A Crown for Corina

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Abuela reminds Corina that every flower in her crown must tell her story–who she is and where she comes from. To celebrate NEA’s Read Across America, after reading A Crown for Corina, have students create their own flower crowns, choosing flowers that represent who they are as readers!

Start by having students think about their reading identities, including what kinds of books they like to read, where they like to read, and who they like to read with. Offer your own flowers with reading meaning as an example, such as sunflowers because they make you think of sunny days and you like to read outside, snapdragons because you like to read fantasy stories, and irises because they remind you of your grandmother who helped you become a reader.

Help students learn more about flowers by giving them opportunity to browse through books or online guides. To create their flower crowns, students should draw and color the flowers that have meaning to them as readers. As they cut out the flowers to affix to a long strip of paper that fits around their head, have students list each flower and what it represents on a separate sheet of paper.

Once they have all their flowers attached, they should glue or tape the ends of the paper strip together and don their crown! Have students share with their classmates what their flowers represent and celebrate each other as readers.

Questions for Discussion or Reflective Writing

1. What is a tradition in your family related to your birthday or another holiday? Why is this tradition important to you?
2. How does Corina’s crown show how she is connected to her family? Why is it important that Corina’s crown includes flowers that represent her future and who she wants to be?
3. Why is it meaningful that Corina makes the crown with her grandmother? Is there a special activity that you share with a family member?
4. Corina describes herself as a daughter, granddaughter, and wish maker. In what ways would you describe yourself?

Related Resources

Flower Crown Activity from Laekan Zea Kemp’s website
LBYR Draws! A Crown for Corina with illustrator Elisa Chavarri

Author Laekan Zea Kemp has a message on the power of having a diverse bookshelf and describes how her book, A Crown for Corina, can help readers take pride in their culture and traditions.