Dragonwings
Summary
Dragonwings is a novel about an eight-year-old boy named Moon Shadow who leaves his home in China to join his father Windrider in America. Windrider spends his days doing laundry and nights dreaming of flying. Windrider and Moon Shadow leave the comforts of China Town so that Windrider’s dream can become reality. During years that follow Windrider and Moon Shadow must live among the Americans, non-Chinese, in order have his dream become real. After years of building models of planes Windrider completes his plane. His Dragonwings. Will Windrider’s dream come true? Will Windrider fly?
Content Warnings
On pages 91-97 there is a detailed description of the drug opium and the affects it has on some individuals. It also details where the drug is injected and the feeling of euphoria afterwards. In this reading Black Dog is missing and Windrider finds him at the Opium Den. The Justices are confronting him for his assault of a prostitute. The topic of drug binging and overdosing is sensitive so it would be wise to make sure to read ahead before reading out loud with the class.
Community Connection
Integrity Requires Wholeness. Integrity requires that the way you live your life is life is whole, entire, undivided, sound, coherent and principled. Integrity moves you to do difficult and new things not just easy and accustomed things. The novel ends with Windrider realizing that he cannot have his two loves together: love of flying and his family. He chooses his family.
Class Project Have students research the experiences of another immigrant group in California around the turn of the century, such as the Irish, Germans, Japanese, or Mexicans. Write a comparison between the experiences of that group in California and the Chinese experience as found in Dragonwings.
History and Social Studies Reading and Writing Standards 11-12
*These standards will be met throughout the following lessons
Standards for Reading
- Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
- Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
- Write informative/explanatory tests, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments or technical processes.
RH10. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Standards for Writing
a.) Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b.) Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
c.) Use appropriate and varied transitions and syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.
d.) Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.
e.) Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
Film Resources
Sorry there are no film resources that match Dragonwings. However there are several documentaries on Chinese immigration:
http://www.pbs.org/becomingamerican/ce_resources3.html
Final Writing Assignment
As a final writing assignment, students will create an Emergency Preparedness document. Your document should include important telephone numbers, local and nearby shelters, and your community evacuation routes. The plan should also include what do with the old and injured and meeting point just in case you get separated from your group or family members. Included in your plan should be a list of items you should always have stowed away in case of a disaster such as first aid kit, water, food, radio and flashlight. Don’t forget a plan for meeting parents or children.