El Deafo

El Deafo

El Deafo

By: Cece Bell

Copyright: 2014

Published by: Harry N. Abrams

2015 Newberry Honor Book
2015 Children's Choice List 

Genre: Graphic Novel; Memoir / Autobiography; Non-Fiction

My rating:

Grade Level Equivalent: 2.7

Lexile Measure: GN420L

Starting a new school can be challenging for anyone but going to school and trying to make friends while wearing a hearing aid on your chest is even more challenging.  In this humorous graphic novel, Cece Bell reflects on her hearing loss at a young age and her experiences with the Phonic Ear.  While she now as the ability to hear with Phonic Ear, she also becomes more isolated from her peers.  She wants nothing more than to fit in and find a true friend to appreciate her.  Read along with El Deafo to find out more about this extraordinary girl with an extraordinary heart. 

Suggested Delivery:

Independent Reading

Words to Describe book:

Humorous

Superpowerful

Friendship

Honest

Touching

Useful Electronic Resources:

Teaching Guide

This is a wonderful teaching resource for teachers to use while teaching this novel that is aligned with the Common Core Standards.  The teaching guide expands on the text and explores other content areas, such as reading, science, history and writing.  There are many different activities that students can participate in to build their schema, specifically what it may be like to be deaf.  Overall, this is a great resource that teachers can use to build schema and background knowledge about the author or the content of the novel, as well as to connect the subject to other content areas to engage students all around. 

Author Discussion

This is a short video from the author, Cece Bell, talking about El Deafo.  Cece discusses why she wrote the story and how she felt when she was in school.  She also shows the Phonic Ear in real life so the students who are watching this video can actually see what it was like.  Students also get to see the author and the main character of the novel that they read talking, which is very extraordinary.

Lesson Ideas

Another resource that teachers can use as an extension to the novel. This resource provides thought-provoking discussion questions, extension activities, and other resources that you can provide to the students if they want to learn more about disabilities or deafness.  Great resource with many fun and creative activities for students to dive deeper into the content of the text. 

Teaching Opportunities:

Key Vocabulary:

Meningitis- Inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain or spinal cord, caused by infection

Audiologist- Doctor who evaluates hearing loss and related disorders

Foreign- Of, from, in, or characteristic of a country or language other than one’s own; strange or unfamiliar

Phonic- Of or relating to speech sounds

Humiliation- The act of humiliating someone 

Humiliate- To cause (a person) a painful loss of pride, self-respect, or dignity; mortify

Reading Strategy Suggestions to increase literal and/ or inferential comprehension:

Pre-Reading Strategy

Research Study

Students can research about other individuals that have made history for being deaf.  The students can look into questions such as, How did being deaf affect their lives?  And what were their accomplishments?  Students can look at Helen Keller, William Ellsworth Hoy and Juliette Gordon Low.  This strategy will help build schema and can help the students relate Cece to another famous person who is deaf. 

During-Reading Strategy

Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA)- comprehension strategy that guides students in asking questions about a text, making predictions, and then reading to confirm or refute their predications

Post-Reading Strategy

RAFT writing- helps students understand their roles as writers, the audience they will address, the varied formats for writing and the topics they’ll be writing about

Writing Assignment: How would you feel if you were Cece in this novel?  What emotions would you be feeling?  What struggles do you think you would face when trying to fit in?  Use evidence from the text to support your response. 

Writing Activity

Book Review

Have students write a book review of El Deafo. The elements of a book review should include: (1) title, author, genre and theme; (2) personal reflections about the book—how it made you feel and what your thoughts were about it; (3) plot summary—describe what happened without giving away spoilers; (4) characters you loved or disliked and (5) why it is worth reading or not.