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Brief Description
Eve Bunting's The Wall inspires students to write letters to veterans at local veterans' hospitals.
Objectives
Students will
- learn about the Vietnam War by responding to the words, illustrations, and symbolism in Eve Bunting's The Wall.
- make inferences based on the book's illustrations.
- discuss how the book illustrates themes such as death and "life goes on."
- write letters to veterans at a local Veteran's Hospital.
Keywords
Veterans, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, service, Vietnam, soldiers, war Materials Needed
- a copy of The
Wall, written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Ronald Himler
- letter-writing materials
- Internet access (optional)
Lesson Plan
In this lesson, students listen and look at the illustrations as you read aloud The
Wall by Eve Bunting. The Wall is an excellent book to share with students of all ages; its powerful message can be interpreted at many levels. Reading The Wall will lead to a lesson in which students write letters or cards to U.S. military veterans in a local Veteran's Hospital.
Reading The Wall
Introduce and read aloud The
Wall, Eve Bunting's thoughtful and moving book about
a father and son who visit the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial in search of the boy's grandfather's
name. With little detail, the book's words and pictures paint
for today's generation a picture of a war that affected the
United States in many ways.
After reading the book, let students share their impressions of it. Following are some questions you might ask to lead the discussion:
- The book did not give much information about the Vietnam
War, but what did you learn about the war from the words
and pictures in the book?
- What did you see in the book's pictures that shows how
people were affected by the war? (Students might infer
some of these things: People were hugging and crying because
they found the name of a loved one and were remembering
that person; people left things like flags, flowers, letters,
and stuffed animals behind as tributes or mementos to people
who were killed in the war; a man in a wheelchair, without
legs, might have been a soldier in the war and might be
remembering his fallen buddies…)
- As they visit the wall, are the father and the boy feeling
the same things? How is visiting the wall a different experience
for the boy and the father?
- Why, do you think, did the father take out a pencil and
make a rubbing of the name on the wall?
- Why did the boy put his picture against the wall?
- Why were others touching the names on the wall? (Students
might infer that they were touching the names with love;
the name is all that is left of a lost loved one.)
- Why did the author and illustrator include a group of
girls playing as others searched the wall for their loved
ones' names? (The girls stand as a symbol of life marching
on in spite of the loss suffered in the war. The final image
of the book, as the boy and his grandfather walk away from
the wall, offers another reassuring impression that life
goes on after war and death.)
- You cannot see the faces of the boy and his father as
they walk away from the wall, but how do you think
they are feeling?
- How did the book make you feel? Do all books have to make
you feel happy?
Follow-Up Activities
- Share more images of the wall from Web sites such as Tom's
Vietnam Veterans Memorial page. You might also share
information from the official government Web site,
Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Other tribute sites offer
powerful images in addition to information; you might share
sites such as the Vietnam
Veterans Memoral Wall Page and The
Virtual Wall: Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Finally, you
might share a brief
biography of Maya Lin, who designed the wall.
- Have students talk about why it is important to remember
the contributions to freedom of those who died, as well
as those veterans who are still living. Locate the nearest
Veteran's Hospital facility and have the students write
Memorial Day letters or create Memorial Day cards to send
to the veterans in that hospital.
- Write letters to servicemen and women on active duty in
the Middle East and around the globe. See this week's lesson,
Thinking
About Our Troops, for information about how you and
your students might do that.
Assessment
- Students write thoughtful letters to veterans.
- Students might respond to the following writing prompt:
Most books tell a story, but as I read the words inThe
Wall I don't see that they tell much of a story. Would
you agree or disagree?
Lesson Plan Source
Education World
Submitted By
Gary Hopkins
National Standards
LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.1Reading for Perspective
NL-ENG.K-12.2Reading for Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.11Participating in Society
NL-ENG.K-12.12Applying Language Skills
SOCIAL SCIENCES: Civics
GRADES K - 4
NSS-C.K-4.2
Values and Principles of Democracy
NSS-C.K-4.5
Roles of the Citizen
GRADES 5 - 8
NSS-C.5-8.3
Principles of Democracy
NSS-C.5-8.5
Roles of the Citizen
GRADES 9 - 12
NSS-C.9-12.3
Principles of Democracy
NSS-C.9-12.5
Roles of the Citizen
SOCIAL SCIENCES: U.S. History
GRADES K - 4
NSS-USH.K-4.3 The History of the United States: Democratic Principles and Values and the People from Many Cultures Who Contributed to Its Cultural, Economic, and Political Heritage
GRADES 5 - 12
NSS-USH.5-12.9 Era 9: Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)
SOCIAL SCIENCES: World History
GRADES 5 - 12
NSS-WH.5-12.8 The 20th Century
Find more Memorial Day activity ideas in Education World's
Memorial Day
Archive.
Click to return to this week's Lesson Planning article, Remembering
Those Who Gave Their Lives: Lessons for Memorial Day.
Originally published 05/16/2003
Last updated 04/24/2009
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