Creator: TeachersFirst | visit site
Grade Range: 8 - 11
TeachersFirst Reading Treks create a virtual field trip of resources about a piece of literature or text using the My Maps feature of Google Maps. This Reading Trek provides inspiration and suggestions for using the trade book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Learn through two different timelines (the 1940s and 1980s) the story about the friendship of a Chinese American 12-year-old boy and a Japanese American girl. It is set in the city of Seattle and its cultural, musical, political, and social conflicts at the height of the WWII. The plot focuses on the painful separation of friends during the confining of Japanese Americans to internment camps. Use our robust Instructional Guide with students in grades 9-12. Content correlates to Common Core Standards and ISTE Student Standards. Find the entire selection of Reading Treks <a href="/reading-treks">here</a>.
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the many suggested classroom uses for this resource found on the Instructional Guide (PDF). Consider using the historical information and primary sources from the book to have students create timelines of the important events both during the 1940s and the 1980s. Find a variety of free online timeline creation tools <a href="content/edge.cfm?c=20 ">located here</a>. Using the map and locales, trace and then calculate distances for some of Henry’s travels from Seattle to New York City. Use Google My Maps, <a href="/single.cfm?id=18096">reviewed here</a>, to create and share custom maps.
At Home
Share this book with your student to use for reading or social studies projects related to cultural relationships and America during the early 1900s.
Tags
world war 2, 1980s, 1940s, cross cultural understanding, virtual field trips,
Subjects
American History, Geography (US/World), Language Arts, Reading, Social Studies, Social Studies,