Andrianna Boykin

ELED 308
Professor Harris
13 November 2017
Multicultural Text Set: Immigration
1. The Journey
a. Description: The story addresses the issue of immigration through the eyes of a
young girl and her family. After her father dies in the war, her mother decides to
move the family to America.
i. Grade level: First and up- some of the illustrations may be too dark for
younger students. (Pre-k to first grade)
ii. Keywords: Uprooting, Desperate, Change
b. Evaluation:
i. The Story
1. is interesting to children.
2. offers children a variety of things to think about, question, or
consider.
3. is age-appropriate and children can understand what is
represented.
4. includes a rich, thick plot.
5. utilizes style and language that are appropriate for the childrens
ages and interests.
6. includes realistic, convincing characters
ii. The Illustrations
1. are accurate in terms of setting, plot, and characters.
2. correspond to the text.
3. hold the childrens interest while the text is read.
4. enhance and add to the story
iii. Cultural Considerations
1. Characters represent a variety of cultural groups.
2. Children are exposed to multiple perspectives and values.
3. There are no negative stereotypes of the represented groups.
4. The lifestyles of the characters are genuine and complex not
oversimplified or generalized.
c. Recommended use: Discuss how hard it would be for the students to morn a
parent, be uprooted from their home and move to a foreign place where people are
constantly hunting them.
d. List of SOLs:
i. History Foundation Block 1: Similarities and Differences
1. (a) Recognize ways in which people are alike and different.
2. b) Describe his/her own unique characteristics and those of others.
3. c) Make the connection that he/she is both a member of a family
and a member of a classroom community.
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2. Grandfathers Journey
a. Description: This story is written and illustrated Allen Say. It is told by a man
about his grandfathers life. His grandfather decided to move to California when
he fell in love with it. Then he has a daughter and moves back to Japan, Because
the daughter grew up in the U.S., she moves back out of homesickness.
Although the book has very little words in it, it Because they discuss serious
topics such as immigration which may be too deep for younger audiences.
i. Ages 5-8
ii. Keywords: Homesickness, cultural roots, and family.
b. Evaluation:
i. The Story:
1. offers children a variety of things to think about, question, or
consider.
2. is age-appropriate and children can understand what is
represented.
3. includes a rich, thick plot.
4. includes a problem and resolution.
5. includes realistic, convincing characters.
ii. The Illustrations:
1. are accurate in terms of setting, plot, and characters.
2. correspond to the text.
3. hold the childrens interest while the text is read.
4. enhance and add to the story.
iii. Cultural Considerations:
1. Characters represent a variety of cultural groups.
2. Children are exposed to multiple perspectives and values.
3. There are no negative stereotypes of the represented groups.
4. The lifestyles of the characters are genuine and complex not
oversimplified or generalized.
5. The characters use speech that accurately represents their culture
and oral traditions.
6. The author and/or illustrator are a part of the group represented.
7. Good characters reflect a variety of backgrounds.
8. There is diversity represented within cultural groups.
iv. Explanations
1. This story allows students to understand the difficulty that
comes with coming from
c. Recommended Use: The activity that I planned for my read aloud included a map
of the surrounding area that the students could mark their own journey as the
characters in the story did.
d. List of SOLs:
i. History Foundation Block 1: Similarities and Differences
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1. (a) Recognize ways in which people are alike and different.
2. b) Describe his/her own unique characteristics and those of others.
3. c) Make the connection that he/she is both a member of a family
and a member of a classroom community.

3. From Far Away

a. Description: With limited English, a young girl struggles to communicate her
feelings to her teacher and classmates after moving to Canada. Based on a true
story written by Robert Munsch and Saoussan Askar.
b. Evaluation:
i. The Story:
1. Is interesting to children.
2. offers children a variety of things to think about, question, or
consider.
3. is age-appropriate and children can understand what is
represented.
4. includes a rich, thick plot.
5. includes a problem and resolution.
6. utilizes style and language that are appropriate for the
childrens ages and interests.
7. includes realistic, convincing characters.
ii. The Illustrations:
1. are accurate in terms of setting, plot, and characters.
2. correspond to the text.
3. hold the childrens interest while the text is read.
4. enhance and add to the story.
iii. Cultural Considerations:
1. Characters represent a variety of cultural groups.
2. Children are exposed to multiple perspectives and values.
3. There are no negative stereotypes of the represented groups.
4. The lifestyles of the characters are genuine and complex not
oversimplified or generalized.
5. The characters use speech that accurately represents their
culture and oral traditions.
6. The author and/or illustrator are a part of the group
represented.
7. Good characters reflect a variety of backgrounds.
iv. This book was written based off of the real Saoussan who had sent
real letters about her experience expressed in the book to Robert
Munsch. Most likely, many of the students would be exposed for the
first time to learning about people in other countries getting shot at or
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living in houses with holes in them. The book also allows the students
to view themselves from the eyes of someone moving from a foreign
country. They get empathy and to understand how difficult it may be
to learn a new language and meet new people after dealing with such
trauma.
c. Recommended Use: Discuss with the class what it felt like on their first day of
school. Did they feel lost? Homesick? Scared? Have them imagine being in her
situation where there were holes in the walls of the house that they lived in. Have
the class write their own letters about their first day or a time when they felt
uncomfortable in a new environment.
d. List of SOLs:
i. History Foundation Block 1: Similarities and Differences
1. (a) Recognize ways in which people are alike and different.
2. b) Describe his/her own unique characteristics and those of others.
3. c) Make the connection that he/she is both a member of a family
and a member of a classroom community.
4. Tea with Milk
a. Description: Written and illustrated by Allen Say, this is the story of a womans
transition of culture from San Francisco to Japan. Although her parents were
Japanese, she had a difficult time adjusting to the lifestyle and societal
expectations of Japan because she grew up in San Francisco. She moves to Osaka,
a more urban city, where she got a job helping English speakers navigate. It is
there that she meets her husband who is also Japanese but speaks English due to
him being adopted into an American family when he was a child.
i. Three keywords: Language, expectations, and heritage (two cultures- one
person)
b. Evaluation:
i. The Story
1. offers children a variety of things to think about, question, or
consider.
2. Is age-appropriate and children can understand what is
represented.
3. includes a rich, thick plot.
4. utilizes style and language that are appropriate for the
childrens ages and interests.
5. includes realistic, convincing characters.
ii. The Illustrations:
1. are accurate in terms of setting, plot, and characters.
2. correspond to the text.
3. hold the childrens interest while the text is read.
4. enhance and add to the story.
iii. Cultural Considerations:
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1. Characters represent a variety of cultural groups.
2. Children are exposed to multiple perspectives and values.
3. There are no negative stereotypes of the represented groups.
4. The lifestyles of the characters are genuine and complex not
oversimplified or generalized.
5. The characters use speech that accurately represents their culture
and oral traditions.
6. The author and/or illustrator are a part of the group represented.
7. Good characters reflect a variety of backgrounds.
8. There is diversity represented within cultural groups.
iv. Explanations
v. Unlike any of the other stories, this one addresses the differences in social
expectations between two cultures. In Japan, women were expected to
refrain from working because it is seen as shameful as opposed to in the
U.S where women have more freedom from these types of expectations
and can drive and work on their own. It also allows students to understand
that people are not always what they seem. The main character is Japanese
but grew up in the U.S. Therefore, they may meet people who look like
they are one race but happen to be also American. The book was written
by the son of the woman portrayed in the story.

c. Recommended Use: Ask the students how they would feel if they had to move
from America to another country with a different culture from the one they have
grown up with. What would be different? (Holidays, food, traditions, societal
expectations) What would they miss? Discuss the various types of cultures
displayed at homes. Ex. What languages are spoken at home? What traditions are
celebrated? Discuss adoption. (What kind of culture would someone have if they
are in a home with multiple cultures?)
d. List of SOLs:
i. History Foundation Block 1: Similarities and Differences
1. (a) Recognize ways in which people are alike and different.
2. b) Describe his/her own unique characteristics and those of others.
3. c) Make the connection that he/she is both a member of a family
and a member of a classroom community.
5. The Matchbox Diary
a. Description: A young girl visits her grandfather and listens to his childhood
stories from mementos he kept in matchboxes. His stories recall on his emigration
from Italy to the U.S because of the war and poverty his family was experiencing.
i. Ages 6-9
ii. Keywords: Mementos, family, and poverty
b. Evaluation:
i. The Story:
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1. is interesting to children.
2. offers children a variety of things to think about, question, or
consider.
3. is age-appropriate and children can understand what is represented.
4. includes a rich, thick plot.
5. includes realistic, convincing characters.
ii. The Illustrations:
1. are accurate in terms of setting, plot, and characters.
2. correspond to the text.
3. hold the childrens interest while the text is read.
4. enhance and add to the story.
iii. Cultural Considerations
1. Children are exposed to multiple perspectives and values.
2. There are no negative stereotypes of the represented groups.
3. The lifestyles of the characters are genuine and complex not
oversimplified or generalized.
iv. Explanations
1. This story within a story reaches out to those who may connect to
the characters represented. Some student may also have
grandparents who enjoy telling them stories or have asked about
things around their grandparents house. The pictures match
exactly to the words almost as if they were watching a movie or tv
show. The book portrays the characters in a realistic way that
allows the students to have empathy for the struggles that the
grandfather went through while living in Italy.
c. Recommended Use: Have each of the students make their own matchbox where
they can pick 4 or 5 items that represent their culture or family traditions. For
younger grades, have them draw or bring in actual items and verbally present to
the rest of the class. For older students, have them write accompanying stories for
their items or draw a map of where their items came from or went to.
d. List of SOLs:
i. History Foundation Block 1: Similarities and Differences
1. (a) Recognize ways in which people are alike and different.
2. b) Describe his/her own unique characteristics and those of others.
3. c) Make the connection that he/she is both a member of a family
and a member of a classroom community.
ii. History Foundation Block 2: Change over time
1. (b) Express the difference between past and present using words
such as before, after, now, and then.
2. (c) Order/sequence events and objects.
3. (d) Ask questions about artifacts from everyday life in the past.
4. (e) Recount episodes from stories about the past.
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5. (f) Take on a role from a specific time, use symbols and props, and
act out a story/narrative.
6. (g) Describe past times based on stories, pictures, visits, songs, and
music.
6. Hello America, Ellis Island
a. Description: An informational supplement to the Ellis Island Immigration
Museum written by R.J Bailey.
i. Recommended Age
ii. Keywords: Immigration,
b. Evaluation:
i. The Story:
1. offers children a variety of things to think about, question, or
consider.
2. is age-appropriate and children can understand what is
represented.
ii. The illustrations:
1. are accurate in terms of setting, plot, and characters.
2. correspond to the text.
iii. Cultural Considerations
1. Characters represent a variety of cultural groups.
2. Children are exposed to multiple perspectives and values.
3. There are no negative stereotypes of the represented groups.
iv. Explanations
1.
c. Recommended Use: Inside the book, it suggests to parents and teachers to ask
their students if they have ever been to Ellis Island and if their ancestors ever
came through there as well. Depending on the location and funds, suggest a field
trip. If a trip is not possible, find a YouTube video of someone who went so the
students still have a chance to see a bit of the museum.
d. List of SOLs:
i. History Foundation Block 1: Similarities and Differences
1. (a) Recognize ways in which people are alike and different.
2. b) Describe his/her own unique characteristics and those of others.
3. c) Make the connection that he/she is both a member of a family
and a member of a classroom community.
7. A Refugees Journey from Syria
a. Description: This book was written by Helen Mason. A story following journey of
a young boy, Roj and his family as they leave their home in Syria to try to get to
safety. Woven throughout the story are facts about Syria, immigrants and
refugees.
i. Ages 8-11
ii. Keywords: Culture, Refugee, and Family
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b. Evaluation:
i. The Story
1. offers children a variety of things to think about, question, or
consider.
2. is age-appropriate and children can understand what is
represented
ii. The Illustrations
1. are accurate in terms of setting, plot, and characters.
2. correspond to the text.
3. enhance and add to the story.
iii. Cultural Considerations
1. Characters represent a variety of cultural groups.
2. Children are exposed to multiple perspectives and values.
3. There are no negative stereotypes of the represented groups.
4. The lifestyles of the characters are genuine and complex not
oversimplified or generalized.
5. The characters use speech that accurately represents their
culture and oral traditions.
iv. Explanations:
1. This book combines the informational side of multicultural
books with real life situations. It has the book split in half with
a few pages on facts about Syria and a few pages on a boy
whose family had become Syrian Refugees. It allows the
students to learn about vocabulary words and technical facts
about Syria and then learn about aspects of their culture
through the highlighted family. When the students hear the
word Refugee in the future, they will be able to connect it to
this reading and remember what this family went through as
refugees.
Recommended Use: Supplement to learning about refugees in history or social
studies. May be helpful in connecting history to a real family to help students
understand how it would feel to be a refugee.
c. List of SOLs:
i. History Foundation Block 1: Similarities and Differences
1. (a) Recognize ways in which people are alike and different.
2. b) Describe his/her own unique characteristics and those of others.
3. c) Make the connection that he/she is both a member of a family
and a member of a classroom community.
8. Mamas Nightingale
a. Description: This book was written by Edwidge Danticat and illustrated by Leslie
Staub. It follows a Haitian family who is separated by immigration. The mother is
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taken to jail and the father, desperate, writes his story to multiple reporters to try
to get her attention that could release her. Only when his distraught daughter, with
only recordings of her mother reading bedtime stories, is able to sway the media
with her heartfelt letter.
i. Ages 5-8
ii. Keywords: Family, media (influence of media), Influence
b. Evaluation:
i. The Story
1. is interesting to children.
2. offers children a variety of things to think about, question, or
consider.
3. is age-appropriate and children can understand what is
represented.
4. includes a rich, thick plot.
5. includes a problem and resolution.
6. utilizes style and language that are appropriate for the
childrens ages and interests.
7. includes realistic, convincing characters.
ii. The Illustrations
1. correspond to the text.
2. hold the childrens interest while the text is read.
3. enhance and add to the story.
iii. Cultural Considerations
1. Children are exposed to multiple perspectives and values.
2. There are no negative stereotypes of the represented groups.
3. The lifestyles of the characters are genuine and complex not
oversimplified or generalized.
4. The characters use speech that accurately represents their
culture and oral traditions.
5. The author and/or illustrator are a part of the group
represented.
6. Good characters reflect a variety of backgrounds.
iv. Explanations:
1. I believe that this is one of the more story-like books among
the set. It had a full plot with a problem (Her mother went to
jail) and a solution (Her letter reached the media forcing the
state to address her mothers trial). Due to the full plotline,
their lives were genuine. The author even added some words in
Haitian to enhance the authenticity and connect it to her own
culture of being Haitian as well as the characters. The news
reporters were represented as white or of European descent
but were not shown as bad guys
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c. Recommended Use: Discussion of dialects/accents and where they come from.
Play recordings of different accents and dialects
d. List of SOLs:
i. History Foundation Block 1: Similarities and Differences
1. (a) Recognize ways in which people are alike and different.
2. b) Describe his/her own unique characteristics and those of others.
3. c) Make the connection that he/she is both a member of a family
and a member of a classroom community.
9. We came to America
a. Description: A poem-turned-book written and illustrated by Faith Ringgold about
the various cultural groups and their journeys to America.
i. Ages 5-8
ii. Keywords: Opportunity, Culture, and Adaptation/Appropriation
b. Evaluation:
i. The Story
1. is interesting to children.
2. offers children a variety of things to think about, question, or
consider.
3. is age-appropriate and children can understand what is
represented
4. utilizes style and language that are appropriate for the
childrens ages and interests.
ii. The Illustrations
1. correspond to the text.
2. hold the childrens interest while the text is read.
3. enhance and add to the story.
iii. Cultural Considerations
1. Characters represent a variety of cultural groups.
2. Children are exposed to multiple perspectives and values.
3. There are no negative stereotypes of the represented groups.
4. There is diversity represented within cultural groups.
iv. Explanations:
1. The book offers new insights into what kind of things people
are going through as they come to America and what they
bring from their own country. The limited words on each page
allows the students to keep up with the poem. On each page,
there is a different cultural group with some of their heritage
represented.
c. Recommended Use: Have a discussion with the class about how America has
adopted aspects of other cultures.
d. List of SOLs:
i. History Foundation Block 1: Similarities and Differences
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1. (a) Recognize ways in which people are alike and different.
2. b) Describe his/her own unique characteristics and those of others.
3. c) Make the connection that he/she is both a member of a family
and a member of a classroom community.
10. Their Great Gift
a. Description: Written by John Coy with photographs by Wing Young Huie. An
excellent book that is able to show the students real people on their journey and at
home in their cultures. Allows students to reflect on possible sacrifices family
members in their own lives have made so that they can live comfortably.
i. Ages 8-12
ii. Keywords: Sacrifice, Opportunities, and Family
b. Evaluation:
i. The Story
1. is interesting to children.
2. offers children a variety of things to think about, question, or
consider.
3. is age-appropriate and children can understand what is
represented
4. includes realistic, convincing characters.
ii. The Illustrations
1. hold the childrens interest while the text is read.
2. enhance and add to the story.
iii. Cultural Considerations
1. Characters represent a variety of cultural groups.
2. Children are exposed to multiple perspectives and values.
3. There are no negative stereotypes of the represented groups.
4. The lifestyles of the characters are genuine and complex not
oversimplified or generalized.
5. The author and/or illustrator are a part of the group
represented.
6. Good characters reflect a variety of backgrounds.
7. There is diversity represented within cultural groups.
iv. Explanations:
1. My reasoning for choosing these qualifications are that the
book is mostly pictures with limited words. The story is easy
for students to digest while the pictures are impactful without
distracting from the message. The photographer chose to
represent subjects of various races and cultural backgrounds.
Since they are photos and not illustrations, they portray real
people and their lives.
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c. Recommended Use: Have a show and tell activity where students bring in old
photos of their parents and/or grandparents and explain what they do for a living.
Older students can explain how their family working affects them now.
d. List of SOLs:
i. History Foundation Block 1: Similarities and Differences
1. (a) Recognize ways in which people are alike and different.
2. b) Describe his/her own unique characteristics and those of others.
3. c) Make the connection that he/she is both a member of a family
and a member of a classroom community.
ii. History Foundation Block 5: World of Work
1. (a)Identify pictures of work and name the jobs people do.
2. (b) Describe what people do in their community job

Reflection .

This should be a 2-3 page (minimum) essay on your read aloud as it relates to the themes of ELED310,
so consider (for example) social justice educioan or multicultural education. How were your teaching
resources and instructional strategies exemplars of these practices? What cultural diversity content
was taught, and learned? Was this easy or challenging to teach? What did you learn about social
justice teaching from creating your multicultural text set and the read aloud? How will this
experience impact your future teaching

Reflection

I was placed in the YCP with preschoolers aged 4 to 5 years old. I planned to do a read aloud

and a follow up activity with each of them. The original plan was to connect the word

migration to travel and moving in general. The book was about a man whose grandfather
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moved from Japan to California and back to Japan again. Each day, the students take an

adventure walk either to the nearby train tracks, the Forbes Center tunnel, and the Quad. For my

follow-up activity, I had created a paper map with popular areas we often visit during outdoor

adventure. The idea allowed the students to understand journeys and migration in general by

allowing them to create their own using familiar places they often visit.

The story addressed multicultural themes through the grandfathers love for both places. He

had adopted the new American culture and appreciated that but also missed his home and life in

Japan. It shows that many immigrants may also feel a longing for one place when they are living

somewhere else.

I did my read aloud right after we came inside from outdoor free time on the playground.

This may have contributed to the students restlessness. I have never done a read aloud before, so

I was a little nervous and all of the opening questions I had prepared flew out of my head. I

suddenly forgot what I was going to say once I finished the book. My cooperating teacher

suggested that I work on my speaking voice as she had a hard time hearing me. I believe that if I

were a more experienced teacher, I would have gotten the message of the book across easier.

Because my practicum class are all 4 or 5 years old, the topic may have been too complex to

understand the emotions and feelings of immigrants. Many of them are just beginning to

understand the topic of empathy because of their pre-operational stage of being egotistic. The

story also was not fun or exciting, so this may have been too serious of a book to read aloud to

this age group even though there were very few words on each page. My cooperating teacher

also explained that since the students have a very short attention span, it may have been a better

choice to read the story to multiple small groups. This way I would have time to ask specific
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questions without losing the whole class. For my activity, many of them were able to understand

the directions and explain their journey to me. I had small groups come up to a round table and

gave them a copy of the map and had them map out their journey. One student even brought his

map with us on our adventure and pointed out the places as we passed them.

Since this may be considered a difficult or sensitive topic to discuss, it may be beneficial if I

were to send home a newsletter explaining to parents and family members the topic and what I

will be doing to allow any of them a chance to pull out old mementos or begin to have those

discussions at home. It would help to supplement the activities and discussions in the classroom.

As a future teacher, I would take into consideration, not only if the reading level is appropriate

for the age group but also if the content is appropriate for the age group. I would also consider

that the delivery of the book has to be effective or else the students will completely miss the

subject matter.

It was fairly easy to pick out the books for this text set. I went to Massanutten Library in

Downtown Harrisonburg and went to the childrens center. After explaining my topic, the

librarian helped me find all the books I needed. Many of the books appear to be gateways to

teach children about diversity rather than an actual story. While this, of course, is necessary, they

tend to be less interesting to children to learn about one specific culture or multiple as opposed to

learning about the life of one child who happens to be of a different race or culture. This helps

the students feel more connected to the character in the book because there was the opportunity

to insert feeling and emotions into learning about the culture. By doing this, the book achieves

not only learning about a new perspective but also learning about having empathy for others. It

reminds me of the concept we read our first weekly reading response where it discusses the
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concept of injecting culture into the curriculum as opposed to injecting the curriculum into the

culture.

I showed my cooperating teacher the book I wanted to do for my read aloud. She mentioned

that she liked that it was Short and Sweet meaning that there were not too many words on each

page. She also suggested I ask and define some vocabulary words for the students. Since our

class is interested in trains, I felt it was a good book for them with the idea of transportation.

They had just learned about steam engines and there was a steam engine train that I connected to

a steam ship that was also in the book.