The sketches are impressionistic, with details only suggested, and the effect is breathtaking. They blend and balance dark browns and blacks with soft pinks, lavenders and blues, and bright greens and yellows. The muted tones of the pastel chalk art reach to the ends of every page. Washington's heightened sensory perception that compensates for his blindness is subtly established. The prose has a beautiful cadence, and the contrast of city sounds with the suggestion of gentle violin music is effective.
When a brownout leaves the concert in darkness, the two musicians proceed to the stage and perform "Amazing Grace" together. The boy's grandmother tells him the story of Flash Fingers Washington, who "played hot, joyful jazz and cool, soulful blues" until an accident killed his little girl and left him without his sight. Washington, who encourages him to perform at an upcoming neighborhood concert in the park. On his way home from his violin lesson, Ephram is greeted by Mr. Below are pictures of the assignment guidelines and an example of student work.Kindergarten-Grade 3-In a moving story thematically reminiscent of Emily Arnold McCully's Mirette on the Highwire (Putnam, 1992), a young boy helps a blind pianist to play again after a long, grief-induced hiatus. To help them learn these words, students were given the homework assignment of creating their own musical album using at least 10 of the 18 words.
On Fridays, they take a brief vocabulary test to assess their understanding of their words.Īfter reading "Sing to the Stars" by Mary Brigid Barrett, children were given the following vocabulary words for the week: Students practice using their vocabulary words correctly in these assignments as well as in their vocabulary sentences completed every Thursday in class.
Every Monday in fourth grade, we read a story from our textbook (Houghton Mifflin Reading: Grade 4), introduce the week's vocabulary words as a whole group, and go over expectations for their vocabulary homework assignment that week.
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