Literature Across Cultures: Hamm

Monday, June 10, 2024

Hamm_Week 2

When seeking to create diversity discourse within a middle student community, there needs to

be a definition for what "culture' is. Students in today's classrooms are bombarded with ideologies

from numerous cultures and microcultures. They are developing assimilating behaviors without

comprehension of their basis. Momaday's tale began with a conversion from one culture and

assimilating with part of another when the Kiowas came out of the mountains. This construct can

be seen in the hallways of middle schools daily. As students are looking to find themselves, they

also need to find the balance for assimilation.

According to McKoy Lowery & Sabis-Burns (n.d), the whole point of teaching

through a multicultural lens is to remove the focus on racism and all other forms of dis-

crimination. For this to be at the forefront of the lessons, all students need to know

what culture is, what their culture is, and how it came to be that way. There is a larger

challenge on the table than just showing students there are multiple cultures within

the country, the community, and the buildings.

An opening concept for multicultural lessons should show students different areas around the world, and then chart and categorize different components of those cultures. Have open discussions about why they see those components as cultural, and then ask the students to research their own culture based on the criteria they discovered during this opening.
A component of these discussions should be perspective. Just because there are differences in opinions, traditions, or values does not mean they are invaluable. Students have to recognize that they can disagree, but at the end of the day, they inhabit the same spaces. There should be a degree of compassion and everyone should feel like they have value and a voice in their environment.
Compare and contrast two stories that are similar in theme and context from two different cultures. Create a discussion set for students to dive deeply into the similarities and differences between the two stories, using the environment (geography), the class structures, and the history of the cultures.
Have a web-quest designed around the cultures of the stories to find similarities in the lifestyles, traditions, and values. Students could then design a slide show highlighting the situational similarities.
Encourage students to have book discussions centered around multicultural texts. This would allow them to look into the cultures that interest them, share discussions with the diverse learners in the area, and have everyone bring their cultures to the tables.

McKoy Lowery, R., & Sabis-Burns, D. (n.d.). From Borders to Bridges: Making Cross-

Cultural Connections through Multicultural Literature. Promising Practices.

https://moodle.morningside.edu/pluginfile.php/1430696/mod_resource/content/2/From%20Borders%20to%20Bridges.pdf

Momaday, N. S. (2019). The way to rainy mountain. University of New Mexico Press.

3 comments:

Morgan DibertJune 12, 2024 at 2:14 PM
Hi Jeanann,
I like the way you were able to connect middle school students to the texts. Middle school is such a weird time of figuring out who you are and trying to fit in all at the same time. Nowadays, that can be harder than ever. I think this idea really falls under that second idea that you proposed. It is so important for students to accept and embrace each other's differences. That is not always easy to do at their age. It is our job as teachers to guide them and show them the importance of individuality and to give everyone a voice. In all of your examples of how to incorporate multiculturalism, you do that. You show the students the importance of sharing each other's differences and how they all relate to each other.
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Kiley BolinderJune 15, 2024 at 1:31 PM
Jeanann-
Your thoughts about assimilation are intriguing. I also see this in our middle school. They are trying to simultaneously find themselves while trying so hard to fit in with those around them. Your ideas about including multicultural text in your classroom are great. With book discussions, I think choosing engaging, relatable text that is written by a diverse set of authors would also be critical to this assignment. My middle schoolers struggle with engagement in discussions, even when given organizers to use in preparation and sentence starters for the discussion. However, we used a fun alternative called a "Socratic Smackdown". It alters the discussion to be more game based and the students ran with it and loved it. I observed a great increase in participation, even from students who typically did not share. I am sure if you google Socratic Smackdown you can find the game resources readily available to use if you like.
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JenJune 18, 2024 at 10:48 AM
Wonderful ideas, Jeanann!
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Post Week 6: Article Summaries and Commentary

In this week's reading, you met a narrator who draws the reading into a short story with a decidedly hushed, slower tone. The couple introduced to us has experienced an unimaginable loss. How might that loss be affected by their cultural dislocation? Draw on the supplemental readings as you consider the question.

Your post is due Thursday at 8 pm. As was the case last week, there is not a set number of responses, but you are expected to demonstrate through responding that you have read and engaged with all class posts.

Week 5: Toward a Social Justice Ethic: What is an American, Anyway?

How do the issues examined in the article affect you as a teacher and as a person living in today’s world? What is the importance of having a voice? Of being heard? Are there differences in your response based on the role(s) you inhabit? Teacher, parent, individual community member, brother, sister, child, global citizen, and more—we inhabit many subject positions. Are there ways to bring those needs/expectations/responsibilities together?

Posts are due by 8 pm Thursday.

There is no set number of required colleague responses this week, but you are expected to read all posts and to respond as class discussion.

Post Week 4: Pre- and Post-Conceptual Perspectives

Some thoughts to help you brainstorm your post: Nineteenth-century travel writing caused those who read about other cultures to formulate their ideas about those cultures directly from the writing, so much so that if a person chose to travel to a country he or she had read about prior to travel, the traveller was often disappointed in the actual country and culture. In our current technological existence, our ideas of what places and people are like can certainly be informed by how they are depicted in text and on the multitude of screens we use to interface with the world. What informs your perspective? How might the ways in which we experience people, ideas, issues, cultures, and so on, be impacted by how we learn of them? Are the benefits and drawbacks to the use of the technology available to us? What might some of those be, and why?

Your post is due Thursday at 8 pm.

Responses should be posted by Sunday at 10 pm.

Post Week 2: The Way to Rainy Mountain

The critical text which accompanies your primary reading for the week explores ways in which we as teachers might use other cultures' literatures in our classrooms to move students from superficial, stereotyped perspectives to a fuller understanding of not only individuals from other cultures, but themselves, too. In your blog post, share with your colleagues how you might incorporate ideas from the article in your own teaching.

Your post is due Thursday at 8 pm.

Your responses are due Sunday at 10 pm.

Post Week 1: Questions on Reading

You've been asked to post a question on the readings as your blog post. Here are some ideas to help you get started: You may have noted the publication dates of the readings and wondered why you're reading articles written in 2005. The reason is that the issues raised and discussion in each of the articles are applicable 16 years later. Do you agree? Disagree? Both? Explain why and pose a question to help your reader understand what you find to be the same or different. Or, if one of the two of the readings stands out to you, explain why that’s the case, but also post a question based on what stands out. Or, if something is confusing or problematic for you, what do you find confusing or problematic? With what do you agree or disagree? Be sure your question is open ended so that your colleagues can use it as a basis for discussion.

As you frame your question, be sure to summarize the article, then provide context for your question. Cite the text appropriately.

Questions to be posted by Thursday.

Responses (to at least two colleagues) to be posted Sunday.