Biography Week

The True Adventures of Charley Darwin, by Carolyn Meyer
Because this book is written by as a first-person narrative from the perspective of Charley Darwin (AKA Charles Darwin), it is technically classified as "historical fiction." However, because Meyer incorporates real primary documents and writes her story based off only concrete primary sources, this book is as if it is a biography; the only reason why it technically is not is because she writes from Darwin's perspective. But about the content of the book....
I think Meyer offered a very unique side of Charles Darwin--or who we now know as the "father of the theory of evolution." For me, my experience with studying Darwin as been rather one-sided. I envisioned an old bearded British man, dressed in a white lab coat, who spent his life in a laboratory studying and examining different species. And, unfortunately, I do not think my vision of Darwin--or any other scientist for that matter--is a unique one. What Meyer does is replace that vision with a more humanized and relatable version of Darwin. No longer is he this "untouchable" man of science, but he is a REAL person. A person who had a childhood, who experienced hard times, who had disagreements with his father, who struggled in school, and who fell hopelessly in love with someone he could never have. This story also included an appropriate historical representation of life in Britain during the 1800s and provided a glimpse into the mindset of someone from this time period. It is important for students--and people in general--to understand the aspects that largely contributed to a community's society and government. In this case, religion played a crucial role in how people conducted their daily activities. Such talk about evolution was seen (and still is by some people) as an abomination of Christ. This historical fiction/biography offers its readers a lot of depth regarding multiple different aspects. You not only learn about one of the world's most famous modern day scientists, but you also learn a lot about the British culture.

George: George Washington, Our Founding Father, by Frank Keating, illustrated by Mike Wimmer
Had I read this book prior to today, I would have written quite a different response. After I interviewed one of my students from last semester, however, I am forced to take a different approach to my interpretation of this picture book. The reason why today's interview has changed my perspective on what students know about history and our nation's foundation is because my 14 year old student, an eighth grader, did not know who George Washington was. Sure, she recognized his name, but she had NO IDEA that he was a president, nevertheless our first president. Now, had you asked me what I thought about this picture book 24 hours ago, I would have said something along the lines that it is too simplistic for middle schoolers. It simplifies the life of George Washington in a mere 31 pages, which I think is somewhat of a disgrace to a man who contributed so much to our nation--contributions that are still visible today. But maybe that's what some students--even 14 year old eighth graders--need. With all these details of key figures constantly being thrown in our face, we often lose sight of the big picture. Maybe that is what happened to my student. Maybe she needs something that is illustrated as realistic and as simplistic as this picture book. I am not one to make excuses for my faults or other people's faults. From my experience as her teacher, she did not make many efforts to learn in class (which I'm sure someone would attribute to her low SES or her upbringing or any other number of factors that can be used to attribute blame). No matter how much effort I put in to teaching her about George Washington, she needs to take the initiative to learn that information. I think a lot of teachers spoon feed their students their material without having the students make the effort themselves to actually learn what is in front of them. At the same time, however, maybe I needed to explore different mediums to present my information. And it's okay if some of those presentations start with a simple picture book. Sometimes students' minds are clouded by all the minor details that they are unable to organize the information in order to create a general understanding of that person.

Rosa Parks, by Eloise Greenfield, illustrated by Eric Marlow
This picture book is definitely for the lower grades of middle school education. It contains mostly simple sentences and presents a watered down account of Rosa Park's contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. I would most likely not incorporate this picture book into my curriculum because it depicts a dispute between whites and blacks that is ultimately resolved and everything is all sunshine and roses. The fact is, many blacks--as well as other minority groups and women--still face issues of discrimination and unfair treatment to this day. In a very racist part of America, Rosa Parks most certainly continued to encounter issues of racial segregation in Montgomery, even after changes were made to the bus companies' policies. Additionally, this book ignored how people of all color contributed their efforts to the Civil Rights Movement. Without many of the key white players, the Movement's progress would have been compromised or delayed. When dealing with issues of race, we are often concerned with issues of being politically correct. But I think when we depict our society post-Civil Rights Movement as colorblind and perfect, we continue to ignore some of the issues that still linger today. I have read several accounts, short stories, and books on Rosa Parks, and considering all the crucial amount of information that is omitted (or "watered down") from this book, I would choose not to use it in my classroom.

"Choosing Not to Read: Understanding Why Some Middle Schoolers Just Say No," by Kylene Beers
This article was definitely useful in understanding how to approach all different types of readers--especially those who say they don't like to read. With the amount of "mindless" activities that are available to us, such as playing video games, watching tv, ect, many people see reading as too much of an effort. Furthermore, many teachers have presented reading as a task, rather than an enjoyment. They propose questions at the end of an expert to measure their students' reading comprehension, but these teachers often ignore the students' perspectives on the reading. I think it is important to understand that students need to feel that their opinions, interpretations, analyses, and perspectives on a particular written work is worthy of acknowledgment or a valuable incorporation into the classroom. Even as a college student, many of my assigned readings are coupled with "boring" questions at the end that measure how much I understood from them. Sure, I can spit back out the same information that the reading told me, but it is more valuable--to both the student and the teacher--to ask what the reader thought of it. That way, the reader is seen as a valuable asset to the learning community.
I also think students should be encouraged to read all types of printed medium. That could consist of newspapers, magazines, books, picture books, comic strips, online articles, and many more. Many prints are disregarded by teachers and treated as if they offer little or no value to its reader. Dense books with tiny text seem to be a unanimous choice when it comes to reading something with literary merit. I believe if we move away from these mindsets, we will see a student body much more interested in reading.