Eagle Song

By: Joseph Bruchac
(Bruchac, Joseph. Eagle Song. Dial Books for Young Readers. New York, 1997.)

This book tells the story of a young Native American boy, Daniel Bigtree. Daniel and his family moved to Brooklyn from their Indian reservation. They have been living in Brooklyn for two months and Daniel is having trouble making friends because people aren’t treating him fairly at school. He is being bullied because he is Native American. This is an obstacle for Daniel to face. He not only had to move from his comfortable life on the Indian reservation, he is being alienated by his peers. Daniel’s dad, Richard Bigtree, works a lot and is not able to spend a lot of time with his family. When Daniel does have the time to be with his dad, he tells his dad the problems that he is facing at school. Richard Bigtree suggests to Daniel that he come into his classroom and talk with his classmates about their heritage and how important it is to them. Richard hopes that this will show the students that it is important to embrace different cultures and heritages. However, it took some time for the students to accept Daniel. One of Daniel’s bullies, Tyrone, threw a basketball at his face while everyone was outside for recess. This took Daniel by surprise because he thought it was going to be better for him at school. After the incident happened, Tyrone apologized to Daniel and said that it was an accident. Daniel told him that he wanted to not be enemies and make peace between the two of them. Tyrone agreed and they set aside their differences.

This book was very interesting and engaging. The author has written many other books, all written very well. The issues that the author addressed in this book would be helpful to address in a classroom because many children would be able to relate to Daniel’s problems. The issue of Daniel feeling alienated from his peers is very relatable by students. They are able to see that it is not just them that suffer from this certain problem. It also lets the student have a personal connection to the character in the book, and when this happens it makes reading much more engaging. The text does a great job at informing the reader of Native American culture and heritage and how unique it is. This book would be a good to read to a class during a social studies unit on Native Americans because it tells the story of Aionwahta. This is a great story to read because it gives background information about the start of the Iroquois Indians. Another aspect of the book that was great was the sporadic use of Native American language. This is interesting for the reader because it lets them step into the world of Native Americans. There was a glossary and pronunciation guide in the back of the book for the reader to look up the words and see how they are supposed to be pronounced.

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

By: Paul Goble
(Goble, Paul. The Girl Who Loved Horses. Bradbury Press. New York, 1978.)

This is a story about following your heart for what you love. A young Native American girl follows her heart for her love of the wild horses. Her tribe would train horses to hunt buffalo but she preferred to have the horses run wild and free. It gave her a sense of freedom from her own life watching these animals. The young girl traveled with the horses while a storm hit her village and forced her to leave her family. After fleeing the village to not get hit by the storm, the young girl and her horses were lost for a year. When the young girl was found by two Native Americans she did not go with them she continued on her way with the horses. However, the young girl had an accident and fell off of her horse and the hunters helped her back to her village to her parents. When getting back to her village the young girl falls ill and says the only way that she will get better is by going back with her wild horses because she felt that they were part of her family. The young girl left her family to be with her horses and each year she would take a colt to her family for them to remember her.

This text does a great job at letting the reader step into the life of a Native American girl. The text does a good job at showing the reader different cultures and heritages. Many children wouldn’t be aware of Native American culture and how it may be so different than their own. This particular book would be useful in a classroom because the students can see how Native Americans live and some of the traditions that they have that are interesting.

Cheyenne Again

By: Eve Bunting
(Bunting, Eve. Cheyenne Again. New York: Clarion Books, 1995)

As I read this particular multicultural picture book I was very intrigued by the issues being discussed. This book informs the reader of the hardships that Native Americans went through to become ‘more white’. This story is about a young Native American boy, Young Bull, who is sent away to attend an off-reservation Indian school. He is sent there to learn how to become ‘more white’ and to learn that his heritage and culture is not acceptable. It shows Young Bull having to live in a cold and lonely barracks. This is hard for him because he is used to a totally different living environment. Then it shows Young Bull getting his braids cut off by a white man because that is not how whites wear their hair. This is just another way of trying to conform this young by to be 'more white'. During the time that Young Bull is at school he is daydreaming of what it was like to be back on his reservation and how free he was. Young Bull is also exposed to church-life according to the whites. He is not used to this type of religion because his culture prays differently than the whites. Since Young Bull is not accepting of this new culture he tries to run away back to his reservation, but he gets caught and a ball and chain is locked to his ankle for a day. They say that this will enforce more discipline in Young Bull. As Young Bull continues his education one of his teachers tells him that he should never forget that he is Indian inside and that no one should be able to take away his memories. The story ends with Young Bull reminiscing about his heritage and culture and that someday he will be back on his reservation and will be Cheyenne again.

Reading this book really opened the eyes of the reader to things that were not known before. It is known that Native Americans were wrongfully abused by the whites however; most don't know the extent of it. At the end of the book there is an afterword written by the author. This information tells the reader that these off-reservation Indian boarding schools were very popular among the United States. It continued to give names of different schools that Native American children attended. These schools still exist today for Native American children. However, the schools aren’t as harsh and they tend to be more sensitive to the young people’s needs. They also encourage the children to embrace their Native American heritage.

This particular piece of multicultural literature did a nice job at informing the reader of issues that they may not have known. The afterword at the end of the book was very helpful for the reader, it is a good resource tool. It gives the reader more information about this particular issue and they can see that it actually exists in real life. This book does a nice job at getting the reader comfortable about talking about these issues. These issues can be raised and addressed in a classroom and children would have many things to say.

Group Discussion about Boy Meets Boy

Today my group and I had a discussion about the book, Boy Meets Boy. Our discussion was very productive and I feel that everyone was able to express their feelings about the book. Everyone raised many intriguing questions for their paper. One thing that we talked about in regards to this book was that it may portray inaccurate portrayals of the gay lifestyle. Even though this book seemed to be set in a 'perfect' community, it isn't realistic. If a child is reading this book, it gives them the impression that all societies feel similar to the gay lifestyle, when it reality they don't. We felt that if this book was taught in a classroom, then it needs to be addressed by the teacher this type of lifestyle and that it isn't accepted as much as it is in this book. It is only fair for the children to be aware that this doesn't happen everywhere.
We also brought up the idea of actually teaching this book in our classrooms. I feel that this book wouldn't be necessary for elementary school. It might be reasonable for 6th grade, but nothing lower. It would be more necessary for middle/high school. The teacher would also have to use his/her discretion as to whether or not to even use it in their classroom. There could be a lot of unwanted feedback from administration/parents/community.
The discussion that we had was very informative because I was interested in seeing how everyone else felt about the book. I am still indifferent on how I feel about the book, but it was nice to hear other people's viewpoints on it.

Boy Meets Boy

I was really interested in reading this book because I had never read any GLBT literature before. As I was reading the book I was really taken aback by the intense descriptions of the homosexual lifestyle and culture. I didn't think that was how the book was going to be. Since our society is very 'hush-hush' when it comes to talking about the homosexual lifestyle and culture, I figured that texts about this issue would be the same way. However, it was totally the opposite. This town that the book took place in saw homosexuality as carefree. The school that was portrayed in the book portrayed many different sexual orientations. The sexual orientations were so diverse that it was almost like it was being replaced by race. For example, many schools are very diverse when it comes to race and ethnicities, not sexual orientations.
I am not sure where I stand at this point when it comes to deciding if I enjoyed the book or not. I see good and bad points to this book. On one hand, these issues were addressed in the book so they can be talked about and made aware to people who live in a society where sexual orientation isn't discussed. On the other hand, because this lifestyle is portrayed as so carefree it may give off an inaccurate portrayal of the homosexual lifestyle. Even though this lifestyle is becoming more accepted, it is still a touchy subject for some people in the society.
If I were to teach this book in upper elementary/junior high, I would make sure to take into special consideration when explaining this issue. Some children may be unaware of the facts when it comes to homosexual lifestyle, and if they do know anything about it, it may be a misconception that was told to them.
Boy Meets Boy is a book that contains many important issues that should be addressed to students, but it needs to be done in a careful manner. The teacher wouldn't want to do anything to offend the families in the classroom.

Project Mulberry discussion

Today in class my group had a really good discussion about the text, Project Mulberry.
When I was reading this book it really brought a lot to my attention. The one thing that stuck out to me was the issue of racism. The issue of racism was directed towards Julia's mother. The author flat out told the reader that Julia's mother doesn't like black people. I thought this was so blatantly thrown out to the reader. As I thought about my question that I would pose for my QTT paper I knew I wanted to make it a point to bring up the issue of racism in the text and how it affected Julia. I thought of the fact that Mrs. Song had the bad experiences with the black soldiers during the Korean War and if this caused for her racist views towards black people. It is never said to the reader the real reason for her mother possibly being a racist. Julia contemplates during the book why her mother feels this way and she really doesn't understand the reasoning behind these views that her mother has. It is hard for a child to hear that their parent has such distorted views about another race, especially when Julia's favorite teacher was a black woman and the man helping she and Patrick with their mulberry project was a black man. This issue was one of the main problems that Julia dealt with during the book.
We also raised the question about the politically correct way to address someone's background/ethnicity. The example in the book was when Mr. Dixon asked Julia if Chinese people used a lot of peppers in their cooking. He automatically assumed that Julia was Chinese and he made a snap judgment about her ethnicity. What is the best way to ask someone about their background? Is there a way to do this without offending anyone? Our group thought that possibly asking someone the question of, "What is your background?" instead of asking them "Where are you from?" The last question assumes that they are not an American citizen which can be offending to the person.
Overall, the discussion that our group had was very productive. I thought that the book was well written and raised many issues that could be addressed to a class. The author said in her note at the end of the book that she raised the issue of racism because she was hoping that it would help in the healing process that racism can have on a group of people. Discussing the issue is better than just trying to ignore and hope that it goes away.

My Personal Philosophy

I chose to take this class because it was a requirement for my Language Arts degree and because I really enjoyed TE348 and I figured I would like this course just as much.
This course connects to my professional goals because it makes me become more aware of diverse literature for my own classroom one day. It has also made me analyze texts in a way that I had never done before. Analyzing texts can be very important because one has to be aware of what they or their children may be reading. I wouldn't want to give my children a book to read that was very stereotypical because I wouldn't want them to get the wrong impression of that particular ethnic group. This course has also opened my eyes to diverse literature that I may not have been aware of because I was not really around it when I was younger. Well, I may have been around it, but it was never emphasized when I was growing up. I hope to someday make the children in my classroom as well as my own children, aware of the necessity of diverse literature and to be aware of people who are different from yourself because you can learn so much from other people.
The role of issues of diversity play a huge part in literacy teaching and learning. This type of literature can be very helpful in engaging students to become more interested in different ethnic groups and to take a stand on what type of diverse literature they enjoy the most. It is also important to address some of the misconceptions that different ethnic groups have and try to get rid of these misconceptions from the children's thinking.
My personal philosophy about multicultural education is that it should be encouraged in classrooms. I feel that all students should be aware of the world around them and it should be encouraged by the teacher to enforce such learning. Children's literature for multicultural education would play a huge part in my personal philosophy. I think that it is easier for children to relate to a text, especially if it is about someone of their same age.
I feel that one challenge would be finding the right books to bring into the classroom. I would wants texts that the children would be able to relate to, as well as have a powerful statement. But the whole idea of bringing in such diverse literature is very interesting and exciting to me. I feel that with diverse literature comes a promising future for the classroom as a whole.