Grandfather's Journey
Advanced-Level Reader
Innocent Prisoners!
Unit 1 Week 3
SEQUENCE GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
LESSON VOCABULARY barracks,
elections, horizon, internment, naval
SUMMARY This story is about Yukiko, a young Japanese American girl
imprisoned in a Japanese American internment camp in World War II. While
in the camp, the adults often discuss why they have been imprisoned and
what they will do when the war is over. Yukiko decides when she is released
from the camp, she wants to stay in the United States.
INTRODUCE THE BOOK
BUILD BACKGROUND Discuss what students know about World War II,
Pearl Harbor, and Japanese American internment camps. Did anyone in their family ever fight in a war? Have any students seen a film about World War II?
PREVIEW/USE ILLUSTRATIONS Have students look at the illustrations in
the book. Discuss how the illustrations help the story.
Ask students to skim the story and write down any unfamiliar
words. Suggest they look up the words in a dictionary and write the meanings
in their notebooks.
TEACH/REVIEW VOCABULARY Review the vocabulary words. Then play Vocabulary Master with students. Give students three different definitions for
each vocabulary word, including one that is fantastical or silly, and have them select the correct definition and use the word in a sentence.
TARGET SKILL AND STRATEGY
SEQUENCE Remind students that the
sequence is the order in which
the story's events occur. Have volunteers tell a sequence they do each
day, such as prepare for school, help with dinner, prepare for an activity
outside of school.
GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS Remind students that
graphic organizers can
be used to organize information. Remind them that they can chart information
on a time line, create a web, or create a chart or table as they read.
READ THE BOOK
Use the following questions to support comprehension.
PAGE 4 Where did Yukiko's family live before coming to the internment camp?
(on a farm)
PAGE 4 Where did the families eat? (in the mess hall)
PAGE 5 What did Yukiko's mother not like about Americans' voices? (that they
were too loud)
TALK ABOUT THE BOOK
READER RESPONSE
- Possible responses should reflect the chronological order of events,
noting that most of the story takes place over the course of one day.
- Responses will vary.
- Barracks are buildings in which people live on military bases or camps.
Other words might be relocation centers, mess hall, barbed wire, guard
towers, soldiers, and govenment.
- Responses will vary.
RESPONSE OPTIONS
WRITING Have students put themselves in the place of Yukiko or Aki. How do
they think it would feel to be unable to be with friends they grew up with? What
would they do to occupy their time?
CONTENT CONNECTIONS
SOCIAL STUDIES Have students research Japanese American internment camps. Where were the camps located? Students should try to find interviews with people who had spent time in the camps. After finishing their research, students should share their findings with the class.
