Guidelines for Online Literature Circle:
Welcome to your online literature circle posting site. Please use the “post comment” below for this group’s discussion only. This space will give you and the members in this group an opportunity to express your own opinions about theories, research, and content. You will also be able to read each other’s comments and give feedback.
- 1) Read the required readings
- 2) Post a reading response –below this space.
- 3) Reading Response entries should be at least 500-750 words.
- 4) Read all recent postings and give feedback (people in your literature circle group).
This is an opportunity for you to explore what you think is important, as well as, become active participants in your own learning by collaboratively problem solving and giving/getting appropriate feedback. This is your groups place to process meaning and develop understandings. Please feel free to respond to additional issues or questions that you feel are most relevant to your experiences and interests.
I really enjoyed both books, The Well, and Elijah of Buxton. In The Well I was struck with a sense of injustice and just plain shock that the treatment of a group of people can be so heinous and yet accepted by the culture of the time. I’ve said this several times throughout this class and explorations of this literature unit, but I just find it so hard to believe that just a few short years ago it was considered “normal” to enslave this group of people and treat them like animals. It seems so foreign to me and yet I know we still have a long way to go in our treatment of many ethnic groups around the world.
ReplyDeleteOne theme that both books have in common is the acceptance of this mistreatment by the whites. In Elijah, MaWee struggles with the idea of freedom. He has no “background knowledge” on the subject and it is so foreign to him that freedom seems more daunting than the life of slavery. Even though many understood it was not right being treated as they were, it was the only life they knew and dependence upon their master was normal and therefore easier than trying to live freely. In TheWell, David’s family is free but they are surrounded by white families that loathe them just for being. His parents coming from a background of slavery are much more accepting of this treatment and try to teach their children tolerance. While I admired their strong conviction to do the right thing and share what they had, I felt myself cheering for Hammer in his attempts to get revenge upon the Simms boys. At the same time I was so afraid for him but I wanted to see them get justice.
From chapters 2 and 3 in Living Literature I have connected with a few items. The first being the importance of developing a culturally diverse literature unit and classroom. If children don’t see themselves in the literature that they read it is hard for them to make a connection. This reminded me of the recent press Target has received for including a young boy with down syndrome as a model in their weekly advertisements. I saw an interview with the little boy’s parents. They talked about how seeing himself in those ads helped bolster the young boy’s self esteem and encouraged many other children with downs. This seems like such a “dah!” moment. Why hasn’t this been done all along? When working with literature it also seems logical that kids want to read about other people like themselves. The readings also address the fact that literature connects us to the world and is our avenue to learn about people and cultures from around the world without going there ourselves. Therefore, building background knowledge is important so that our students can comprehend what they read and make some connections to that literature.
I wasn't finshed... sorry, I wrote it so, I'm going to share!
ReplyDeleteWhile building a culturally diverse classroom in terms of literature that is available and even adjusting our teaching styles to take into consideration what is acceptable in other cultures is logical. I find myself stuck in a rut as I have not been exposed to other cultures in a way where I needed to adjust my teaching to accommodate other cultural identities. Growing up and in college I was surrounded by people like myself. My experiences have not been real diverse. In my teaching experiences, again, there has not been much diversity. There may be a few students from Spanish speaking cultures but for the most part the students are “like me.”
Our readings do also address being sensitive to others with different economic backgrounds, regions, lifestyles and sexes. Again, good topics to keep in mind when building a diverse literature collection.
Finally I’d just like to touch on the comprehension chapter. Personally I would like to work on providing more opportunities for students to share their knowledge in a variety of ways as suggested. I think the LEAD21 curriculum that my district uses does a great job in this area allowing students to explore and present in many different ways as suggested in our reading. The area that I personally need to work on is considering cultural background and situational background and providing comprehension activities that match those backgrounds.
I also feel pretty helpless sometimes trying to teach the idea of tolerance to kids that have little experience with diversity. I believe wholeheartedly in accepting all people because they are people, but to truly understand disadvantage and discrimination, honestly...I struggle with how to represent the pain and hurt of our modern times as well as the past. I can 't possibly really know how it must have felt to be Elijah or Hammer, but yet, I feel compelled to make sure that know one has to feel they must have anymore. I'm so afraid of making assumptions because of my homogeneous existance.
DeleteGreat reminder that teachers need to keep in mind not only cultural backgrounds but economics, lifestyle, and many other factors figure into students' diversity. I guess one of the bigger points I got out of the reading was that teachers really do need to get to know their students in order for them to teach valuable lessons.
DeleteI agree we really do need to get to know our kiddos. I also agree with the points made about being aware of culture in a broader sense. Culture is more than the color of one's skin. It is the life experiences that have shaped our very identity and how we see the world. Kelli, your connection to the down syndrome child reminded me of the many cultures that are out there and how culture not only impacts how we see the world, but ultimately how we learn and teach.
DeleteI liked the two pieces of literature assigned for this literature circle. It seems as though both books follow the same social acceptance of how whites and blacks should be treated. I know this was stated already by Kelli, but I am so in agreence about the unrealistic vision of how things really were. It really wasn't that long ago when all of this was a part of our culture right here in the states and yet it seems so disconnected form what we really know. I am not sure if it is because of where we live and not having much exposure to it or if it is just something we try to think couldn't really have happened. I don't know but it is awful how depending on the color of your skin changed the way you were treated. I believe that their is still these same visions today, but maybe more prevalent in the areas that had more of this issue to begin with.
ReplyDeleteOk sorry I was getting carried away on that thought, but it just seems so unreal how just a short time ago life was so different than what we are used to.
I don't think that I ever thought about someone not totally wanting to be free of slavery or contraplating whether freedom or slavery was better. I have always thought that freedom was so huge and who wouldn't have been overjoyed not be kept as a slave anymore. In the books we have read this semester you can find the same underlying idea of is it better or worse to be enslaved, because surviving as a free person was not a piece of cake. In "The Well" you were given the opportunity to understand why Ma Rachel was so connected to her name and how she cursed the white man for taking it away and how the slaves were unable to read, write, or own things that would help them survive a desent life.
I like how the books portrayed the characters in their culture and time with the use of language and setting. Along with descrbing the attitudes of how the blacks were responded to and what was expected of them. I was interested in the fact that the father in "The Well" was still considered black eventhough he had a white father. It made you envision him as a white man in looks and also because he was given the opportunity to learn and find success, but no matter his accomplishments he was considered black and he was expected to treat the white man in reverence.
In Chapter 2 it says that culture is ways of knowing, believing, valuing, and thinking amoung a group of people. It tells how genuine study of culture goes beyound what different people wear, eat, celebrate, and how they live. That would be considered surface culture instead of deep culture, in which you understand the characteristics, values, and beliefs. I think that most of us are at the surface culture spot. I know I am. Strictly because in our area we aren't exposed to many different cultures. I don't think we have had to worry so much about digging deeper, because we have not had to. I am not sure that is a bad thing necessecarily, but it is something to think about for the future. I don't think it is hard to realize that when we find the deep culture piece we will most likely find more comfort and tolerances for differences. That doesn't mean one has to believe the same or take on the same traditions it just allows for better understanding, communication, and in our cases better teaching. As the books says, all of our students will benefit if we take the time to find out what they know, and to build on those strengths in the classroom. Understanding the cultures we may be teaching will help us to identify the questions we need to ask to better help those students that may have different cultures than our own.
As Chapter 3 says, comprehension is thinking. bridging the new to the known.
Bridging the new to the known...thanks for bringing that out. I've been thinking a lot about how to work with a very closed-minded student who throws around the terms homo, faggot, Jew, nigger...It's his upbringing and the reaction he gets from peers that have taught and reinforced this position--but it's resting on total ignorance. He knows nothing of the struggle that any of these groups of people had suffered. The irony is that he's suffered plenty of injustice and mistreatment--he would understand how bitterly anger Hammer felt to risk his life to try and even the score. I think The Well, despite its small package is a potent, perfectly written story. I'm really in awe of it and think it might be excellent introduction the ugliness of prejudice.
ReplyDeleteTonight my daughter asked, "Why are so many books written about people who have been discriminated against?" She knew the answer without me having to offer anything--"I know its because we should probably know something about what happened so we stop treating people that way." Well said. Comprehension of the human experience--human to human--happens most perfectly within literature through narrative. Telling someone's story is the way we homogeneous white northerners can possibly begin to understand what it feels like to be not white--although I can't even come close to really comprehending that form of deep culture.
ReplyDeleteI loved the character of Elijah, so boyish and so steeped in his deep culture that whether is was right or wrong, it just was. That was status quo and he was rather powerless to change much of it.
The Well was an amazing concentrate of a story, every aspect engineered to depict the absurd hatred dealt to black people of the time.
(Excuse me, I'll write more tomorrow. I need to get some sleep. :)
continued...
DeleteThe Well was an amazing concentrate of a story, every aspect engineered to depict the absurd hatred dealt to black people of the time. The characters seemed archetypal to me--like a Black "Pilgrim's Progress", so plainly symbolic that the meaning could not be missed.
Water--could there be a more basic universal need? It stands for human dignity. Both essential, life giving. Caroline, Hammer and David's mother understood the water in their well, like diginity, was a need that should never be denied and that transcended ownership or deserving. The Simms presumptuously believed the water and dignity was theirs to take.
Matriarch Ma Rachel represents a moving portrait of the past--as if to say, this is what has been done to me and my people. Her understanding of what dipping water from the Logan's well really meant was clearer than any other character.
Taylor's characterization is masterful in her revelation of Logan's different views of the plight they shared. Hammer's understanding is not the same as David's and different still, their parents.
We wonder how blacks can call each other nigger, like Elijah mistakenly quipped. It seems hard to imagine, but perhaps the less and less opportunity there is to taste cold, sweet, pure water, perhaps the less important it becomes.
Elijah was rather removed from the slave culture. He sees the scares and hears the stories, but has never experienced it for himself. He was born in a place where he was expected to go to school and complete his chores, but he really had the freedom to do as he pleased with much of his time. It was only when he was put face to face with the realities of slavery that he began to understand and then he went right back to his "reality." For me, this is what books do for us. We get a chance to put ourselves in someone's shoes for a short time. As teachers, we can only hope that this experience will have an impact on our students and help them to develop empathy for others.
DeleteI also enjoyed reading both of the literature circle books. I feel that both of the books provided some good insight on how people treated one another in the not so distant past. I'm still shocked at how cruel people could treat another group of people based on the color of their skin. The sad reality is people still treat each other badly today based on anything from the color of their skin, economic level, to sexual orientation. I think books like these any many others can provide students with different perspectives and information that will help them become better and more informed citizens.
ReplyDeleteThe "Culturally Responsive Classrooms" chapter addressed several ideas I had not really thought of before like the Native American issues with history lessons or the different ways stories are used. My background has been very limited in exposure to other cultures. One experience does give my some perspective on the issue though. I spent ten days in Fiji when I was getting my undergrad degree. Most of that time was spent with a host family in the city and a few days was spent with a host family in a remote village. The people all spoke English, but I could not speak a word of Fijian. We were informed of some of the basic cultural rules, but until we were put into the situation, we really had no idea what to expect. For example, we were told not to eat before the head of the family had begun to eat, and yet they insisted that we eat before them. Either way we were walking a fine line between respecting their wishes and disrespecting them. I only had to deal with this for a few days. I can't imagine what it would be like to move there and have to learn in their schools. I would be too worried about my actions and insecurities rather than my school work. This doesn't even get into the language barriers.
The "Understanding What We Read" chapter reinforced the idea that teachers must learn how to ask good questions when trying to gauge student comprehension. The question shouldn't just be literal, but move into other areas and require students to use higher order skills like comparing and taking other perspectives. I really like the idea of having students learn to ask good questions by having them prepare a lesson and teach it to younger students. I really wish I had learned this skill when I was younger, since I still struggle with it today.
It seems the common theme in our responses is that we all come from the same culture and we teach in schools where our students are mostly like we are. We can't possibly understand. However, these books did evoke strong repsonses in us and caused us to think and perhaps probe deeper. Isn't that what we should do with our students? We can expose them to as much as possible and pray they learn EMPATHY!
ReplyDeleteAnd if we happen to bring students to that place of empathy, my other hope would be that the questions they ask are not just thin or thick, but rather
ReplyDeleteground breaking, earth shattering, mind blowing questions that cause them to change how others think. (There. Now my idealism is wide open.:)
You do a nice job of bringing this together at the end. I just want to add a comment. Yes, I agree that we do, as teachers come from similar cultures and yes in our area (River Falls)many of our students share similar life experiences, but that is quickly changing. Currently almost 50% of our students are white middle class, but that number is quickly changing. It is predicted that we as teachers will see a complete switch. It is good that you are starting to think of your culture and the cultures of others.
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