Blue Jeans Drive: AKOH Project

ANOTHER KIND OF HURRICANE
Service Learning Project

 

Best Users:

Educators Grades  04-12, Public Children’s Librarians, School Librarians, Community Groups, Faith Groups

Best Audience:

Children Grades 04-12

In the”Bank Street’s Best Books 2015″ novel, Another Kind of Hurricane by Tamara Ellis Smith (Random House Children’s Books) two boys—Zavion who loses his home in Hurricane Katrina and Henry who loses his best friend in a hiking accident in Vermont—come together to find healing.

The “Another Kind of Hurricane” Project (AKOH Project) hopes to inspire classrooms and other groups of readers to build connections to other schools or communities in need. We know that reading fiction builds empathy and we know that children can feel powerless when disaster strikes in their hometown or in other parts of the world. The AKOH Project seeks to turn empathy into the power to help and to connect.

While the guide encourages you to develop your own unique project with your readers, we do offer two sample projects in this guide:

 

Blue Jeans Drive

This project encourages a school or other group to identify a sister classroom or group in an affected community and hold a blue jeans drive for that community. Families are asked to donate a pair of new or used jeans and leave something in the pocket (like a marble or letter) as a community-to-community connection.

Project featured in School Library Journal!

 

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“All middle grade students stand at a proverbial crossroads. These ‘small, yet mighty,’ when asked, bring a unique perspective to 21st century issues. They truly care about making connections with others–making a difference in the process. A shared experience, like the one Ms. Ellis Smith’s initiative provides, is what students like mine crave. By nature, children are beautifully curious beings. It must be our goal as their teachers to constructively mold and channel this innate curiosity. Thank you for encouraging educators to value community service projects that teach our kids what it means to think critically, problem solve, and demonstrate compassion for students from all walks of life.”—Ms. Ashlea-Nichole Skiles, Auten Road Intermediate School, Grade 6 teacher of literacy

EXPLORE & DOWNLOAD the Blue Jeans Drive in the Another Kind of Hurricane Project (PDF)

 

Marble Wish Project

Henry and Wayne wished on a marble their entire childhood, but neither knew to wish away death. Now that marble is headed to Hurricane Katrina victims in the pocket of donated jeans. Those jeans will find their way to Zavion who has lost everything. Will the marble hold Zavion’s wishes as well? Will those wishes connect Henry and Zavion?

The Marble Wish Project hopes to inspire students and classrooms to wish not only for themselves, but also for their classmates and for the world. What connections can be made between wishes? What changes can be inspired by what we wish for?

EXPLORE & DOWNLOAD Another Kind of Hurricane: The Marble Wish Project (PDF)
VIEW wishes shared with author Tamara Ellis Smith

 

Magic Marbles

The art and writing project asks readers to explore the ideas of Passion, Grit, Self-Discipline, and the ability to “Break Through Brick Walls,” and finally how they come together to make Perseverance. That exploration in words and ideas is collaged into a plastic ball to create one’s own marble. Watch one come together:

 

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EXPLORE & DOWNLOAD the Magic Marbles Activity in the Another Kind of Hurricane Project (PDF)

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Another Kind of Hurricane
By Tamara Ellis Smith
Published by Random House Children’s Books
ISBN 9780553511932
Age Range: 9- Adult

A hurricane, a tragic death, two boys, one marble. How they intertwine is at the heart of this beautiful, poignant book. When ten-year-old Zavion loses his home in Hurricane Katrina, he and his father are forced to flee to Baton Rouge. And when Henry, a ten-year-old boy in northern Vermont, tragically loses his best friend, Wayne, he flees to ravaged New Orleans to help with hurricane relief efforts—and to search for a marble that was in the pocket of a pair of jeans donated to the Salvation Army.

Rich with imagery and crackling with hope, this is the unforgettable story of how lives connect in unexpected, even magical, ways.

“Elegant prose and emotional authenticity will make this title sing not only for those who have experienced tragedies, but for everyone who knows the magic that only true friendship can foster.”
—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
.
While the narrative is based on coincidence and chance, the voices and losses of Zavion and Henry are plausible and heartbreaking…The author is at her best when she conveys emotionally charged moments, with the prose reminiscent of a free verse poem; a particularly memorable moment involves the two main characters literally running into each other. It is refreshing to see the feelings of two middle grade boys explored so fearlessly. VERDICT This is a novel that will spark contemplation and discussion.”
—School Library Journal
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“Smith sensitively depicts both Henry’s rage toward the mountain he loved for betraying him and Zavion’s consuming feeling of obligation to the home that has vanished. As the boys’ paths converge, their stories are gracefully laced together and their individual communities are vividly imagined.”
—Publishers Weekly
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“The hurricane’s outcome isn’t glossed over. Smith takes her time showing the struggle and desperation New Orleans citizens experienced. Through Zavion, we learn how hunger may cause people to steal and how being turned away from safety at gunpoint can cover them with a veil of hopelessness. Even so, Another Kind of Hurricane is not dependent on Hurricane Katrina to steer the story. Grief is the driving force.”
—The New York Times Book Review