A Chair for My Mother By: Vera B. Williams

Book Title: A Chair for My Mother

Author: Vera B. Williams

Illustrator: Vera B. Williams

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction 

Summary: A young girl living with her mother and grandmother save up to buy a new chair after a devastating fire at their house.

ELA Content Standard 1: Grade 3, Key Ideas and Details #2- Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

How it Connects:Students can understand the reason they are trying to save money to buy a chair is because they lost everything in the fire and discuss what they do to save the money.

ELA Content Standard 2: Grade 3, Key Ideas and Details #3- Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

How it Connects: Students can recognize the characters feelings towards the fire and loosing everything. That become the motivation to save up the money to buy the chair.

3 Tiers of  Vocab: 1) mother, chair 2) wonderful 3) wrappers

How Children Use Book: Small groups and Centers

Meets Needs: Low SES students can use this book to relate to knowing that they may not be the only ones who are struggling financially or students who have encountered something like a fire (windows and mirrors)