Tua and the Elephant

Tua and the Elephant

Written By R.P. Harris

Illustrations by Taeeun Yoo

Published by Chronicle Books 2013

Awards: Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee

Summary:

Tua is a young girl that lives in Thailand and happens to discover a new friend one day. This animal needs Tua’s help to escape from the chains and mean keepers. Tua decides to bring the animal home with her; however, elephants are hard to keep a secret. This is the story of friendship between a loving young girl and her elephant and their journey to sanctuary.

Cultural. Companionship. Journey. Principled. Heartwarming.

Grade Level: 3-5

Lexile Measure: 790L

Description: Realistic Fiction

Suggested Delivery: Read Aloud

Key Vocabulary:

·      Tuk-tuk- Three wheeled motorized vehicle used as a taxi

·      Mahouts- a person who works with, rides, and tends elephants

·      Pantomime- dramatic entertainment

·      Baht- Currency in Thailand (1 Baht= $0.028 US)

·      Songthaew- passenger vehicle or bus; large truck

·      Ransom- holding a prisoner to extort money

·      Sanctuary- a place of refuge or safety

Electronic Resources:

https://suzyred.com/2013_Tua_and_the_Elephant.html

This website gives great links for research about elephants in Thailand and literary connections to other books.

http://www.thailandelephant.org/en/art.html

This link will bring you to an actual Thai elephant conservation center website.

Teaching Suggestions:

A discussion guide is provided here along with extension activities.

http://www.chroniclebooks.com/landing-pages/pdfs/TuaElephant_DisucssionGuide_MECHS.pdf

Before: The setting of this novel is held in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I would suggest finding Thailand on class map. Also, doing some research about the culture as a class can help build background for the book. Look up things such as food, animals, clothes, and even ask the class other things they want to know before reading.

During: Give each student a small pad of sticky notes to ‘flag’ pages. While they are reading they will place a sticky note on any page that contains unknown words, interesting facts, new characters, etc. and continues reading. When finished the book will be filled with flags that the student can refer to for discussions or essays.

After: When the whole class is finished reading they can participate in a ‘Jigsaw.’ The class is divided in groups titled plot, characters, and setting. Each group is responsible for discussing and analyzing their assigned topic. Taking notes is highly recommended so students can easily remember their thoughts later in the class. After this discussion, new groups will be formed composed of at least one person from each of the previous groups. Now the new groups can share with one another their findings and opinions.

Writing Activity: Tua and Pohn-Pohn develop a very strong friendship. Have students think about their friends, family, pets, or someone that they have a strong connection with. Then, they write a journal/reflection on why that person is so important to them.