Grade Level: 3-5 Awards



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Date20.10.2016
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MLA Citation:

Applegate, Katherine. The One and Only Ivan. New York: Harper, 2012. Print.



Grade Level:

  • 3-5

Awards:

  • Newberry Medal Recipient - 2013

  • Christopher Award - 2013

  • Crystal Kite Member Choice Award - 2013

  • Flicker Tale Children's Book Award for Intermediate Books - 2013

Summary:

"Hello I am Ivan. I am a gorilla. It's not as easy as it looks. People call me the Freeway Gorilla. The Ape at Exit 8." (Applegate p. 1-2) Ivan is a gorilla who lives in the Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, located on I-95 off exit 8. According to Ivan, he has in captivity 9,855 days according to his tallies on the wall (Applegate p. 25) He lives in a three-sided glass domain with one concrete wall that has a mural of a jungle. Ivan was rescued from poachers when he was very young so he does not have much memory from when he was in the wild and loves living at the mall. He watches television, eats bananas and makes artwork that his owner, Mack, sells. At the Big Top Mall also lives Stella the elephant and Bob the stray dog. Stella is an older elephant who has a leg injury and ill perform in all of the shows produced every day. Unlike Ivan, Stella has a long memory of living in other places, like being in the circus. She doesn't really like living at the mall. She would much rather live at the zoo because they have much bigger domains. She believes that zoos are how humans make amends (Applegate p. 64)

Ruby, a baby elephant that was brought to the Big Top Mall after she lost her mother. She was brought there to learn new tricks and be in the daily shows. Stella helps to mother Ruby since her mother died. Stella's injury to her foot became worse and she became very sick. Mack never likes to call the vet to look at Stella's foot because he doesn't like the cost of having to pay one. She eventually passes away because of Mack not having the vet look at her infection. Before Stella passes away because of the illness, she asked Ivan to take of Ruby and make sure she ends up in a better place to live (Applegate 111-113.)

One night, Julia, the custodian's daughter gave Ivan finger paints and it gave him an idea (Applegate, p. 159) Ivan started painting a picture of Ruby i the zoo and wrote on the bottom the word "home." He doesn't see the Big Top Mall as home anymore, he sees it as a cage. George and Julia help him by putting it on the billboard outside of the Big Top Mall. When people see it, they begin to protest the treatment of the animals and investigators are sent to the Mall and eventually close it down. Ivan, Ruby and the other animals are taken away. Luckily, for Ivan and Ruby they were both adopted by the same zoo. Ivan falls in love with another gorilla and was tested if he really was a silverback. Ruby is with a new elephant family and she is very happy. Eventually Julia come to visit and Ivan learns she now is taking care of Bob.

STORY ELEMENTS:

Characters:

  • Ivan: A gorilla who has lived at the Big Top Mall for 24 years and is the main character in the book. He spent most of his like in captivity living in either a human home or at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall. Ivan's goal becomes to save Ruby and have her moved to the zoo.

  • Stella: An elephant who used to live in circuses before arriving at the mall, but would much rather live in a zoo.

  • Bob: A stray dog who lives with Ivan. He is happy with being a stray and doesn't want a human home.

  • Mack: The owner of the mall and part-time circus clown. He bought Ivan from poachers who captured him in his home of Africa. He is a good man but his business is failing and he cannot afford to keep up the mall the way he used to. His actions are what made Ivan want to have Ruby moved to the zoo.

  • George: The mall custodian. He helps take care of the mall and animals, even though he is not supposed to help with them. He is scared he may lose his job by doing so.

  • Julia: George's daughter. She is the one who inspires Ivan's love for drawing. She helps Ivan with his goal of moving Ruby and others to the zoo.

  • Ruby: A baby elephant who is new to the mall. She recently lost her mother and never been trained for the circus. Her treatment by Mack is what made Ivan try to find her a new home.

Settings:

  • Big Top Mall: Located off Exit 8 off of I-95. This is where Ivan and the other animals lives.

  • Zoo Atlanta: Where Ruby and Ivan were moved to after the Mall closed.

LITERARY ELEMENTS:

  • Mood: Provide your students with a list of "feeling" words to use when describing the mood of the book. This can help your students use more advanced vocabulary rather than them using words such as "funny" or "scary." Have the students select music they think goes along with the book that would better help set the mood.

  • Imagery: The teacher can begin this lesson by telling the students to close their eyes and imagine they are on a walk. You can tell them to imagine they are on a walk and imagine the things they see, hear, taste, tough, and smell. Have the students share the things they come up with and you share also. Next, have the students do the same thing, but the can imagine how a perfect Saturday would be.

  • Metaphor: Give students each three pieces of paper. Review what a noun is and then have the students to write one noun on each piece of paper. Collect the piece of paper and place them in a bowl or cup. Draw a word out and have the students come up with a metaphor for that word.

  • Point of View: Print out five different pictures and glue them on a piece of paper. On those papers break it into five different sections:  Perspectives, First Person Point of View, and then the three types of Third Person point of view On those piece of paper have students. Have each student take turns writing from each perspective until they have wrote from each perspective.

  • Setting: Review and make sure the students know what a setting is. It needs to be clear that a setting is not only is where the story took place, but that it also when the story takes place. An activity that you can do with the students is having them answer questions about a story they like. The setting doesn't have to be a real place and it doesn't have to be a certain time. It can be whenever the story they like took place.

Can you think of some stories . . .

. . . that are set in the future?







. . . that happen in the past?







. . . that are set in the present?







. . . that take place during a war?







. . . that are set in the ocean or sea?







. . . that take place in outer space?







. . . that happen on an island or a mountain?







. . . that take place in the Arctic or Antarctic?







. . . that take place in a city?







. . . that are set in an imaginary place?









Interdisciplinary Connections:

  • Science: Science can be incorporated by having students research different animals habits (not only gorillas and elephants) The students can make poster about the animals habit. Students would need to be given guidelines on what needs to be included. Such as what they eat, what they do, where they live, how big they get, and how long they live etc

  • Art: Art can be incorporated by having the students make finger paint drawings of something from the book (since it's something Ivan loves). They could create scenes from the book by making a peep-box in which they can either draw the scene from the book or making something to do inside of the box.

  • Social Studies: One way social studies can be taught is by having the students make a timeline of events from the book. You can also have the students compare gorillas characteristics to those of a human. You can incorporate geography by having the student research where gorillas and elephants are native to.

Recommended Readings:

  • http://www.zooatlanta.org/home/animals/mammals/gorilla/meet_the_gorillas/ivan#2-OXMr

- This website is about the real Ivan and if from Zoo Atlanta. After he was removed from the Big Top Mall, he was moved to the Atlanta Zoo. This website give details about Ivan prior to being bought and took to the Big Top Mall, his life there, and once he moved to Zoo Atlanta. The website also contains a video of Ivan.

  • http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mountain-gorilla/

- This website is by National Geographic Kids. It is about real gorillas in the wild. It contains facts about the types of food they eat, the type of actions that they do, states how long they live, and what they eat. It contains a map where gorillas live and compares their weight to a piano and their length to a bus.

  • Let's Make a Difference: Protecting Mountain Gorillas by Gabriella Francine

- Let's Make a Difference is a book about how we can help save gorillas. It talks about there are fewer than 900 mountain gorillas left in the world. The book talks about how important gorillas are for the world, like how gorillas help spread seeds around the forest to plant new trees when they use the bathroom. It uses multicultural cartoons to help students to better understand the book and clarify text.

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