The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momady could be a wonderful text to engage students in exploration of a culture that is different from their own. One of the striking features of the text is the way that the author presents ancestral stories and historical records alongside his own personal memories and experiences with members of the Kiowa people. His personal relationship with his grandmother, Aho, and the stories from the oral tradition she shares, provide unique insight into the stories and history of the Kiowa, and the challenges they faced as the American government took their land.
Book clubs could be an effective way to engage students with this text. Particularly with junior high students, it would be important to first explore the themes of identity in the book. From there, I would have students draw more personal connections to the text through reflection on their own cultural backgrounds, experiences, and what has helped to shape their identity. Lowery & Sabis-Burns discuss how making these connections could be a powerful way for students to explore the lives of people from different cultures, while simultaneously reflecting on their own experiences and identities. I think it would also be important for students to explore how our identities are continually evolving,, the factors around these changes, and the impact that evolving identities have had on their lives.
While this text could provide an anchor for identity exploration, I think it's also an excellent text to help students explore other topics such as the complexities of relationships, and inequalities within a culture. I might have students bring in a photograph of a family member that they are close to. After reflecting on their relationships with that family member, I would have the students revisit parts of the text to compare and contrast their own familial relationship, to the relationship between Momady and Aho. Drawing from the examples throughout the text, students would gain both a stronger appreciation for the Kiowa people, as well as a new perspective on their relationships with their own family. Through sharing both the oral traditions of the tribe, alongside his personal experiences, these stories provide a unique opportunity for students to explore complex issues in small doses.
Lowrey, R. M., & Sabis-Burns, D. (n.d.). From borders to bridges: Making cross-cultural connections through multicultural literature. In Multicultural Education.
Momady, N. S. (2019). The way to Rainy Mountain (50th ed.). University of New Mexico Press.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteWow! You are so creative and I love your ideas! I love how you would focus on evolving identity, and this would be so good for students to learn, especially because middle school is around the age where kids are trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be. I also like how you would discuss inequalities within a culture, and then relating all of this to each student and their own family member. Plus, this would be a great way to include families in students' education, which we are always striving to do more of. Great creativity!
The book clubs are a great idea. I like how you would start off with students forming different themes in the book. I think students would become really engaged in researching their own identities. They could use the book to see how the author's identity had evolved throughout her childhood and then changed into adulthood. I think the bringing of a photograph is such a great idea! I might use that in my classroom. This would be such an easy way fro students to form a connection to the book and being able to compare this person to the book!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of having students bring in a picture of a family member the are close to! I think you can learn a lot about students through the photographs they are willing to share. This year I had a student bring in photos of one of his relatives who lived in an Internment Camp in Utah when we were studying Japanese Internment. We learned a lot about his family and the students were able to make a better connection since it seemed like someone they were 'close' to went through that, instead of internment seeming like a far away concept!
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