American Indians in Children's Literature

https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

Music from a Place Called Half Moon

Thanks, Markayla Stevens, for a good review and book talk, including information about the author.

Oughton, J. (1995).  Music from a place called Half Moon. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers.

Link to my book talk 

https://soundcloud.com/markayla-stevens/music-from-a-place-called-half 

Meet the Author

Author - Jerrie Oughton

Jerrie Oughton was born in Atlanta, Georgia but was raised in North Carolina.  Music from a Place Called Half Moon is her first novel for young adults.  This book won the 1995 Bank Street College Award for exceptional literature.  As an author, she likes to travel to different states visiting schools and sharing her inspirational message of never giving up.  She now resides in Lexington, KY.  Attached is a video from a KET interview with Oughton.   

 http://www.ket.org/cgi-bin/cheetah/watch_video.pl?nola=KKYLI+000613 

Summary

Jerrie Oughton wrote this Multicultural chapter book about life in North Carolina, 1956.  In the town of Half Moon, which is a heavily populated white community with a sprawl of Indians living at Davis Bottoms.  This story is about thirteen year old Edie Jo Houp, who befriends sixteen year old, Cherokee Fish.  Living in a community of members who are suspicious and unjust to the idea of integration, makes it difficult for Edie and her Father to fight the battle alone.  The town is bitter toward her father’s speech at church on the opportunity to allow Indians to attend Vacation Bible School. When this assumption caused problems in the community and at home the opportunity seemed to remain hidden away in the minds of only Edie Jo and her Father.  Curious Edie Jo likes to venture up to the saw mill above her home.  She goes there to be alone, think, and write in her notebook.  This seemed to be her private sanctuary until one summer day she hears crunching of grass and whistling coming her way.  Through the blades of tall grass she sees Cherokee Fish, a boy from her school, playing a harmonica.  The only problem is this is not a typical boy, it is an Indian boy.  That summer they share music, poems, and thoughts of leaving this town behind. Will they survive this town and escape? Will the town part ways with the anti-Native American tension? Read this heart wrenching tale of a girl who was “born missing” and proves that friendship has no color.  What will the price she and Cherokee have to pay to make things right and find the “missing piece?”

Literary Terms

Jerrie Oughton used an integral setting to capture the life of those living in North Carolina, 1956.  The story would not had the significant truthfulness if it not be framed in this time period.  The vital dialect, beliefs, and harmony developed this story into a mesmerizing tale of fighting for what is right.  The Prose (style) of this book includes the organizational pattern. This is a chapter book. Each chapter is around eight to twelve pages in length with a total of eighteen chapters.  Unlike most chapter books, this one doesn’t name each chapter, instead a simple number is bold on top of the page.  Word choice is heavily influential in this book.  The wording is a direct example of the Southern language of the fifties.  Example:  “go’n” for the words “going to”. 

Curriculum Activity

After reading this book, an activity to incorporate after the reading would be for students to make a compilation of poems.  Examples of Edie Jo’s poems could be posted in the room. The students could share their writings then bind them into a book, just like the one from the story.  Also, the students could create their own instruments.  This would be a great at-home project and the students could get in groups and play their instruments in class.

Curriculum Standard

Grade 5 – English Language Arts Standard (Key Ideas and Details):

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

Big Questions

       1.        How would you feel being an Indian in this time period of anti-integration?

       2.       What are two ways of how you could propose the idea of integration to the town of Half Moon?

Copper Sun

                                                                                                 

One I'd like to get - thanks to Christy Havens.

Draper, S. M. (2006). Copper sun. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

This chapter book begins in Africa in 1738.  The main character is Amari, a fifteen-year-old girl who is soon to be wed and very content with her life.  This all changes when strangers come into her village, killing her family, and taking her prisoner.  Amari’s journey from Africa is one of danger, hunger, suffering, and humiliation.  She is sold at a slave auction in South Carolina where she meets Polly, an outspoken indentured white girl.  Both girls are sent to work on the same plantation for a wicked man.  Life is extremely hard for the girls.  They both dream and long for freedom.    Then a sudden turn of events leads them running for their freedom.

This book is written in sections with a parallel plot structure built around the two characters, Amari and Polly.  By doing this, the author allows the reader to see slavery through the eyes of a white person, as well as a black person’s.  The conflict in the story would be considered person-against-society.  The protagonist is Amari and the antagonist is slave traders and owners.

Introduce and/or review what a parallel plot is.  Let small groups discuss why the author chose to use a parallel plot structure.  Then discuss their answers as a class.

CC.9-10.R.L.5 Craft and Structure: Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

AASL Standard 2.4.2 Reflect on systematic process and assess for completeness of investigation.

AASL Standard 4.1.3 Respond to literature and creative expressions of ideas in various formats and genres.

The Big question is...           What is freedom mean to you?

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

Thanks, Charlene for a good example of parallelism.

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Hachette.

            Arnold Spirit, Jr. is a fourteen-year-old boy who lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington, where he has experienced poverty and parental alcoholism, and a host of medical problems. During his life, family and friends like have ridiculed him due to his stuttering, a lisp, and for interests that earn him the stigma of an outcast on the reservation. Hoping for a better education and chance to be happy in life, Junior decides to leave the reservation to attend the all-whit Reardan High School, where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Although he experiences some academic and athletic success there, he is unable to escape the ridicule of others. Throughout the novel, Junior endures several significant losses and eventually learns to form an identity independent of the stereotypes of either Indians or whites.

            In the classroom, I would use excerpts from this book to teach rhetorical analysis. Two chapters, “The Black Eye-of-the-Month-Club” (Chapter One) and “How Monsters Fight” (Chapter Eight) are excellent choices to help students understand how the author’s style conveys the theme of the novel. A “big question” I would ask students is “How would you describe your journey to developing your own identity?” I would then use one or both of these short chapters to explore how the author’s style reveals the theme of this journey to identity. Specifically, the first person narration establishes the voice of the adolescent narrator. The first few lines of Chapter One depict this: “I was born with water on the brain. Okay, so that’s not exactly true. I was actually born with too much cerebral spinal fluid inside my skull. But cerebral spinal fluid is just the doctor’s fancy way of saying brain grease.” The narrator continues this straightforward discussion of the congenital condition that serves as a source of his ridicule. The dark humor he uses to describe his condition creates the voice of the adolescent narrator. Further, the simplistic, often choppy syntax reflects the thought patterns of a young person and creates a conversational and matter-of-fact tone as he continues to describe his medical challenges:

First of all, I ended up having forty-two teeth. The typical human has thirty-two, right?  But I had forty-two.

Ten more than usual.

Ten more than normal.

Ten more than human.

The choppy structure is obvious again as he describes life on the reservation:

                        Do you know what happens to retards on the rez?

                        We get beat up.

                        At least once a month.

                        Yep, I belong to the Black-Eye-of-the-Month Club.

Alexie also utilizes parallelism, as in this example when he talks about why he likes to draw:

                        “I draw all the time.

                        I draw cartoons of my mother and father; my sister and my grandmother; my best friend, Rowdy; and everybody else on the rez.

                        I draw because words are too unpredictable.

                        I draw because words are too limited.

Here, (as is the short syntax in the above examples), parallelism is used to emphasize the importance of the subject being discussed. These rhetorical techniques continue throughout the novel and sustain the voice established in this first chapter.

            It would be interesting to have students bring in a map of their personal journeys that would illustrate their origins (family, culture, etc.) what influences they encounter along the way, and the destination they foresee (college, career, family, etc.) It would also be fun to have students illustrate them in the cartoon drawings typical of the kind Junior draws, as depicted by book illustrator Ellen Forney. Alternately, the cartoon art could be used to teach students to analyze visual text.  

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

The Skin I'm In

I know I already have a reflection about this book, but Brianna Paskitti did such a good job with this and raised some pretty awesome big questions. Worth a read!

Flake, S. (1998). The skin I’m in. New York: Jump at the Sun / Hyperion Paperbacks

for Children.

 

Category: Chapter Realistic Fiction Chapter Book (multi-cultural)

Recommended Age: Interest Level 7-12 grades (reading level 9.1)

Plot Synopsis:

            In this Coretta King Award winning book, Maleeka Madison is a brilliant student who feels out of place at school.  On top of her smarts, she had deep ebony skin that is a cause for ridicule from peers and make Maleeka feel like a “freak”.  She is often bullied.  Her father had the same skin tone and Maleeka had found worth and kinship in this shared trait with her father.  However, since his unexpected death three years ago, Maleeka has felt adrift in the world and ugly in her own skin.  Her mother fell apart at the death of her father, and Maleeka has played mother to her own mom during the grieving. 

            In 7^th grade, Maleeka has set out to make a new life for herself- hang our with the cool girls (whom she does homework for), get wild new haircut and play down her smarts.  He plan to reinvent herself begins to work until a new teacher, Mrs. Saunders, begins teaching English at the middle school.  Mrs. Saunders, who has prominent scar on her face, sees the potential in Maleeka and invests in Maleeka.  Maleeka has a love/hate relationship with Mrs. Saunders.  She sees the teacher as standing in the way of her growing in the social scene, but she also feels a sense of duty to live up to the type of work Ms. Saunders knows Maleeka can do.  Maleeka begins to seek solace through the creative writing project Mrs. Saunders tasks her with.  The relationship built between teacher and student gives Maleeka the support she needs to be comfortable and confident in the skin she is in.  At the end of the book, Maleeka has the confidence to tell the truth when her main bully sets Ms. Saunders’ room on fire.  She begins to be comfortable in her skin and with her place in the world.

Why choose The Skin I’m In?

            The theme of identity and bullying runs throughout the book.  In the current school culture, this topic is so relevant.  If I taught middle or high school, I’d love to share this book with my students.  I think many adolescents would find refuge and someone they could relate to in the character of Maleeka.

            Flake’s writing style, word choice and organization makes it a quick read.   She uses a lot of short sentences in rapid succession and chapters are about 4 or 5 pages.  The pacing makes it flows like a monologue and really gets into the mind of the main character.  Also, Flake uses urban and slang terms like a middle-schooler.  The characterization of Maleeka is beautiful! 

Using this text in the classroom/potential lessons and BIG questions:

            I would use this text for students to make text-to-self connections to deepen their comprehension. I would have students write about their own identity and if they have had any similar relationships-either on the bully end or the victim end.  I would have them write about them own self-perceptions and then how they think other perceive them.  Comparing and contrasting these list would be interesting.

 Also, I would encourage students to analyze some of the text from the book.  Specifically, I would have them analyze the monologue and then write what they reveal about the main character. 

Lastly, I would have conversations regarding bullying and social action.  Perhaps there could be a school-wide campaign started and this book could be the impetus.

Big questions:

• What does your face say to the world? 
• What qualities do you project and how do you think others’ see you?
• How can perceptions lead to conflict among people?
• Is the face you project consistent with your internal self?

Standards Connections:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

One Crazy Summer

Thank you Annette Black, for one I've missed.

Williams-Garcia, R. (2010). One crazy summer. New York, NY: Amistad.

One Crazy Summer is a multicultural historical fiction book by Rita Williams-Garcia that has won multiple awards. These awards include Newbery Honor, National Book Award Finalist, Scott O’Dell Award, and the Coretta Scott King Award. This interest level of this book is grades 4-7. It is a delightful yet touching book about three sisters that are sent across the country on an airplane by themselves to spend the summer with their mother that abandoned them when they were very young. The story portrays the power of love and protectiveness among sisters. This is especially evident in Delphine the order sister who is very protective of her younger siblings, Vonetta and Fern. Due to not having a mother growing up, Delphine has learned to take care of her sisters, because she hasn’t been able to rely on a mother to do so. As the story unfolds the reader falls in love with these three young girls that are forced to travel from New York to Oakland California to spend the summer with their mother a stranger to them and who doesn’t want them there. The girls are faced with the realities of life living in the black neighborhood of Oakland, California and meet some interesting characters involved with the Black Panthers and the movement for equality. They learn things about their mother that they never knew and make meet people that will impact the rest of their lives. Will the girls’ mother, Cecile begin to accept the girls as her daughters and show love toward them? How will the involvement with the Black Panthers impact the girls’ lives? Will they survive the summer with their mother and make it back home to New York safely? Read One Crazy Summer, this heart wrenching yet funny tale of three girls experiencing life with a mother that abandoned them.

            This book would be a good book to use for studying episodic plot, because there many underlying story lines going on throughout the book from chapter to chapter. For example you have the relationship between Delphine, her sisters and their mother. There is also the conflict involved with the Black Panthers and the police. The book portrays person-against-person conflict between the girls and their mother and person-against-society conflict with the story of the Black Panthers and the revolutionary camp.

A classroom lesson or activity that could go along with this book is to have the students study characterization by having them compare and contrast how the characters changed from the beginning of the book to the end. This would especially be good for looking at the character of Cecile and how her attitude toward her daughters changed in the book. Another activity that could go along with this book would be to have the students do research and write about the movement of the Black Panthers in the 1960’s.

Big Questions:

• How does the character of Cecile change from the beginning of the story to the end?
• How does spending time with Cecile during the summer change the girls’ attitudes about their mother?
• How does spending time at the revolutionary camp reshape the lives of Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern?

Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3: Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions).
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9: Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

Under the Same Sky

Another great booktalk and use of Vocaroo for recording. Thanks, Rachel Creagor.

DeFelice, C. (2003). Under the same sky. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Click the link to hear my booktalk:  http://vocaroo.com/i/s0RhoE5eJBm4

Have you ever worked hard to get something and then realized it wasn't what you wanted after all?  You always want what you can’t have, right?

Under the Same Sky by Cynthia DeFelice is a realistic fiction chapter book that you won’t be able to put down!  Fourteen-year-old Joe desperately wants a motorbike, but his parents can’t afford to get him one.  His dad makes a deal with Joe that he can work on the farm, with the migrant workers, all summer to earn money for the bike.  Joe spends his summer with Manuel, the crew boss, and Luisa, a pretty, young worker, and many other crew members.  It wasn't pleasant work; on page 32, it says, “Let’s just say I wasn't chilly for long.  Soon the sun was beating down.  This was good because it drove away the hordes of mosquitoes that tormented me at first, but awful because I was wearing a black T-shirt.  I felt as if every ray from the sun was drawn directly from the sky onto my sweating back.  Finally, I took off the shirt and stuffed it into the pocket of my jeans, which helped a little, but not much.” 

A tough summer ensues as several of the crew members are threatened with deportation and people from town want the migrant workers to leave.  What will happen to the crew?  How will Joe’s relationship with the crew change his life?   You need to read Under the Same Sky by Cynthia DeFelice to find out.

Night

Compelling reflection by Kent Maikrantz. Thanks!
Wiesel, E. (1960). Night. Austin, TX: Holt, Reinhart, and Winston.

The autobiographical Night by Elie Wiesel is the first-hand account of the author's experience in Nazi-occupied Transylvania during World War II. The story is told in first person, through the eyes of the author. By telling the story through the point of view of the narrator, the emotional connection is amplified. The author is able to convey the actual emotion to the reader, such as when he describes the scene on the boxcar when they are en route to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. He describes the furious fighting over a piece of bread and how a young man actually beats his father severely in order to get the food. He then describes the feelings he experiences and the personal promise he makes to himself to take care of his own father.

Wiesel also makes use of sensory details when he describes the sight of the fire and sparks flowing out of the giant smoke stack as the train enters the camp. He also describes in detail the lingering, rancid smell of burnt human flesh and how the smell stuck in his throat. And he is constantly describing the sights of terror and despair as they unfold before him.

I would recommend using this book with older students, as the subject matter and descriptions are rather vivid. While my students can not make direct personal connections, some of them do relate on a lesser level. Some share how they have experienced similar conditions when they were evicted from their home, or when they were taken from their home by social services. So while they did not experience what it was like to live through the occupation of their homeland, they were still able to connect internally.

The House on Mango Street

Thank you Lindsey, Snedegar, for a new book and good ideas.

Cisneros, S. (1991). The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Books.

 

The House on Mango Street is a book of VIGNETTES that tell about a young Hispanic girls life from her childhood. The short chapter book is very easy to read and has many different sections so if you only wanted to teach one part of the small book you could because the chapters are not tied together they're more like poetry in that they are very independent of the other sections. Cisneros uses many SIMILES to show her time growing up on Mango Street especially in the section called "Hair", she talks about how every one's hair smells differently and compares the texture of her hair to a broom. She also uses this book to talk about becoming a woman and learning about things that happen when your older. She begins to talk about girls who would do anything for boys and etc. I would call this book a FORESHADOWING book for COMING OF AGE novels for young Hispanic students but I would also say that it is very good for literature circles because it shows how different cultures value different things as well as how different cultures speak to one another differently.

 

This small chapter book would be great to introduce students to VIGNETTES and allow them to use a piece of their life to write their own. I used this example in my own undergraduate experience because I wrote about different parts of my life that I considered key experiences in getting me to my undergraduate program and it actually became one of my favorite things that I completed because I got to reflect on my life as well as things that had happened around me to others.

Riding the Tiger

Bunting, E., & Frampton, D. (2001). Riding the tiger. New York: Clarion Books.
(Thanks to Ashley Hughett)

Esteemed author Eve Bunting brings all her insight, empathy, and storytelling skill to this powerful allegorical tale, set in the streets of an unnamed city and illustrated with striking woodcuts. Danny, new to town, is proud when a glittery-eyed tiger invites him for a ride. He climbs up onto the tiger's massive back, and together they cruise the neighborhood. Everyone gives them respect — shopkeepers and passerby, even other kids. Danny feels powerful and much older than ten. Soon, though, he realizes it isn't respect people feel for him and the tiger — it's fear. And when he decides to get down off the tiger's back, he discovers it's a lot harder than climbing on. Whether the tiger is interpreted to represent gangs, drugs, or something else altogether, this book is sure to provoke discussions about temptation, peer pressure, and conformity.

This is a very good book on multiple levels, while the reading level is adequate for lower level readers, content would be great for upper grades as well. Bunting's use of metaphor for a complex social issue is outstanding. This book looks at multiple issues many children face and have them examine it on a critical perspective. Simply the idea of helping children examine perspective in social situations would warrant a good book. The artwork is also a very good example of modern woodcut prints. While enjoying the look of woodcut, in my opinion, is somewhat a matter of preference the arts color and style support the text and carry the story well.

Night

Thanks to Heather Conley - I have never wanted to read this book, but I believe I will go get it now.

Wiesel, E. (1987) Night.  New York:  Bantam.

Night is a very touching and true story of one teenager's experience during the Holocaust.  Elie was a young boy when his family was forced to leave their home in Transylvania and become prisoners in Auschwitz.  Wiesel was silent about his experience for ten years before he was able to put the tragedy in writing.  It is no wonder that due to the book, Wiesel has so many awards such as the Nobel Peace Prize.

Night is an excellent book for male and teen readers. Even through his horrific experience, Wiesel must go through many of the trials and challenges that many teenagers today go through.  Night is a great book for teaching internal conflict; Wiesel struggles throughout with his own feelings about God and his father.  The relationship between Wiesel and his father is easily tracked with many events that teenagers can relate to with their own parents.

Although Night is a piece of nonfiction, it contains many literary devices as well.  The imagery is astounding when Wiesel sees his mother and younger sister for the last time.  He describes the coat that his sister is wearing in a way that the audience visualizes it along with him.  Wiesel also uses several analogies, comparing the prisoners to walking corpses.

This book is definitely meant for middle/high schoolers due to the content and themes.  It is completely heartbreaking, but in the end, students tend to list Night as one of their favorite required readings.  It's very difficult to read and not feel emotionally connected to Elie Weisel.  This is a book that I have taught in class.  Not only does it have literary merit, but it is a book that truly speaks to the students.

Questions the readers may ask:  Could I be as strong as Elie if I had to go through the Holocaust?  What would I do if my parent and I were in the same situation?

Coyote Places the Stars

Thank you Courtney Hertzenberg.

Peck, H. (1993). Coyote places the stars. New York, NY: Bradbury Press.

This traditional (and also multicultural) story is a retelling of a legend told by the Wasco Indian tribe about how the coyote arranged the stars in the sky.  The folk story is retold and illustrated by Harriet Peck Taylor.  I chose this book first because it is about a Native American legend, I have enjoyed stories of Native Americans since the time I brought home the library book, Knots on a Counting Rope in second grade.  My dad told me that my great grandmother was Cherokee, which made me interested in books about Native Americans! It's also fun to include these around Thanksgiving when discussing Pilgrims and Native Americans! I found this book from the RIF Multicultural Booklist 2011-2012.

The story begins with the coyote and the bear, the coyote tells the bear that he can can climb to the heavens.  He begins by shooting an arrow through the moon and shooting more arrows to attach to each other creating a ladder! He climbs the ladder and makes it to the heavens!  Coyote gets another clever idea that he can rearrange the stars! He starts shooting the stars with his arrows moving the stars across the sky, he decided to make animal pictures for the world to see! Throughout the story, Peck uses onomatopoeia or sound words to show a certain sound.  For example, arrows go "Whi-rr" and "Whizz" through the sky, and the coyote howls "Oweowowoooah".  The author also gives the animals the ability to talk, a human characteristic which is an example of personification.

The illustrations in this book really made me interested! In the back of the book, Peck explains that the pictures were created by the artist painting with dyes on fabric in between wax-resist outlines which is called the batik method.  Fun Idea! -You could recreate this type of art in your classroom using gel glue in place of the wax-resist, wash the gel glue away and you have the outlines just like in a real example of batik art!

The Skin I'm In

Thanks, Lindsey Roberts, for such an insightful post.

Flake, S. (1998). The skin I'm in. New York: Scholastic.

This book was unlike anything I’d ever read, but it was an enjoyable and quick read. I’ll admit that it was incredibly upsetting to hear of the way others treated this young girl, Maleeka, because of her skin color. And what’s even more upsetting is that it’s something that has happened for hundreds of years and still happens today. It’s difficult for me to even make a text-to-self connection, because I have never in my life been treated so cruelly. I cannot even imagine how hurtful that must feel. Because of that, I think it would be extremely beneficial to read this story with young adults—especially with the bullying epidemic that is prevalent today. I believe that this book would facilitate meaningful conversations and reinforce the “Golden Rule”—treating others the way you want to be treated. This could be considered the overlying theme of this story.

This book fits within the multicultural genre of literature, because it focuses on the racial struggles of one young lady within her community. Books in this genre help us gain an appreciation for other cultures, and that is exactly what this book does (Brown, Tomlinson, & Short, 2011). The story is written in first-person from the perspective of Maleeka. Therefore, we know her every thought, worry, heartache, and joy. The book is written in the way that Maleeka speaks—showing her authentic dialect. What’s interesting, though, is that the writing style changes when we see Maleeka’s journal entries (as her fictional character Akeelma). In her journal entries, she writes in a much more formal way. This is even acknowledged in the story when another student, Desda, says, “How come you don’t talk proper, like Akeelma talks in her diary? Don’t nobody talk like that for real, only people in old movies and books.” Akeelma learned it from the books her father read her before he died. She is also an incredibly intelligent, young girl!

In the story, Maleeka is in conflict with others (person-against-person), but also herself (person-against-self). In this story, she desires to fit in so badly, but she is ridiculed because of her dark skin. She wears homemade clothes that her mother sews (a hobby she took on after her father’s death). Embarrassed by the uneven hemlines and crooked zippers, she borrows clothes from her “friend,” Char. Unfortunately, she is no friend at all and completely takes advantage of Maleeka—holding the borrowed clothing over her head. Because of this, Maleeka does Char’s homework and just about anything she asks—including burning some foreign money in Miss Saunders’ classroom in an act of revenge. Char and John-John are the antagonists in this story—as they are in opposition to sweet Maleeka. Thankfully, the new teacher Miss Saunders helps Maleeka find her true identify—as a wonderful writer and beautiful, young lady.

I decided to do the “Twitter Tweet” strategy from Maleeka’s perspective (prior to her self-discovery at the end of the book). If I were Maleeka, this is what I would tweet:

When will I ever stop caring what everybody else thinks? Why can’t I just look at myself with my own eyes like Daddy taught me? #missingyoudaddy

If I were to use this book with a class of adolescents, these are the big questions I’d ask to facilitate conversation:

1.     Why does Maleeka continue to help Char?

2.     What do you think is most important to Maleeka?

3.     What would you do if you were in Maleeka’s shoes?

4.     Why do people continue to tease Maleeka?

a.    Why do people tease and bully in the first place?

5.     Do you see this happening in our school? For what reasons?

Honey, I Love

Shakira Harris, Honey - I love this reflection!

 Greenfield, E., & Gilchrist, J. S. (2003). Honey, I love.  New York: Harper Collins Publisher

Honey I love by Eloise Greenfield is now one of my favorite children’s books. This book fits the poetic genre because it uses rhyme, repetition, and some literary devices to tell about the things that this spunky little girl loves in her life. The poem was originally published in 1978 and was re-released 25 years later with Jan Gilchrist’s illustrations. The illustrations catch the reader’s eyes immediately. Jan Gilchrist’s illustrations contribute to the joyful mood that the author’s words express. The front cover shows a young African American girl holding flowers in the sunlight. The bright colors also contribute to the mood. The illustrations show the action of the poem as it takes place. The pictures are sketched to give the characters life like features. Some of the pages that have the poems words have abstract sketches of the setting with what looks light water colored paint. Other pages have these beautiful pictures of the characters smiling from ear to ear. The reader immediately feels the love which is the overall theme of the book.

The little girl narrates the story and tells about loving a whole lot of things. She loves her cousin from the south. The author uses personification when the narrator tells about her cousin’s dialect and his words sliding out of his mouth. The voice and tone that the author uses allows the reader to take on the attitude that the narrator has. The little girl’s distinct personality and style radiates in every word she says. As a reader I wanted to put my hand on my hip every time she says, “Honey let me tell you”. She goes on to tell us about how she loves the flying pool which is actually the water hose. The author uses imagery to allow the reader to feel what the little girl feels when the water stings her stomach. After she describes loving the flying pool, which is too cute, the author uses the transition word “and” to go to what else she loves. Her friend comes out to play and they make paper clothing for her naked doll. The two girls laugh so hard at how pitiful the dress looks. The author uses repetition and says, “Honey let me tell you I love the laughing sound, I love the laughing sound.” That was my favorite part of the book because I too love the laughing sound. It reminded me of how my cousins and I would laugh for hours and still do at the silliest things.

The book is full of love. Loving to ride in her uncle’s crowded car in the country; loving her momma’s arm as she lays her face on it while she is sewing; But honey one thing she wants us to know is she does not love to go to sleep. Greenfield closes the poem with, “I love a lot of things, a whole lot of things, and honey I love you too.” I think for young readers this book really creates a positive feeling. It lets them know it is okay to love everyone. I relate to the story because her childhood seems just like mine. Being from Harrodsburg I spent a lot of Sundays riding in crowded cars going to visit churches for afternoon programs. This book could have easily been written by me. Cause honey I love a lot of things.

Big Idea Questions:

What do you love in your life and why?

What would it be like to be friends with this little girl?

Pass it On: African-American Poetry for Children

A thorough reflection by Robin Hancock.

Hudson, W. (1993). Pass it on: African-American poetry for children. New York: Scholastic.

Age: 4 and up

Genre: Poetry

Summary:

This is an anthology of poetry, as classified by our class text.  All of the poems included in this collection reflect special attributes of the African-American historical experience through the words and different forms that they take.  These meanings are reiterated through the illustrations specifically created for each poem by Floyd Cooper.  The purpose of the selection, as titled, is for these poems to be appreciated, shared and passed on to others.

Reflection of the Poetry:

I have selected two of my favorite poems from the selection to discuss poetic elements.

1)      “African Lullaby”

Someone would like to have you for her child

but you are mine.

Someone would like to rear you on a costly mat

but you are mine.

Someone would like to place you on a camel blanket

but you are mine.

I have you to rear on a torn old mat.

Someone would like to have you as her child

but you are mine.

-Traditional

This poem’s author is listed as “traditional” meaning that it has been handed down through oral tradition or told orally through many generations. The writing also takes the form of a lyric poem, in that it pinpoints the mother’s feeling in that moment in time. The meaning of this poem for me was a mother’s love for her child. The mother expresses that she does not have much in worldly possessions, but offers her unconditional, agape type love. I use the term agape, because that is the feeling the poem gave me, it means a selfless, spiritual type of love.  In fact, this poem is one of my favorites because I immediately connected with it through the love that I have for my children.  I often feel that I do not have many possessions to offer my children, yet I devote my agape love and time to them.

In addition, this poem consists of slow and then fast rhythms.  The first six lines are composed of couplets that begin with a line that has a slow rhythm and then a second line that has a fast rhythm.  The lines with slow rhythm contain more words that are multisyllabic words. As well, they include words that utilize the low vowel sound of “o” and the consonants “m” and “n”, which are indicative of a slow rhythm. These lines express sad feelings such as, “Someone would like to have you for her child”. The lines with a fast rhythm are short with one syllable words and include the sharp vowel sound of “i”, an attribute of a fast rhythm. These lines express a happy feeling like, “but you are mine”.

This poem also includes a sound pattern. The sound pattern is created through the use of repeated phrases such as, “but you are mine”. Moreover, the sentence construction includes a parallel structure in lines one, three, five and seven by beginning with the same words, “Someone would like to…”

I also see the use of an allegory in this poem.  The words “mat” and “blanket” are used as synonyms and refer to the possession that mother has to offer her child in comparison with others who would raise this child.  Specifically, the mother speaks of her “mat” as substandard while others’ mats or blankets are more fitting, being of a higher quality, in which to raise this special child.  Even though I believe that when this poem was created this may have been literal language in that the standard of living was that a person’s mat was his or her home, I believe in present day it is an allegory or a symbol.  I think the “mat” is a symbol for all of the materialistic resources that the mother has to offer the child. The BIG question I have is, why does this mother feel guilty about not having enough to offer her child? Is this a part of history where children were easily taken from their parents?

2)      “Time to Play”

Mama says to play outside.

Wish I had a bike to ride.

I’ll fly to the moon instead.

Steer the rocket in my head.

I’ll pretend to find a star

No one else has seen so far.

Then I’ll name it after me-

                Africa Lawanda Lee!

But for now I’ll grab some chalk,

Play hopscotch out on the walk.

                                                -Nikki Grimes

I found great meaning in this poem as a mother and a teacher. The meaning being a child with a successful future ahead of her because she has dreams of accomplishing great things such as flying a rocket. I believe my students would connect with this poem because of the figurative language used, where the girl wants to find a star, meaning that she endeavors to acquire a better life.  I feel that my students would relate to this because many of them come from homes where education and accomplishment are not valued yet, when inspired they all have hope of becoming people of distinguished achievement.  One example, would be a current fifth grader that I have worked with throughout her elementary career.  This past year she solidly reached her goal of being an on-level reader.  Before this time I had not heard her speak of her future, however since this accomplishment she told me that she wanted to become a veterinarian. She knows this will require additional education, but now has the confidence to aim toward achieving this goal.  She is like the girl in the poem. She knows she has challenges, but endeavors to be triumphant in a successful future. This work also takes the form of a lyric poem since it describes how “Africa Lawanda Lee” feels at that moment. Still, my BIG question is, I wonder if the meaning of this poem would not have been as strong if the figurative language used did not refer to an object that shot for the sky?  The idea of a rocket shooting upward is poignant . Would the use of another object such as a cloud with a graduate standing in a dream-like state, have connected with young readers as much as the image of a rocket?

This poem has a fast rhythm, each line possessing few words and utilizing the sharp vowel sounds of “a”, “e” and “i”, examples would be the words “play” and “bike”. Furthermore, the many of the words include abrupt consonant sounds “k”, “t”, “w” and “p”, instances of these phonemes can be found in the words “rocket”, “wish” and “pretend”. The fast rhythm carries forth the poet’s intention that this poem gives a joyful feeling- hope.

The sound pattern in this writing utilizes the element of rhyme. The poem is written using couplets, or two lines in a stanza about one topic, and the ending words of each line in the couplet rhyme.  An example would be, “But for now I’ll grab some chalk,/play hopscotch out on the walk.” I found this poem fun and enjoyable to read because of the rhymes used and I have experienced my younger students also connecting more to poems that use the element of rhyme.

Reflection of the Illustrations:

The illustrator, Floyd Cooper created each image specifically for each poem. All of the illustrations in this book are created using the artistic style of realistic art and the media used was oil paint on washboard, as stated on the copyright page in the front matter. Each picture shows a realistic scene without exaggeration.  However, I found the illustrations to be integral since they included details that emphasized different words in the poem. Particularly, in the illustration offered for “African Lullaby”, the mother is sitting on a mat with a small amount of food in baskets next to her, yet the baby is adoringly touching his mother on the chin.  In addition, there are camels in the background to emphasize the fact that others could rear the child on a camel blanket.  The power of this illustration comes from the composition. The items in the painting are placed specifically to enhance the meaning of the text.  For instance, the mother and baby are in the foreground, while the camels and other women with large amounts of food are in the background.  The composition shows the relationship between the mother and child is greater or more important than the other characters in the background. In the illustration for the second poem, “Time to Play”, the composition also plays an integral role. In this illustration, there is a rocket flying over the girl while she is playing hopscotch, giving realism to her dreams, that she could reach the stars. As well, the predominant use of cool colors, blues and gray with violet hues, in the painting lend themselves to a feeling of anticipation.  Possibly, an anticipation of what the future will hold for the little girl in the poem.

Recommendation:

I would utilize this collection of African-American poems in my classroom for many reasons.  First, to highlight the human condition and experiences of African-Americans throughout history and to instruct on various elements of poetry.  In primary grades, I feel that these poems offer a great variation of conveyed feelings that students could identify with or for vocabulary instruction, in alignment with KCAS Standard Four. While in the intermediate grades, since the book includes poetry from a variety of poets students could practice identifying various elements and forms in alignment with KCAS Standard Five. In order to assist all students with determining meaning from poetry, I would use graphic organizers for students to record questions, comments or feelings they experience from the poems they read.  I have included a few examples of the type of graphic organizers I would utilize below.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/collateral_resources/pdf/m/mentors0708kechiawilliams/InferenceGraphicOrganizer.pdf- Graphic Organizer to record what known and questions specifically for inference.

http://schools.nyc.gov/documents/teachandlearn/poetryunit_2-24final.pdf - Starting on page 101, there are various graphic organizers to use when reading poetry, including one to pair questions about poetry with students’ schema. These graphic organizers were created for high school students; however they could be adjusted to be appropriate for upper elementary students.

Dancing with the Indians

Thanks, Suzanne Bridwell, for a book that handles two cultures.

Medearis, A. (1992). Dancing with the Indians. New York: Scholastic.

“……… a compelling story of loyalty and joy.”

                                                            - School Library Journal

“…….. commendable work offers glimpses of a rarely explored chapter in the shared histories of two historically oppressed peoples.”

                                                            - Publishers Weekly

Based on the author's family history, this intercultural celebration recounts an African American family's participation in a Seminole Indian powwow in 1930s Oklahoma. Written in four-line verses this book offers glimpses into Native American culture and African American culture. The strongly colored paintings by illustrator Byrd depict flickering firelit dancers and the area's natural beauty. The faces of the dancers are often distorted and stiff. The line and color used in the illustrations of the dancers' faces add to the intensity of the emotion displayed in the dance moves.  

What I love about this multicultural picture storybook is there is a letter from the author at the end about her inspiration for this story. The African American author tells in her letter about her great grandfather who escaped from slavery. He was helped by the Seminoles to be protected from the white people. Her great grandfather was actually accepted as a member of their tribe to be protected. To honor the tribe her grandfather would travel with his family once a year to participate in a Seminole Pow Wow. The book is about that journey. How fantastic is it that this book combines two cultures? It shows how they can celebrate their heritage together.       

My text to self-connection was made on page 18.

“Warriors stamp and hollar, an angry cavalcade. I draw away form them a little bit afraid.” I can recall seeing a Native American dance at a festival as a child. I was a little bit scared of the costumes and the shouting. I now find it fascinating as an adult.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vqecwx0TVM

I would show the above link to my students prior to reading this book to capture my audience.

They would then write about what they saw in the dance clip.