Tag Archives: 4-5

The Secret to Freedom

Posted on December 5, 2018 by | Comments Off on The Secret to Freedom

Title: The Secret to Freedom

Author: Marcia Vaughan

Illustrator: Larry Johnson

Publisher and Year: Lee & Low Books Inc. 2001

Number of pages: 32

Tags/Themes: Diversity, Emotion, Family, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Picture Book, 4-5, Evan White

Genre: Historical fiction; children’s; cultural; picture book

Descriptive Annotation: The Secret to Freedom is about Aunt Lucy sharing her story about her experiences in slavery to her grandniece.  Lucy’s parents were sold off and was left with her brother Albert.  Albert was part of the underground railroad movement and taught Lucy about quilts and how different designs tell the run-away slaves different information.  Albert and Lucy became agents to aid  slaves to freedom.  Albert was caught one night and was lashed in the back.  After that night they decided Albert needed to leave.  Once the two children were older and had their own families, Albert found Lucy again and reconnected.  Now Lucy’s grandniece knew their family history.  The students will need to know about Civil War era, about slavery, and why going up north meant freedom.  The back of the book has a brief history lesson and glossary for words the student may not understand.  The illustrations are unrefined paintings but are still very detailed and show sadness on the characters’ faces throughout the story.

Classroom Application: This text would reinforce history and specifically the Civil War era.  This text also meets Social and Emotional Learning Standards of handle challenging situations constructive and demonstrate caring and concern for others.  Lucy shows a lot of control in her emotions.  She identifies how depressed she is but is able to use her emotions to benefit runaway slaves.  This story can be used to stretch the students into using their emotions to make an impact for others even when their emotions are filled with fury or sadness.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book represents pride in sharing perseverance from slavery.  Aunt Lucy is proud of herself and Albert for assisting runaway slaves to freedom.  ““Now  I do declare, child, your eyes sparkle just like Albert’s did all those years ago” she said.  Then we sat in happy silence, shelling peas into the bowl while the curtains billowed in the breeze beside us” (31). This book shows the value of story telling and sharing family history and how history is imperative to understanding part of American and black culture.  The setting is also very explicit in showing Albert getting lashed and showing vivid images of it. For instance, the text reads, “Those men tied Albert to a tree and lashed him, lashed him hard till blood ran red down his back” (15).  The content of this story is very serious and illustrates how slaves were treated.  I would introduce the book by showing the students some images of common quilt patterns and what they meant.  This can help the students understand the importance of the secret code used in the book and in history.

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Game Changer

Posted on December 5, 2018 by | Comments Off on Game Changer

Title: Game Changer

Author: John Coy

Illustrator: Randy DuBurke

Publisher and Year: Carolrhoda Books (October 1, 2015)

Number of pages: 32

Tags/Themes: Diversity, Picture Book, Social Science, 4-5, 6-8, Evan White

Genre: History; Non-fiction; sports

Descriptive Annotation:  Game changer is the true story of Coach John McLendon organizing a basketball game between the best white college basketball players from Duke University Medical School and his team from North Carolina College of Negroes in 1944, whose team was called the Eagles.  The teams met up in a gym and locked the doors so no one could walk in.  Both teams played as hard as they could but the Eagles won 88 to 44.  The next day, the two teams decided to play again, but mix the teams up.  This was the first time there was inter racial basketball.  The boys all had a great time playing mixed together but also knew it was not socially unacceptable if outsiders found out.  All the boys began to grow closer together and learn from one another.  The artwork of the book is very dark but the tone of the writing has a message of optimism of time changing.  At the back of the book, there is a timeline of civil rights movement and progression of black athletes coming into the spot light.

The students will need to know about segregation, the term negroes, prejudice, and the KKK.

Classroom Application:   This text can be used to reinforce history, and could be used as the sports perspective within civil rights.  The book also explores the progression of equality in America in different areas, like sports.  Game Changer can also be used to reinforce history with breaking down barriers.  As the coach did a brave thing for the time period and can teach how it is important to take risks that go against social norms.  A social norm doesn’t mean it’s a moral norm, so taking risks and stepping outside of comfortable spaces can lead to impact on society.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book represents the culture in the 1940s and how the black community stood together to progress in equality.  This book could be used to generate discussion in looking at current sports diversity and examine if they are diverse, how diverse, and if certain groups are not represented in sports.  This can be done by using percentages and ratios of diverse athletes with a math reinforcement.  Using the charts, we can look at the time the athletes were playing.   “Nineteen years before Dr. King’s “I have a Dream” speech and three years before Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball, black players and white players worked together as teammates in an illegal game in segregated North Caroline” (19).  I think this quote is important because it established there are leaders in civil rights other than Martin Luther King.  It is important to learn about more than one leader, and how there was multiple leaders in civil rights through the years, no matter how famous they became.   Learning about strong leaders would lead into this next quote.  “A reporter for the Caroline Times, Durham’s black weekly newspaper, heard about the game, but he agreed not to publish the story at McLendon’s request since the Ku Klux Klan was active and considered ‘race mixing’ a crime punishable by death” (24).  This is a powerful quote that should be used with a mature class ready for these topics.  This quote shows the serious tone of the book and paints a picture of how brave the boys were for playing in an interracial basketball game.  Understanding the serious consequences makes the coach and players stronger leaders for the students.

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Funny Bones

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Title: Funny Bones

Author(s) Duncan Tonatiuh

Illustrator/Photographer Duncan Tonatiuh

Publisher and Year: Harry N. Abrams, 2015

Number of pages: 40

Tags/Themes: Award Book, Culture, Diversity, Fine Arts, Non-fiction, Picture Book, 4-5, Evan White

Genre: biography; art; history; cultural picture book, children

Descriptive Annotation:  Funny Bones is biography of José Guadalupe (Lupe) Posada.  Lupe was a famous Mexican artist in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  He was most famous for his calaveras (skull or skeleton drawings).  The book starts at Lupe’s childhood and how he learned different art forms like lithography and wood engraving.  As Lupe grew older, he opened his own shop in Mexico City and would draw calaveras in current political events like the Mexican revolution and the corrupt government at the time.  The students will need no background knowledge as the book explains the Spanish words and what Day of the Dead is.  The author’s note has a detailed explanation of Day of the Dead with its history of calaveras.  There is also a glossary of Spanish words for a more detailed definition .

Classroom Application: This text can be used to reinforce social science and used to give more detail into Day of the Dead and its culture.  This book could be used in a series for students to compare and contrast Day of the Dead and Halloween so the students understand the cultural differences and appreciate the differences.  This book does an excellent job showcasing the artwork for Day of the Dead, with the detail in the calaveras.  Funny Bones could also be used to reinforce poetry.  Calavera drawings could have a funny poem with the drawing, and the students can work on creating fun and silly poems.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: Funny Bones would teach about the art culture within the Mexican Culture, diving deep into different aspects of Mexican culture.  I might introduce this book by introducing the art forms of drawing calaveras first or give the students a picture of calaveras, and they have to create a poem around the photo.  Funny Bones also shows different aspects of Day of the Dead.  “On those days, the city was full of vendors who sold pan de muerto (bread), cempasúchil (marigold flowers), alfeñiques (sugar Skulls), and papel picado (paper cutouts).  People bought these and other items to decorate the ofrendas (offerings they made for their loved ones who had died)” (15).  This quote gives an insight into what a day is like and what people would normally buy during this time.  On page 17, there is a drawing of a calavera proposing so another calavera.  “I am sorry Senñor.  But that cannot be.  You’re handsome and all, but too skinny for me!”  This can be a good example for the students for what poems in calaveras are like.  They are short and sweet with some humor in them.  The text is printed on the poster of the calavera drawings with distinct font.

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Audrey’s Magic Nine

Posted on December 5, 2018 by | Comments Off on Audrey’s Magic Nine

Title: Audrey’s Magic Nine

Author: Michelle Wright

Illustrator: Courtney Huddleston

Publisher and year: Penny-Farthing Productions Inc. 2018

Number of pages: 144.

Tags/Themes: Adventure, Diversity, Family, Fantasy, Fiction, Friendship, Graphic Novel, 2-3,e

Genre: fantasy, sequential art, graphic novel, adoption

Descriptive Annotation:  Audrey is a 10-year-old black girl who has been in the foster care her whole life.  Her foster parents neglected her and her foster siblings giving her little food, and when the news station reported it, Tabitha saw Audrey and wanted to adopt her.  Tabitha and her husband overworked Audrey with piano, violin, ballet, and school work when all Audrey wanted to do was draw in her notebook.  One night she finds a magic puppet from another world who was kicked out of his world from an evil magic queen.  Audrey and her new friend Asa try to find his new friends while Audrey is learning how to live with her new parents.

The graphic novel does a good job showing Audrey’s drawings as a central piece to storytelling in the book .

Classroom Application:  Audrey draws to help her cope and deal with any stress she has.  The book can be used to encourage the children to use the arts as a way to express themselves.  Children learning how to express and explain their thoughts or emotions will be very helpful as they grow up.  Methods can be comic making, drawing, paintings, creative writing, acting and script writing, or sculpting.  Students can do a writing piece filled with their emotion and do a companion piece of art to complement their writing.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book has a representation of the foster care system and highlights issues like child neglect, overcoming personal problems, and using art as a coping mechanism.  It gives a sense that families come in different forms (step-parents, multi-racial families) teaching children not to make assumptions about others’ family structures.  When in new or stressful family situations, the book teaches how to use expressive skills so family issues do not get bottled up causing any future emotional harm.  The story also shows a strong female character who is brave and wants to help her friends.  I might introduce this graphic novel by having the students describe their favorite super powers, what they admire in heroes, and what they don’t like about super villains.  This can set up their interests with the super  powered puppets, creating future empathy with the characters and a greater admiration for Audrey being brave throughout the story.  “There were several young girls in the Mercer fosters home, ranging in ages 5-16 and allegedly subjected to such punishments as hours spent in a small, locked closet ” (12).  This sets up the tone right away.  This graphic novel is serious and straight to the point.  It is not afraid to state the facts what life is like for some children.  “But those people have put that poor woman in danger, just for taking pizza out of the trash ” (73).  This shows the empathy Audrey has the for the world.  Even though she has been is foster care where she can’t express her emotions, she is still seeing the beauty in people and wants everyone to be valued.

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Scarlet Ibis

Posted on December 5, 2018 by | Comments Off on Scarlet Ibis

Title: Scarlet Ibis

Author: Gill Lewis

Illustrator: Susan Meyer

Publisher and Year: Oxford University Press, 2014

Number of pages: 273

Tags/Themes: Animals; Chapter Book; Emotion; Family; Fiction; 4-5; 6-8 E

Genre: fiction, family.

Descriptive Annotation:  Scarlet is a young black girl who lives with her mum  and her brother “Red” who both are white.  Scarlet spends all her time taking care of Red who is a young boy with autism, who loves birds. Scarlet often takes care of her mum who has anger problems.  After an incident with Scarlet’s mum falling asleep with a cigarette in her mouth and almost burning down their apartment, Scarlet’s family was taken away from her.  Her mum stayed in a hospital, Red went to a foster home, and Scarlet went to a different foster home with her caretaker, Avril.  Scarlet desperately wants to find Red but is unable to contact with him.  She struggles with living with a new family in a new home coping with her emotions with her frustrations with social workers refusing to let her see her mum and brother.

Students might need to know the variation of “mum” to understand it means mom, but a different spelling.

Classroom Application: This text can be used to reinforce health/physical education area.  The major plot point is after Scarlet’s mum burns down their apartment.  After reading that chapter, it would be important to discuss with the class and practice fire safety and ways to prevent fires in their home.

This text meets the SELS of students experiencing family emotional stress.  It can also be used to stretch how the students think of the definition of family.  A foster family can be just as tight or close to other types of families.

 

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis :

This book represents the culture of children in foster care/families.  It would be used to generate discussion on how foster care works, why it happens, teaching the students to not bully students with different families.  It also represents the culture of children with autism.  Generating discussion on how children/people with autism or special needs require a lot of love, and give a lot of love, just like how the students require love from their family and give a lot to their family.  Growing a culture of respect and value for students with autism/special needs is another classroom application from this book.  I might introduce this book to my students by having them draw a memory or activity they value about their family to get them in the mindset of valuing family with the content of this text. “Red cradles Little Red in his lap.  I watch him run is hand from the pigeon’s head to his tail feathers.  Little red becomes calm and turns his head to look at Red.  Red touches the soft down of his chest.  Red relaxes and I see his shoulders drop.  He’s happy just stroking the bird.  I slump into the armchair.  My head feels heavy.  My whole body feels tired.  All I want to do is to curl up and sleep, and sleep, and sleep” (213).  This quote shows how much Scarlet values her brother, but at the same time how drained she is.  The tone is serious, Scarlet feeling tired with her words and imagery.  It paints a picture how she needs help taking care of Red, and how students need to no place everything on their shoulders. “I take a step toward them. “It’s all right for you,” I say. “You can go back to your nice homes with your nice families.  You can have your meals cooked every night.  Your mums and dads look after you.  They’re not crazy.  They don’t swear at you or call you names.  But Red and I don’t have that.  We don’t have anything like that.  All we’ve got is each other.  And if you tell on us, we’ll be split up, and then we won’t have anything as all ”” (228).   This quote really shows the conversation tone in this book.  Scarlet frustration built up and she is exploding to her friends.  You can hear her anger and frustration in the sentences.  The beautiful thing about this quote is her friends listen to her afterwards and give her the space to vent and be vulnerable to them.  Teaching the students friends allow each other to be vulnerable to each other.

 

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Just A Dream

Posted on December 4, 2018 by | Comments Off on Just A Dream

Title – Just a Dream

Author(s) – Chris Van Allsburg

Illustrator/Photographer – Chris Van Allsburg

Publisher and Year – Houghton Mifflin, 1990

Number of pages – 48 pages

Tags/Themes – Rylie Loux, Adventure, Fiction, 2-3, 4-5, Emotion

Genre – Fiction

Descriptive Annotation:  Walter is a young boy who litters and refuses to sort trash for recycling. One night when he falls asleep, he dreams of a future that is overcrowded and polluted. He is taken on an adventure into his future based on his actions and careless mistakes of his past. When he wakes up from his dream, he changes his attitude towards the environment.

Classroom Application/Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This is a perfect resource for engaging students to get to know and understand the importance of our environment. The strong environmental message of the book helps children see how pollution affects their future. “We have met the enemy and he is us.” This is the focus of recycling and the importance of each and every student taking on the role of keeping their environment clean. This can be applied by asking the students how they are helping the environment each day. Throughout the story, Walter has his own opinion, learns from his mistakes, and then is able to correct his wrong doings. Walter is so preoccupied in his past time activities that he pays little attention to what the world has to offer. This is showing students that they are always able to change for the better and that how the choices they make today will affect them in the future. This story also includes a strong sense of independence and personal responsibility. Culture and diversity is applied because everyone comes from different backgrounds and this story is showing students that no matter where they came from, they all play a part in the bigger picture and everyone is accountable for something.

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A Ticket Around the World

Posted on December 4, 2018 by | Comments Off on A Ticket Around the World

Title – A Ticket Around the World

Author(s) – Natalia Diaz, Melissa Owens

Illustrator/Photographer – Kim Smith

Publisher and Year – Owlkids, March 17, 2015

Number of pages – 32 pages

Tags/Themes – Rylie Loux, Culture, Diversity, Nonfiction, 2-3, 4-5

Genre – Nonfiction

Descriptive Annotation: This book is about an unnamed boy who visits friends in 13 countries, offering readers a world tour via his first-person narration as he samples foods, views landmarks, and attends cultural events, among other activities. Each country has a small map so that the readers are able to imagine they are traveling too.

Classroom Application and Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This is a perfect resource for engaging students to get to know and understand the background and different cultures of the countries. This informational picture book brings engaging nonfiction content to younger readers by showing them how other children just like them live around the world. Students can summarize cultural attributes, like popular food, national animal, official flower and official language all while reading this story. Also students will be able to compare and contrast between the different countries and their own cultural attributes. Many students may not even know about all the different countries, so this is a way to get them involved and learning about cultural differences. “I love to travel. The more places I visit, the more friends I make and the more things I discover.” This can be applied to each students background for students to get to know each other individually.

 

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The Upside Down Boy

Posted on December 3, 2018 by | Comments Off on The Upside Down Boy

Title: The Upside Down Boy

Author: Juan Felipe Herrera

Illustrator: Elizabeth Gomez

Publisher and Year: Children’s Book Press, 2000

Number of pages: 30

Tags/Themes: Spanish, Language, Listening, Family, Agriculture, Picture Book, Emotion, 2-3, 4-5, Diversity, Bilingual, Olivia Ruff

Genre: Memoir and Bilingual

Descriptive Annotation: This is a memoir by the author, Juan Felipe Herrera of the time when his family moved into the city and he started school. He was unsure about the ways of school, but he found comfort in music through singing. He proudly displays his talents to his family at home, and he grows in confidence with the support of the teacher and his family. The story is told in both English and Spanish.  The language used is somewhat flowery, similar to language used in poetry.

Classroom Application: This book would be good to use in an ELL or ESL classroom. It is helpful to have the second language in the book. The language used in somewhat advanced, and students who know both English and Spanish would enjoy this book more. This book is a memoir, so this could be incorporated into an English lesson on memoirs as well.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book is a memoir, so this would be another opportunity for students to learn about a different literary form. The language in the book is beautiful and poetic, making it different from other children’s stories. The book challenges students to think about the aspects of a change in lifestyle for Spanish speaking students as they become accustomed to schools where English is mainly spoken. Quotations: “That year we were living in the mountains by Lake Wolfer, a glassy world full of sky colors” (2) and “If I learn the English words will my voice reach the ceiling, weave through it like grape vines?” (9).

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Carlos and the Cornfield

Posted on December 3, 2018 by | Comments Off on Carlos and the Cornfield

Title: Carlos and the Cornfield

Author: Jan Romero Stevens

Illustrator: Jeanne Arnold

Publisher and Year: Northland Publishing, 1995

Number of pages: 30

Tags/Themes: Spanish, Language, Listening, Family, Agriculture, Picture Book, Emotion, 2-3, 4-5, Diversity, Bilingual, Olivia Ruff

Genre: Fiction and Bilingual

Descriptive Annotation: This book has the story written in both English and Spanish. The story is about a little boy who helps his dad plant corn. He does not listen to the instructions his father gave him, and he hastily buys a new pocket knife. After a few weeks, he notices that the corn is not growing properly in the last few rows, so he goes out and buys corn seed and replants the rows with the money from his resold pocketknife. He ends up planting the wrong type of corn and his dad gives him the pocket knife. The story uses some Spanish within the dialogue, and the people have Spanish names.

Classroom Application: This book would be good to use in an ELL or ESL classroom. It is helpful to have the second language in the book. This shows Spanish culture, and it introduces students to Spanish. The students would learn the importance of fully listening to directions as well.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: Due to the fact that the book is bilingual, it offers a unique opportunity for students to become interested in learning another language. The book uses several important cultural things such as the importance of corn. Students could become interested in corn because of this book, and a fun addition to the book is that the last page has a recipe for cornmeal pancakes. Quotations: “Mijo, my son, I have a big job for you. Now that the ground is ready, I want you to plant the seed” (6) and “Carlos could hardly believe his good fortune. With five dollars he would have enough money to buy the red pocketknife in Senor Lopez’s store” (10).

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Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

Posted on November 30, 2018 by | Comments Off on Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

Title: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

Author(s): John Steptoe

Illustrator/Photographer: John Steptoe

Publisher and Year: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books 1987

Number of pages: 28

Tags/Themes: Allison Henry, Award Book, Family, Culture, Picture Book, Fiction, 2-3, 4-5

Genre: Fiction

Descriptive Annotation:  Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters is the story of Nyasha, the nice sister, and Manyara, the mean sister. One day, the King sends out a proclamation that he is looking for a wife and all eligible women need to report to the palace. Manyara sneaks out of her home at night to be the first woman to meet the King and on her journey, she is rude to many people. Nyasha follows the next morning with her father, Mufaro, and is kind to everyone. When she arrives at the palace, the King reveals that he was all of the people that she was kind to on the journey and takes her as his wife. Students would benefit from knowing how to pronounce the various African words in the text. The illustrations in the book are incredibly detailed and take up the entire set of pages. They appear to be done in colored pencil. This book is a Caldecott Honor Book.

Classroom Application: This book could be used in a social sciences lesson on African cultures. In the front cover, the author mentions that the story is based off a folktale first published in 1895 by G. M. Theal in his collection of African folktales. The illustrations are based off of ancient ruins found near Zimbabwe. This book could also be used to teach Social Emotional Learning Standard 2, “Use social-awareness and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationships.” The students could compare and contrast the two sisters and discuss their interactions, including ways to improve Manyara’s interactions with others.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: As mentioned above, this text is based off of an African folktale and the illustrations are based off of ancient ruins found near Zimbabwe. This text could be used in a unit on African cultures to enrich the students’ knowledge. It mentions some crops that are grown in Africa, “Nyasha kept a small plot of land, on which she grew millet, sunflowers, yams, and vegetables.” The illustrations are very detailed and show what the clothing looked like, how they traveled, what kinds of plants there are, and what animals live in the area.

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