Clear Skies

As the US/Soviet Space Race heats up in 1961, eleven-year-old Arno finds his dreams of becoming an astronomer exploding like an extragalactic supernova.

Book Genre:

Fiction

Audience:

ages 8 to 11 / grades 3 to 6

Mental Health

Written by

Jessica Scott Kerrin

Book Description
Clear Skies takes place during the very hot summer of 1961 when the Space Race was well underway but no one had yet stepped onto the Moon. Eleven-year-old Arno Creelman asks all kinds of big questions about the universe. He is sure that being an astronomer will be his life’s work. Arno’s friends like the idea of space, too. His friend Buddy wants to be an astronaut, and Mindy down the street thinks about science experiments all the time.

When the novel begins, Arno is dealing with claustrophobia. He is also trying to win a contest that will get him an invitation to the opening of a new observatory. When a new boy, Robert, moves in just a few houses away, he tells Arno something that makes Arno realize that his claustrophobia may even compromise his dream of being an astronomer.

At the heart of this story is Arno’s struggle to deal with his overwhelming fear of small places. But it is Arno’s passion for the wonders of the universe, his relationships with his friends, his family and his dog, along with the general excitement about the Space Race and everyday details of life in the early 1960s, that bring the story vividly to life.
Pre-Reading Activities/ Integrated Learning
Map of the Night Sky
Find a good map of the night sky and the solar system for your classroom. It should be as large, detailed and eye-catching as possible.
Pre-Reading Activities/ Integrated Learning
Field Trip: Planetarium
If you live in a city with a planetarium, book a field trip there.
Pre-Reading Activities/ Integrated Learning
Create a Display to Capture the Imagination
Explore the resources of your local library or school library. Look for information about space and about the historical setting of the book. Use this research as the basis for a classroom display. Content of the display should be chosen to catch your students’ attention and imagination rather than simply to convey information.
Pre-Reading Activities/ Critical Thinking in Literacy
The 1960s
As you introduce the book to your class, have some initial discussion about how the book is set in a time when many of the students’ grandparents were young. Offer any personal perspectives you might have on the 1960s as well as some concrete examples of differences and similarities between then and now.
Pre-Reading Activities/ Comprehension Strategies
Thought-Provoking Science
Talk about Arno as a young scientist. Ask your students to consider how much imagination-teasing and thought-provoking science there is in Clear Skies.
Pre-Reading Activities/ Integrated Learning
The Space Race
Find out what your students already know about the Space Race and the first Moon landing.
Pre-Reading Activities/ Integrated Learning
The Constellations
As a creative prompt you might read or tell a myth about the constellations to emphasize how people have always been intrigued by what they see in the sky.
Post-Reading Activities/ Oral Language
Discussion Group
Have an open-ended discussion with students and ask them to share their thoughts on what the book is about and what stood out for them. As the discussion unfolds, direct students to focus on the particular areas of inquiry you want them to pursue.
Post-Reading Activities/ Critical Thinking in Literacy
Arno’s Deep Thoughts
Arno’s passion for space, his “Deep Thoughts” and the fun facts scattered throughout the book are excellent creative prompts for engaging student interest in learning about space and its impact on human history.
1. Encourage students to pay attention to Arno’s “Deep Thoughts” and the accompanying images. Remember, these ideas are very complex and it will take time for your students to achieve a full understanding of them.
2. Discuss what these journal entries tell the reader about Arno as well as what they tell the reader about science.
3. “When we finally get to see what Earth looks like from the Moon, I imagine that our perspective will change forever. Only then will we understand just how small and fragile our planet is and that each of us need to do our part to protect it” (138).
  - Make sure you have the images “The Blue Marble” and “Earth Rise” available in your classroom. “The Blue Marble” was taken on the way to the Moon in 1972. “Earth Rise” is the photograph taken from the Moon in 1968.
  - After showing these images to students, have them discuss what “The Blue Marble,” taken in 1972 when Arno would have been twenty-two, might mean to him.
  - Have students discuss what makes them want to be part of looking after the planet.
Post-Reading Activities/ Critical Thinking in Literacy
Students’ Own Deep Thoughts
1. Ask each student to write down a BIG thought/question/idea/observation they have in relation to the universe, the solar system and our place within it.
2. Direct students to make a drawing to illustrate what they wrote down.
3. Organize students to work in small groups to share and discuss their “Deep Thoughts.”
4. Instruct students to do research on the issue or issues they are concerned about and share information with other students to compare interests.