Personal Name: McCormick, Patricia, 1956-. Main Title: Sold / Patricia
McCormick. Edition Information: 1st ed. Published/Created: New York : Hyperion,
c2006.
Laura Sisson LIST 5326, LIST 5385, LIST 5346 M. Ed., Literacy Emphasis Reading Specialist, ESL, MRT IRA, TESOL TExES Reading Specialist and ESL, TEXMAT
I have read and understand the UTA Academic Honesty clause as follows. “Academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form at The University of Texas at Arlington. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. “Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts.” (Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Part One, Chapter VI, Section 3, Subsection 3.2., Subdivision 3.22).” Further, I declare that the work being submitted for this assignment is my original work (e.g., not copied from another student or copied from another source) and has not been submitted for another class. “Signature”: Laura Sisson Date: October 24, 2008
Background Currently, I am serving Goose Creek CISD as the secondary English as a second language specialist. I am seeking certification as a reading specialist and a master reading teacher. I am a strong advocate of trade book use in all classrooms. It is my hope that trade books will serve as a revolutionary tool in a movement to shelf traditional basal readers. There is such a range of engaging fiction and non-fiction texts that teachers from all core areas can find a wealth of supplemental books. The GCCISD language arts curriculum includes a number of trade books. The trade books incorporated into our scope and sequence are all works of fiction. Teachers and students alike, enjoy the inclusion of these texts.
Reflection
I completed this Book Talk for LIST 5326 in the fall of 2008 during my practicum and residency in GCCISD, I created a power point to introduce a trade book to students. This product demonstrates my ability to select and present a trade book to engage high school students in the selection. My powerpoint indicates that I have an understanding of IRA Standard 2.3, use a wide range of curriculum materials. I selected a contemporary novel in this trade book, and the theme prompted an exploration into children’s rights. This powerpoint also illustrates my knowledge of TExES Reading Specialist Domain ll Competency 010, instructional resources and methods. I was able to incorporate the use of internet with an online discussion, and documents from the United Nations. After reading Sold and preparing this book talk, I have considered how powerful stories can be, and how few truly moving narratives are included in our traditional curriculum. This has prepared me as a Reading Specialist to consider offering a wide selections of trade books for students. I realized after talking to Linda that not all students are going to engage in all books.
Bibliography McCormick, P. (2006). Sold. New York: Hyperion. Product Details from Amazon.com Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786851724
ISBN-13: 978-0786851720
From the Library of Congress LC Control No.: 2006049594 LCCN Permalink: http://lccn.loc.gov/2006049594 Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) Personal Name: McCormick, Patricia, 1956Main Title: Sold / Patricia McCormick. Edition Information: 1st ed. Published/Created: New York : Hyperion, c2006. Description: 263 p. ; 22 cm.
Websites ❖
Patricia McCormick’s own site includes reviews, excerpts and frequently asked questions about her books. She also includes classroom ideas for teachers. http://www.pattymccormick.com/index.php? mode=objectlist§ion_id=112&object_id=145
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A community based initiative of women in the red light district of Mumbai formed Apne Aap, a support organization, in 1998. This website provides information about their organization and opportunities for people to help. http://www.apneaap.org/
Book Summary Lakshmi grew cucumbers in hills of Nepal with the hope that she could afford a tin roof for her mother, knowing her step-father would gamble any profit away. The day her step-father paid his gambling debts with her childhood, Lakshmi comforted her mother with the promise of a tin roof. Sold into prostitution, with a lien on her life, Lakshmi continued to hope. She was an old wench by the age of fourteen, having long forgotten the question she asked her mother in another lifetime. “Why must women suffer so?” Her mother replied, “This has always been our fate.” “Simply to endure,” she said, “Is to triumph.” Lakshmi endures and triumphs by risking to trust after living a life among liars.
Personal Response As I read, I took comfort in knowing this story was fiction. It was unbearable to imagine that the reality behind this story is too gruesome to depict in the pages of a novel. I thought of how fortunate I am to be safe from the horrors of extreme poverty, where an illness of the mind allows adults to sell children and prey upon the weak and helpless. I wondered what social sickness devolves into this kind of deviance toward children. I also wondered if the situation is improving with more awareness or worsening with the global economic crisis. This book is a call for help, but I am afraid to know just how truly horrible the reality is.
Justification High school students are gaining an awareness of the world and are developing a keen sensitivity for justice. Grade ten ELA TEKS expect students to draw conclusions from texts in different cultural contexts. Sold is told from a world away but the main character is the age of readers in ninth grade. This would allow students to make immediate connections about a story with a foreign setting.
Links The United Nations has developed a site with a detailed lesson plan to provide background on child labor and study the global effort to prevent children from these conditions. http://www.un.org/works/goingon/labor/lessonplan_labor.html
UNICEF offers many resources to explore child labor and violence around the world. Voices of Youth is designed for students and provides a forum for students to engage in discussion about the issues with other students. http://www.unicef.org/siteguide/resources.html
The International Labour Organization posts current news and video features from around the world regarding their efforts to end the exploitation of child labor. Students can use this site to reference the most current events on the topic. http://www.ilo.org/global/Themes/Child_Labour/lang--en/index.htm
English Language Arts TEKS Grade 10 (2) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Students are expected to: (A) compare and contrast differences in similar themes expressed in different time periods; (B) analyze archetypes (e.g., journey of a hero, tragic flaw) in mythic, traditional and classical literature; and (C) relate the figurative language of a literary work to its historical and cultural setting.
Even though this novel is written by an American author, the setting is in Nepal and India. The customs that are observed are very subtly included and add to understanding the main characters fear and shame. (26) Listening and Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams. Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to participate productively in teams, building on the ideas of others, contributing relevant information, developing a plan for consensus-building, and setting ground rules for decision-making.
Through the reading of this book, class and small group discussion should be occurring regularly. With unfamiliar cultural references and the difficult topic of child abuse, readers will need to share how they are feeling about the text.
Classroom Applications ❖
Listening/Speaking ( Pre-Reading ) Students list the household tasks for which they are responsible. In pairs, students compare these chores. They discuss if they receive anything for their work or if it is just an expectation for children to help. When sharing with the class, one pair would report on what he learned from the other pair to ensure all students are responsible for listening ands speaking tasks. As a class, discuss what reasonable working hours for teens and if the legal age to begin working is fair. “One way to begin reading in the English classroom is to fo!ow the old and sound advice to ‘match the book with the child.’...Sometimes the point of contact wi! be the students’ own interests and problems as these are reflected in the book.” (Tchudi & Mitche! 1999)
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Reading ( During or After ) Students are provided handouts from the United Nations of the rights of children. (condensed for quicker reading) In reading about Lakshmi’s ordeal, students find Articles from the document that have been violated. “Weir (1998) encourages the use of questions (or tasks) embedded in reading material to engage readers. When con%onted with questions during reading, they wi! more likely practice metacognitive strategies. ” (Richardson, Morgan, & Fleener 2006)
Classroom Applications (cont.) ❖
Writing ( During or After ) As students become more aware of the social issues presented in the book, they can pose questions and opinions in an online discussion. UNICEF provides a forum for students to engage in these kinds of exchanges with people from all over the world. “Discussion groups a!ow many people to discuss a topic either in real time or over a period of time on a website. This threaded discussion offers opportunities for reflection over time and a!ows numerous visits to consider and reconsider other points of view.” (Richardson, Morgan, & Fleener 2006)
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Writing (After) After students complete the novel and develop positions on the topic of child labor and prostitution, they write editorials to the local paper expressing a need for awareness or other stance. “We want them (students) to live in the book - to be active in their experience and response. To keep them %om becoming sponges, we must provide them with assignments and activities that a!ow the kinds of reading to take place where reader and author ‘meet on the bridge of words’” (Tunne! & Jacobs 2008)
Related Texts ❖
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In Kids at Work Russell Freedman collected photos from Lewis Hines crusade against child labor in the early 1900’s. The book is a visual documentary. ❖
Twenty former Napalese child weavers tell their story of working 18 hour days a the looms in We Need to Go to School.
A Twelve year old Toronto boy started a movement to advocate for children around the world. Free the Children, is the title of the book Craig Kielburger authored and the movement he started.
Student and Teacher Interviews ❖
Linda, 11th grade. I spoke with Linda, a neighbor, after school. Linda admitted very quickly that she does not like to read. I handed her the book and told her what the story was about. I also explained what I would do in class. She said she would probably find it interesting, because she could learn how people are different from her. She was interested in reading about a different culture. She did say that the she might not want to hear about what happened to the girl.
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Elma, 10th grade ELA teacher. I shared with Elma the book and my ideas for activities to incorporate. Elma expressed nervousness about reading a potentially controversial novel. She said that she likes to include the trade books in her scope and sequence, because she thinks that students find them more interesting. She also thinks the trade books engage students, because they have more time to develop the story and more relatable characters. She has her own classroom library that has about 100 books. They are mostly fiction. She says she doesn’t have time for silent reading.
Librarian Interview Suzie Ferrell, Horace Mann Librarian. I had an excellent exchange with Suzie. She told me that she orders most books from the Michael Printz Young Adult Award. She also selects some Newberry winners if they are age appropriate. Suzie’s library book order system automatically finds the award winners for her and will give her a list of all books in that award category. The online vendors have greatly simplified her process for selection. Suzie has found that boys typically pick non-fiction: sports, drawing books, ghosts, Guinness world records, cars, and graphic novels are extremely popular with them. She says that graphic novels are the largest request items. Girls tend to check out a great deal of fiction. They are mostly books about relationships and friends. Lurlene McDaniels is one of the most popular authors right now as well as Meg Cabot and the Princess Diaries collection. Twilight (a vampire love story) is also really popular right now. Across the board, kids still like "scary books' and ask her for scary books all the time. She is in the process of changing the layout of the library from alpha order fiction to genre. For example, placing all of the chick-lit in one area, books for the guys in another, scary, adventure, and mystery to have their own areas.
Bibliography Morgan, R. & Fleener, C. (2006). Reading to Learn in the Content Areas. CA: Thomson & Wadsworth
Tchudi, S. & Mitchell, D. (1999). Exploring and Teaching the English Language Arts. NY: Longman
Tunnell, M. & Jacobs, J. (2008). Children’s Literature, Briefly. NJ: Pearson
