No Ordinary Day

No Ordinary Day

By: Deborah Ellis

Published by Groundwood Books, 2011

Inspirational, Adversity, Enlightening, Acceptance, Survival, Well-developed characters, Selflessness

Awards:

• South Asia Book Award Nominee for Grades 6 & Above (2012)
• Governor General's Literary Awards Finalist (2011)
• Golden Oak Award Finalist (2012)

Summary:

Young Valli lives in the poor village of Jhari, India. She spends her days picking up coal in order to make money to feed her family. However, her family is very cruel to her with her cousins often threatening her with the "monsters" who live on the other side of the tracks. She finds out shortly after that the people she is living with isn't really her family; they took her in after her mother died and her grandparent's couldn't care for her any longer. Upon finding this out, she decides to run away. So she hitches a ride on a truck that takes her into the city of Kolkata and she has no choice but to live on the streets. Being barefoot, she often hurts her feet, however, she claims to not feel any pain making them, "magic feet." One day she meets a very kind doctor who brings her to the hospital to treat her injured feet. She learns that she has a disease called leprosy and that those "monsters" living on the other side of the tracks also suffered from the disease, which is why they looked the way they looked. Although scared at first, Valli learns to accept the disease she has and chooses to get the treatment the kind doctor offers her. 

Author Deborah Ellis

Reading Level: Lexile, 580L, Grade 5/6

Suggested Delivery: Small group read

Key Vocabulary: (by page number) saris (25), pakoras and bhaji (31), namaste and cheroot (39), roti and dal (43), Bollywood (46), rupees and rickshaws (61), ghat (78), cremating (80), stethoscope (94), leprosy (98), oath (130), malnourished (141), roti chart (149)

4 Teaching Suggestions:

1. Use this text to teach the students about the country of India. Expose them to their culture and ways of life and how they are different from our culture.
2. Use this text to teach students the importance of not judging a person by their appearance. Write the word stereotypes on the board and ask students what it means and the different types of stereotypes there are. 
3. Use this book as a link between fiction and the real world. Discuss real world issues (such as poverty, disease, stereotyping, etc). Ask them to propose solutions or what they can do as individuals to help improve these issues.
4. Use this text to teach students about how lucky and blessed they are to be living in this country. Discuss with them all of the privileges they have that they take for granted. Ask them to think about how different their lives would be if they lived in a third world country.

Before Reading: Perform an activity with the students regarding stereotypes. Ask students what stereotypes are and to provide examples. How do stereotypes make them feel? Slowly begin to bring in some stereotypes from the texts, so students are familiar with them when they come upon them while reading.

During Reading: After completing each chapter of the text, have students write in a journal. Let them know that they can write down anything they want to, whether it's questions, personal thoughts and feelings, etc. If they feel comfortable sharing their journal with their peers allow them to do so.

After Reading: Two of the main topics discussed throughout this novel are homelessness and disease. Ask students how Valli overcomes these obstacles and how she managed to survive against the odds. After having this discussion, create a large chart and ask the students to come up with ideas of how they could help with these causes. What could the contribute? Allow them to do some independent research. 

Writing Activity: Students will be asked to make a text-to-self connection. They will pick one experience they have had involving stereotypes, whether it was them who was stereotyped or they know someone affected by stereotyping. Have them describe their experience as well as their personal feelings. If they could go back and change something about the situation, would they? How are they going to try and improve stereotyping in our society?

2 Electronic Resources

1. World Health Organization: The World Health Organization, (WHO), has a website that provides all the facts regarding the disease, leprosy. It provides descriptions of the different symptoms and explains that there is a cure and treatment for those who suffer from it. The website also gives a history about the disease and WHO explains what they are constantly doing to help those who suffer from it. This is a good resource for students who have questions regarding the disease and need to educate themselves about it. It is a good website to review before or during the reading of this text.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Teaching About Homelessness: This link will bring you to site where you will find a whole list of lesson plans regarding the sensitive topic of homelessness. The Illinois State Board of Education compiled this list and with the significant number of lessons on this website it is certain that there will be one that will work for your classroom or that will compliment the text, No Ordinary Day.

Ellis, D. (2011) No ordinary day. Toronto: Groundwood Books