A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Ms. Diaz (god bless her) is using this great story as part of a combined social studies immigration, non-fiction literacy unit with the 8th graders (even though it is not non-fiction-but the hell with TC rigidity). The kids viewed the movie and managed to stay engrossed in a black and white flick. I've got to hand it to the stool pigeon Kazan, he made a great adaption of the novel, but the book is so densely superior. If ever there was a book that New Yorkers should all read together (ala Oprah) it's A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. I hope the 8th graders have a chance to really explore it without the usual rush to meet the literacy pacing calendar. I have the book digitally scanned as well as audio converted and will make the effort to get it on the laptops. Here I made a youtube version of old Williamsburg by combining some archival images with one of the songs James Dunn song in the movie, Annie Laurie

Maxwelton's braes are bonnie,
Where early fa's the dew,
'Twas there that Annie Laurie
Gi'ed me her promise true.
Gi'ed me her promise true -
Which ne'er forgot will be,
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me down and dee.
Her brow is like the snaw-drift,
Her neck is like the swan,
Her face it is the fairest,
That 'er the sun shone on.
That 'er the sun shone on -
And dark blue is her e'e,
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me down and dee.
Like dew on gowans lying,
Is the fa' o' her fairy feet,
And like winds, in simmer sighing,
Her voice is low and sweet.
Her voice is low and sweet -
And she's a' the world to me;
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me down and dee.
Notes:
▪ braes (a brae is a sloping bank of a river or sea-shore; a hill-slope)[1]
▪ bonnie means pretty
▪ fa's means falls
▪ gi'ed means gave
▪ dee means die
▪ snaw means snow
▪ e'e means eyes
▪ gowans are daisies
▪ o is of
▪ simmer means summer
▪ a is all