Before the Book Thief

I still have about 50 pages left in The Book Thief, so I'll post later tonight or early tomorrow morning. What I can say about it so far is this:

I really like the book's perspective on discrimination. When reading, it's always easy to empathize with the victim, but since the book is about a German girl who is not Jewish, I found myself asking other questions. What would I do if I was in the Hubermann's shoes? How much power did the German people have to fight the Nazi's? Who much power did they have to save the Jewish people?

My favorite part (so far!) is when Liesel and Rudy throw the breadcrumbs into the street for the Jews to find. What a creative, heroic, yet even childish thing to do!

I do think that the book is a bit lengthy- it's been difficult for me to find time to finish it, so I think that it would be hard for adolescents to find time to finish it. If I did teach it I would pair it with a non-fiction piece or maybe even a documentary so that the lesson about discrimination is more concrete.

On another note, I have been thinking about how this would work as a film, and I think that Alan Rickman (it may be spelled wrong, but think Severus Snape from Harry Potter), would be perfect to play Death! Any thoughts?

American Born Chinese/ Constructing a Teaching Life

I loved this book! I liked the format; the storyline and images were tastefully and artfully done, although I personally could've done without the picture of the spear through Wong Lai-Tsao. This is an approachable text that I would love to use in my classroom.

The book also contains alot of positive messages as well as food for thought. The struggle and rewards that come when you construct your own identity, dealing with prejudice, and how to recognize some of our own stereotypes are a few of the lessons that can be learned from reading this novel.

To continue on the topic of identity construction, I gained perspective from Gaughan's first chapter in his book Cultural Reflections. The three examples of teaching styles that he gave were helpful because I have had teachers who fit every category, and then some in between. It was easy to remember what was effective for me as a student, and the more traditional approach executed by Mrs. Keller was NOT it!

Gaughn writes on page 8 that "students won't explore their place in and influence on society if they aren't confident writers in the first place". This is such a relevant quote for me because my goal as a teacher is to help students think critically and write effectively so that they can be active and informed participants in our society. Isn't that what education is meant to do? To prepare students to function within our society? And I couldn't agree more- when students, heck, when people in general, are confident with their skill level they are more likely to participate in society and in their own lives. I like the style of teaching where students are writing something everyday.

As always, there is lots to think about and discuss with this article and with the text!

Monster and Teaching Multiculturalism

What to say about Monster? Some things I liked: it was a quick read, it was suspenseful, its theme of racial inequality was obvious. I wasn't necessarily a big fan of the script format, however, I would teach this book- but why?

The book's main character, Steve Harmon, is a sixteen-year-old high school student with a love for film, who may or may not have been involved in a crime. Steve is on trial for felony murder charges associated with this crime, and is facing 25 years to life in prison. I think it would be easy for students to put themselves in Steve's shoes and relate to his experience, thus making the book worth teaching because I think students would have alot to say about it.

Would Steve's life have been different if he had been white? Would he even be on trial? Did he get a fair trial because he was black? Was his lawyer prejudiced against him? Was the jury? What does it mean to be black and caught in the judicial system in America? These are all great questions that could be discussed. However, what I don't like is that at one point in the book the author mentions that Steve went into the store to get some mints; in the trial Steve denies ever being in the store. This raised some questions in my mind about what message the author was sending about race and adolescence. When should people be responsible for their actions? When are they old enough to serve a lifetime in jail for a mistake?

I really liked Hades' article and his ideas about semiotic reading. Students do interpret literature, movies, and music through a lense that is shaped by our culture. We shouldn't impose our own ideas, but we should ask them questions that force them to reevaluate their own beliefs about race, gender, and class. I loved the part where Hade says that his eldest daughter said that he was ruining the pleasure of the lion king for her, because it points to a bigger issue- should children's literature be nothing more than entertainment, or is it meant to teach our students how to critically think about issues dealing with culture, etc.? I think we'll have alot to talk about in class, can't wait!