Red Scarf Girl By Ji-Li Jiang

This is the memoir of a little girl, Ji-li Jiang, who grew up during the Chinese Cultural Revolution trying to make sense of the world around her. We follow along as Ji-li struggles between being a good revolutionist following Chairman Mao and betraying her beloved family and friends who have been there for her all along. In this heart wrenching story you watch Ji-li start off as a little girl and grow into a woman.

Teachers: Here are some resources to help you with this book...
Ji-Li Jiang's Home Page Since this book is written based on Ji-Lin Jiang's actual life experience it might be nice as a teacher to get more information on the author which is provided on this page. There is also information on school visits if you are interested.
Study Guide This link goes directly to a study guide that summarizes a lot of good information from the book. It lists some vocabulary words that have the page number they appear on listed next to them. It also provides background knowledge and a list of the main characters. I found that since the names are so unfamiliar it was hard to keep track of them so I found this helpful. I also did not know anything about the Chinese Cultural Revolution until I read this book so if you too do not have previous knowledge this little blurb on background knowledge may help.


Vocabulary:List of Vocabulary Words This website lists not only vocabulary words and their definitions but also provides games for students to use to practice learning the meanings of the words and become more familiar with them.


Teaching Suggestions:
1. Before Reading Before beginning reading it may be important for students to create a KWL chart that they keep with them throughout the reading of this book about the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
2. During Reading While reading I would ask the students to write down on a sticky note the words that they are unsure of or do not know the meaning of at all and together as a class we can go over them since there is a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary in this book. It is important that students understand the history and time that this book is set in to understand what young Ji-li is going through. This book would offer a good experience for a teacher to tie literacy into social studies.
3. After Reading/Writing After reading the students could use the information they have gathered while reading and create a da-zi-boa. If the students do not feel that they have enough information about da-zi-boas from the reading they can do a little research of their own before they create them.


Jiang, Ji-Li. Red Scarf Girl. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.