Kira-Kira "A Glittering Outlook"

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Kira-Kira

By: Cynthia Kadohata



Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

Copyright: 2004

Newbery Medal Winner 2005

Genre: Fiction

Grade Level: 5th or 6th grade

Brief Synopsis: Katie Takeshima, a young Japanese-American girl, and her family have to leave their home in Iowa in order for her parents to find work in rural Georgia.  Her parents both get jobs in a chicken sexing factory in order for their family, including her, her older sister Lynn, and her younger brother Sammy, to survive from day to day.  Katie looks up to Lynn in every way from her knowledge of school work to her knowledge of the racism in the world around her.  When Lynn starts getting sick the whole family is affected.  They try everything to keep her healthy and happy, including buying a house that Lynn has always wanted.  This story is very moving and covers a lot of different topics that evry person can learn and grow from.
Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes.  It is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future.

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About the Author:
Cynthia Kadohata- Cynthia Kadohata is a second-generation Japanese American.

Even though she hailed from Chicago, most of her childhood was spent on the road. The wandering Kadohatas moved from Illinois to Arkansas, where Cynthia's brother was born, then on to Georgia, Michigan, and back to Chicago, where her sister was born. When Kadohata was fifteen years old the family put down roots in Los Angeles, California—although by that time her parents had divorced and established separate households.

Her father became a chicken "sexer" in a poultry plant, which greatly inspired one of her themes in this story Kira-Kira.  She felt as an outsider because she noticed that the "sexers" in the plant were only Japanese-Americans. 

At the age of 21 Kadohata was hit by a car and this gave her a new perspective on life, and this was that it could be gone in an instant and to make the most of it. 

Themes: Stuggling to Survive
Coping with a family member's illness
Trials and tribulations of growing up
Losing your childhood innocence
Dealing with racism
Always being there for your family
Finding the little things in life that are truly beautiful

Pre-Reading Activities:
- Students will create a Kira-Kira bookmark for unknown vocabulary words.  They will be able to decorate the bookmarks with glitter pens and glue to stick with the meaning of kira-kira being "glittering."  While they read each chapter they will write down the unknown vocabulary word and page number.  They will then be responsible to go to their vocabulary sheets (that will be printed for them) and write down the word again and a definition that makes sense in its context.  They will be required to have at least 40 words by the end of the book.

- Have a lesson on character traits and character development.  Give the students a short story and have them create a graphic organizer with the character traits of each character.  

After they finish they will get into a small group and discuss their ideas.  I will them have them discuss how the main character develops throughout the story.  By doing this activity with a short story the students get the practice with it before having to do it with a chapter book.

Post-Reading Activities:

- Have students create a picture of something they think is Kira-Kira.  This can be anything to them that they think is "glittering" in a sense.  It is finding beauty in anything, but they will have to explain why their picture is Kira-Kira to them on the bottom.
- The students will fill out the same graphic organizer as in the Pre-Reading activity, but this time instead of the short story they will use Kira-Kira to fill out the characters and the character traits.  They can work in small groups for this and then discuss how the main character, Katie, develops throughout the book.
- In their journal they will react to how they liked the book.  What did they like or didn't like?  Would they recommend the book to others? Why?  They are free to include whatever else they felt about the book in this reflection as well.

Reflection:

I had an immense emotional reaction to this book.  Kadohata writes in a way that gets a reader very emotionally attached to the characters, and thus creates a reaction much like the charaters in the book as you are reading.  Although this story is full of very serious and deep themes it is told in the perspective of a young girl, which allows young readers to relate to her as she tells her story.  Kate, the main character, also experiences some prejudice, and would allow the teacher to address this topic with the whole class.  Katie's build many relationships with others while growing up, and these relationships can also be compared to relationships students have with others.  I love this book because it is so rich in morals and teaches students to take the time out to find what is really important in life.  It also lends itself to teach literary skills as well.  I would use Kira-Kira as a book for a literature circle because students could have great discussions while reading through this, and really express themselves.

Links:

Book Information
Book Synopsis
Author Biography
Cynthia Kadohata's Website