Westward Expansion Mentor Text Resource

I have been taking a children's writing class this semester and have learned the importance of using mentor texts to support students understanding and encourage students to relate personally to what they are learning. I recently finished the book Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larsen. This is a historical fiction account of a young woman that is to settle uninhabited land in Montana during the 1800s. The author based the book on an ancestor of hers. I would use this book in my future classrooms to introduce and support our unit on the westward movement era. I felt as though this book portrays a realistic picture of the sacrifices, hardships, and community that existed during this time. Whether I choose to use it as a read aloud or in a book club setting, I think that reading this story would allow students to relate to the experience of having to "prove up" your land in order to keep it and how much this meant to them.

Educational Blogs by Kids for Kids

If you want to introduce your students to current events/history
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/ is an excellent source. I was particularly drawn to this site because of its children’s blog pages under their “community” tab. National geographic monitors and selects the most exceptional recent posts they find and post them for students to read. This is a fun way for students to learn about the use of blogs for educational purposes. I also like that the blogs are all done by children which makes them so much more relatable to our students. The posts are from children all around the world sharing their experiences visiting historical sites, social studies related books they loved, and the cultures that they live in. The blog page itself can be found at http://kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/.

Current Events Resource

I found this website on accident and was so happy. While doing my yearlong plan, the textbook I used has a link to http://www.sfsocialstudies.com//. I like this site because I plan to implement current events into my morning meetings. It gives current events in a safe place for students to access. I will give my students some suggestions for where to find current events when I model and scaffold current event sharing at the beginning of the school year. Along with current events it has a lot to offer like, an atlas, meet the people (full of bibliographies),this day in history, a social studies library, and fun social studies activities. All of these sources are part of Pearson Scott Foresman Social Studies program, which I have found useful in the past.

Craap Assignment

Resource Quality Evaluation Worksheet

Title of the resource you are evaluating: Native Housing

Directions: Please evaluate your information source according to each of the criteria below by selecting the number that best represents your response.

Currency: The timeliness of the information

Not Current
1
This site was missing information regarding copyright or establishment/update date. This makes this source unreliable because I am unsure of how current the information is and if it has been updated since the day it was developed.

Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs.

Somewhat Relevant
2

This site would only be relevant for surface level research regarding SOME native housing. I might use this site as a resource to support a student’s investigations and to show the many types of housing that have been used.

Authority: The source of the information

Not Authoritative
1

This site lacks any explanation of why Dee Finney is qualified to write about this topic or recommend resources for students to use. Other than URL links there is not a works cited or resource citations within this work. I tried to use some of the links within this site and found that I was sent to search engines or lists of sources much like a search into Google would produce. This does not assure me in any way that the information is accurate.

Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational content.

Not Accurate
1

The information either comes from Dee Finney, unknown qualifications or links that sent me to broad search engines with result such as, Wikipedia. I did not find evidence that shows that the information given is valid or accurate especially for the use of research.

Purpose: The reason the information was published

Somewhat Appropriate Purpose
2

I felt that the purpose of this site was to inform students of the variety of housing that was used within native cultures. This is an appropriate purpose as long as the sources and information is accurate, which is unknown.



Resource Quality Evaluation Worksheet

Title of the resource you are evaluating: Iroquois Indian Tribe History

Currency: The timeliness of the information

Current
3

I found that with comparing this site to the other, this one had much more current information. The site states when the page was first made and when it was last updated, which was within the last year.

Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs.

Somewhat Relevant
2

There is a lot of great information, but the organization is not elementary student “friendly”. This type of organization can be intimidating and it is not easily accessible. I would not choose to use this for any grade at least under 5th. I could use this resource to provide additional information to my students through discussions or taking excerpts from it.

Authority: The source of the information

Authoritative
3


This site is built by a genealogy based company that researches family and cultural histories. The two people that built the site are the same ones that run it today. They compile information from many databases to give researches a lot of information. The research and accuracy they must have to maintain so much family history is amazing.

Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational content.

Somewhat Accurate
2
This site seems like it has such a broad range of useful information to research family history especially certain tribes of Native Americans-Indians. The only wish I had with this site would be a source list. They have many extra resources posted on the site, but I am unsure which, if any, of these were the documents they used to find family history information (the scrolls and records). I wish it was clearer about what combining databases means and who is supplying the information on them.


Purpose: The reason the information was published

Appropriate Purpose
3

The purpose of this site is to be informative. They express the want to be easily accessible to researchers in finding specific information regarding genealogy. Of what I read on the site, I found it to be unbiased and trying to give as much information about a specific tribe as possible. With this said, I do not know anything about this tribe that was not said on this page. I do not know what would be offensive or portrayed as wrong information to others. The site did have a disclaimer just for this reason stating that it “may imply negative stereotypes… and are displayed as historical record”.

Year Long Planning

I was a bitter and confused person throughout making my year long plan. I am actually grateful for the experience, now that it is done. I have written countless lesson plans, but honestly there was little direction. Teachers will say something like, "Plan a science lesson or unit and tie it to a standard". Up until this point, I have found a fun activity and then found a grade and standard to go with it. This is not how we will do it in the "real world". We will be in a class, given standards, and expected to cover every one of them. How do we do this with my old method? Planning backwards allows me to think about what I want my students to learn, not what worksheet would be a fun activity that they might get something out of. I also think that this form of planning allows for subject integration more than others. When having a big idea to base a unit off of, my lessons will flow more naturally and tie all together letting me think of a variety of ways to for my class to come to this question or conclusion. This will be hard for me to do again, but I know I will. People say it gets easier, I hope this is true.

Difficult Subjects

When I first walked into our last class of social studies methods, we were given a list of quotes that had been published since the recent death of Osama Bin Laden. I am someone who stays away from politics as much as possible because, to be honest, it scares me. My first reaction was something that our teacher would be disappointed in. I said "I wouldn't say anything". This is not because I do not care, it is because I do not know what to say. One of my greatest weaknesses is being constantly concerned with offending others. I do not have siblings overseas or a parent that died on September 11th, so maybe I just don't understand. When I flipped the T.V. on last Sunday night, I personally was appalled. Other than my fiancé, I probably would not have expressed this opinion. I understand people being relieved, but people gathering in large mobs celebrating a death just doesn't sit right with me.

So, when we started to talk about this in class I really wanted to find a solution to my personal dilemma. While there is no easy way to discuss something that people are so passionate about, it really is something that needs to be done. Just because of my nature, I would leave all of my biases at the door the best I can. Our students do not remember the feeling on September 11th, so I would approach this subject in as much of a factual way as possible, so that students could form their own opinions. While these subjects are going to be hard for me to talk about, I do not want my students to be left in the dark like I felt I was at their age. So it is my responsibility to provide this for them in as meaningful of a way as possible.

Children's Literature Analysis

Sarah, Plain and Tall

MacLachlan, P. (1985). Sarah, plain and tall. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publisher

Interest Level: 3-5 grade Reading level: 4.2

Key Words:
• Stepparent
• Family
• Farming
• 1800’s

Summary:
After Caleb and Anna’s mother dies following Caleb’s birth, the family is left with an absence in their home that their relatives and neighbors cannot fill. After several years, their father submits an ad to find a wife. Sarah, a strong and passionate woman, answers their plight and agrees to move to unfamiliar territory to try it out for a month.

Personal Response:
In reading Sarah, Plain and Tall, I discovered a new type of story. Unlike many fiction books, this one was told simply and effectively instead of needing a big, dramatic climax. It showed a seemingly normal blended family going through day-to-day struggles. All of the professional reviews I could find were positive responses to the story. It is simple but full of caring, compassion, and family in a way that is relatable to most people’s relationships with loved ones. Every day is not necessarily a soap opera, but we go through live with fears, love, and learning. This book encompassed that for me.

Curricular Connections:
I find that the story had many pros and cons for me as far as using it in the classroom. Used in the right context and with guided discussions about some of the misconceptions that could be interpreted, this story would be great for integrated literature and social studies lessons. In The Library Journal’s review of Sarah, Plain and Tall, they state many positive aspects of the story that would be beneficial for children. It gives students a peek at a blended family which could be beneficial for students in the same situation to relate to and for other students to have some background knowledge about what this experience might be like. Not only could it be used to demonstrate the many shapes and sizes families come in, it also can show the way a person is affected when they leave one culture to go to another. Sarah doesn’t move to a new continent, but she has to adjust to a new lifestyle in a new place. Transportation, crops, and entertainment are just a few barriers she must overcome when she moves to the prairie. The portrayal of what a prairie looks like, the equipment used, and the attire that is worn are also benefits from reading historical fiction. Students relate this time period with how it is shown to them in the book. This leads me to my next thought. For historical fiction to be of the highest value the information should be in line with real occurrences, so students have a reliable reference. Throughout my review search, I was unable to find much criticism for this book. While I did not find a formal published review that accurately portrayed some of my concerns about this story, I think that they are valid points to investigate before using this book in instruction. Like stated before, the story relates this families’ life to one of the 1800’s. This raised many questions for me. Would Sarah really have been able to wear overalls and take on many traditional “male roles” around the farm? I think that these are great questions to ask, this does not deter me from using this book, it actually encourages me. If I read this within my own classroom we could have these discussions. They would learn about the time period, relate many meaningful aspects of the book to this, and critically discuss the aspects that are inaccurate to come to the conclusion of what the culture was actually like during this time to our knowledge.




Thanking the Moon

Lin, G. (2010). Thanking the moon: Celebrating the mid-autumn moon festival. New York, NY: Random
House.

Interest Level: 4-8 years

Key Words:
• Culture
• Traditions
• Holidays
• Asian-American, Asian
• Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival

Summary:
Each member of a family contributes to celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. The book explains many aspects of the traditions that surround it and what different objects or foods symbolize within the celebration.

Personal Response:
I had a lot of fun reading this book. I had never heard of this holiday or celebration. I always think that it is fascinating to learn about other cultures and traditions and compare them to my own. One of my most memorable elementary school experiences was our “All Around the World” unit. We learned about how countries all around the world celebrate Christmas or the season and compared them. I think that the book Thanking the Moon could be an exciting preface for a lesson like that one.

Curricular Connections:
The story is told in a very simple way so students can read it on their own. The book also has pictures and vocabulary that relate to the holiday. I really appreciated the last page of the book that explains some of the symbolism of the holiday. I think that this would be a great book to read when introducing a lesson or unit on cultural diversity. When introduced in the right way students will be eager to share their own experiences with holidays. This does bring me to my only concern about this story. In Idaho, the number of schools that cannot celebrate holidays in class is growing. Once again, it is important to know my school’s policies and the students in my class. Not only can students use this as an opportunity to learn about others’ cultures, they can relate and become more comfortable sharing about their own traditions when they are openly and positively integrated into class. While reading profession reviews for this book I liked how Linda Perkins of Booklist described the stories’ possible implications into the classroom. She said that it is “A beautiful, welcome choice for multicultural studies, this also adds diversity to autumnal thanksgiving themes”. I want to incorporate as many cultures and traditions into the classroom, so that each student feels that they are represented and important to our classroom community.




Suki’s Kimono

Uegaki, C, & Jorisch, SSuki’s kimono.(2003). Suki’s Kimono. Tonawanda, NY.

Interest Level:k-2 Reading Level:3.8

Key Words:
• Character and Values
• Asian American
• Culture

Summary:
Suki is excited to wear her kimono on the first day of school. Her siblings and classmates tell her that she should wear something more “normal”, but Suki is proud of her kimono and what it represents to her. She struggles to overcome other student’s opinions of who she should act and dress like.

Personal Response:
This story taught a great character lesson as well as helps students build on their cultural knowledge. The book incorporates new vocabulary words that are easily interpreted within context and gives vocabulary and definitions of Japanese words at the beginning. The Chinese brush art adds to the culture that is being represented within the book.

Curricular Connections:
The way that the story unfolds allows a vast range of students the ability to relate. The underlying theme helps students empathize with a child that is laughed at only because of the clothing she chooses to wear. Readers that have been bullies or are bullied can see the effects on the different parties. Suki, the student being laughed at, gives students in the same situation a person to emulate. Although it is not easy, Suki with little exception stays proud of who she is and what the kimono means to her. On the other hand, students that are more prone to being the bully can see what effect the taunting does have on Suki. Although she never says anything, it is hard for her to be laughed at and it slowly begins to break down her spirit.
Another group and perspective that could relate to this story is that of racial minorities within the classroom. Suki gives students a strong example to follow. She is proud of her culture and all of the fond memories that her clothing represents. She just wishes that others understood. Once she finds a way to show her peers why these things are important to her and what they represent in her life, it is easier for them to understand and relate. This story could help students gain the confidence to take pride in their culture and share it with others. A reading like this one could encourage any student to ask questions about their own culture and genealogy as well as others.