Connect & Reflect 11/4

Dear Multicultural Readers,

Last Tuesday, my Teaching Children's Literature professor asked my class to bring in a multicultural children's book. Everyone shared their book and I learned a lot about different cultures. The cultures talked about was African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Jews, and people with disabilities. There was book about Autism that I fell in love with. It is called My Brother Charlie by Holly Robinson Peete and Ryan Elizabeth Peete. I was so happy that we got to share our books and learn from each other because it really opened my eyes to why multicultural books are so important for children. In second grade we have a student with autism but his parents do not want us to give any accommodations. I always wonder if students know that he struggles with autism. My Brother Charlie would be a great real aloud because it can teach my class to understand autism and maybe it could point out to my student who has autism that it is okay to be different.

During focus, my group of students participates in a literature circle. This week I picked a multicultural book to open their eyes to different genres of books. It is called A Birthday Basket for Tia and is written by Pat Mora. It is a story about a girl creating a birthday gift for her Great Aunt. The story is written mostly in English but some parts are in Spanish.

I introduced the book to my focus group by looking through pictures and words. Then we started reading the book by playing the game popcorn. While playing popcorn, one of my students got so excited and happy to see words written in Spanish. A boy was struggling to pronounce the Spanish words and she raised her hand saying, "Miss Hester I can do it! I know Spanish!" Then I paused the popcorn reading and asked if anyone else knew Spanish. Nobody else did. She was so excited to be reading out loud in Spanish. Also, it was an eye opener to the rest of the group because they loved hearing something new. I was so happy to see that what I learned about multicultural books in class was happening right in front of me. I got to experience the powerful effect that different genres have and how many teachable moments there are in reading.

Sincerely,

Miss Hester