LIT – Page 2 – UAS MAT Program ~ 2016 Cohort

Children’s Story: The Woman Who Married the Bear

Lots of things bring tears to my eyes. The school that I student-taught at had a talent show; it made me cry three times. I feel sorry for my future children. Point being, children’s books also bring tears to my eyes. With giant pictures and so few words, that mean so much, picture books are something that my mother and I share a great love for.

The first book which I gravitated towards was a neatly illustrated book entitled, Tundra Mouse: A Storyknife Tale by Megan McDonald. The book is a Christmas story that incorporates many aspects of Yup’ik culture including the language, local food and the use of a story knife. I carefully evaluated the book through the lens of the Multicultural Rubric. The characters of the book are highly developed and the illustrations are delightful. However, I could not help but question the authority and authenticity of both the characters and the setting. Author Megan McDonald is a non-native writer from Pennsylvania. It turns out she is quite a well known author; McDonald wrote a series that I loved as a child, the Judy Moody Series! What a strange connection. Although a talented author, McDonald holds no connection to the Yup’ik people. Also, the book’s theme, Christmas, brings religious overtones. I will only mention that my opinion on the use of religion in this context is not valid.

Another book that caught my eye was, The Woman Who Married the Bear. I have a special relationship with this story. I have only hung out with my father’s mother, a Cree woman, a handful of times as she passed on when I was quite young. One of the times we went blueberry picking and she told me the story of the ‘woman who married a bear.’ The way my grandmother told it, in the beginning of the story a young women disrespected bear poo, instead of walking around it she kicked it. I spent my childhood, thinking that the ‘woman who married a bear’ was about not stepping in poo. Later in life I developed a more sophisticated grasp about the story revolving around tolerance, acceptance and a beauty-and-the-beast idea of valuing whats on the inside.

Last summer at the Juneau Basic Arts Institute, when I had completely forgotten about ‘the woman who married a bear’ I was told the story from a Tlingit teacher. From the telling I drew a brand new realization (for me – I’m sure that I am not the only person who has drawn this idea from the story). It changed (sorry corny!) my life. I wrote in my notebook:

When we are only looking for what is different in others we do not find that which we have in common.

Throughout the year this notion has impacted my relationships with others in and out of the school. Due to my long standing connection with the story of the ‘woman who married a bear,’ and its abundance of Alaska Native values I would love to bring it into the music classroom.

This specific version of The Woman Who Married the Bear, translated by Elizabeth James is stunning and powerful. The story is directly translated from elders of the Pacific Coast of BC, Canada. Furthermore, the theme and cultural values are highlighted in a way that would allow students to consider multiple perspectives. Finally, I am so happy that the story makes use of song. When the woman returns to her people she mourns the loss of her husband through song. She also uses song to teach her people about respecting the bears. What a great example of music healing and being used to pass down knowledge!

One idea, that I had about using this book in the music room would be in songwriting. I would scaffold the experience so that by the time I read, The Woman Who Married the Bear to the class would have already gained background knowledge and experience with Alaska Native values. I would ensure that students understand song forms of many cultures on a local and worldwide scale. I would also try to collaborate with an elder or cultural bearer to introduce traditional instruments and their significance.

One way to teach songwriting is by starting with the lyrics. For the Woman Who Married the Bear, the students lyrics would be based entirely on their background knowledge and interpretation of the book. In small groups students will come up with a chorus, which is the central idea of the song. I will not go too much into detail, however, one way that I have taught songwriting is through providing a flexible formula and options of chords and song parts. I like to have students working in small groups for social learning aspects and efficiency. Songwriting is a great opportunity to take a constructivist approach where the students lead the process. I am very interested in the values and morals that students may draw from the story of the ‘woman who married a bear!’

Sources:

James, Elizabeth. The Woman Who Married the Bear. Simply Read Books: 2015.

McDonald, Megan. Tundra Mouse: A Storyknife Tale. Orchard Books: 1997

The Hungry Giant of the Tundra

I chose this book not only because it’s fun, but also because it challenges the children in the Yup’ik culture to obey their parents.

In this book, children wandered away from the village even though their parents called them to go home. Because they disobeyed, a hungry giant chases them. Fortunately, the giant forgot his knife. As the giant went to get his knife, the chickadee and crane were able to help them escape.

Even though this children’s story is short, it is very entertaining. The drawings in this book perfectly portray the Yup’ik region’s scenery. It unquestionably is a well-thought out story and encourages the Yup’ik children to obey their parents, or risk surviving. Even though I’m going to be teaching the older kids, it’s something that I’m using someway.

Frog Girl

In simplicity comes elegance and I think that was Kathy Nielsen’s idea as she demonstrated how through children’s books we can teach adult lessons.

This being one of Angie’s favorite books I would be afraid to assigning anything under a 3 for all areas of the Evaluating Multicultural Literature Rubric. It seemed to have a well developed plot (albeit not quite on par with War & Peace), Paul Owen Lewis seems like he comes from a place authority, there was a authenticity through the characters and setting, the dialog is relevant and the theme being universal is why I chose this book.

Frog Girl is a story about how a little girl finds a frog civilization underneath a lake. One of the elder frogs in that civilization is worried because she cannot find her children while under the threat of a large erupting Pacific Rim volcano. Frog girl finds them and rushes them all to safety.

This story is applicable to a lesson covering the current 6th mass extinction period. I would apply the knowledge of the Tlingit people that only through having a respect for all beings and their habitat can we actually become stewards instead of exterminators. I would also use this to draw examples of how the lessons from many cultures can be adopted into our own to make our world a better place.

A book for Southeast Alaska

When I began my undergraduate studies at UAS in the fall of 2003, I intended to get a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education. It took a long time for me to get serious about completing my degree, but I finished this springs, graduating with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Theatre and History. Even as late as last fall, my mind was set on teaching younger kids. One subject I am enthusiastic about is children’s literature. I love reading to kids. Over the course of this past winter, after much consideration and consultation, I decided to pursue Secondary Education. I was unsure even as late as February, but I believe I made the right decision.

One of the things I thought I’d miss as a high school teacher was reading to kids. Kathy’s visit yesterday was a revelation, and I absolutely will introduce children’s books into my lesson plans. Kids are kids, even if they’re big kids, and maybe they’ll still enjoy being read to.

Looking through the selection of books Kathy brought yesterday, I was immediately drawn to The Last American Rainforest: Tongass by Shelley Gill and Shannon Cartwright. I couldn’t read it all in the time we had, but the authors encompassed most of what makes Southeast Alaska special.

The story combines a fictional character, a young Tlingit girl, with nonfiction information on the region, encompassing all of the Northwest Coast, of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian. The girl, wanting to make a hat, must search for a salmon tree. She hears traditional stories about Fog Woman, and the more familiar Raven Steals Daylight. More than just Southeast Alaska Native traditions, her journey leads her to a discovery of flora and fauna, the geography, food cultivation, and lessons about the ecology, all interwoven with the spirituality of the land and people. Traditional and contemporary village life is portrayed, as well as illustrations of Native masks, hats, totems, and clan crests. Sea life and sea faring canoes, passing glaciers and wildlife. The strong environmental lesson of clear-cut timber leaves the girl in tears.

I was truly taken aback by the beautiful illustrations and how much the authors were able to cover. A great resource for a social studies class!

Eagle Boy: A Picture Book

I looked at the book Eagle Boy, retold by Richard Lee Voughan, illustrated by Lee Christiansen. This book is beautifully designed and masterfully articulated.

This story follows a boy/teenager in a village where the villagers dislike the eagles, but the boy enjoys their company. He is a skilled fisherman and gives the eagles fish frequently. One day, he even offers his biggest fish to the chief’s eldest daughter, who refuses his fish and sneers at him.

Times grow tough and the village leaves in search of more food, but leave the boy behind, mocking him to ask his eagle friends for help. The chief’s youngest daughter slips the boy a piece of fish as the villagers depart.

The eagles give him food, while the villagers are starving. The boy learns of the villagers’ fates and turns into an eagle and saves them. The village returns and the boy marries the chief’s youngest daughter.

As per the rubric entitled “Evaluating Multicultural Literature,” I assigned the highest marks (3 points) to the book in all categories.

As to how this story could be used in the classroom, it could be used in an English classroom to

draw parallels with other stories across cultures
write a modern version of the story
write up a character-plot analysis.

and could be used in a French classroom to

use as a way to practice saying difficult words in French as a sort of translation exercise with emphasis on “working around the word”
use an instructor-provided translation in French and have the story re-told to students in French for listening comprehension.

Alaska in Haiku

From my window, red-
roe colored salmon berries
ripe hold eyes from blog

Haiku can be found all over Alaska with all the depth to the nature in our backyard. I think it would be a lot of fun create a lesson plan that grows from Alaska in Haiku written by David Townsend Hoopes and Diana Rystbaek Tillian by reading examples from their book. Like this beauty: the winter moonlight/ the Shadow of the totem pole/ Shadow of the spruce.

After reading a few poems to give the students a baseline, we could briefly discuss the structure of the haiku’s 5-7-5 count of syllables and a bit of the Haiku’s origin from Japan namely from master Basho.

Then thinking as wandering poets, the class would go on a walk to observe nature. They could write on the spot or bring their ideas back to class to mull it over. If they felt constrained by the syllable count per line, it would be alright but encouraged to try to form and choose words that could bring their scene to the page.

As an another component to the exercise, students would exchange their poems later in the week, read them, then go on another walk seeking an image that matches what they feel inspired the haiku of their partner, and take a picture to accompany the haiku and create a Haiku Deck collection together as a class.

Because Alaska in Haiku follows the seasons, it could evolve into a year long activity. At the end of a year, the poets could publish their intimate portrait of their backyard in iBook.

Berries are ripper,/ now. the blog is finished, but/ rough draft sadly calls

-Tyler Thomas

p.s. in my excitement of the haiku lesson plan, I somehow forgot to capture a picture of Alaska in Haiku for the post. I will be needing a copy soon and will post accordingly. A special thanks to Kathy Nielson for sharing a few her favorites and reading a powerful story in class.

Alaska’s Three Bears

Alaska’s Three Bears by Shelley Gill tells an exciting and riveting tale of the three separate bear species found in Alaska. The story starts off with all three bears joined in a group (never happens), and they go off on a journey to find their preferred habitat. As the story progresses, the polar bear departs when they find home in the arctic, the grizzly bear finds comfort in the tundra of the interior, and the black bear traveled furthest until residing in the forests and hillsides of southern Alaska. The story is further supplemented with artistically designed footnotes and factual information at the bottom of each page.

The artwork from illustrator, Shannon Cartwright, is where the true beauty of this book comes from. The pictures are bright, colorful, and interesting. If the story had no words, the pictures would still be able to stand on their own. The accurately depict to three bears’ specialized features, preferred habitats, and how each bear hunted and foraged for food. Overall, this would be a pretty good book to use in the classroom to introduce discussion about biological ideas regarding specialization, adaptation, yearly life cycles of bears, and the food web. This could also be used as a template for students to design their own books/stories about some other ecologically or biologically relevant topic to their community. 2.4/3 for use in the classroom.

Gill, Shelley. Alaska’s Three Bears. Homer, AK. Paws IV Publishing. 1990.