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- Table of Contents
- Library Lion (Fantasy)
- the All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll (Historical ...
- Project Mulberry (Multicultural Free Choice 1)
- Man Fish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau (Biography)
- America at War (Poetry)
- Every Human Has Rights (Informational: A Photograp...
- Show Way (Multicultural Free Choice 2)
- Sitting Bull Remembers (Historical Fiction)
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October
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Heather,
ReplyDeleteThis novel seems to be a good piece of multicultural literature so far. One of the main characters, Julia, is a girl of Korean decent, whose parents actually grew up in Korea. Julia does not seem to be very connected to her Korean culture, much to her parents' disappointment. It seems that her friend Patrick is much more a fan of the rich traditions, food, and beliefs than she is. I like that Julia is a strong female character, and plan to use this book with some of my ESL students this year.
I really like the concept of multicultural literature as a possible "Mirror or Window" for the reader. Since I have two ESL students this year, I feel that this book will be a good mirror for my students. I have already previewed the text with my two students to see if it might be a good match for them. One particular ESL student is a fluent reader with poor comprehension. When we were at the NERA conference, I asked the opening speaker (who specialized on vocabulary) what she would recommend for this student as far as reading level was concerned, and she replied that this was a "million dollar question". I have realized that he can actually handle realistic fiction much better than non-fiction, because his vocabulary is better suited for the genre. The first chapter paints a vivid picture of Julia's dislike for "kimchee", the Korean cabbage that every Korean is SUPPOSED to love. I asked my ESL students, whose parents grew up in different countries, if their parents liked to cook special foods from their own cultures. "Oh yes!" one of my students smiled. I could tell that this book would be a bit of a mirror for these two special students.
What do you think so far??
-Lauren :)
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you are using this book with your two ESL students this year. I didn't know that you had two ESL students in your room this year. I guess it does make sense in regard to your question at the conference. I should have been able to pick up on that. I can definitely see where Project Mulberry will be a "mirror/window" as you referred to it for your students. I'm sure that both of your students have things about their culture that they find annoying or wish wasn't a tradition in their households. I think that both students will hopefully be able to relate to the main character Julia in Project Mulberry for this reason. I bet both students will be able to comprehend this book easily because of how they can relate to the book.
The book Project Mulberry is a great multicultural selection because I think it shows the prejudices that other cultures face. For example, in Project Mulberry Julia befriends an older African American man named Mr. Dixon who has mulberry trees in his yard. Julia needs the mulberry leaves from Mr. Dixon's tress because that is what silk worms eat. Mr. Dixon allows Julia to use his leaves from his yard for her worms. However, Julia's mother is not a fan of Julia being over at Mr. Dixon's house because of the fact that "he is black." In the book review on bookpage.com it said, "As a child and as an adult, Linda Sue Park has witnessed many episodes of racism between Asians and blacks. In an author's note to her new novel, Project Mulberry, Park writes, 'Awareness and discussion are the first steps toward healing, and my hope is that this book might be one of those small steps.'" (www.bookpage.com) It is interesting to me how many times people forget that racism is not between only Caucasians and African Americans, but Asians and African Americans. Prejudice and racism do not know cultural boundaries and all cultures seem to have prejudices and racism towards cultures different than their own. Julia starts to think her mother is racist because her mother doesn't want her to visit Mr. Dixon and she then remembers when her mother didn't like Julia's favorite Mrs. Roberts because her mother said, "since black people in the United States haven't always had the same opportunities as white people..." she questioned whether or not Mrs. Roberts had the capability of being a good teacher because of this. This book will raise some important questions about being part of another culture and the stereotypes and prejudice that comes out between one culture and another over differences.
Sincerely,
Heather
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that Julia Song, the protagonist in Project Mulberry asks the author, Linda Sue Park questions throughout the book. It's like there is this little side story in the middle of the saga between Patrick and Julia and the Wiggle Project where the reader gets some insight into the author of the book. For example,
"Me: Why am I named Julia?"
"Ms. Park: You're named after my sister. Sort of. Her name is Julie."
"Me: What about Patrick?"
"Ms. Park: Oh, that's just a name I like. But his charater is partly based on a boy named Mark who lived across the street form me when I was growing up. Mark had five or six brothers and sisters, and he always had some kind of project going. I liked hanging out with him and was sad when he moved away after only a year in the neighborhood. I guess writing about Patrick is a way for me to spend soem more time with Mark."
"Me: Do you know what's going to happen in the story?"
"Ms. Park: I have a general idea of how I want the story to go, but nothing definate yet. Really just you and Patrick and the Wiggle Project-that's all I've got so far."
What do you think about this inner dialouge of a story within a story? I like it. I feel like I'm getting to know the author and what she's thinking and why she made some decisions that she did in the book. This is very interesting style to me. I've never seen this in a novel before.
Sincerely,
Heather
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this inner dialogue between the character and the author too! It certainly validates the authentic nature of the book, as Linda Sue Park herself is of Korean decent and experienced the feelings of growing up in American in a Korean home first hand. This also really lends itself to our Writer's Workshop. It's kind of getting me excited to do a whole class literature circle with this book during a Realist Fiction unit in Writer's Workshop! It parallels what we teach the students about "writing towards home", about things and experiences that are most meaningful to our own lives. It is not that challenging of a book, so most of our 5th graders could read the book independently. It would open the door to a lot of discussions about developing a character and using real life to inspire writing.
Since I previewed this book with my two ESL students, one of them keeps asking me when they will get to read it. I can tell that they are interested, which makes me think that the concept of multicultural literature, such as Project Mulberry, truly do serve as "mirrors" for some students.
-Lauren :)
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI think your idea of a realistic fiction unit in Writer's Workshop is a great idea. Even for students who the book is not at their direct reading level maybe if the book were provided on tape they could feel the book was at their level.
After reading the author's note in the back of Project Mulberry I felt as though the author truly made this book authentic by studying silk worms herself. The author ordered silk worms from the North Carolina Biological Supply Company and hatched the eggs. The author's family even made silk worm food because they found no Mulberry trees growing in their area. I enjoyed knowing how much time the author put into making sure her book was well researched and that she actually spent time around real silk worms.
Sincerely,
Heather
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lot of fun! The kids would LOVE it!
I liked the ending to this book... Julia ends up getting really into the silk worms, and she also picks up her mother's needle point hobby that originated in Korea. When I think about the theme/ author's message, I imagine it might be: Be True To Yourself, while Valuing Your Roots. Again, a great pick for my ESL students.
-Lauren :)