The House You Pass Along the Way

Blog #10

The House You Pass Along the Way – Jacqueline Woodson

Again, I surprise myself each week with how much I am enjoying reading. I did not expect this story to be about a teenage girl struggling with her sexuality and her parents’ interracial marriage. I am not really sure what I expected, but definitely not that. Especially the struggles Staggerlee has because of being a lesbian, because our novels two weeks ago dealt with sexuality struggles. But, the book wasn’t bad at all. It kept me drawn in and it was a pretty easy read. I quickly got attached to the characters, especially Staggerlee and Trout (Tyler, Staggerlee’s cousin). The way their friendship grew and the things they were able to share with each other shows the reader that being a teenager, especially with struggles like Staggerlee has, is easier to handle when you have a friend you can share things with. Unlike most people, I really enjoyed middle school! I had awesome friends, and for the most part, we got along really well without much drama (all the drama came in high school). Although I did feel like I had “problems” I had to face while in middle school, I can’t imagine going through anything that Staggerlee was experiencing. My problems consisted of frizzy hair and braces, nothing anywhere close to Staggerlee! Anyway, I think Woodson does a really good job at putting a positive light on these situations, showing teenagers that they are not alone in their problems, and that having friends to share these problems with, makes getting through them much easier.

While The House You Pass Along the Way is fairly short, it tackles a number of important social issues while also telling a good story. Regardless of your race or sexuality, the love and warmth of family and friends is an uplifting theme.

Ben. The first chapter was much longer than I wanted it to be. I was tired of reading by then, and wasn’t really feeling the whole reading thing. Just saying. But after reading it, I did end up enjoying it. It was a little too much about slavery for me, but over all it ended happily. I was very glad to find out that Ben and his wife escaped slavery, after fighting so hard for their lives.

In “Who Can Tell My Story,” Woodson makes a good point in saying that writers should indeed tell their stories. You get so much more from a novel when the story being told has actually happened to the person telling it. I would much rather read about something that really happened to someone than something made up or told from an outsiders perspective. I feel like the writer is able to put so much more emotion into a story if it is coming from their heart, and it is easier to feel the emotions of the writer when they are writing about themselves. I think all writers should take into account what Woodson says about telling their own stories.

I liked reading “Cultural Politics for a Writer’s Point of View” as well, because I enjoy reading about things that will help me as a future teacher. I am not a very confrontational person, so it is sometimes hard for me to address tabooed or uncomfortable topics. Actually all the time it is hard for me. Be able to read about how I should approach these situations/topics in the classroom, makes me somewhat at ease about having to discuss uncomfortable topics.

Citations: 

Lester, J. (1971). Ben. The long journey home: Stories from black history. (pp. 60-88).            New York, NY: Dial.

Paterson, K. (1994). Cultural politics for a writer’s point of view. New Advocate, 7(2),            85-91.

Woodson, J. (1997). The house you pass along the way. New York, NY: Delacorate            Press.

Woodson, J. (2003). Who Can Tell My Story? In D.L. Fox & K.G. Short (Eds.), Stories            matter: The complexity of cultural authenticity in children’s literature (pp. 41-            45). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Blog #9

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie

I was totally not surprised that I enjoyed this novel! I had heard such good things about the novel and that I would literally laugh out loud while reading it! All of the above were accurate! The novel was an easy read and I really enjoyed Alexie’s humor within the seriousness of the situations. When I started reading it, I thought it was just going to be a story of a teenage boy who had to go through hardships in his life and that the novel was going to be Junior telling me different bad things that happened to him. Much to my surprise, the novel was all about overcoming the hardships you face and doing something with your life.

Junior, the narrator and main character of the novel, was born with “water on the brain.” He suffered seizures and was made fun of almost all of the time because of his large head and stutter and lisp. He has one friend, his best friend, Rowdy. Rowdy was a bully to most of the other kids, but he protected Junior. Junior and Rowdy and their families live on the Native American reservation. Junior and Rowdy both start ninth grade at the same school and Junior quickly gets suspended from school for throwing a book at Mr. P’s face and breaking his nose. While Junior is sitting at home one of the days that he is suspended, Mr. P shows up at his house. Junior is extremely confused as to why he is there. Junior and Mr. P begin talking and they are talking about Junior’s sister and how she wanted to be a writer, but had given up on her dream. Junior then says, “There is always time to change your life” (Alexie, 2007 p. 40). This is one of my most favorite quotes in this novel. When Junior says this, it foreshadows his own life. Mr. P then tells Junior that he needs to leave the reservation to start a new life for himself. After his conversation with Mr. P, Junior decides that he does want to get out and start over. He decides to attend Reardan, which is a school that is full of rich white people who are extremely smart and athletic. Junior is afraid to go to Reardan, but he knows that if he doesn’t go, he will never get out!

When Junior decides to go to Reardan, that is probably one of my favorite parts in the novel. This shows people that no matter what you are born into, you can get out and make something out of yourself. Especially the fact that Junior eventually succeeds and makes the varsity basketball team and has a starting position. Junior knew that he had to leave the reservation if he was going to make something out of himself and do something with his life. Always have hope and do what you have to do to get there!

The Sports Illustrated article was interesting. I had never thought about the fact that teams’ mascots could be offending people. It is hard for me to think that team mascots would be changed after such a long time though. It makes me think that the mascots aren’t offending enough people, because if they were, the mascots would have been changed by now. As for the article on Native American Literature, I really liked the end of the article when strategies for teaching Native American Literature were discussed. “Teachers dedicated to providing children with accurate information about Native Americans will take advantage of these opportunities to correct prior learning” (Harris & Reese, 1997). If we teach accurate information the first go round, other educators will not have to go back and re-teach an accurate interpretation of Native Americans.

Citations:

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

Harris, V. J., & Reese, D. (1997). Native Americans in Children's Literature. Using multiethnic literature in the K-8 classroom (pp. 155-185). Norwood, Mass.: Christopher-Gordon.

Price, S. (2002, March 4). The Indian Wars. Sports Illustrated, 96, 66-72.

The Misfits and Totally Joe

Blog # 8

The Misfits and Totally Joe – James Howe

Honestly, I first chose to read the combination of The Misfits and Totally Joe because I did not want to read a book with the word “geography” in the title. I didn’t really know what to expect before reading these novels, because I had never heard of either of them, but I was intrigued to find out! When I picked up The Misfits, I did not put it down until I was finished reading it!!! Let me say that again…when I picked up The Misfits, I DID NOT PUT IT DOWN UNTIL I FINISHED THE BOOK!! That has never happened in my life! What an accomplishment :) for me and for the author! Needless to say, I loved the book! Both book actually! I finished that one in two sittings! There are just so many things that I loved in both books and I don’t know why I liked these books so much more than the others we have read. Maybe it is because the other books had some sort of content within them…I get enough content in my classes, and when I read books, frankly I don’t care to read more about math or science.

I loved reading from Bobby’s perspective (The Misfits)! He is so easy to relate to; really they all were in a sense. And even though I didn’t really encounter the same situations the Gang of Five did, I was still able to see where my life was relatable to the story line. Everybody can relate to the Gang of Five! Even the popular kids! At some point in life, you feel as if you don’t fit in. You may not make it know to others or wear it on your sleeve that you feel that way, but you sure feel it. One of my favorite quotes in the entire book was on pg. 95 “When you’re living through them, events are nothing more than stuff that happens. You’re not thinking about significance. Significance only comes when you look back at your life” (Howe, 2001). I just love this statement! It is so extremely true! Often times in life, you don’t see the significance of a particular situation until it has passed. By looking back on events, you are able to learn so much about yourself and about life!

This novel would be such an incredibly great book to read at the beginning of a school year! To make students aware that if they put their heads together and unite as one body, changes can happen. When you get to know your classmates and who they really are, so many new opportunities are available. You can really influence others and be the friend they need. Another quote that stuck out to me was on pg. 124 “This business of really knowing people, deep down, including your own self, it is not something you can learn in school or from a book. It takes your whole being to do it – your eyes and your ears, your brain and your heart. Maybe your heart most of all.” This is such a deep statement and I think a lot of middle school students know this, but don’t know how to put it into action. This novel was extremely realistic, and I really liked the fact that the No Name Party didn’t win the election. Not because I didn’t want them to win (because I really did), but because of its realness! Even though they didn’t win the election, changes were still made. They made a difference.

I really enjoyed Totally Joe as well! I didn’t know it was a sequel to The Misfits until I started reading it! I was glad to get more from Joe’s perspective, especially because being openly gay was not common in my middle school, so I have never really heard the opinion/perspective of someone who is gay. I also really liked that the story was an alphabiography! I had never heard of something like this before and I thought it was a fabulous idea! Even though I want to teach math, I would love to do something like this in my class. Have them start at the beginning of the year and work on it until the end of the school year. I think that this assignment would allow the students to learn so much about themselves over the course of a year.

I love Joe’s character and how open he is in his alphabiography! I also really enjoyed getting to the end of a letter (chapter) to see his life lesson. Some of them really made me laugh, and some were very inspirational! Some of my favorites include…

“Life Lesson: Just be who you are, okay.” pg. 12

 “Life Lesson: Middle school is like being trapped in a reality show where there’s no way off the island and you’re always a loser.” pg. 94

“Life Lesson: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. – Eleanor Roosevelt” pg. 173

“Life Lesson: I figured it out – when you’re writing, the person you’re talking to is mostly yourself.” pg. 176

“Life Lesson: A day can start out ordinary and end up being in the Top Ten.” pg. 184

“Life Lesson: Alphabiographies should be full of italics, CAPITAL LETTERS, and exclamation points! (Just like life!) And they should never end with the words ‘The End.’ They should always end with: TO BE CONTINUED” pg. 189

(Howe, 2005)

Sorry. That was a lot. But I couldn’t narrow it down! I just loved them all! I think this book would be good for students to read as well, just to see another perspective. Or maybe even to help them deal with life! I also really liked the roles of Aunt Pam and the Gang of Five. They just show what it means to have friends and family who love you no matter what. And being honest with them will help you feel more confident. Loved both book and would definitely recommend them to anyone!

All three articles were very interesting and contained topics that I had never really thought about before now. Blackburn & Smith, Jenkins, and Stewig all discussed topics that bring attention to ways to handle literature involving gays and lesbians. Stewig’s article was about censorship of lesbian and gay families in books. I think that it is definitely important to have books that involve these types of families. In the diverse world today, and becoming more diverse, there will be children from all types of families in our classes, and they need to feel as “normal” as possible. Showing all types of families in books allows all children to feel like they matter and are being represented. Jenkins article was about the idea of new realism in novels, meaning that books should portray real life situations that happen to all kinds of people. I agree in saying that children should know that life isn’t always going to be full of greatness. They need to be aware of the fact that life brings struggles as well. That being said, I think that students should be exposed to all sorts of situations that will help them succeed in the real world. And lastly, the Blackburn & Smith article was about the idea of heteronormativity. I had never heard this term before reading this article. “By heteronormativity we mean a way of being in the world that relies on the belief that heterosexuality is normal, which implicitly positions homosexuality and bisexuality as abnormal and thus inferior. It is often much more subtle than homophobia” (Blackburn, Smith, 2010). This article discusses how it is hard to bring lesbian and gay books into the society we live in because it is so heteronormativie. I definitely agree and think that changing society’s way of thinking is going to be hard, but the only way to change it is to put books out there that contain situations with lesbians and gays.

Citations:

Blackburn, M.,& Smith, J. (2010). Moving beyond the inclusion of lgbt-themed literatur inenglish language arts classrooms: Interrogating heteronormalitivity andexploring intersectionality. Journalof Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(8),625-634.

Howe, J. (2001). The misfits. New York: AladdinPaperbacks.

Howe, J. (2005). Totally joe. New York: AladdinMix.

Jenkins, C. (1998).From queer to gay and back again: Young adult novels with gay/lesbian/queercontent. Library Quarterly , 68(3), 298-334.

Stewig, J.(1994). Self-censorship of picture books about gay and lesbian families. Concepts and Themes, 7(3), 184-193.

A Wrinkle In Time

Blog #7

A Wrinkle in Time

I am a sucker for a happy ending! In anything! A book, a movie, a song, real life?? So even though this novel was a bit slow at times, overall I enjoyed it! The cover of my book threw me off though! I don’t usually like science fiction books and on the cover all I saw was 3 “normal” people, a weird horse-angel-man thing, and a dark scary face. That being said, I wasn’t thrilled to open the book and get started reading. But much to my surprise, I was immediately drawn in. The first few pages of chapter 1 are so closely related to that of a middle school student. I remember being in middle school and sometimes just feeling like everyone was against me. As Meg lays in bed shivering because of the stormy weather, all her thoughts begin piling up about school and her dropping academic performance, not fitting in with her friends, and getting in a fight after school. These are all realistic things that happen to middle school students and I think they would also be drawn in from the first chapter.

In chapter 2 we start to see Meg’s impatient nature, always wanting an explanation for everything. This is reoccurring throughout the novel and one of the themes is learning that not everything needs an explanation and learning to be content and happy not knowing why everything happens. This is something that I am still learning as a college student. And have been trying to learn my whole life. I am very much an organized person and a planner. That being said, I always want to know why! This can sometimes be a good thing, but not always. Like I said earlier, an explanation is not always need.

In chapter 3, I felt that there was some foreshadowing. When Calvin comes home with Meg and Charles Wallace for dinner, he is touched by the love inside the Murry family and tells Meg that she is lucky to have such a loving family. At the end of the novel, Meg has to find her own weapon that will defeat IT to get her brother back. That weapon is love. To me this shows the reader that love is noticed and loving and being loved is something that can beat anything. As the story progress, Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin go on an adventure to rescue Mr. Murry. On their journey, they encounter some interesting things in the end, love conquers all and Mr. Murry is rescued. Meg never gives up on what she wants and always perseveres to complete what she went to do. 

I would not be opposed to using this novel in my classroom, and even if I didn’t, I would recommend this novel to my students, because I think they would get a lot out of reading this, just as I did.

Citation:

L'Engle, M. (2007). A wrinkle in time. New York, NY: Square Fish

The Phantom Tollbooth

Blog #6

The Phantom Tollbooth

I really enjoyed this book! Crazy, I know! But I did! After last weeks readings though, I think anything would be better. Although this book was crazy and out there, I still enjoyed reading it. It was more of a “fun” silly book than Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and I would definitely recommend this book to any of my students just to read for fun. Not only did I like the language of the book and how it was written, but also I loved all the themes that occurred throughout the book. In the first chapter, we learn that Milo is just a bored kid and he doesn’t really care to learn. But as he drives into the Phantom Tollbooth and enters into a world so full of imagination. Throughout his journeys, from Dictionopolis to the Castle in the Air, Milo learns more and more as his journeys progress that help him eventually fight off the demons to get to Rhyme and Reason. So, while Milo is enjoying his time in the Lands Beyond, he is learning new things at the same time! I think that this can show students that they can learn and have fun at the same time. Bringing fun into the classroom can make the students learn without them even knowing!

I absolutely loved the use of puns throughout the novel! They made me laugh! Not only do they make the book more enjoyable, but also when they are used, Milo usually learns an important lesson. I think my favorite pun used in the novel was in chapter 13, Unfortunate Conclusions. This is when Milo, Tock, and the Humbug are leaving the Silent Valley and are on their way to rescue Rhyme and Reason.

[“Nothing can possibly go wrong now,” cried the Humbug happily, and as soon a he’d said it he leaped from the car, as if stuck by a pin, and sailed all the way to the little island. “And we’ll have plenty of time,” answered Tock, who hadn’t noticed that the bug was missing – and he, too, suddenly leaped into the air and disappeared. “It certainly couldn’t be a nicer day,” agreed Milo, who was too busy looking at the road to see that the others had gone. And in a split second he was gone also.] (Juster, 1961, p. 165-166)… [“But from now on I’m going to have a very good reason before I make up my mind about anything. You can lose too much time jumping to conclusions.”] (Juster, 1961, p. 170).

This passage in the novel is a pun. The three friends jump to conclusions about how wonderful the weather is and how they have so much time and how nothing could go wrong; they literally jump out of the car and are thrown onto an unpleasant island and they very quickly learn to not jump to conclusions, for things can change in an instant.

When Milo completes the task given to him by King Azaz and returns home from the Lands Beyond, he notices that it is only 6 o’clock and that he has only been gone for an hour! The next day on his way home from school, Milo is so excited to go on another trip! He is very disappointed when he comes home to find that the tollbooth is gone! But after he gets over his pouting, he realizes that there is still so much that can be done right there in his home! Milo learned such an awesome lesson about using time wisely while he was on his trip! This is something that any person can take away from this book and not just a child! Needless to say, I really enjoyed the book :)

Citation:

Juster, N. (1964). The phantom tollbooth. New York, NY: Random House Inc.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & A Tangled Tale

Blog #5

CRAZINESS!!

Both books that were assigned for this weeks reading A Tangled Tale and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland were very…interesting to say the least.

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland

I remember hearing about the Disney movie Alice in Wonderland as a child, but I don’t think I have ever seen it. I am pretty sure I didn’t see it because of all the weird things I heard about it and I didn’t want to have nightmares. So I was interested to see what the book was going to be like. To be honest, I am not a fan of the book. From the moment I picked up the book, it all seemed very strange to me. If I am going to read a book, which is rare, I want to read something that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside with a happy ending. And this book, was definitely not that. From Alice sliding down what seemed like a never-ending rabbit hole, to nearly drowning in her own tears, I was a bit freaked out by the weirdness of the story and wondered where Alice would end up. When I was about half way through the book, I was thinking “how in the heck is this supposed to be related to math,” but then I remembered that we don’t necessarily have to read the book from the point of view of a teacher, so I just kept reading. At the end of the story, I have to say that I was pleased to know that all of Alice’s adventures were a dream! After looking back at the story after reading it, I can kind of see some of the logic in all of the illogicalness. From Alice figuring out how to shrink to be able to fit through the door to figuring out how to grow to get the key, there is eventually logic behind her actions. But, like I said earlier, I am not a fan of this book and would probably not recommend it to my students.

A Tangled Tale

I thought Alice was confusing…oh my goodness! This book was horrible! It took me FOREVER to read this book! Every time I read just one page, I had to go back and read it again. I had such a hard time following all the knots and solutions and what not. This book is a perfect example of why I do not like to read. I know that I would never use this book in a classroom, because if I did, my students would hate me for confusing them! If I couldn’t understand what was going on, I know that the majority of middle school students will not be able to figure it out either. I am also not a fan of old English language. Yes, I understand that the book is full of problems, or knots, that we are trying to figure out, but I know I can find problems for my students to think about logically and figure out without completely confusing them, making them hate math. I hate to be so negative but I really did not enjoy this book!

References:

Carroll, L. The best of lewis carrol. New York, NY: Castle Books.

Rocket Boys

Blog #4

When we were given the reading list for Mathematics Area Content and I saw that Rocket Boys was first on the list, I was not totally against reading it. I read parts of this book in middle school and what I read, I enjoyed. This time was no different. Rocket Boys is such an inspiring story and I think it can teach students and adults a lot about life and chasing your dreams. I love the enthusiasm of Homer and the rest of the boys. The way they never gave up on their dream of building rockets and winning the National Science Fair. The support that they provided for each other motivated them to keep pursing their dreams. I was extremely touched by the reaction of the community when they saw the boys’ rocket launch into the sky. Through all the obstacles that got in Homer’s way, he continued to do what he could to keep his passion of building rockets alive.

I think that many students, especially middle school students, would be able to relate to this story in multiple ways. Middle school years are very awkward and fitting in can be difficult. You want to be “popular,” you want to fit in with your friends, and you want to make your parents proud at the same time but sometimes those to things don’t line up. Trying to figure out what their lives are going to be is sometimes on the forefront of their minds and sometimes at the back of their minds, but either way, encouraging them to follow their dreams is something I want to be able to do as a teacher. Like Miss Riley, “She was strict with us, not ever allowing anybody to get her off topic even once, but she still had an impish humor that she often used to keep us alert, along with such an obvious love for her subject that we all paid attention” (Hickam, 2000, p.150).  I want to be a teacher that students feel comfortable asking me to slow down or to go back over material they do not understand. I love how Miss. Riley always pushed her students to reach their full potential and how she always stuck up for the boys. If I ever use this book in the classroom, I hope my students think of me when they read about Miss Riley.

I know that this book was under the mathematics content area, but I don’t think I would use it in a middle school math class. The math content was far to hard for middle school students to use. Like I said earlier, I really enjoyed this book and I would however, use this book in a science classroom, particularly chemistry, showing combustion, the reactions of chemicals, and their effects on each other. I hope that my students would be inspired by the motivation of the boys and that they would be encouraged to chase their dreams and follow their hearts, not only in the classroom, but outside of school as well.

Citations:

Hickam, H. H. (1998). Rocket boys. New York: Dell Publishing.