Vocabulary Routine for Milkweed: Ghetto

Now that turkey break is coming to a close, it is time to get back to the daily grind. That means Sunday lesson planning! 

My Pre-AP class is reading Milkweed. This is not a difficult read, and I have not pulled out any vocabulary so far. But we are now traveling to the ghetto in the story, and this is definitely a word I feel needs to be taught explicitly. 

I admit it. I'm guilty of using this as a slang term, then turning around with my old lady voice and saying,"Do you have any idea what that word really means?"

Although some of my Pre-AP students will understand the word in context, some will not. I am sure some have been doing their reading over the break with an image such as this in mind:

My apologies if this is a picture of
any of my readers and/or family/friends/
acquaintances of my readers.
Blame Google Images. 

I have worked at the same school for 10 1/2 years now. I know my students. This kind of image, or one similar, is going to come to mind when reading the World War II story as soon as they see the word ghetto. 

So, I have put together their vocabulary routine lesson, complete with various images from 1940s Warsaw, to ensure that they never forget what ghetto really means. I did add an end piece asking them to briefly write about how they think the 1940s definition used in the book has turned into the slang definition we use today. I am curious to see what they come up with.