This book is perfect for teaching visualization because of all the descriptive words. Students are able to visualize pounding tall conga drums; tapping small bongo drums; long, loud sticks; big, round, silvery moon-bright timbales; wind-wavy palm trees; flower-bright park.

Ask students to describe what they see in their minds when they hear, Her hands seemed to fly as they rippled rapped and pounded all the rhythms of her drum dreams.

Prompt students with some of the following questions to make connections to the text, which will help them understand the story:

How would you feel if someone told you that you couldn’t play music, play sports, be a teacher or a doctor, vote, or be the president because you are a female? Or male?

Is there anything you would like to learn how to do, even though people might tell you it’s too hard?

When you feel like giving up, to whom do you turn for help and encouragement?

You might read the word "music" but say the u like in "mug" instead of "mule." Try changing the sound—mu-sic should have a long u sound.

If you see "secret", but it sounds strange, check if you are pronouncing both e sounds correctly.

Other words in this story to try this strategy include: tap, pat, stilts

Point out and discuss interesting words in the text, such as conga drums, bongo drums, and timbales. Show pictures of each instrument, and listen to a piece of music from each instrument to hear the difference. Provide students with opportunities to use these words in their writing and speaking. Decide if they are worth putting on the class’s word collector chart.