Brown Girl Dreaming. (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014)
By Jacqueline Woodson
Grades: 5-12

Brown Girl Dreaming is Woodson’s memoir in verse of her early life. However, it is so much more than this—it is the record of how a young girl discovers her voice through writing and grows to become a beloved author for children and young adults. Later, she uses her voice to reach out to others and to speak for the underrepresented.

Woodson starts from her birth and traces her family and life up through fifth grade, when her teacher Ms. Vivo says to her, “You’re a writer.” Although she was born in Ohio, Woodson didn’t spend much time there, but rather her life was punctuated by years, and later summers, in South Carolina with her grandparents and life in New York City. Her time in Greenville, SC, brings her face-to-face with the civil rights movement and life in the post-Jim Crow south. Life in the North, in New York City, brings Woodson experiences of diversity, including a Puerto Rican best friend, Maria.

Woodson writes of her brothers and sister, her grandparents, her aunts and uncle, her mother and her father, who has not been a part of the family since she was very young. She tells of her time spent in Kingdom Hall and going from door to door as a Jehovah’s Witness spreading the message of salvation. Woodson shares her struggles with reading and the comparisons made between her and her sister, who was an avid reader. She reveals how the telling of stories or the creation of songs came to her easily and how she felt a comfort and rightness in the space between the words she put together.

Cross-Curricular Connections: Social Studies/History, Geography, Biology

Ideas for Classroom Use:

The “Roots” of Stories in Life Experiences

Readers of Brown Girl Dreaming who are familiar with Woodson’s books will make many connections between her life and the experiences described in many of her books. Woodson states on her website, “My work is not always physically autobiographical. But it is always emotionally autobiographical—every feeling my characters have had is a feeling I have had. The small and big moments in my life aren’t necessarily my life once they reach the pages” She even provides examples of three books, Locomotion, Coming On Home Soon, and Behind You, that are “emotionally autobiographical,” with explanation on how.

In this activity, gather as many of Woodson’s picturebooks as possible (We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past, The Other Side, Our Gracie Aunt, Visiting Day, Pecan Pie Baby, This is the Rope: A Story From the Great Migration) and ask students to identify the “roots” of the books in Brown Girl Dreaming. A list of potential picturebooks to use in this activity are provided below. As an extension, ask students to look at their own lives and what experiences could serve as the “roots” of stories for them.

The Origin of Names

In the poem, “A Girl Named Jack,” Woodson explains why she was named Jacqueline. Her father’s name was Jack and he wanted to name his second daughter after himself. Woodson’s mother resisted Jack or Jackie and wrote in Jacqueline on her birth certificate. In this activity, students will research the origin of their own names by asking family members how they came to be named as they were. Students should be encouraged to talk to several family members as the viewpoints and stories may vary. Students can then write a poem or a story about their own name.

The Impact of “History”

Throughout Brown Girl Dreaming Woodson references historic events and figures that parallel and impact her life. The possibilities of this activity are numerous and can be expanded or contracted based on need and desired outcome.

• Woodson’s Timeline: Students can create a timeline of Woodson’s life along with the historic events and figures she mentions in Brown Girl Dreaming. This can be extended by having students add additional historic events to the timeline. Students can also write about the impact of these events and people on Woodson’s life as evidenced in Brown Girl Dreaming, other sources or as speculated.

• Personal Timeline: Students can create a personal timeline that features events in their life as well as important events and people during their lifetime. This can be extended by having students select some events or people to write about in regards to the impact on their lives.

• Researching Historic Events or People: Students can be divided into groups and assigned people or events mentioned by Woodson in Brown Girl Dreaming to research. To extend the use of timelines, one can be created for an historic figure or event tracing how the person came to be “historic” or what led up to an event.

Family Features

Several times in Brown Girl Dreaming, Woodson refers to physical or personality characteristics shared by family members. For example, the gap between front teeth shared by many in her family, including Woodson and her younger brother, Roman. In this activity, have students trace a physical or personality trait amongst family members. For older students, this could be used in a biology class to discuss genetics.

Family Map

Woodson describes a great deal of traveling between parts of her family, particularly between New York City and Greenville, SC. In this activity, students can create a map of Woodson’s family instead of a family tree, which Woodson already provides at the beginning of Brown Girl Dreaming. This activity could be extended by having students create their own family maps.

Name Graffiti

In the poem “Graffiti,” Woodson describes getting caught by her uncle as she starts to spray paint her name on a wall. She describes how graffiti names don’t have to be your real name and how they are often stylized to represent personalities. In this activity, students can create their own graffiti “tags” that represent them.

Additional Resources and Activities:

Jacqueline Woodson’s Official Webpage

Woodson provides a wealth of information about herself and her books on her official webpage. She is aware many students are assigned author studies and has provided all the relevant information she can here. The pictures of Woodson at varying ages are one of many great aspects.

“Jacqueline Woodson on Being a ‘Brown Girl’ Who Dreams”

This is an NPR piece by Kat Chow for “Code Switch” and played on Morning Edition Sept. 18. Chow spent a day with Woodson and interviewed her about Brown Girl Dreaming. In addition, Chow accompanied Woodson to an author event and listeners get to hear Woodson read some of the poems from her book.

A Video Interview With Jacqueline Woodson

This is a 13-part video interview with Jacqueline Woodson. There are links to the different parts of the interview as well as a written transcript of the interview.

Aimee Rogers is an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota where she is a member of the reading faculty and teaches children’s literature courses. Aimee’s research interests include how readers make meaning with graphic novels as well as representation in children’s and young adult literature. She can be reached at aimee.rogers@UND.edu.