Week four:
Picture Books
Summary:
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Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall is a heart warming story of a red crayon who is really meant to be a blue crayon although his outside label says "red". The book began with the red crayon being criticized by all of the other crayons because he colors blue instead of the "normal"red color. All of the people around him said hurtful things like "Sometimes I wonder if he is really red at all" or "Well I think he is lazy". Even the other school supplies tried to "fix" or "change" the red crayon. One amazing day, the red crayon met a new crayon who asked him to color his true color-blue. Once he was blue, everyone empathetically changed and did not criticize him anymore. Instead they cheered over him.
My Response:
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I liked this book because it is able to address gender expression and identity in a way children could understand. I also feel that this book is a tool that people and students can use to build empathy. The story shows that the crayon was created as a blue crayon despite the red label. When everyone lets the red crayon be himself, and blue, he thrives coloring many beautiful pictures. There are two different pages, shown below, where it has all of the crayons first criticizing the red crayon and then praising him. Not only did this show the massive twist in plot but it also showed the change in their hearts. By scratching out the red and calling the crayon blue, they are able to dignify the crayon's feelings. The author summed the story up nicely by saying "This funny, heartwarming, colorful picture book about finding the courage to be true to your inner self can be read on multiple levels, and it offers something for everyone" (Michael Hall). More about Michael Hall and his books can be found at the website below.
Summary:
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Sparkle Boy is a story about a little boy who loves playing with his dump truck and blocks but also loves "things that sparkle". Casey, the little boy, admired his older sister's pretty sparkly tutu and nail polish. He, too, wanted to wear Jesse's tutu. Jesse, his sister, immediately told him "no you cant wear that" because of gender stereotypes. Their family "sees no problem" with Casey enjoying the things that he loves including the tutu and nail polish. One day, Jesse and Casey go to the library. Casey is wearing his favorite sparkly tutu and is mistaken for being a girl. After that two boys come and make fun of Casey for wearing a tutu saying "are you a boy?". Jesse grabbed Casey and took him home and told him that boys can wear tutus too. The story ends by saying "Jesse and Casey adored all things shimmer, glittery, and sparkly...especially each other" (Newman, L 2017).
My Response:
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This incredible story defies gender stereotypes and shows us the large spectrum of gender expression. When asked why she wrote this book Leslea Newman said "Here’s a question I was once asked: “If you had nothing to rebel against and nothing to conform to, who would you be?” That got me thinking about the “rules” that our society dictates that are harmful to us all, including notions about gender." Picture books like Sparkle Boy are so important to have in your classroom because it defies stereotypes and encourages your students to be who they are. Maria Mola, the illustrator, drew such vivid pictures showing us the emotions felt by every character. This story would be wonderful to read and analyze the feelings of each character especially Casey and the change in Jessie.
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Check out the authors website here: https://lesleanewman.com/
Text Sets!
Selection:
-First we would read Red A Crayon's Story to begin discussing what identity means. This book would allow us to begin the conversation of the crayon's identity and how he may be labeled red but he is blue.
-Next we would read Sparkle Boy and analyze the illustrations. We would discuss empathy and how Casey feels in the story. We would discuss how we know how he felt through the illustrations and diction. Also, we would discuss the change in his sister's opinion and how she became understanding and empathetic and broke gender stereotypes.
-After that we would read Morris Michlewhite and the Tangerine Dress which is similar to Sparkle Boy but at the end of this book Morris faces the bullies and changes how they see gender identity and stereotypes.
-FOR A REACH:
We would read Girls with Guts and tie in social studies through reading this book. This book is about how women were not included in sports because of the gender stereotypes and rules. It then goes through each specific sport and the first woman to go through and join it.
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Connection:
Similar to the teacher in the textbook, I would begin by discussing what my students thought the word "identity" meant. We would use concept maps to add on to our definition after each story we read. Each main character (Red crayon, Casey, and Morris) would also get a character map. This character map would get updated as we continued to read. Example below:
Reflection: (Next steps)
Journal Entry about what is important to you
Students will be asked to write about their identity or different characteristics/things that are most important to them. They will not be pushed to share but invited to share whole group or with a partner. We will reference our culture quilt (seen in week two) and discuss that similar to how everyone has a different culture, everyone has their own identity.
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Classroom Pledge of No Judgement
Lastly we will make a classroom pledge to only honor each other's differences and to not bully over something that one of our friends likes that we might not like. Our differences is what makes our classroom community strong.
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Resources:
Hall, Michael (2015). Red A Crayon's Story. Harper Collins publishing
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Laminak, L. L. & Kelly, K. (2019). Reading to Make a Difference: Using literature to help students speak freely, think deeply, and take action. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
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Neman, Lesla (2017). Sparkle Boy. Lee and Low Books.
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