The Earth Dragon Awakes!

We have begun our newest read aloud, The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.  Already, we are overcome by tension, awaiting the inevitable disaster.  The author has done a tremendous job of grabbing our attention through clever foreshadowing..."But is has been thirty-eight years since the last strong earthquake.  People have forgotten how bad it can be.  But soon they will remember."  WOW!  I want to read more!

This book falls into the genre of historical fiction, which means it is a fictional story that takes place in a particular time period from the past.  The characters are fictional, but experiencing real events from history.  We don't have a lot of background knowledge about this time period or area of the country, so I thought I would put some of the images from our in-class discussion on the blog for you to refer to as we continue to read the text!

 San Francisco in 1906,    

before the earthquake.

San Francisco in 1906, 

after the earthquake and

fire that followed.

The City Hall Tower

before and after the earthquake.

Present day Chinatown.

This is the community where

Chin and his father reside in the book.

Present day San Francisco.  

These are the type of homes Henry and

his family would have lived in.

A trolley car  travels through

the city, transporting citizens.  

Chin and his father take a trolley

to Chinatown from work at the Travis home. 

San Francisco today.

Rebuilt and thriving!

The Golden Gate Bridge. 

A famous landmark in 

San Francisco.

Hopefully this helps you visualize, as we continue reading this fascinating book!  Let me know what you think of it so far!  Are you enjoying it?  Do you have any predictions about what might happen to Henry and Chin!?!