My Great-Aunt Arizona

This is a good example of historical fiction because it starts with the narrator’s aunt being born 90 years ago and tells about where she lived what she wore the kind of school she went to and other things about the time she grew up in and how it’s changed.
Characterization: Aunt Arizona is a

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round character because you know a lot about her and what she is like.
media: water color and pencil

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Summary:
This book is about a lady named Arizona. She was born in a log cabin. The family one day got a letter from her brother saying that if the baby is a girl he wants them to name her Arizona. It talks about the hobbies she enjoyed to do. Arizona went to school to became teacher. Arizona died

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on her 93rd birthday with her memories in her students minds.

Personal reaction: I really enjoyed this book because I want to become a teacher just like Arizona was. By the struggles she went through showed me that anything is possible.

Classroom Extension:
1. Have to students write in there journals about their hobbies.
2. Have a discussion on what it would like if we where in a one room building trying to learn.

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My Great-Aunt Arizona was written by Gloria Houston and illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb. The29-page book, intended for the k-4 grade levels, is a biography about Arizona Houston-Hughes, a young woman who was taught in a one room schoolroom and later taught in a one room schoolroom and influenced

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generations of students through her teaching. Being a fan of pioneer books I enjoyed the descriptions of Blue Ridge Mountain life in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The illustrations evoke memories of the Little House on the Prairie books with the simplicity of line and water-washed illustrations of pioneer life.

In truth though, I was confused about the intended audience of this book. Was is it intended to show students how important their teacher is? Or was it intended for future teachers to give them a pep talk about how much of an influence they can have on future generations in their classroom? If it was intended for a younger audience to make them appreciate their teacher, I don't find this lesson, and thus would not pick it to read to them, needful as most elementary students I know are in no doubt as to their feelings about their teacher positive or negative. This is the person who has power over recess or no recess, for goodness sake. If intended for future teachers, or a reaffirmation to ones that are already working, I think it is sweet but not in the correct format for such an endeavor as the pictures and vocabulary are clearly intended for a younger audience. When reading a good book, a book that has successfully conveyed a clear message, I do not think I should have to ask these sorts of questions.

Which brings me to how I could use this in an elementary classroom. I enjoy it for its information about living in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the late 1800's. The accuracy of the book is based on the first person stories that were told to the author. While not a primary source maybe for a history/social studies lesson, it is still a very visible one (through the illustrations) and one that has many unique moments of insight. That the mailman had to come on horseback, the gathering and preparing of maple sap, making snow cream, and the blab schools are all great examples of historical attributes, and could even be drawn over to a geographical lesson. Now that I think about it I also think the book has potential for students just starting to think about careers. I know that I had mine all picked out pretty quickly after I found out you had to have a degree to be a marine biologist and it did influence many of my decisions from about third grade until eighth or ninth, when I promptly decided another career was preferable. But books that show us the good, or points out a person who did great things in a career are needed so that students can begin the long process of picking a career. In this way I think My Great Aunt Arizona does a fairly good job of creating a life that sets an example for further exploration into a teaching career. I simply wish I could have felt a greater focus in this book, and that it have an organization based on this focus (the organization giving greater time or focus to the message).

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A wonderfully illustrated story of the life of a school teacher who spent her days teaching in a one room school house in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Another great book for young readers to explore how schools worked in the past.

Gloria Houston's My Great-Aunt Arizona is a delight from start to finish, presenting a biographical sketch of the author's aunt, a book-loving girl who grew up to be the teacher in her small Appalachian community's one-room schoolhouse, nourishing the minds and spirits of many generations of

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students. Named after the state of Arizona, where her older brother was stationed at the time of her birth, Arizona Houston (Arizona Houston Hughes, as she would one day become) was a girl with many interests, from growing flowers to square dancing on a Saturday night. But nothing ever eclipsed her love of words, and nothing - not the death of her mother, not the necessity of caring for her father and younger brother - ever put an end to her desire to get a good education.

A tribute both to a beloved family member, and to the noble profession of teaching - the "most influential profession in the world," according to the author's dedication - this lovely picture-book is also a visual treat, featuring beautiful illustrations by Susan Condie Lamb. The artwork sings with joy, from the scene in which Arizona leaps about with abandon, at the square dance, to that in which she returns home as a teacher, striding confidently into her bright new future. I don't know that My Great-Aunt Arizona, for all its charm, is a particularly earth-shattering book, but its almost perfect blend of textual and visual narrative gives it immense appeal.

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Amazingly, this book is about the author's actual great aunt named Arizona. She grew up in a small town with an even smaller one room schoolhouse. Arizona loved all aspects of life, and she always wanted to go to "faraway places" to explore even more of what life had to offer. Instead of going to

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those places, Arizona dedicated her life to giving children the tools they needed to they could go to those faraway places in her place. Arizona taught in that little one room schoolhouse for 57 years.
The artwork really gave light to this story. It visualized the entire life of Arizona, from birth to death. The illustrations gave life and feeling to an already brilliant story.

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This was a truly inspiring book that all children can relate to. Children have had at least one teacher that has made a huge impact on their life. They can remember so many details from that teacher’s class even if they had that teacher years ago because the teacher was so inspiring. This book

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gets children to remember and reflect on their past teachers and truly appreciate all that they have done for them. Arizona had never had a chance to go explore far off places but encouraged all her students to. She wanted her students to experience all the world had to offer and truly believed that they would. Her students eventually grew up and took Arizona’s memory with them everywhere they went because she was such a great teacher. This book shows children that most of their teachers really care about them and want to inspire them to reach their full potential. It encourages them to succeed in order to make their teachers proud.

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My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston is a multicultural book that is about Appalachain Americans. This story is about a girl named Arizona who loved to read, sing, and dream about traveling to far away places. Arizona and her brother attend a one room schoolhouse until her mother dies then

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Arizona has to stay home to take care of her family. Her father remarries and then Arizona returns to school to become a teacher. Arizona eventually comes back to her hometown to teach in that same one room schoolhouse where she attended. She married a carpenter and taught for many many years. Arizona never went to those far away places that she dreamed about but she taught them to her students. Arizona and her stories live in each and every single one of her students. This story shows the importance that a single teacher can make in the lives of their students.

This would be a great read aloud for students in grades Pre-K-3. Appalachian Americans have been significantly underrepresented in children's literature. This would be a good mentor text when learning about people of that region of the U.S. With older students they might be able to do research to learn more about the culture in this region.

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Summary:
This book is about the life of a family member viewed from the eyes of a great niece. The great niece shares the story of her great-aunt growing up in the mountains, attending a one room schoolhouse and eventually left school to help care for her dad and brother when her mother passed on.

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She shared her hobbies, which included reading, singing and growing flowers. She also shared how she dressed modestly throughout her life in long, full dresses, high button shoes and petticoats. Her great-aunt's name was Arizona and she grew up to be a teacher who had significant influence on the many generations of children in her care throughout her life. The niece shares how her great-aunt Arizona will be remembered by her and many others as time goes on.

Personal Reaction:
I really enjoyed reading this book about the life of Great-Aunt Arizona. I can relate to her life in many ways. Our hobbies are the same. I also love to read, sing and garden. I also have a strong desire to become a teacher who will someday leave a lasting imprint on those children in my care. My dad and aunt grew up on a farm and attended a one-room schoolhouse for many years. I am glad that I read this book. It was very encouraging to read.

Extension Ideas:
1. Have the class get into pairs and act out the story. One person can role play the teacher and the other person can role play the student. Trade off and discuss as a class how they feel about portraying the life of a teacher.

2. Have the students draw, color and describe what they would like to be when they grow up and tell why they chose what they did. Explain to the students that Arizona had great influence on the generations of children she taught.

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Summary: Gloria Houston writes of the accounts her Great-Aunt Arizona had of her entire life. Arizona was born in a very small town and loved going to school and learning. Her mother passed away at a young age, which meant that Arizona had to stop school and help out at home with her papa and

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brother. Her papa remarried after sometime and this meant that Arizona could go back to school! She as so excited and she was even able to go live with her aunt to become a school teacher. She came back to her hometown to teach and she married a man and they had a child together. Arizona stayed at the same one room school house for many years and always talked about the far off places that she would love to visit. Arizona taught for fifty-seven years and touched many lives with her stories.

Review: What a beautiful portrayal Gloria Houston gives her Great-Aunt Arizona. Houston leaves her readers with the central message that anyone can go to the faraway places that Arizona talked about as long as they pay attention to their teachers. Arizona continuously talked to her students about faraway places, but when asked, she always said that she had never been, but that they [her students] would go someday. She was in love with her job and her students, which is shown by the relationships she held with each and every one. She personally got to know her students and helped teach them the tools that they needed to go to the faraway places that only she could dream about. Arizona constantly encouraged her students to think outside of the box and she comforted them when they felt discouraged or stuck. Houston truly captured the footprint that her Great-Aunt Arizona left on this earth.

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This biographical book tells the story of a boy's Great-Aunt Arizona. It starts from the day she was born, and describes all her favorite things to do, and the activities she did with her brother, like going to the one-room schoolhouse, or making maple syrup. Her mother passes away, and she has to

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stay home to take care of her brother and father. When her father remarries, she goes off to a school further away from home to learn to be a teacher. She really has a passion for teaching and dreaming about far away places. She comes back to teach at the schoolhouse that she once went to, and teaches her students about far away places and then she gets married. She has a baby, and brings the baby girl to her classroom each day. She taught students for 57 years, and showed them lots of love and taught them lots. She passed away on her 93rd birthday.

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Intensely moving. Smiles, joy, sunshiny colors, rhythmic text - about a woman who lives to be 94 years, teaching children for 57 of them, and never going to the faraway places of which she dreams. I'm all torn up inside.

This book represents the idea of a teacher that motivates students to go out and experience the world by saying that ...''someday they may go where she has never been''. I enjoyed this reading because it made realize how teacher language can be implemented in a book to bring enthusiasm in students.