Looking for Great Multicultural Titles? Try Pinterest.

Last week, I attended the UGA College of Education's Innovations in Teaching Conference and had the great fortune of sitting in on a presentation by Meg Hines of the Educational Psychology department.  Dr. Hines shared information on how teachers can use Pinterest as a tool for online discussions with students, and her presentation got me thinking about using Pinterest as an educational resource -- especially for educators and parents who want to learn more about quality multicultural children's literature and pedagogy, as well as teachers who might want to use Pinterest in their middle/high school or college classrooms.

Immediately after the presentation, I logged into my Pinterest account (which has been collecting dust for about a year) and started searching for pins and boards focused on diverse children's literature.  You might be thinking, "Duh Marianne, everyone knows that you can find lots of educational stuff on Pinterest."  But I had no idea there were so many good recommendations and resources for kids' books, critical literacy, and multicultural education!

oooooh

I discovered lots of great boards like these:

• American Indians in Children's Literature (Debbie Reese)
• Anti-Bias Children's Books (Sharon H. Chang)
• Critical Literacy (Vivian Vasquez)
• Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros (Pat Mora)
• Diverse Children's Books (Andrea Brock)
• Latin@ Children's Book Creators (Yuyi Morales)
• Lee & Low Books
• We Need Diverse Books

Also, I decided to go crazy and start some of my own:

• Spanish-language books
• Spanish/English dual language books
• "Code-switching" books (mostly English with Spanish words incorporated)

If you're a teacher, you might even consider starting a board for your class (middle/high school or college) so that your students can pin their own book recommendations and write evaluations of the books in the captions.  Here are some possible steps:

1) Get your students set up with Pinterest accounts.

2) Go to your profile page and click "Create Board."

3) Fill in the details for the board.  At the bottom of the "Create a Board" window, you can add your students to the list of people who can use the board.  You can even click "Keep It a Secret" if you don't want your board to be public.

4) Once you've added all of the students to the board, they can go in, upload a pin about a book, and write their evaluation in the pin's description box.

Have fun exploring!  And if you find/make/have good multicultural education boards, or if you use or have used Pinterest in your classroom with students, let me know about it!

References

Hines, M. E. (2014, October). On using Pinterest to create online visual discussion forums. Presentation at the Innovations in Teaching Conference, Athens, GA.

Another Columbus Day Post

I am The Best Artist.

For a different type of Columbus Day critical literacy activity, take a couple of minutes to look through this infographic from Matthew Inman, creator of The Oatmeal.

Done?  OK.

I love infographics, or visual -- almost comic-like -- representations of data or information.  They're fun, easy to process, and a nice break from reading big chunks of text.  Because of their visual nature, they can be very appealing to kids.  Therefore, analyzing infographics can be an interesting, motivating way for students to engage in critical literacy.

Since Columbus Day is upon us, reading and critiquing Matthew Inman's infographic about Christopher Columbus could be a great activity for middle and/or high school students during the coming week.  Teachers and students can tease apart Inman's argument against celebrating Columbus day and discuss how they agree or disagree with his points.

For example, I definitely agree with his argument that Christopher Columbus is not a person worthy of celebration -- he brought a wave of terror to the Americas that still lingers today, and I refuse to honor him and his legacy.

Jerkface

However, I'm not in agreement with Inman's idea to switch the second Monday in October to "Bartolomé Day."  Yes, we should pay more attention to Bartolomé de las Casas and his deeds in history classes, but why should we shift our focus from one European to another?  

Why not focus on indigenous Americans and their history, current events, accomplishments, and diversity -- not just in October but year-round?  (Inman does reference Seattle's Indigenous People's Day, which is not without its own critics, in an update at the bottom of the page.  But it's an afterthought.)

Teachers, how invigorating it would be for students to explore different perspectives on Columbus Day and share their opinions about the holiday and Inman's piece?  Then they might create their own infographics (digital literacy woooo!) to share with each other, their school, and the internet community.

The kids I work with aren't quite old enough to read The Oatmeal, but I'm looking forward to having a nice dialog about Columbus Day with them this week.  But if you have attempted / want to attempt an infographic critical literacy activity like this with your kids, let me know about it!

Review: Jorge Argueta's La Fiesta de las Tortillas

Teachers!  Parents!  Do you want to make read-alouds as educational and informative as possible for your kids?  I'm starting a series of book reviews in which I provide tips for using diverse picture books in the classroom (or at home).  I hope you enjoy them!

Title: La Fiesta de las Tortillas / The Fiesta of the Tortillas
Author: Jorge Argueta (El Salvador)
Illustrator: María Jesús Álvarez (Argentina)
Translators: Joe Hayes & Sharon Franco
Publisher: Alfaguara
Age range: 5+

Who doesn’t love food and a good mystery?  In La Fiesta de las Tortillas / The fiesta of the tortillas, USBBY and Américas Book Award winner Jorge Argueta draws from his childhood experiences to serve up a charming, semi-autobiographical “story full of magic and flavor” (p. 2).  Koki’s family owns a restaurant in rural El Salvador, and each day his aunts and cousins make fresh tortillas for their customers.  One night Koki’s Aunt Toya hears a rhythmic clapping – the sound of someone cheerfully preparing tortillas – coming from the empty kitchen.  

The next day, she asks her sister Rosa about the clapping, and Rosa confirms that she has also heard the mysterious noise.  Each night, the rhythm awakes a different family member who stumbles into the kitchen only to find it dark and empty.  After days of confusion and concern, the women finally realize that the Spirit of Corn has been visiting them.  They embrace the cheerfulness and warmth of the Spirit and get to work together, singing a tortilla-making song they enjoyed when they were younger. 

This side-by-side bilingual text is an excellent support for emergent bilingual children.  Argueta tells his story with delicious, descriptive Spanish imagery, blending rich figurative language, preterit and imperfect verb tenses, and a large helping of food vocabulary (loroco, pimiento, masa, tamales, huevos, frijoles).  A native of El Salvador, Argueta also introduces readers to Salvadoran and Central American vocabulary, like comedor (restaurant), pizcucha (kite), resortera (slingshot), and pupusa (stuffed tortillas).  

Pupusas forever.

Since the language is complex, Joe Hayes’ and Sharon Franco’s English translation below the Spanish text can help young Spanish learners find their way through difficult passages.  María Jesús Álvarez’ intricate illustrations – a combination of earth-toned watercolor and photographic collage that pops with bright blues, reds, and yellows – also reflect and reinforce the text, providing readers with an excellent visual aid.

Via María Jesús Álvarez' blog

This book is also replete with cultural information that provides children with an engaging introduction to learning about the Pipil Nahua people, the indigenous group to which Argueta belongs.  Because of the relative absence of indigenous American voices in media and public discourse, many non-indigenous children are unaware that native peoples are still around today, much less that some people of indigenous heritage, like Argueta, still participate in their communities’ traditional beliefs and cultural practices (as evidenced by the Spirit of Corn in this book).  Therefore, La Fiesta de las Tortillas can ease children into a deeper knowledge about the presence of indigenous people in Central America, particularly the Pipil Nahua in El Salvador.  Please see the following links for additional resources:

Interview with Jorge Argueta (Spanish)

Interview with Jorge Argueta (English)

Additional information on Pipil Nahua history, culture, and current events

List of Jorge Argueta's books on Goodreads