El Deafo
Written By Cece Bell
Illustrations by Cece Bell
Published by Harry N. Abrams 2014
Awards: John Newbery Medal
Summary:
Cece Bell describes her childhood in a goofy, silly, yet
heartfelt way in this fun graphic novel. After getting meningitis at four years
old, Cece had to get use to wearing the Phonic Ear. If wearing this giant
hearing device on her chest wasn’t bad enough, she also was starting at a new
school. Cece tells her story about making friends, having a crush, being the
class hero, and being an all around super hero perfectly.
Hysterical. Clever. Friendship. Confidence. Acceptance.
Grade Level: 3-7
Lexile Measure: GN420L
Description: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Graphic novel
Suggested Delivery: Independent
Key Vocabulary:
·
Meningitis- inflammation of the membranes that
surround the brain or spinal cord, caused by infection
·
Phonic- speech sounds
·
Foreign- of another country; unfamiliar; strange
·
Audiologist- doctor that studies hearing/hearing
loss
Electronic Resources:
“Cece Bell: how I made El Deafo – in pictures” shows the reader
certain drawings from the book compared to real photographs. You can see the
real Cece Bell, her childhood home, teachers, Martha, and even the Phonic Ear!
Cece Bell explains her story and even shows the Phonic Ear
for readers to see.
Teaching Suggestions:
Amulet created a teaching guide for graphic novels, and this
link below will take you to El Deafo’s guide. It includes ELA, social studies,
and science questions. Also, there are Common Core State Standards listed that
can be met using the novel.
Before: Before
reading, this short book trailer can be shown. It gives students a little
preview of what to look forward to in the book.
During: Taking
split notes during reading will keep students well organized. I suggest using
the left side of the page for characters and the right side for traits and facts.
This will keep the students organized on each character, and they will be able
to easily look back through their notes in the future.
After: After
reading the class can perform a ‘talk show.’ The teacher can be the host and
have pre-planned questions to ask, or a student can be the host and have to
gather questions to ask. Then a student will be chosen to represent each
character from then novel. The talk show can bring up questions about events,
feelings, conflict, or just lead to discussion. The overall purpose is to help
students with comprehension and summarizing.
Writing Activity: Students
pretend that they are Cece as a child and write a diary/journal entry from her
perspective. The diary entry should include details from the story and how Cece
Bell felt during that time.
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