The following are a list of texts, videos, poems, articles, etc., that reflect my content area and come along with a short description and my personal ideas on how I could incorporate these texts in a real classroom. Be looking out for future posts on this topic :)
1. Smoky Night (When Teaching English)
Bunting, Eve. Smoky Night. New York: Harcourt, 1994. Print.
Summary: Written to appeal a young audience, such as middle schoolers, Eve Bunting describes the circumstances of two diverse families who are affected in various ways by the LA riots. With the help of these families' cats, the main characters of the book are able to look past their differences during the urban violence to mend a broken relationship. Along with the simplified wording that can benefit students on average to lower reading levels, the book is accompanied by extravagant collage like pictures designed by David Diaz, who later earned the Caldecott Medal for his astounding acrylic work.
In Classroom Techniques: While teaching an English class, this book is great to use during a unit that may incorporate the challenges that people of different cultural/ethnic backgrounds face on a normal basis. For an in class activity to understand the major concept of this book, I will start a discussion amongst my students that will require them to open up about their own struggles due to their backgrounds. For example, I may reflect on my own childhood and discuss the challenges that I faced due to my American Indian culture. From my dark complexion to my hair, I will describe the problems that I faced as a result of it. As part of this discussion, each student will reflect on the challenges that he or she might have faced growing up and describe to their classmates how the issues affected their personnel today. At the end of the discussion, students will group up with one other classmate and write a reflection on what that particular person has been through. For a conclusion, the students will come up with several positive characteristics about the other classmate and present this to the class. In completion of this activity, the students should understand how problems, whether caused by hurtful words or societal disagreements, cause hurt and strife amongst people who may be seen as "different" in the eyes of others. Therefore, all people, whether black, brown, or white, should be respected and seen as equal by peers, and this eye opening revelation can originate within a classroom.
Using a more in-depth analysis, this picture book is a great example to use for discussing symbolism. For students who are struggling with grasping the concept of the usage of symbols, this book is a great example that students can use for deeper understanding and concept of the basic idea of symbolism in writing.
2. Digital Story Telling (When Teaching English)
"Digital Story Telling Classroom Project." ePals Global Community. N.p. n.p. Web. 27 December 2010. (http://www.epals.com/projects/info.aspx?DivID=Digital_overview)
Summary: On this website, students can learn the concept of story telling by organizing information to design a story, develop a cross cultural understanding from others, and gain writing/reading abilities from critiquing peers (which may be beneficial for ELL students).
In Classroom Technique: When using this website, I will create online journals for the students to write in before starting the process of digital story telling. As the website states, the students will answer essential questions (included in the website), in their journals about story telling that give the students background content knowledge about the activity they're going to partake in (the website includes simple instructions and step-by-step lists to aid students of different reading abilities. Examples are given for those who may struggle in fulling understanding certain directions). Based on the background information, students will be able to learn about various cultural groups who partook in story telling and compare the vast gender roles to other cultural groups (some American Indian tribes had the chief tell the stories, while others depended on the chief's wife for ritual story telling). For students who are labeled as ELL, this activity will help them practice the concept of writing so that they may deepen their understanding of the English language. After acquiring background understanding, students will be instructed to develop a topic, write their digital story, include illustrations found online, and then post the journal online for other peers to see. Students will have access to respond to their classmates' journal and make corrections, if necessary. For ELL's, this peer critiquing may help students understand what they need to work on in regards to learning/writing in English.
I LOVE your idea of digital storytelling and so will your students. It would be a cool idea to have them interview family members or write autobiographies at the beginning of the year to build community in your classroom. It's a great way to publish their work and give them an opportunity to be an author!
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