Katie Pierce

ELED 310
Nov. 5, 2017
Multicultural Text Set

1) Perros Perros! Dogs Dogs! A Story in English and Spanish, written by Ginger Fogelsong Guy

and illustrated by Sharon Glick

Play, dogs, exciting. Geared for ages 3 to 7, "[this bilingual English-Spanish book is a] delightful
story of dogs of every size, shape and activity level. Where are all the dogs going? Find out and
improve your language skills at the same time"
(https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/_perros-_perros-dogs-dogs-by-ginger-foglesong-
guy/).
This book was just so adorable, and the artwork was so well illustrated. Even though there is not
much of a storyline to it, it still has quite a cute story that describes so many kinds of dogs and
characteristics of dogs. I could definitely see it used in a lesson on relationships, sames and
opposites, and sizes. In this lesson, you could read the story to the students, at the end have them
call a dog they remember, and have another student say what the opposite of that is. Also, this
could be used in a literacy lesson with certain words like "narrow" and onomonopeas such as
"splash". In this lesson, you could ask students what "narrow" means and "barking" means.
Virginia Mathematics Foundation: Block 6- Patterns and Relationships
The child will identify simple patterns of concrete objects and use them to recognize
relationships.
a) Sort and classify objects according to one or two attributes (color, size, shape, and texture).

Virginia Literacy Foundation: Block 2- Vocabulary

The child will develop an understanding of word meanings through the use of
appropriate and expanding vocabulary.
a) Use size, shape, color, and spatial words to describe people, places, and things.
c) Use expanding vocabulary with increasing frequency and sophistication to express and
describe feelings, needs, and ideas
d) Participate in a wide variety of active sensory experiences to build vocabulary.

2) Maria Had a Little Llama / Mara Tena Una Llamita, by Angela Dominguez
Rhyme, cultural, love. Geared to ages 4-7 years old. Book description: "Everyone knows about
Mary and her little lamb. But do you know Maria? With gorgeous, Peruvian-inspired English and
Spanish retellings, Angela Dominguez gives a fresh new twist to the classic rhyme. Maria and
her mischievous little llama will steal your heart".
I really loved this classic rhyme retold in a new way that not only has the words in English and
Spanish on the pages but also culturally accurate on what the life of a Peruvian looks like (which
you can see through the background images and the attire of the people around Maria. The
artwork is fantastic and the llama is just so cute, I could see kids getting excited about this book.
I could see this being used in a literacy lesson, especially in one where either earlier in the day or
earlier in the semester the students have sung " Mary Had a Little Lamb". One could introduce it
as a twist on the original song, read the story, and then afterward asking questions about it like
"Did any of the words rhyme together in the story?", "Do animals go to school with people?",
and "Is there a word you did not know before the story and learned today?", depending on grade
level. Once each student gets to share their answers, the teacher could teach the students the new
words to the song and have them sing it all together.
Virginia Literacy Foundation: Block 3- Phonological Awareness
The child will manipulate the various units of speech sounds in words.
a) Identify words that rhyme and generate simple rhymes.
Virginia Music Foundation Block 2: Performance
The child will participate in musical performance on a regular basis.
a) Demonstrate the difference between singing and speaking
c) Participate in opportunities to use singing voice and musical instruments.
3) Am I Small? (Arabic bilingual book) Written by Phillipp Winterberg and Nadja Wichmann

Proportion, colorful, welcoming. Geared to around ages 3-6, this book is about a girl named
Tamia who goes around and asks creatures, plants, and animals if she is small. Through this
book we see where she stands in proportion to the characters she meets. This book comes with
many different kinds of bilingual translations, but I preferred the Arabic version because I found
it on the Gus Bus during my service learning opportunity.

For some, they may not be as excited by the artwork style. However, I really loved it. I thought
that not only it fit the theme, but the illustrator did a phenomenal job at making appropriate
proportions for the different characters to our main character, Tamia. I could see this book used
to teach a lesson on size, such as what is big versus what is small. For example, one could read
this book to the class, then after the read aloud have the students make a T-Chart of who though
Tamia was big and who thought Tamia was small. With cut-out pictures of some of the
characters, have each student categorize at least one in the correct group.

Virginia Mathematics Foundation Blocks: Measurement

The child will identify and compare the attributes of length, capacity, weight, time, and
temperature.
4) I Love to Help written by Shelley Admont and illustrated by Sonal Goyal and Sumit Sakhuja

Cooperation, problem-solving, family. Geared to ages 3-9, this story is about Jimmy the little
bunny that goes to the beach with his family. There, he learns about the importance of helping
others. When Jimmys sandcastle is destroyed by the wave, they work together to build the
bigger and better one. Everything works out better when we help each other.

This was such a cute book that, surprisingly, was available in other bilingual languages. I
specifically picked Arabic for this one because I felt like reading a story in English and Arabic
about helping one another would be really good for students to listen to and read, and possibly
break some of the stereotype of people who do speak Arabic and live in Arabic countries. The
book was engaging and I feel quite appropriate for the age range it's geared to. One could use
this in a lesson about problem-solving when something you do not like happens, and how to
handle it with other individuals. The teacher could read this story, then after the read-aloud have
students pair into groups and discuss a moment similar to that of Jimmy's and talk about how
they resolved it. Then, have the class come back together and share their stories while the teacher
makes notes of each kid's basic story on the board.

Virginia Personal and Social Development: Foundation Block 5- Social Problem Solving
The child will learn and use appropriate verbal skills to resolve conflicts with peers
and to ask for help when needed.
a) Express feelings through appropriate gestures, actions, and words.
b) Recognize conflicts and seek possible solutions.
5) Peekaboo Baby/O est le bb? by Sujatha Lalgudi

Places, parts, searching. Geared to ages 3-9, this book is a French-English bilingual book written
to be helpful for those teaching their children French as a second language. In this book, your
learner has to help find the baby hiding in different places. By looking for the baby's eyes, nose,
ears, and other body parts in French-English text, you are seeing where baby is going and where
baby is hiding while also strengthening their English-French vocabulary and ability to read
sentences.

I personally would not use this book more than once, but I thought it was kind of cute with the
artwork and how they had the baby hiding for the reader to find (sort of like an interactive game
for them). It's pretty easily adaptable for a vocabulary lesson including topics like parts of the
body and locations, but overall not as engaging as other books in this text-set.

Virginia Literacy Foundation: Block 2- Vocabulary

The child will develop an understanding of word meanings through the use of
appropriate and expanding vocabulary.
a) Use size, shape, color, and spatial words to describe people, places, and things.
b) Listen with increasing understanding to conversations and directions.
c) Use expanding vocabulary with increasing frequency and sophistication to express and
describe feelings, needs, and ideas.
d) Participate in a wide variety of active sensory experiences to build vocabulary.
6) The Fox and the Grapes/Der Fuchs und die Trauben by Pauline Mackay and Dylan Gibson

Fable, determination, phrase. Geared to ages 0-4, this "vibrantly illustrated picture book will
delight children and adults alike. The Fox may be the only character in the original Aesop's fable
but that doesn't prevent the illustrations from indulging in a huge supporting cast of creatures to
amuse the reader. From the sassy little cat in the opening double spread to the delightful
hedgehogs who take a keen interest in the Fox's dilemma, there is no shortage of activity going
on around the unlucky, thirsty Fox who can't quite reach those delicious, juicy grapes"
(http://www.ablekids.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=77).
Its repetitive text can be used in lower-level, emergent reading grades to further literacy and
comprehension skills. I personally thought this book was just adorable and was easily relatable to
a child's sense of curiosity to an object and determination to achieve access to such an interesting
object. I feel like in a classroom environment, one could definitely use this in a read-aloud where
students are to listen to the story and while listening, saying the repeating phrase each time with
the teacher to promote their ability in following directions but also building on their vocabulary
and speaking skills. At the end of the reading, the teacher can ask what the fox tried to do to get
the grape, and have the students say the repeating phrase on their own (to test their
comprehension and attention throughout the story).
Virginia Literacy Foundation: Block 1- Oral Language
The child will develop listening and speaking skills by communicating experiences and ideas
orally.
a) Listen with increasing attention to spoken language, conversations, and texts read aloud.
b) Correctly identify characters, objects, and actions in a text with or without pictures and begin
to comment about each.
c) Make predictions about what might happen in a story.
h) Follow simple one- and two-step oral directions.
7) Are You an Echo?: The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko written by Misuzu Kaneko, illustrated
by Toshikado Hajiri, foreward by Setstuo Yazaki, and translated by Sally Ito, David Jacobson,

and Michiko Tsuboi

This book is geared to ages 9-14. Poetry, power, natural.
About the book: "In early-1900s Japan, Misuzu Kaneko grows from precocious bookworm to
instantly-beloved childrens poet. But her life ends prematurely, and Misuzus work is forgotten.
Decades later her poems are rediscoveredjust in time to touch a new generation devastated by
the tsunami of 2011. This picture book features Misuzus life story plus a trove of her poetry in
English and the original Japanese." (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28818676-are-you-
an-echo). I used this description because I thought it best explained the book compared to my
original, confusing explanation.
This book may be written in English only, but the text for all these poems were written in
Japanese by Kaneko and were then translated later into English. Reading about Kaneko's feelings
and experiences and relating them to a current generation's lifestyle is incredibly exciting for me.
Although the art is pretty, it's not as exciting as other titles in this text-set. However, the poetry
and words Kaneko used were so beautiful that the book blends well together with the artwork.
One could definitely use this in a poetry lesson around the same time they discuss world history
(such as a topic on Japan). During the poetry lesson, the teacher could pair students into groups,
have them assigned one of the poems, and discuss themes, meanings, language, and other
information they deem important. After the groups have evaluated the poems, have them come
back together as a whole class and share not only their poem but also what they got from reading
the poem and discuss it as a full class.
SOL Reading 4.5
The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts, narrative nonfiction
texts, and poetry.
b) Describe how the choice of language, setting, characters, and information contributes to the
authors purpose.
h) Draw conclusions/make inferences about text.
k) Use reading strategies throughout the reading process to monitor comprehension.
8) Hands and Hearts with 15 Words in American Sign Language written by Donna Jo Napoli,

illustration by Amy Bates

This story is about a mother-daughter beach outing. Throughout the day, they use American Sign
Language in order to communicate. It is geared to ages 3-6 years old. Family, waves,
togetherness.
I absolutely loved this book. It not only was a heartfelt story about a mother-daughter
relationship but was also one I really enjoyed a lot with its 15 different ASL words on each page.
The artwork was absolutely beautiful, you could tell without looking it up that the illustrator used
pencil and watercolors. It really fit the tone of the story that I feel like students would be engaged
throughout the entire reading. One could use this book to discuss new words and meanings of
words in order to not only expand their knowledge of a new language like ASL, but also
expanding their English vocabulary. While stopping to teach students the sign for words like
"dance", you could ask your students to practice writing the words on a white board as the story
is being read. Afterwards, have the students look through the words on their boards and have
each student explain what one of the words means (with no repeats).
Virginia Literacy Foundation: Block 2- Vocabulary
The child will develop an understanding of word meanings through the use of appropriate and
expanding vocabulary.
b) Listen with increasing understanding to conversations and directions.
9) We Didn't Give Up/Hatukupoteza Matumaini (Swahili bilingual book) by Richard Carlson Jr.

This is an English-Swahili parallel text book that I would gear to ages 3-6 years old. Resilience,
solutions, family. About the Book: Mother Duck and her ducklings go for a walk to the pond.
But they come across trouble on the way and learn an important lesson.

Although it was a cute book, it reads not really helpful as far as engaging students in the story
(with the exception of the words being in both English and Swahili). Looking inside the book is
mostly black and white pictures with slightly different depictions of the mom and her ducklings
that are on the cover. Although students will need to learn some of these problem-solving skills,
it was very bland and blah to read. Although it fits into my text set, I would not personally use
this in my own classroom. One could make it work in the classroom with reading the story aloud,
stopping before things are resolved, and having the students discuss possible solutions on how
the mom and her babies will fix the problem. Once all students have gotten to share how they
think the story will be resolved, finish reading the story and at the end, discuss how there will be
problems in life that we need to use our brains for in order to resolve them and make things okay
again.

Virginia Personal and Social Development: Foundation Block 5- Social Problem Solving
The child will learn and use appropriate verbal skills to resolve conflicts with peers and to ask
for help when needed.
b) Recognize conflicts and seek possible solutions.

10) Boxer and Brandon by S.A. Publishing

Boxer and Brandon is a bilingual book with parallel text in English and Korean geared to ages 3-
9 years old. Conflict, friendship, companion. The following is a description from the book:
This is a touching story of friendship between a dog and a little boy. When one of them needs
help they are always there for each other. This is what true friendship means.
As a story, it may not be realistic in the sense that the boxer is being picked on by a German
Shepheard, but it does ring true to some of the experiences students in my future classrooms may
sadly experience. It not only is good as far as promoting other languages with a bilingual text,
but it does a good job telling the story without breaking the flow of it, has good illustration, and
furthers that idea that every child can have friendships like Brandon and his Boxer. This is a
good reading that one could tie into a discussion on friendship and social interactions with other
students and peers. Read this book to the students (especially in a classroom where one student
knows or is fluent in Korean), then after the reading make a T-Chart on what happened in the
book with Brandon and Boxer and how those things connect to their life. After that, the class can
discuss what determines good social interactions and what friendship means to them.
Virginia Personal and Social Development: Foundation Block 4- Interaction with Others
The child will interact easily with one or more children and with familiar adults.
c) Interact appropriately with other children and familiar adults by cooperating, helping, sharing,
and expressing interest.
 Reflection
The resources and instructional strategies were exemplars of multicultural education

because I wanted to make sure all of the students in my classroom were represented in any part

of the day, including during the reading part of their day. I feel like many ELL students in

younger grades like my pre-k practicum are not encouraged to speak both their home-language

and English (usually told to speak only English at school). One kid in particular in my class

speaks Spanish and is slowly learning English, so I wanted to be able to read him a story that was

both English and Spanish on something as simple and universally loved as dogs (and all kids like

animals).

There was no specific diversity taught in this lesson besides some of the Spanish

language. I felt like dogs were relatively universal and it would be easier to explain to kids that

dogs can live in a variety of countries across the entire world rather than explaining deep,

cultural backgrounds from other nations that are not my own (and possibly misinforming the

students, which would then make me part of the problem as a white woman of mostly European

ancestry). The students did learn some new ways to say the words "up", "down", and "through

the town" as it was a repetitive part of the story, and they learned about how different every dog

can look. I tried to tie this into how every person looks different even though we are made up of

the same materials and parts, that we have different personalities and live different lives, and that

we all want to be as happy as the dogs in the book.

It was easy in the context of how I used it in my READ 366 course, but as far as

addressing it as a lesson on diversity, it was a bit complicated. It was easy in the sense that the

students were either learning more about a new language along with hearing a story in their
native language, but also in the formatting of how to teach students to read a book. Tying it into

a diversity topic was not easy because I had to definitely watch how I word things, but I was

pleasantly surprised that the students easily took in my analogy of people around the world being

like different kinds of dogs. Since there are many breeds with different hair styles, personality

tastes, and sizes, I felt like that was the easiest analogy to use in order for students to understand

it.

It takes someone with determination, dedication, and some creative planning to really

make that kind of teaching effective and stand out for your students. Even though I felt it went

okay, I still worried that students would not be as accepting of some of the ideas I was trying to

teach as they actually were. Especially in a rural area like Stuarts Draft, I was a bit worrisome

(especially with tying my analogy of dogs to people all over the entire world, not just within the

USA). I hope to one day be the best teacher I can be and be an advocate for those who feel like

they are not represented within the United States education system. I will make sure as a future

teacher that my classroom library will have a lot of diverse books for students to be able to

choose from and read, as well as encouraging them to go to other places after school like the

library or on the Internet to find more linguistically and culturally diverse books to read and

explore.