Down Memory Lane

When I was in second and third grade, my teacher used a more or less integrated curriculum. This means that all subjects were intertwined (some better than others). We studied the rain forest, wolves, Colonial America, and Native Americans. As part of this work, she always had a read aloud that went with what we were studying. While we studied American Indians, we read Sing Down the Moon, by Scott O'Dell. Fast forward some period of time and I find another copy of it in a used book store and add it to my classroom library.

Today I decided to revisit it. It was weird how much I remembered.

What's amazing about Scott O'Dell's work is how it still tells an amazing story forty years later. Bright Morning is a young girl living in a Navaho clan. When the Long Knives come through and burn their small village to the ground her clan is forced into captivity.

The story is based on The Long Walk, a trip the Navaho people had to make from northeast Arizona to Fort Sumner, 170 miles east of Santa Fe, New Mexico. This trip is akin to the Trail of Tears, although not exactly. While the Navaho were kept in Fort Sumner, they were kept as captives, guarded by the Long Knives. After a few years they were allowed to leave and ended up settling in the Four Corners area of the southwest (where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet).

The book is leveled at V, so it is definitely for higher readers. However, it could be used as a read aloud with lower readers if it is part of a greater study of American Indians. It would also be great to use for guided reading, so I might invest in a few more copies. It is also just an enjoyable read, so it'll definitely keep its place in my classroom library as well. I'm excited to keep using it this fall. I can see why my teacher picked it as a read all those years ago.