Like most people in the class when I read these novels I think about how I would teach them in a classroom of high school students. One of the issues would like to talk about in class is how to approach this book in different demographics. Would it be different to teach this in a classroom of all white children versus a diverse classroom? What about a mostly African-American classroom? Lessons need to be tailored to every classroom so I am just trying to decide how the approach would change.
The great thing about this book is that it does not sugar coat how the little rock nine students were treated. I think high school students especially appreciate honesty so they will appreciate the honesty in this novel. It is okay to say that Melba was attacked by a mob every day because that's the truth. I think they will also appreciate the fact that not EVERY white character in the book is bad. Link and Melba have a friendship despite their skin colors which is a great example of accepting people. Sometimes high school students need to be reminded that everyone needs to feel accepted. Not every student will be friends with every other student, but acceptance is something everyone can always improve.
I like how you talked about acceptance, that was one thing in the book that really drew my attention, when Melba talked about telling all the white students that her name isn't "nigger" it's Melba, she's fifteen years old, she likes to sing, she's friendly, why are they afraid of her. I also agree that pointing out to a class that the white people of Little Rock weren't all hateful segregationists, some were as Grandma India said "one of God's good white folk."
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about how high school students might enjoy this book more because it is about a student who is also in high school. I think that makes it more accessible to students in high school, and I even think that 7th and 8th graders would be able to read this book because I thought that the language and the story were geared towards a younger audience. I did not consider the point you made about the demographic of students that could be in a classroom when teaching this book. I think it would be interesting to have a large group discussion with students of varied demographics after reading this book, because it would be interesting to hear their viewpoints on the book and how they think things have changed since the Little Rock Nine went to school.
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