Dreamers by Yuyi MoralesThe book "Dreamers" is a book about a mother and a child who immigrated to a new country. In going to a new country, they took only hope and dreams of what is to come and be in a country that doesn't talk to them in their language. Despite that, they were able to discover themselves and a connection to their new world through books they read in the library. It's a short, but important message to all immigrants and educators as well. I love how the author define immigrants not as "immigrants", but "Dreamers". "We enter a new country carried by hopes and dreams, and carrying our own special gifts, to build a better future" (Yuyi Morales). I don't think I can say it better than that. As a daughter of Dreamers, myself, I was always told the history of my people and how we sacrificed so much to get to where we are today, and how hundreds of my people died just so that I could have a better future. I was always told about my parent's dreams and hope for us, but not for themselves. They'd always say, their decision to leave their life and homes was not for themselves, but for us so that we can carry on their hopes and dreams and build a better future. To hear the struggles and hard decisions that my parents went through just to come to America was just as hard as hearing how difficult it was to have to relearn EVERYTHING. Everything that they knew or thought that they knew were washed away with the tears of uncertainty and wiped away with the sweats of hope. My parents were Dreamers, and they pushed us harder everyday because of that. Unlike them, I have the privilege to dream here in America, and I have the privilege to work hard towards my dreams. My parents, on the other hand, didn't have the chose or privilege to have their own personal dreams. We were their dreams. So as I am writing this, I think back to my parents' experiences of immigrating to the U.S. and how Yuyi and my parents are so different, yet they're so alike. The experiences that Yuyi went through and felt were the exact same feelings my parents probably had back then too. To carry your young child into a new world with no understanding of it, is scary. Both my parents and Yuyi went through that, and shared the same dream: a better future for their children. Themes~"One of the most important things I learned at the library is that through books we can find our path and our purpose. I also learned that I love to tell stories, and that I could tell them through books."~ Yuyi The themes I noticed in this book were immigrants, hope, dreams, and imagination. Yuyi left Mexico with her son to visit his great-grandfather before he passed away, and to marry her son's father. Therefore, we can say that Yuyi left in hopes for a better future for both or for her son specifically. She was afraid and unfamiliar with America and wanted to return, but she knew that she couldn't. She portrayed that hope in the book when she illustrated and wrote, "I dreamed of you, then you appeared. Together we became resplendent life, you and I. One day we bundled gifts in our backpack, and crossed a bridge outstretched like the universe." She showed to us here that her son was her dream and hope, and when they had to cross over a bridge leading to their new world, she could only hope that it would better her son's life. The illustrations play a big role here. On this page, you see the mother holding the son dearly in her arms as birds and butterflies surround them. The page with their bundled gifts in the backpack is filled with images that showcases their culture and where their from. Behind those images is the sun shining bright indicating HOPE and DREAMS of coming true. The colors are bright and colorful throughout the book as well. I also believe that this book is filled with imagination as well. Yuyi does a great job at illustrating the imagination that comes from reading books. She shows that even though the mother and son in this book has no clue how to speak in the language of their new country, or even read in it, they build this imaginable and beautiful connection with their new world, and were able to find themselves immersed within these books. They started to build dreams and have even more hope for what is yet to come for one another, and I love that about Yuyi's book. She really shows that a book can really change someone's world, and I believe, as an educator, that that's a powerful message for kids no matter what age and who they are. Morales, Y., & Sananes, A. (2019). Dreamers. Solon, OH: Findaway World, LLC. A Crack in the sea by H.M. BouwmanThis book, "A Crack in the Sea" is a book about three sets of siblings in different worlds that unfolds together as some enter into the second world. It's about a magical doorway between worlds that opens only when its least expected. The characters in this story are as follow: Kinchen: the protective older sister of Pip with no magical gift (Second world) Pip: the younger brother of Kinchen who has the gift of the water and talking to sea creatures (Second world) Old Ren: the guardian of Kinchen and Pip who adopted them and is as old as you can imagine (Second world) Venus: the older sister of Swimmer and a strong leader who saved her people from slavery and death, and with the gift to walk under water (First world) Swimmer: the younger brother of Venus who has the gift to talk to sea creatures (First world) Uncle Caesar: the guardian of Venus and Swimmer (First world) Sang: the older sister of Thanh who is from South Vietnam, and provides for her brother by sewing (First world) Thanh: the younger brother of Sang who has the gift of remembering things and telling stories (First world) Uncle Truc: the father of the Turtle, the best friend of Sang and Thanh's father, and who help took care of them (First world) The Turtle: the nickname given to the child of Uncle Truc (First world) Uncle Hung: the brother of Uncle Truc and the guardian of Mai (First world) Mai: the adopted niece of Uncle Hung who has the gift to walk on waters and calm the sea (First world) Caesar: the girl from Raftworld with the gift to walk under the water who also helped Kinchen (Second world) Raft King: the ruler of Raftworld and who searches for the magical doorway to the first world (Second world) All these characters plays an important role in the story. However, there's one particular character that I want to focus on. The character that I'm focusing on is Caesar. I chose Caesar because I could relate to her in some ways, and I really enjoyed her character in this book. Caesar, in this story, is portrayed as friendly, talkative, courageous, positive, caring, kind, energetic, and curious. When Caesar first showed up in the story, she was drugged and tied up in a sack. She came out of the sack with excitement and was very friendly towards Kinchen who was outraged by the situation. Even with that, Caesar greeted Kinchen and introduced herself like nothing happened, but of course we know that she didn't know about Kinchen's situation (pg. 37-39). Caesar showed her friendliness throughout the story to Kinchen, Old Ren, and even to Thanh and them when they first arrived to the second world and were walking on top of the water. She greeted them, welcomed them, and helped them as they came up onto Raftworld (pg. 279). Along with her friendliness, she is also quite talkative. This may tie in with her being curious as well. I think Caesar is a very curious person. She asks a lot of question such as "what happens to Venus?", "why can't he take care of himself?", "is that why your hair?", "that's how the Old Bay got its name?", and "that's what happens when they die?" (pg. 54, 61, 233, 235). She asks a lot of questions, and she always wants to know more. Even when she's heard of the story or history before, Caesar never gets tired of it and wants to know more about it, which shows that she is a very curious person (pg. 54). She is also very courageous. When she told Old Ren and Kinchen that she left Raftworld because she refused to help the King in finding the magic doorway to the first world (pg. 39-41). That takes a lot of courage to stand up for something that you feel is wrong against someone powerful. I liked that about her, and I liked that she knew that it was wrong and that the King was wrong and that she had to stand up against it. Just think about it. She is only twelve years old and to have that courage to say no and know to listen to her gut is very inspiring. Caesar is also very kind. She was willing to help Kinchen when she found out about what the Raft King did with Pip, even though she doesn't even know them (pg. 48). She didn't know exactly what was going to happen, but she still wanted to help Kinchen and Raftworld as well. I loved how positive and energetic she is in this story (pg. 60). She would always use the word "amazing" to describe things and how she felt (pg. 44-46). It seemed almost as if that was one of the ways she could put on a happy face and get on with her life by trying to be more positive about things. I say this because of her past experiences. Caesar doesn't have any relatives or parents to take care of her, which was why she had asked Old Ren where she could get a job (pg. 45). As I read further, I learned that Caesar was adopted into a family in the Raftworld, however, they weren't very warm and were too busy to take care of her (pg. 256). As a neighboring woman, who knew and was close to Caesar, offered her to stay with them, Caesar was unable to think except just blink back at her. That was all that she could do. This scene may reflect to what she wants in her life and what she worries about in her life. She wants a family and is worried that she may never belong anywhere. If we take a look at Caesar when Kinchen first met her, she seemed excited because she was told that Kinchen would be her adopted sister. However, that was turned down when Kinchen expressed how angry she was for the trade and that the Raft King had stolen Pip from her. I'm sure Caesar's excitement was cut off because of that and carried on like it was no big deal. The author doesn't focus or talk about how Caesar feels at all about being an orphan except how mature Caesar is because of that. She wonders why Pip, who is eleven years old, can't take care of himself (pg. 61) and why Kinchen is always protecting him because in her perspective, she is twelve years old and has been taking care of herself without anyone else protecting her. That was why she wanted to get a job on the Islands because she knew she didn't have anyone to rely on. I imagined what it would feel like to have a twelve year old or younger child come up to me and ask me for a job because they had to take care of themselves. I find that heart breaking, yet Caesar pulls it off without ever showing to anyone that she feels lonely and wants to belong to a family. This is why I think her character is so positive and energetic because it's the only way she could move on with her life and not gain pity from others, which is also why I felt like she didn't know how to respond to the women offering her a home because she was being pitied on. However, eventually Caesar did show a little bit of how she felt when she asked Thanh if they could adopt each other (pg. 314-316). This was probably the first sign that I noticed that she really wanted to belong, and she really wanted a family. She wasn't sure how to approach it or talk to Thanh about it (if you've read their conversation), but yet she did it. She realized that after everything was over, Kinchen and Pip would go back to the Island, and Mai, Uncle Truc, Uncle Hung, and the Turtle would also go back to where they came from, and then she would be right back to where she started in the beginning. And I believe it was then that she had realize that she didn't want to be thrown to a family that wouldn't have time to care for her. She wanted a family where she could belong and she didn't want to be alone anymore, which was why she decided to talk to Thanh about. I thought it was very interesting that the author did not talk a lot about Caesar's feelings and thoughts of that, but I also think she wanted to leave it up to the readers to decide how we see Caesar. I saw her as a positive, friendly, kind, curious, and energetic person on the outside, but on the inside, I saw a little girl searching for a place to call home, which is why I really enjoyed this character in this story. Critical Connection..."A Crack in the Sea" was a book filled with adventure, hope, friendships, and many more other themes. However, the best part about it was making connections as I read this book. I knew from reading Venus and Swimmer's story that it was a retelling of the stories of the slaves that took place during the Atlantic Slave Trade. It was astounding to know that when Africans were forced onto that cramped ship that only 15-20% of them would ever get to see land again. It also astounded me that the Zong was a real slave ship that tossed slaves overboard for disciplining or to get rid of their body from diseases or sickness, and that they would cut off the ears of those slaves as proof of payment. The author was inspired by that and created a story that illustrated her strong desire and wish that those 133 slaves thrown overboard were saved somewhere else and were living happily in a different world where there's no war, no slaves, and no pain. Just as Jacqueline Woodson said during her TED talk, "Each time we read, write, or tell a story, we step inside their circle and it remains unbroken and the power of story lives on." I think H.M. Bouwman's story "A Crack in the Sea" really portrays what Jacqueline said about stories. She wrote an alternative story to the actual stories of these slaves and their story has lived on because of that. I never knew of a slave ship named the Zong until now and that's thanks to H.M. Bouwman for carrying on their stories. "A layering to the narrative, the stories beneath the stories, and the ones beneath those. This is how story has and will continue to survive..." (Woodson, 2019). Bouwman, H. M., & Shimizu, Y. (2019). A crack in the sea. New York: Puffin Books. Woodson, J. (2019, April). Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/jacqueline_woodson_what_reading_slowly_taught_me_about_writing Further resources about slaves...Check out H.M. Bouwman's website for more information about this book, her other books, or about herself. https://www.brownheightsproperties.com/ Watch the TED Talk about the Atlantic Slave Trade where you can also Think, Dig Deeper, and Discuss about this issue. https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-atlantic-slave-trade-what-your-textbook-never-told-you-anthony-hazard Also, check out this poem titled, "Home" written and read by Warsan Shire. It's worth the time!
https://www.facinghistory.org/standing-up-hatred-intolerance/warsan-shire-home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI9D92Xiygo&feature=youtu.be
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Critical CritiqueThe three books I will critically critique are Red by Michael Hall, Rescue & Jessica by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, and Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena. The book Red is about a red crayon that draws blue marks instead of red. Everyone tries to help Red draw red, however, red couldn't get the hang of it. This book is about the journey of a red crayon finding itself. The Last Stop on Market Street book is about a grandma and a young boy's trip to a place in Market street. Through this trip, the boy questions the things he has in life, and the grandma always responds with words of wisdom to him. At the end, he was glad that they had made the trip to the last stop on market street. This book is about finding the beauty in life no matter what or where you are. The last book I am going to discuss is Rescue & Jessica which is a book about a girl who suffers from an injury that caused her to lose both of her legs. She struggles to relearn everything by herself and feels lost within her world. On the other hand, the story shows a dog going through training and how it was worried it wouldn't live up to its name "Rescue" and be able to help others in need. This book is about the friendship and story of how these two characters met and helped each other through tough times. ThemesThe themes that ran across these three books were beauty, identity, friendships, and acceptance. Within each of these three books, beauty was a common theme. In the book Red, red was able to find beauty in itself when others were not, and when they perceived it as "different" or "not good enough". Once that happened, others, too, were able to find beauty within Red. In the book Last Stop on Market Street, the grandma pointed out and talked about the beauty that surrounds them when the boy didn't notice it. This theme resonated throughout the book. In one scene, the boy asks the grandma "how come we gotta wait for the bus in all this wet?" and the grandma replied with, "Trees get thirsty , too...Don't you see that big one drinking through a straw?" She's turning his perspective to see the beauty within the "wet rain" which we may perceive as a "yucky" or "muddy" day. Not just that, but another favorite scene where beauty is illustrated in this book was when CJ tells his grandma that he sure wishes he had one of those (referring to a phone/digital player), which his grandma responds by having him close his eyes and listen to the live music that is being played by a man on the bus. CJ was able to visualize scenes of a beautiful "sunset swirling over crashing waves, a family of hawks slicing through the sky, and he saw the old woman's butterflies dancing free int he light of the moon". Again, he saw the beauty of the world that surrounded him. In Rescue & Jessica, beauty was a more subtle, but apparent theme. Even through their dark times, they were both able to find beauty in the world again by being together. The colors also changed from the beginning to the end. The colors at the beginning were dark and depressing, however, towards the end, you notice a lot of green and bright colors representing beauty in their lives again. This theme ties in with acceptance as well. Once Red was able to find beauty in himself, he learned how to accept himself and with that others learned to accept him as well. The same goes for Jessica. Once Jessica was able to accept herself and realized the value of friendship that she had developed with Rescue, her perspective of the world changed. Accepting one self for who they are is very empowering and leads to self love/happiness. I think it's also fair to say that this acceptance of oneself is definitely a sense of discovering your identity in the world, which was another theme that was important for all of these books. Through finding beauty in the world and in yourself and accepting you for who you are, it leads to discovering your identity. In the book Last Stop on Market Street, CJ, in some sort of way, found beauty in his world and in what he has along with accepting their trip to the soup kitchen. I think that's important because he realized then that within these "dirty" buildings/ place, there was beauty. Beauty of not just the rainbow that they saw, but beauty in the people who relied on their soup kitchen, beauty in their soup kitchen, and beauty from doing kindness. This acceptance leads to being a part of who CJ is as a person. It became part of his identity. Even though it doesn't say it directly, but I think it's fair to say that this trip has definitely help "shaped" him as an individual as he was exposed to different perspective throughout. One last thing I want to note about the theme "identity" in the book Red, is that it can be used to dig in deep about different identities. For example, after reading this book, I thought about how it could be a good way-in book to talk about accepting different race, ethnicity, or even genders. Genders especially stood out to me because Red is labeled as a "red crayon", but Red is blue. The same kind of with gender. Someone may be marked as "female" or "male", but want to be perceived as the opposite such as female to male or male to female. Even though that is an awkward or uncomfortable topic that we, as educators, tend to avoid, it may be the reality for our students. Therefore, I think instead of avoiding it, we should get students to talk, discuss, and share freely about topics such as this in order to promote an unbiased education for EVERYONE, especially if our goal as teachers is to meet the needs of ALL diverse students. I think it's also worthy to note the use of language that Matt de la Pena used in his book Last Stop on Market Street. In his acceptance speech he said, "When I finished the seventieth draft of the text, I was proud of CJ's journey, both inside and out. And I was proud of the music of the language." I think it's important to have students focus on the things that the author and/or illustrator felt very proud about because it was their work. So, asking students to think "what part of the story or why did the author or illustrator felt proud?" would help gear them to start thinking critically about the literacy that they stumble upon. For example, talking about what images do they see or what they feel as they are reading certain parts in the story such as "the bus creaked to a stop...it sighed and sagged and the doors opened". Why do you think the authors used those words to describe the bus? Or why did the author used the verb "freckled" in the sentence "the rain freckled CJ's shirt"? Analyzing and discussing the use of language that Matt de la Pena decided to use can help students critically think more and engage with the author and story. Hall, M. (2018). Red: a crayons story. Vienna, VA: Library Ideas, LLC. Kensky, J., Downes, P., & Magoon, S. (2018). Rescue & Jessica: a life-changing friendship. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. Peña Matt De la, & Robinson, C. (2017). Last stop on Market Street. New York: Penguin Random House LLC. Peña, M. de la. (2016, June). Newbery Caldecott-Wilder Banquet. Newbery Caldecott-Wilder Banquet. Critical Literacy PracticesSo what does "critical literacy" mean or may look like in a classroom setting? I think it's a hard concept to really implement into classrooms if you have not seen a model of it, or have learned about it. I agree that it can be a hard thing to do in a classroom. Critical literacy can be defined as "the ability to engage critically and analytically with ways in which knowledge, and ways of thinking about and valuing this knowledge, are constructed in and through written texts" (Hammond & Macken-Horarik, 1999). In other words, it's engaging with the text in critical ways that allows students to unfold the text into their own understandings and connections. With that being said, an example of how to engage students critically in literacy is teaching them a critical literacy strategy that they can implement into texts. For example, a strategy that can be used in the book Red is "Theme Switch". Theme switch is to make up a different story with the opposite theme or a different but closely related theme as a way to perceive the story in a different way (McLaughlin &DeVoogd, 2004). In the story Red: a crayon's story, we have Red struggle in being who it "should be" instead of what it wants to be. However, in the end Red accepts and says "I'm blue!", which demonstrates finding oneself or identity in this story. Therefore, having what we already know of that theme, we can have students switch the theme to "losing oneself or identity". What would that look like? How would that change the perspective or story? What changes? What doesn't get changed? I think this would be interesting because it forces students to change perspectives that is being shown through the author and to critically think about how that makes an impact on the story or the character. So this theme switch may be something like Red was red, but now it's turning blue, and no matter what it does, or what people say or do to help Red, it couldn't get the hang of it. Red couldn't go back to being who it was. Then the rest is where the students' interpretation, knowledge, and experiences take charge and turns it into something marvelously. Then students can share and engage in a discussion about what they did. How does losing ones' identity look like or feel like? What aspect of it is missing that you may or may not have included? What connections were made to create this? I think it's also important, as the educators, to model this and model how the critical questions can help guide or facilitate us into engaging critically in the text other than "What is the main idea?" Another lesson or strategy is using the Alternative Mind Portrait to get a different perspective of the story and its meaning in the book Last Stop on Market Street. This strategy is examining the two points of view represented in one story. Students will pick the two points of view portrayed in the book to examine. Then they will sketch silhouettes of two heads representing the two points of view. Inside each of those head, they can write words, draw, or make a collage to represent each perspective being shown in the book. Then coming together as a class or group, students can share what they have created as a starting point in critical discussions. In this case, the two points of view can be the grandma and the little boy. What do you think the boy sees the world as? What about the grandma? What is beauty to the boy? What is beauty to the grandma? Having critical questions to help guide students into understanding this and digging deep is important as the teacher. Some good critical questions can be found here: Critical questions. After my readings, I realize how important it is to critically engage students into any literature that they may stumble upon. If we don't teach them to be critical thinkers about their world, then how do we expect them to critically be engaged in their world as they continue to grow? I, myself, am always learning different ways and strategies that I can get my students to be interested and engaged with the text that we are reading, not because they have to read it, but because reading has a purpose. If we model to them and show them the importance of reading for purpose and reading critically, then ALL students will have that ability to read and engage into texts in a whole new, different level. I believe students deserves more credit than we give them when it comes to critically thinking. Anyone can do it as long as they are taught those strategies, and given the opportunity to practice them in real life situations. Therefore, as a future teacher, I will definitely include how I will teach critical literacy to ALL students in my class to challenge them in different ways. Hammond, J., & Macken-Horarik, M. (1999). Critical Literacy: Challenges and Questions for ESL Classrooms. TESOL Quarterly,33(3), 528-544. doi:10.2307/3587678 McLaughlin, M., & DeVoogd, G.L. (2004). Critical literacy: Enhancing students’ comprehension of text. New York: Scholastic. Her Right Foot Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers is a fascinating, fun nonfiction book about America's most emblematic statue, which is the Statue of Liberty. This book tells the story of how the Statue of Liberty came to be in America, and what it actually stands for. I've never seen the Statue of Liberty in person, but even through pictures I was not able to make out the details of the Statue that Dave and the illustrator Shawn Harris pointed out in the book. Who knew that Lady Liberty's right foot is on the go and that there were broken chains on her? I have NEVER seen the chains until it was illustrated in this book. The themes that I noticed in this book were courage, united, diversity, hope, and immigration. The Statue of Liberty was never meant to be for only "white male Americans". It serves as a reminder to the whole world that America isn't defined as "white only", but to "all the poor, tired, and struggling to breathe free". People came to America for freedom. They came with courage in leaving their lives behind and starting a new one in a new country. They came to America filled with hope that their lives will only be filled with prosperity and not in poverty. America is diverse because we do not have a national language like other countries, and we shouldn't because we need to embrace our uniqueness and unite all those who are different together. We all share one thing in common coming to America, which was hope, so that should unite us together, not divide us. These are some of my thoughts as I read this book and related it to the events occurring to now-a-days dealing with immigration. Through Critical Lens...The image above is a page from Her Right Foot which shows people placing their right hand over their heart as if they were saluting to the American flag like we do in school. This picture is one of the many that really touched me because my interpretation of this was that these were different kinds of people who had more than likely traveled from long distance to come to a new, foreign land. Yet they are saluting to the American flag, or at least showing their respect to the country. So when I think about the events taken place today, it not only breaks my heart, but makes me confused on what we, as Americans, are actually doing to these immigrants. These so-called "foreign" people showed that they came to America not to "take over" it, but to be PART of it. By placing their hand over their heart, they are showing respect to America, but more importantly, they are showing that they are now Americans as well. They came to be united with us, not to divide us. If we can't share the liberty with others, then what is America then? I think it's also important that our students see and understand this part as well that America was built on immigration. Eggers, Dave, and Shawn Harris. Her Right Foot. Chronicle Books, 2017. My Two BlanketMy Two Blanket by Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood is a story about a girl moving to a new country, which seems to be America, with her Auntie because of war. This story is about how the new world is a strange place for her, and how her blankets were the only thing that comforted her and help change her world. Her name in this book was called Cartwheel, and part of the reason why she is called that is because she enjoyed doing cartwheels in her homeland. The other reason is because she was so free spirited and cheerful until the war broke out. It was then that her Auntie stopped calling her "Cartwheel". This shows her character going from free spirited to quiet and sadness for she could not understand the strange sounds that wrapped her with loneliness. However, that starts to change as the world began to become more familiar to her. The themes that I noticed in this book were courage, hope, friendship, and self-discovering. Cartwheel and her Auntie came to America with hope for a better home for them. They also came with courage for they feared the unfamiliarity in the new world. Even though the theme friendship is not as obvious or elaborate as the other themes, I still think it's an important one because that's how Cartwheel started to become more familiar with her new world. She had help from a friend who took the first step in welcoming her by giving her words to practice saying. With that, those words started to become more familiar to her. This story relates to the world as we know it because there are constantly immigrants who comes to America to escape war and poverty. Everyone knows at least one person who immigrated to America, and maybe have experienced a situation like Cartwheel. Immigrants do feel lonely, different, and left out, so it's up to us to step up like the little girl in the story and help them out even if it's something small. It might make them feel more at home with the help from their neighbors. I also said self-discovering because this book shows how Cartwheel slowly discovered herself and built on her identity as an immigrant in America. From Critical Lens...This image holds a very meaningful event to me from the book. Here Cartwheel is in the process of slowly making her new blanket with words given to her by her new friend. This "new blanket" that she is making is a symbolic meaning of her situation. Her old blanket made her feel warm and soft because it represents her identity before coming to the new world. When she's home, she's back in her comfort zone doing what she's always done and speaking the language that she has always spoken. However, when she steps out to the new world, it was like "standing under a waterfall of strange sounds". It made her uncomfortable and out of place. However, as the little girl slowly gave her words to practice saying over and over again, they began to become more familiar and not so strange anymore. I loved how the authors used the blanket to represent her comfort zone and identity of the new world as she slowly "added new words" to it. Cartwheel is slowly building her identity to belong in her new world. This ties in multiple ways with immigration. This is something that immigrants struggle with as they are forced to come to America and leave their life behind. It's a very hard thing to do. Having to relearn basic skills and knowing simple information can be very hard if you are starting from the bottom and building your way up. So, Cartwheel was fortunate to have a friend who was willingly to help her by offering her little words and phrases at a time to practice, which helped her accommodate to the new world. Kobald, Irena, and Freya Blackwood. My Two Blankets. Little Hare, 2018. WishtreeWishtree by Katherine Applegate is a story about Red, an oak tree, who is the neighborhood's "wishtree". People come and write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to the tree. Red usually stays still and keeps still until a family moves in and a new wish is tied to one of her branches. She then changes her mind with the thought of her last wish in making sure that a little girl's wish comes true. The themes I noticed in this book were courage, hope, friendship, and community. Red had the courage to break the rule of not talking to humans, and to help make at least one of the wishes come true. She wanted to make an impact before she gets chopped down. However, even with that in mind, Red and her friends still had hope that she will survive. Red wasn't the only one filled with hope, but also Samar, the Muslim girl who moved in. Samar wished for a friend because she felt alone and sad. When she made the wish, she had hoped for it to come true deep down. Red also hoped for Samar's wish to come true as well before she is gone. Throughout this story, Red is filled with animals that lived inside her and have relied on her over the many years. They were not just her friend, but they were also her family. Her best friend who moved for her was Bongo, the crow. Bongo stood by her and refused to go any where else when Red was about to be chopped off. That shows the love and friendship that Red had built with Bongo through the many years of relying and being together. The community is also important in this story. The tree represents the community. It is where everyone comes together and unites. It is also where everyone shares one thing in common: desire. They desire because they hope. They all make wishes for something that they hope to get in order to make their life happier, easier, or filled more with love. Whatever the reason may be, they all come together as a community to make wishes. So, in some sense, Red represents the community. Critical Lens...This image was very heart warming and touching to me because it really was a "miracle" that the animals knew the situation and stood up for what they cared about. They cared about Red. Red wasn't just their home, but she was like a mother that protects them. They couldn't even imagine living in a different home other than Red, so I felt like this image was very empowering to the animals. They were all different, yet they wanted to stay together and protect each other. I feel like this was a metaphor to the neighborhood. The message on the tree made everyone feel unsafe and unwanted. It made Samar and her family hard to stay in that neighborhood because they felt unwanted and hated by the people who lived there. However, in the end, Stephan and Samar were able to overcome that and bring the community together to share the differences. They wanted them to STAY, which I believe was the message that was tied to Red on wishing day. It wasn't just meant for the tree to stay, but also to for Samar and her family, who are immigrants, to stay in the neighborhood. It was a very powerful ending to me, and I also think it was a great message to students reading this book. Applegate , Katherine, and Charles Santoso. Wishtree. Feiwel and Friends, 2017. Curricular Connections...All of these three children's literature books had similar themes throughout their story, which were hope, diversity, immigration, and friendship. These books can be used as a way-in to teach students about immigration today, which has become a big topic in our daily talk. I think it would be good to start out with Her Right Foot since most children know about the Statue of Liberty because it represents America. Students can talk about what they know about Lady Liberty and what it means to America. This would be a good introduction activity to immigration. Next, reading My Two Blanket to further talk more about immigration and illustrate how immigration happens or why people immigrate to America. Irena and Freya does a good job at illustrating the identities and feelings of immigrants. The characters in this book can also be relatable to students because they are children that may be similar to the readers' age, which teachers can use that to build connection to the fact that "students will actually have had similar experiences to Cartwheels" (Callow, 2017). Using what students have already experienced or know about immigration, we can then introduce Wishtree to the students because it's not as direct as the other two books about immigration. This is a good way to relate students to the characters in the book and to get an understanding of immigration and immigrants. This text can also be used to dig deeper into what it means to be an immigrant, and how society reacts to it. Students can also further do "quick writes", as suggested by Amy Edwards' article, that allows students to take a step closer to what it means or feels like to be an immigrant. I think it would be interesting to do quick writes after reading each book to see how students' thoughts and ideas about immigration changes from Her Right Foot to Wishtree. I think it would be a meaningful learning experience for students to experience immigration through these texts.
Callow, Jon. “‘Nobody Spoke Like I Did’: Picture Books, Critical Literacy, and Global Contexts.” International Literacy Association, vol. 71, no. 2, 2017, pp. 231–237. Edwards, Amy. “WOW Stories: Connections from the Classroom.” Re-Visioning the World through Multiple Perspectives . "Story is Thinking and world making " ~Kathey G. Short
In both of these books, they had similar themes such as courage, trust, and self-powering. They both had the courage to trust in others in order to survive. They both were, in some ways, lost and tried to find their place within their environment. They both developed friendships through this journey and gained self-confidence and power in the end. Their friendships were formed with animals that helped guided them and helped them survive. These animal friends were also given human characteristics in the story, which made their settings in a nature environment. Both the girl and Roz were able to develop ideas of living/surviving the wild with the influence of their friends. In connection to Kathy Short's article, these stories were written and provided to show how stories "frame our world views and identities" (Short, 2012). As we read the story, we can understand how and why Roz and the little girl transformed from the beginning to end. It made sense that in their situation and the resource they had, they resulted to developing a behavior. However, it's also more than that. It's important for children to carry their experiences and inquiries with literature and story back into their worlds and lives (Short, 2012.) This is where stories help make connections become real/ relatable to children to take from this and expand their knowledge and perspective on not only their lives, but other's lives and perspectives as well. Stories are ways that define who we are as an individual, and as a group. It tells people about our past, and that is the only way we can get people to understand us and our experiences. With stories, children can learn to recognize and respect the perspectives of others without betraying their beliefs, which is an important aspect of being human (Short, 2012). Roz and the little girl's story can be used to help expand their perspective lens, and learn to make real world connections with any text they encounter. Short , K. G. (2012). Story as World Making . Language Arts , 90(1), 9–17. "An image of a robot named Roz was slowly forming in my mind. I could see her exploring a remote island. I could hear her communicating with wild animals. I could feel her becoming part of the wilderness. And after years of imagining and writing and drawing, I realized I had all the ingredients for a robot nature story. So I drove out to a cabin in the woods, opened up a fresh notebook, and began working on The Wild Robot". ~Peter Brown This book is an engaging story about a robot being washed up to an island and mistook the island for her home. It's a story about her journey within the island, and about the things she learned that's more than what a robot would do.
The themes I discovered as I was reading this book were courage, trust, endurance/perseverance, survival, and relationships. Roz's main goal was to survive and endure whatever comes her way. She did whatever it took to survive, which was the bridge that connected her to building relationships with the animals in that island. Roz had the courage to become a mother, even though her feelings about being one was not discussed about in the story. She knew nothing about being a mother to a goose, yet she became one and devoted her purpose and life on the island for the baby goose. The animals around her, who called her a "monster", also began to trust Roz as she continued on the island taking care of Brightbill. These common themes helped build the relationship that Roz and the other animals had created together. Roz became a mother to Brightbill, and a friend to the animals. This theme can be used to discuss what the word "family" can mean. Roz and Brightbill are not related in any way, nor do they look anything alike, so in what ways are they family? How does that relate to families in the real world that we know of? These are good questions that can make children think critically about the story and making connections to their world. Even though we know that robots technically don't have emotions, I felt like the author did a great job at illustrating the transition from a typical robot to Roz the robot. Her name started to become more than just "a robot's name", but it started to become humanized and personal which made her not just a robot, but a robot with a sense of emotions. She cared for Brightbill like he was her own, and she cared for her friends in the island as well. Even till the end when Roz was taken away, she yearned for her loved ones as a mother would when leaving their child behind. She wanted to return back to her son and her friends on that island because to her, they were her home and family. Therefore, that really made the story and characters more realistic and relatable to us as the readers. Roz's character was an interesting and unique one because it really showed how she evolved overtime from spending with her family. At the beginning, she only connected with the others in order to survive. However, her character started to change to caring more about others than surviving. She had a bigger purpose than to survive, and I think that is what changed her as well. I can relate to her in some ways because I know how much mothers have to go through in order to provide what is needed for not only their survival, but their babies as well. I've seen the struggle that my best friend goes through, and I've seen her transform from not being as caring of others to being caring because she is a mother. It's quite fascinating to see that the changes that one goes through just to take care of someone you love. Therefore, I really admire Roz for taking responsibility of taking care of Brightbill when she had no idea how to. Roz is a robot programmed to do multiple things except knowing how to be a mother. Yet Roz became one and learned slowly throughout the story. This can be taught to children about taking responsibility of their own actions, and how good things can come from it. This book meets aspect of my criteria of being a good book. First of all, the story line is great. There were multiple connections being made throughout the story as I read the book. The story line helped paint pictures in my mind even though there were not many pictures presented to support it. However, if you consider the level of it, it is actually appropriate for children, and they can still create an image inside their head with the text. This book is a good book for children to continue building their text comprehension, knowledge, and imagery in books. Brown, P. (2018). The wild robot. London: Piccadilly Press. "AN EMPOWERING INDIGENOUS TWIST ON A CLASSIC WOLF TALE." This children's book is about a girl who got lost in the wild while helping her mom pick berries. She finds her way back to her mom with a little help from a wolf she met in the wild.
Within this book, the themes that came across me as I was reading were self-powering, courage, and trust. The girl had courage to approach and follow the wolf even though it may have been a dangerous animal. She trusted the wolf to lead and guide her through the wild, and the wolf also trusted in her as well to believe in herself. As the wolf kept saying, "Yes you do" to the little girl, she slowly became more confident in herself which illustrates how the character started to develop a sense of self-powering. The wolf did not guide her through the wild. It was actually guided through the forest with the help of the little girl. All she needed was to believe and gain self-confidence in herself like how the wolf saw in her. I think that is the beauty of this children's book. It teaches kids to have self-powering, courage, and trust in times that may seem dark for them. The answer is always inside yourself if you truly believe in you, and I think that itself is very empowering for children who may not feel empowered in their world. "I don't know about you, but I found that unfair, and I thought of the other stories I had been told where the wolf wasn't just evil or hungry. That's where this story comes from. It is inspired by traditional stories, yes, but in no way taken from one." ~Katherena Vermette Going along with that, this book reminded me of how I slowly built my confidence growing up as a little girl. The world was a frightening thing to me as my English was slowly developing. Even knowing the language, it was still scary not knowing when I would make a mistake that people would stare and point at me. My relation to this story were my memories of relating to an unfamiliar environment just like the little girl. The only difference was not having a voice that believed in what I already have inside of me. An experience that helped me gained more confident in myself was getting lost and finding my way back home again. I was 18 years old at the time and have never drove on the highway before. I was making my way back home by following the GPS, however, I kept making the wrong turns, not knowing how to properly read the GPS yet. With those multiple wrong turns, I ended up lost in a dark, unfamiliar road. Just like the little girl, I was scared of how dark it had gotten and not knowing how to get back home. However, I trusted in myself and kept following the GPS with confidence that I would make it back, and I finally did. It was such a relieving feeling, and a self-powering experience that helped shaped my courage and trust in myself. Therefore, I hope that children who read this book would also make a similar connection like how I did with the little girl. I think that is an important message that was conveyed in the story. We may not always have that "someone" who trust us and help remind us of how empowered we already are, but we don't always need to rely on others. The wolf could have easily lead the girl the way back to her mom, but it didn't. Why? Because it believed and trusted in the little girl. It taught the little girl a lesson to believe in oneself and not to rely on others. If we teach children to realize that they are already empowered in themselves, and that if they believe in that, they can do anything that they want. Therefore, I think this is a worthwhile message or theme that students in Elementary or even middle-leveled students can learn from and apply it to their life. This book, "The Girl and the Wolf" meets aspects of my criteria of a good book. It has pictures that can help illustrate the story line of the book. The text is not too complex, and it has high frequency words that students would not struggle in as much; therefore making it an appropriate text for children to read and comprehend. I was also able to make connections to the book and with the emotions of the characters in the story. Vermette, K., & Flett, J. (2019). The girl and the wolf. Penticton, British Columbia: Theytus Books. 1. How did the author make the book believable? In other words, how true is the emotional reality of the story…
2. Discuss one of the main characters. How did the author make this character unique and believable? What issues does this character grapple with? How does the character evolve across the book? How were you able to relate to the characters? (You may wish to discuss the main character’s relationship to other characters) 3. Discuss the setting. Was the setting essential to the plot of the book? Explain why or why not. Does it add depth to the book? 4. What did you learn about the time period in which the book was set? Do you think the time period was described accurately? How do you know? 5. What elements of the author’s style and language drew you into the book? Explain and give examples. Examine the poetic or literary devices used in the text (i.e. simile, metaphor, flashback, onomatopoeia, imagery, alliteration, personification, symbolism). What does the author draw upon to write this story? Are there patterns, repeated phrases, predictable structures? 6. What factual information did you learn? Did anything surprise you? How do you know if this information is accurate? 7. What does the book remind you of from your own life? 8. What special meaning or message does the book convey to you? Do you think this is a worthwhile theme for elementary/middle-level students? Explain. 9. How does the point of view affect your reading? Who is the implied reader or intended audience of the book? Whose background knowledge is privileged in reading this text? 10. How does this story relate to the world as you see it? 11. Are any characters privileged or marginalized? How are the lived experiences of historically minoritized populations represented in the text? 12. What moral values and social-political messages (race, gender, religion, class, poverty, environment, immigration, education, homelessness, etc.) are dominant in the text? Does the author foster social consciousness? 13. In this text, who had the power to make choices for a better world? 14. Does the author present cultural details and markers authentically and multidimensionally? Are these cultural details integrated naturally? 15. Is the author/illustrator a cultural or #OwnVoices insider (e.g., Do they self-identify as a member of the community portrayed in the book?)? Has the book been endorsed by a reputable organization and/or insider with expertise? 16. Does the author use details accurately and does this work avoid stereotypes? Does the author use language authentically? 17. What experiences did the author bring that would help them represent the culture or social/environmental issue fairly? 18. How does the author build tension in the book? How does the mood of the book contribute to the tension? 19. What classroom connections/activities naturally link to this book. Discuss a specific resource, strategy, activity you would incorporate into your classroom. 20. What reading/writing mini-lesson could be taught through this book or passages from the book? |
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November 2019
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