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Literature Appreciation

• "Challenge Us; I Think We're Ready": Establishing a Multicultural Course of Study
  Discusses how students can relate to Mark Mathabane's autobiographical novel "Kaffir Boy"--his questioning why he must attend school, his open defiance of his father, and his struggle to resist peer pressure. Examines where an all-white high-school faculty started in terms of developing a multicultural literature program, where they have been, and where they see the program in the near future.
• "Grandma's Place": An Intergenerational Literacy Center
  Describes a literature conference for the Harlem community on choosing and using self-affirming books for African American children. Describes Grandma's Place, a literacy and parent support center with an array of multicultural literature.
• A Literature Unit for "Dragon's Gate" by Laurence Yep
  Intended as a an aid to classroom teachers, this 52-page handbook presents a literature unit based on the children and young people's book, "Dragon's Gate" by Laurence Yep. It begins with sample lesson plans, pre-reading activities, author information, a book summary, vocabulary lists and suggested vocabulary activities.
• Anchored in Our Literature: Students Responding to African American Literature
  Tells the story of three African American children's responses to literature by and about African Americans, showing the importance of connecting literature to the lives and interests of children. (SR).
• Celebrating Heritage through Literature (Rainbow Teachers/Rainbow Students)
  Describes ways to promote literacy and appreciation for heritage by celebrating the literacy contributions of authors of color, such as Heritage Readings and African American Read-Ins. Offers suggestions of favorite selections by Hispanic, African American, Native American, and Asian American authors.
• Check Out the Real America: Many Hued, Many Tongued, and Many Storied
  Describes how a high school English teacher went looking for and found Mexican-, Filipino-, African-, European-, and Native-American Literature, in order to bring all her students' worlds and voices into the classroom. Argues that all students must be included in an education that socializes them to a multicultural rather than a monocultural America.
• Chronicle of a Battle Foretold: Curriculum and Social Change
  Argues an English curriculum infused with multicultural literature and perspectives will not cause the educational and social outcomes attributed to it. The crux of the problem is to help students acquire, from their own experience with literature, a greater desire for literature.
• Cyber Diversity
  A Central Michigan University course in African-American literature, attended mostly by whites, is joined by black students and their professor at the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, for lectures and discussions by teleconference. Technology is the tool used for increasing diversity in the teaching/learning experience.
• Emic and Etic Perspectives on Chicana and Chicano Multicultural Literature
  Outlines historical perspectives on Chicano self-definition and identity. Examines emancipation in Chicano literature, and contrasts the ideological positioning of two prominent authors deemed culturally relevant for "Hispanic" students.
• Exploring Ethnic-Specific Literature: A Unity of Parents, Families, and Educators
  Argues that making ethnic-specific literature integral to the literature program enhances a sense of community. Describes ways of exploring and reading ethnic-specific literature, and lists some titles for adults, young adults, and children.
• Flossie Ebonics: Subtle Sociolinguistic Messages in "Flossie and the Fox."
  Considers the recent Ebonics debate, and examines Patricia McKissack's use of dialects in her book "Flossie and the Fox." Points out its subtle yet meaningful lessons about the intersection of language and culture, and suggests a pedagogy that honors students' home language while accepting responsibility for offering them ways to switch language codes. (SR).
• Influences of Multicultural Poetry Genre Study on Sixth-Grade Students' Language Appropriation
  A study investigaged: (1) in what ways sixth-grade students appropriated language and/or themes from multicultural poetry into their own poetry writing and (2) when students appropriated language and/or themes, what factors influenced their choices. Subjects were 5 students within a class of 22, chosen for case studies because of their unique involvement in the classroom community, resistance to distraction, fluency in writing, and diverse cultural/ethnic backgrounds.
• Joining the Dialogue: Six Teachers Discuss Making Changes toward a Multicultural Curriculum (Rainbow Teachers/Rainbow Students)
  Presents six brief articles by six Arizona teachers offering their reflections about practices, strategies, and vision as they make changes toward a multicultural curriculum. (SR).
• Language, Literature, and Learning in the ESL Classroom
  Argues that English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teaching should begin with meaning through immersion in literature and incorporate language study. Describes offering an inclusive sampling of North American literature.
• Multicultural Literature in the Classroom
  Discusses three recent books for educators that deal with the challenges of teaching literature in a diverse society; ways in which multicultural literature creates opportunities for both transformation and resistance; ways to use multiethnic literature in elementary and junior high classrooms; and multicultural perspectives in teaching literature. (SR).
• Multiculturally Challenged
  Voices the lament and the anger of a lone black teacher in an all-white school district in Wyoming trying to teach the "other" while simultaneously representing the "other." (SR).
• Multiple Definitions of Multicultural Literature: Is the Debate Really Just "Ivory Tower" Bickering?
  Argues that controversy over the definition of multicultural literature is focused on how many cultures should be covered. Identifies and discusses three key definitions that raise fundamental sociopolitical issues and have differing implications for how multicultural literature is incorporated into the curriculum.
• Polynesian Folklore: An Alternative to Plastic Toys
  Argues that folklore goes beyond plastic toys and popular media symbols to share the humanness of a people. Suggest ways to use Polynesian folklore (nature fables, tales, and legends) to deepen children's understanding of Polynesian culture.
• Sharing Stories and Conversation: Teaching Culture(s) in a College Literature Class
  An overriding concern in the teaching of literature from cultures other than the instructor's own is how to go about selecting appropriate literature. When selecting course texts, the question should be whether literary scholars write respectfully about the work.
• Some Other Culture: Maori Literature as a Unifying Force in a Multicultural Classroom
  Argues that using unfamiliar texts in a multicultural classroom allows students to read and write without interference from existing cultural tensions. Describes how, finding their own defenses and prejudices suddenly meaningless, students realize just how much common ground they share.
• The "Tesoros" Literacy Project: Treasuring Students' Lives (Rainbow Teachers/Rainbow Students)
  Describes a project in a southeast Michigan high school in which Latino English-as-a-Second-Language students worked collaboratively for 10 weeks with at-risk working-class Anglo counterparts from an 11th-grade American literature class. Describes reading and writing activities that centered around the notion that students should search for and value the treasures of their own experience.
• The Dynamic Nature of Response: Children Reading and Responding to "Maniac Magee" and "The Friendship."
  Analyzes the conversations and writings of 2 ethnically diverse populations of fifth-grade children (ages 10 and 11) in response to the powerful and difficult themes contained in two award-winning children's books. Discusses the child's voice; the teacher's role as cultural mediator; responses at the literal level; reading between the lines; responding to moral dilemmas; and personal responses to the books.
• The Family Tree: Nurturing Language Growth through "All the Parts of Me."
  Describes a month-long project in an eighth-grade English classroom in which students (from many countries, many of them immigrants) read an array of bicultural literature, and each researched, wrote, and compiled a many-faceted Family Tree notebook. Shows how students can achieve both their own cultural authenticity and English language competence without loss of personal voice.
• The Power of the Word: Centrality of Diverse Literature in the American Canon
  Advocates the wide use of multicultural literature by English/language arts teachers. Suggests that good historical fiction teaches history.
• The Way to Confusion
  Describes the creation and teaching of a high school elective course on American Indian literature, and discusses how a workshop on Native American literature challenged the teacher's beliefs and practices. Concludes that it is important to address the limitations non-Native readers bring to this literature but that those limitations need not confine what students choose to read.
• Trends and Issues in English Instruction, 1999--Six Summaries. Summaries of Informal Annual Discussions of the Commissions of the National Council of Teachers of English
  This 16th annual report presents information on current trends and issues informally discussed by the directors of six National Council of Teachers of English commissions.
• United in Diversity: Using Multicultural Young Adult Literature in the Classroom. Classroom Practices in Teaching English, Volume 29
  Addressing the complexity of the question of multicultural literature in the classroom, this anthology of 27 articles includes: contemplations by seven award-winning writers of young adult (YA) literature on the subject of diversity; a resource section that describes over 200 literary works and lists 50 reference tools to help teachers stay current on multicultural YA literature; and practical ideas from 16 educators who provide strategies proven to work in literature and language arts classes and across the curriculum.
• Who's New in Multicultural Literature Part Two (Rainbow Teachers/Rainbow Students)
  Describes the Multicultural Project at a high school in Colorado that uses literature by people of color in the 11th-grade curriculum. Presents brief descriptions of four Latino/a and five Native American writers and their works.
• Who's New in Multicultural Literature, Part One (Rainbow Teachers/Rainbow Students)
  Describes how a multicultural unit was added to a high school American literature course, noting that this necessitated selecting a large number of new books for the school library. Discusses goals of the multicultural project and its main interpretive assignment.
• Why I Am a Multiculturalist: The Power of Stories Told and Untold
  Explores the many reasons to read and teach multicultural literature, including to know oneself and others, and because people still lead largely segregated lives. Considers the impact of including and excluding lives and cultures.