Part A, then answer Part B.

Part A

What method do the authors use in the paragraph that starts at the bottom of page 14 to
make a distinction between Jeanne’s teacher in Ocean Park and her teacher in Boyle
Heights? (RI.8.1, RI.8.3)

a. description
b. anecdote
c. metaphor
d. dialogue

Part B

Based on your understanding of the chapter, which statement best represents the
distinction between Jeanne’s teacher in Ocean Park and her teacher in Boyle Heights?
(RI.8.3)

a. Though the teachers actually treated Jeanne the same, Jeanne felt rejected by her Boyle
Heights teacher.
b. Jeanne’s Ocean Park teacher was demanding and funny, but her Boyle Heights teacher
was caring and kind.
c. Jeanne’s Boyle Heights teacher was detached, but her Ocean Park teacher was caring
toward Jeanne and her family.
d. Though both the teachers were effective at doing their jobs, Jeanne’s Ocean Park
teacher was hostile toward her.

32
© 2019 EL Education Inc.
Lessons from Japanese American Internment Grade 8: Module 4: Unit 1: Lesson 3

2. Answer Part A, then answer Part B.

Part A

Based on your understanding of the chapter, which statement best represents the
relationship Jeanne sees between her family and the Japanese Terminal Islanders? (RI.8.3)

a. Jeanne is comforted by living with other Japanese people at Terminal Island.

b. Jeanne feels everyone at Terminal Island is suffering from hostility toward Asians.
c. Jeanne thinks Terminal Islanders have a greater sense of Japanese identity than her
family.
d. Jeanne feels frightened and out of place living among those at Terminal Island.

Part B

Which piece of evidence from the chapter best conveys the answer in Part A? (RI.8.1, RI.8.3)

a. “The people around us were hardworking, boisterous . . .” (11).

b. “They would . . . pick on outsiders and persecute anyone who didn’t speak as they did”
(11).
c. “None of these kids ever actually attacked” (11).
d. “They not only spoke Japanese exclusively, they spoke a dialect peculiar to Kyushu” (11).

Source: Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki, and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar. Houghton Mifflin, 1973.

33
© 2019 EL Education Inc.