Gathering
the Sun
An Alphabet in Spanish and
English
By Alama Flor Ada
Translated by Rosa Zubizarreta
Illustrations by Simón Silva
About the Book:
Alma Flor Ada has written twenty-eight poems
that celebrate honor and pride, family and friends,
history and heritage, and the bounty of the
harvest. Along with Simón Silva’s illustrations
and the translations by Rosa Zubizarreta, we are
transported to the fields and orchards and into the
lives of the people who work them.
About the Author:
Born in Camagüey, Cuba, Alma Flor Ada was
born into a storytelling family. She is currently
Professor Emerita at the
University of San Francisco and
has devoted her life to advocacy
for peace and a pedagogy oriented
to personal realization and social
justice. She has written numerous children’s books
of poetry, narrative, folklore and nonfiction.
[Date]
Book Awards
v Pura Belpré Honor Book
1997
v NCSS/CBC Notable Book in
the area of Social Studies
v Once Upon A World Book
Award, Simon Weisenthal
Center 1998
v NCTE Notable Book in
Language Arts
v Commended List, Center for
Latin American Studies.
Book Information
v Reading Level: Grades K-3
v Lexile Level: AD590L
v Content Areas: Children’s
Literature, Poetry, Mexican
Heritage, Spanish Language
v Published in 1997 by
Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
Vocabulary:
• Harvest- the activity of gathering crops
• Companion- someone or something you are with
• Bear- to produce, to have
• Caress- a gentle or loving touch
• Drowsy- tired and ready to fall asleep
• Finest- very good
• Fragrance- a pleasant and usually sweet smell
• Hue- a color or a shade of a color
Engagement Questions:
• What kinds of fruits and vegetables are harvested on farms?
• Do you think it is an easy job to work on a farm harvesting food?
• What is figurative language?
• What do you know about César Chávez?
• Do you think farmworkers are treated fairly?
• This is an alphabet book, what do you think that means? What will the story’s
structure be?
About the Illustrator:
Simón Silva
Silva was born in Mexicali, Mexico, and was raised
in Holtville, California. He was one of eleven
children and by the age of eight he was picking crops.
His family became migrant workers, traveling to find
work. So he became a migrant student, focusing on
his artistic skills and interests to cope with his
difficult childhood. He knows the importance of
education being the only person in his family to
graduate high school and college, where he earned a
Bachelor’s Degree in Art. He is an artist, author, and
speaker for more than 18 years.
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Background Knowledge—Who is Cesar Chavez?
Cesar Chavez was a leader and activist for migrant workers and farmers.
He was born in 1927. His father was very hardworking and successful until 1937
when he lost his farm and all belongings. They lost everything at the beginning of
the depression, along with the severe drought the southwestern United States was
suffering. So in 1928 the Chavez family joined over 300,000 migrant workers in
California. A migrant worker has no “real” home. They
have to travel from state to state working to harvest crops.
Following his family Chavez had to attend many different
schools and graduated from the eighth grade, unlike many
migrant children.
Chavez worked along side his family harvesting crops.
While working he noticed how the landowners took advantage of the migrant
workers. He encouraged workers to stand up from themselves but many were
afraid to lose their jobs. To protect the workers he organized the National Farm
Workers Union, “La Causa.” Chavez organized boycotts on certain crops to
stress the workers dangerous and difficult work. As a result labor laws began to
change. Gathering the Sun is dedicated to Chavez who died on April 23, 1993
(Francis, 2002).
Online Resources:
•
Learn more about César Chávez http://www.history.com/topics/cesar-chavez.
•
Access more information about Alma Flora Ada on her website http://almaflorada.com/
•
Look at Simon Silva’s wonderful artwork and read more information about him on his website
http://www.simonsilva.com/
• Read more books about migrant workers on the ¡Colorín Colorado! book list
http://www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/migrant-farmworker-families-books-kids.
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Classroom Activities:
1.
Classroom Alphabet Book
Have your students create their own books about a harvest by drawing
inspiration from Gathering the Sun. Each student can pick a letter of the
alphabet and write their own poem or short story to go along with the letter
they choose.
2.
Students can use Alphabet Organizer from Read Write Think to create an
alphabet book online. Students can add visuals as well.
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/alphabet_org
anizer/.
Blabberize an Illustration
Have students blabberize, add vocals, to an illustration from Gathering the
Sun. Students can start by having the characters on the page simply say the
poems in the book and extend it all the way to thinking of what the
characters would think or say about what they are doing.
3.
http://blabberize.com/
Create a Sun Catcher
Simon Silva uses many rich colors to bring to life the words of Alma Ada
Flora. His illustrations are also outlined in black adding to the affect of
them. Students can create a sun catcher using tissue paper and black
cardstock to mimic the affect of Silva’s art. Students can use his illustrations
as inspiration for their sun catcher.
Look here at a tutorial of making a butterfly sun catcher. Students can
apply this when making their own http://www.minieco.co.uk/butterflysun-catchers/.
4.
Guest Speaker
5.
Gathering the Sun is a bilingual book written in Spanish and English. Alma
Ada Flora had her daughter translate the story. Ask someone at your
school, a student’s family or the community to come in and read the book
in Spanish if you are unable to. This way students will be able to get the full
affect of the book.
Poetry Time!
After students have read the book have them create a limerick or haiku
poem about the book or how they feel after reading it. Encourage students
to be creative and draw inspiration from Flora’s poetry in the book.
©Jennifer Mouland, 2016
This guide was created as part of a graduate course at Eastern Connecticut State University under the
guidance of Susannah Richards.
To enlighten, delight and cultivate the minds of our students.
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References
About Alma Flor Ada. (n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2016, from http://almaflorada.com/about/
About Simón Silva. (n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2016, from http://www.simonsilva.com/new-page-2-1/
Ada, A. F., & Silva, S. (1997). Gathering the sun: An alphabet in Spanish and English (R. Zubizarreta,
Trans.). New York:
HarperCollins.
Francis, D. J. (2002). Alma Flor Ada: An Author Study. Retrieved March 7, 2016, from
http://etls.dpsk12.org/documents/Alma/units/AlmaFlorAdaAnAuthorStudy.pdf