It is 1919 and rifka s brother nathan has deserted the russian army. Karen hesse born on august 29, 1952 baltimore, maryland is an american author of childrens literature and literature for young adults. All questions are taken from our litplan teacher pack for letters from rifka, but you dont need to haveuse the litplan to use this slide presentation. Rifka finally sees her mother and she has never been happier, especially in her problem. Our online letters from rifka trivia quizzes can be adapted to suit your requirements for taking some of the top letters from rifka quizzes. A youth in nazi germany tells the truth about hitler. Characters letters from rifkabook project by anna dayton. Plot summary letters from rifkabook project by anna dayton. They are going to help you out while you read the selection from letters from rifka emma likes to ask questions about what youre thinking while you read alex tries to answer emmas questions and asks for your help along the way with the help of your coaches youll be a literary whiz in no time. Short answer and multiple choice questions are listed by book section. Studying this novel expands the exploration of the value tikvah, hope, the theme of the shevat 5764 issue of babaganewz. See more ideas about lettering, teaching and novels.
If it available for your country it will shown as book reader and user fully subscribe will benefit by having full. Letters from rifka is based on a true story told to karen hesse by her great aunt lucy. Letters from rifka detail questions flashcards quizlet. They chose rifka because she could speak russian and she had light hair and blue eyes. Twelveyearold rifka endures the worstshe has ringworm and is not allowed to go to america. Both rifka and ilya were grated permission to enter america. Sections date we will finish reading date we will discuss 1. Rifka was also able to convince the officials that she could succeed in life with or without hair. Letters from rifka quizzes online, trivia, questions.
Letter from rifka is a superb book about a 12 year old jewish girl who lived. Just when rifkas troubles should be over she finds herself facing new hardships. Theme nathans family is trying to hide nathan from the guards never give up no matter how hard the situation is. In letters to her cousin, a young jewish girl chronicles her familys flight from russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be left in belgium for a. Twelveyearold rifkas journey from a jewish community in the ukraine to ellis island is anything but smooth sailing.
Rifka s family quickly packed up their things and left. On ellis island rifka meets a new friend named ilya, but he first does not talk to her nor will he eat, so everyone thinks. I remember being so fascinated by rifka s story i still think back to it today. View book info and cumulative award history for letters from rifka by karen hesse. Essay and discussion questions are for the whole book. I bought it for my 9year old and, thankfully, read a part of it first before making a determination to give it to her. Start studying letters from rifka vocabulary, pages 51145. Letters from rifka by karen hesse, 9780312535612, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Be the first to ask a question about letters from rifka. Letters from rifka september 2 february 25 summary.
The book is super unique in that it is written as series of journal entries or letters. Pj our way offers free, monthly jewish chapter books to kids 911 years of age. The time peroid for the story was during the 1920s, the setting occured in various places. However, rifka encounters many difficulties along the way. This puts the family at great risk, so to protect themselves, twelveyearold rifka and her family flee russia for america in the hope of a better life. Terms in this set 54 what gift did tovah give rifka in berdichev. Letters from rifka by karen hesse momo celebrating time.
There are a couple parts that i did have to skip they talk about undressing in front of the soldiers, pretty descriptive but a great depiction of what life was like for a jewish girl trying to come to america. Have students use a blank world map to trace the journey of rifka and her family. Provides frequent checks to help ensure students are comprehending material. Karen hesse in letters to her cousin, a young jewish girl chronicles her familys flight from russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be left in belgium for a while when the others immigrate to.
Small groups read assigned chapters from the book, letters to rifka, then work together to fill out comprehension worksheets associated with their chapters. Rifka thanks tovah for her familys role in the escape and describes how rifka, the only daughter and with beautiful blond hair, had to distract the guards. Hesse, karen letters from rifka 1992 i picked up this book at a school book fair because it looked quite interesting. In letters from rifka, rifka and her family travel to many countries before arriving in the united states.
She would not have had access to writing paper, nor the luxury to carry that paper with her. Letters from rifka topics for discussion karen hesse this study guide consists of approximately 15 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of letters from rifka. The letters, each prefaced by a few telling lines of pushkin, tell of the fear, indignities, privation, and disease endured as they traveled through poland and into. Letters from rifka and millions of other books are available for instant access.
Free letters from rifka study unit worksheets for teachers to print. Setting letters from rifkabook project by anna dayton. Persecuted in russia by the soldiers and others who dislike jews, rifka s family makes their way across russia to poland and the u. When a case of ringworm prevents rifka from joining her russian family as they emigrate to the united states, she spends nine months living in warsaw, with her care overseen by the hebrew immigrant aid society. It features a jewish familys emigration from russia in 1919, to belgium and ultimately to the u. Rifka knows nothing about america when she flees from russia with her family in 1919. Bartoletti has taken one episode from her newbery honor book, hitler youth, and fleshed it out into a full novel.
Letters from rifka through the looking glass childrens. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. Throughout her journey, rifka carries with her a cherished volume of poetry by alexander pushkin. The conflict is betwwen one of the gaurd and rifka, the gaurd notice that rifka is hiding something important from them, and rifka have to argue with him and make sure shes family is safe. This book is a series of letters from rifka as she travels from russia to america with her mother, father and two brothers. Letters from rifka plan your schedule my group members are.
There are a couple parts that i did have to skip they talk about undressing in front of the soldiers. Rifka is left in belgium to recover from a disease she encounters. Then have students briefly research each country and provide relevant. Comprehension by chapter, vocabulary challenges, creative reading response activities and projects, tests, and much more. Rifka makes the difficult journey from the ukraine to america and records the adventure, as well as her solo journey to rejoin her family after being separated from them, in a series of letters. In it, she records her observations and experiences in the form of letters to tovah. Twenty years ago i was in third grade reading my first karen hesse book, letters from rifka. I learned more about jewish history from this book. The letter format gives this book a very authentic feel. Nov, 2019 because i had decided to use the epistolary format to tell rifkas story, i needed, within the internal logic of the book, to provide her with the means to write. Letters from rifka by karen hesse through a series of letters to her cousin tovah, a young russian jew describes her familys journey to america to escape the hardships imposed upon the jews during the years surrounding world war i. Rifka s family hid in the trains boxcars, and rifka had to distract the soldiers.
This puts the family at great risk, so to protect themselves, twelveyearold rifka and her family flee russia. This letters from rifka lesson plan is suitable for 6th 8th grade. We are studying ellis island so this pairs with it. Also, i liked how she was the little mother of a polish baby when the babys real mom died from typhus. Beginning in russia in 1919, this epistolary novel, based on experiences of the authors greataunt, tells how 12yearold rifka nebrot and her family fled the antisemitism of postrevolutionary russia and emigrated to the us. Provides substitute words or phrases to help students keep reading fluently and develop and expand their vocabulary before you move on prompts.
Free letters from rifka worksheets and literature unit for. In the book letters from rifka the girl, rifka, is from the ukraine. Introduction this study guide aims to provide material to help in the preparation of a lesson, unit, or book club discussion about the novel letters from rifka by karen hesse. Feb 01, 2009 karen hesse is the author of many books for young people, including out of the dust, winner of the newbery medal, brooklyn bridge, phoenix rising, sable and lavender. She studied theatre at towson state college, and finished her undergraduate degree at the university of maryland in english, psychology, and anthropology. Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. Then you can start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer no kindle device required. It is 1919 and rifkas brother nathan has deserted the russian army. This puts the family at great risk, so to protect themselves, twelveyearold rifka. She is the person rifka misseed most of all while she was alone. Letters from rifka is the story of a young russianjewish girl and her family who leave their homeland in 1919 to travel to america.
This book is especially powerful because, as the author tells us in the beginning of the story in her authors note, rifka s experiences are largely based on the life of one of her own relatives. When garnet finds a silver thimble in the sand by the river, she is sure its magical. The soldiers came to the boxcars to search for nathan, and rifka distracted them. Occasionally, when i grab a banana, i remember rifka laughing about how people on the island used bananas to tell if someone was a new immigrant. Along the way she faces many obstacles and the only way she feels comfort is when she writes in a book called pushkin, that her cousin gave her. Letters from rifka begins with rifka writing to her cousin tovah, telling her of how the family escaped russia on a train on their way to the united states. Bestsellers new arrivals coming soon the trend shop. Karen hesse is the author of many books for young people, including out of the dust, winner of the newbery medal, brooklyn bridge, phoenix rising, sable and lavender. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Her family decided to leave russia and take a train to poland where they got sick with typhus and were stuck there for weeks. Among contemporary honors it won the 1993 national jewish book award in category childrens literature.
Characters from letters from rifka by karen hesse conflict nathan is going to get killed by the guards if they dont get away fast. Letters from rifka is a childrens historical novel by karen hesse, published by holt in 1992. This book is a fantastic resource if you are teaching your class about immigration. But she dreams that in the new country she will at last be safe from the russian soldiers and their harsh treatment of the jews. She has received honors including the scott odell historical fiction award, the christopher award, and the macarthur fellowship genius award, making her only the second childrens book author to receive this prestigious grant. Rifka also shows her mother about the boy who looks at rifka as a mother. Hesse discovered that she was good with words in the fifth grade. Indeed it is within the pages of this beloved volume that rifka writes letters to tovah, letters describing her experiences and her feelings.
For each country rifka visits, have students label that country on the map. Letters from rifka vocabulary, pages 51145 flashcards. When a case of ringworm prevents rifka from joining her russian family as they emigrate. My favorite highlights were when rifka and her family got typhus but survived. Rifka, the protagonist of this book, is 12years old, which matches the beginning age for appropriateness of this book. Dec 16, 2015 letters from rifka by karen hesse in chm, epub, fb2 download e book.
Always, to help her, she has the book of pushkin poems that her beloved cousin tovah gave her. Rifkas mother talk to her about how it has been in america. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading letters from rifka. Growing up in baltimore, maryland, karen hesse dreamed of many different careers archaeologist, actress, and author. This book is an indepth look at a 12 year old girls struggle to get to america from russia. Rifka tells her mom about hows she been while in belgium. First she outwits a band of russian soldiers, enabling her. Welcome,you are looking at books for reading, the letters from rifka, you will able to read or download in pdf or epub books and notice some of author may have lock the live reading for some of country. Stay connected to your students with prezi video, now in microsoft teams.
Rifka s mother talk to her about how it has been in america. Choose 1 and explain its connection to 2 of the novels characters andor the main plot of the story. Her family had to flee russia so her brothers would not be killed because they fled their regiment in the russian armed services. However, rifka convinced him to read from her book and the officials saw that he was actually very intelligent, and was granted permission. Therefore it need a free signup process to obtain the book. Letters from rifka is a story about a jewish girl that escapes to america because her brothers are wanted by the german army. Modeled on the authors greataunt, rifka surmounts one obstacle after another in this riveting novel. Prepare students for the story to come onpage glossary. Because i had decided to use the epistolary format to tell rifka s story, i needed, within the internal logic of the book, to provide her with the means to write.
Her family escapes to america but she is unable to leave because she has caught ring worm and is not allowed to board the. A 6th grade literacy focus unit by jenna burton featured selection. This fine, page instructional activity culminates with each group getting together to meet for an exchange of ideas about rifka, and what she experienced on her trip. Good reads under rifka s family escapes russias persecution of the jews in but rifka is forced to stay behind when her family leaves for america. Letters from rifka timeline timeline created by kittycat. I want to have a copy of this book to keep and read for years to come and then to pass on to newer readers. A comprehensive database of letters from rifka quizzes online, test your knowledge with letters from rifka quiz questions. Letters from rifka by karen hesse in chm, epub, fb2 download e book.
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