RISK AND REWARD

Guest Post by Debbie Levy

            Visitors to this blog who are in the teaching and reading professions know—better than I—of the movement among literacy experts to give children more so-called “risky” texts to read, listen to, and discuss. By definition, risky texts raise difficult issues, and these educators say that kids can handle them, when the books are age-appropriate.

            Risky texts might raise feelings of sadness, guilt, or anger, even among young readers. That’s the risky part.

            But in my view, and the view of many others, the benefits can far outweigh the drawbacks. Quoting an academic paper I read recently: risky texts “can help students learn about . . . injustices, make connections to their own lives and broader social contexts, and consider potential actions to redress these injustices.” They also promote empathy and a moral sensibility to the sufferings of others.

            I didn’t set out to write a “risky book” when I wrote We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song, a picture book about how voices upon voices over years upon years built up this famous song like a collage. The book describes how this song came to be and how it helped the people who sang it while they fought against injustice—and how it still helps people today.

            The book starts like this:

Back in slavery times—

when enslaved people worked long days

with no pay and no say,

no freedom, no fairness,

no choice and no chance—

the people sang.

They suffered, yet they sang—

to soothe the hurt,

to fight the cruelty,

to declare that—yes!—they were human beings.

            Each spread has lyrics from the song, or precursor of the song. The book travels through different historical events and times in which the song evolved and played a part.

            I didn’t think of it as a risky book.

            But this past August I received a letter about the book—about this page:

            The text, if you can’t read it in the image, reads as follows:

It took a war—the Civil War—to end slavery.

But even after,

white people treated black people

as less than fully human,

excluding them, ignoring them,

blaming them,

even attacking them,

all because of the color of their skin.

Black people were no longer slaves,

it was true.

But they were not truly free.

Still they believed things would get better.

Still they sang.

           

            As I said, I received a letter.

            “Hello,” the letter began, “at work we had a book fair, and I purchased your book We Shall Overcome. My mouth dropped on page 7, and I had to put the book down! . . . Why didn’t it just say, after the civil war, ‘people’ still had a hard time getting along or understanding. Why did you have to be so . . . I don’t have words. . . . I thought the book would be shocking to read to my grandson.”

            Now, I wouldn’t want to take the approach this letter-writer wanted: to suggest that the problem after the Civil War was that people had a hard time getting along. The problem was racism, and although this book doesn’t use –ism words, I wanted readers to know that white-on-black prejudice was the problem. It wasn’t a matter of simply not getting along.

            Reasonable minds can certainly differ on what a particular child should read. And, of course, a grandmother should choose what she’s comfortable reading to her grandchild. But I do want children to know and to face truths, even uncomfortable ones. I think they are capable. And I think that facing truths is something that goes on, and should go on, in our schools. Which brings me to using this book in the classroom—both as part of social justice education and to get kids writing about how to respond to injustice.

            In my own interactions with young students around this book, I’ve found that they don’t necessarily grasp the notion of racial bigotry at first. (Not a bad form of ignorance!) But we do need to introduce them to this part of our history, which, as we adults know, isn’t really a thing of the past.

            So, with the younger students, I like to begin by talking about unfairness, with some “what if?” questions. What if you couldn’t go to your favorite park because of your hair color? Had to sit apart in school or on bus or in movies because you go to a different church—or don’t go to church? Couldn’t go to the place where they serve the best ice cream in town because only blue people can and you are orange?

            They giggle, but they get it. And then I talk about how, not so long ago, restaurants could refuse to serve you a meal if you were African American. I explain that, in those days, if you were African American, if you were Mexican American—you could not drink out of the same water fountains as white people in some parts of the country. (I share photographs of these and other segregationist practices. They are easy to find on the Internet.)

            So, I ask the kids, what’s unfair about all this? Write a letter to persuade the people in charge—the owner of a restaurant or theater or ice cream parlor, the superintendent of a county park, the president of the bus company—to allow equal access to these places.

            And I ask: if you were being treated so unfairly, or if someone you loved were, how would you feel? Write a diary entry about this.

            We can agree that being treating this unfairly could make you so angry and frustrated that you might want to fight. But fighting with your fists could create even more problems for you and it probably wouldn’t get you what you wanted.

            So, I ask the students, how can you fight with your brain? This is a good question to discuss in a group. And it’s a good question to lead into reading my book, because the story of the song “We Shall Overcome” is in part the story of the ways people in the civil rights movement thoughtfully fought against race discrimination.

            After reading the book and after singing the song, I ask: why was singing part of the fight against unfairness? (I have my answers. Singing shows the people who are treating you unfairly that you are strong, that you are a human being, and that you will be heard. And singing can give you courage and can lift your spirits—especially if you’re singing with others. But I want to know what the students think.)

            Two more writing activities after reading the book:

            Write a journal entry from the point of view of a person who lived through one of the time periods in the story and timeline. It can be someone who participated in the struggle. It can be someone on the sidelines. Someone black, someone white.

            Finally:

            Write your own new verses for the song, verses that respond to problems you see in your or community today. (Bullying comes to mind. Social shaming, too. But let’s see what’s on the students’ minds!)

            This last activity is my favorite. The song’s structure is simplicity itself, so everyone can succeed at this. I like encouraging the idea that everyone can author his or own lyrics about fighting injustice. And the lyrics can lead to a discussion of these difficult issues. The new verses, like “We will stand with you,” or “We are on your side,” are among the rewards for taking on a “risky” subject.

Debbie Levy is the author of more than twenty books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for young people, including the Jane Addams Award Honor book, We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song, and the Sydney Taylor Notable book, The Year of Goodbyes. Visit http://debbielevybooks.com/

             

WRITE A SING-ALONG

by Laura Krauss Melmed

In previous Pencil Tips entries, Mary Quattlebaum blogged about crafting lessons based on fairy tales and nursery rhymes.  Traditional folk songs are another fun medium that can be used for sculpting a workshop.  As a child I was fascinated by an aunt’s big book of American folksongs.  I would pore over the lyrics, especially the sad love ballads like “Barb’ry Allen,” although, since no one in my family played an musical instrument, I could not hear the tunes.

For the purposes of this workshop, however, the songs should be as light and silly as possible.  Amazon.com lists many children’s songbooks of old American favorites, including The American Song Treasury, 100 favorites by Theodore Raph and I Hear America Singing: Folk Songs for American Families by Kathleen Krull, which comes with a 23-song CD.  In addition, individual songs are readily available for downloading from I Tunes and on YouTube.  For teachers who play guitar, this is a perfect opportunity to showcase your talent.

A lesson should start with listening to some tunes while encouraging a sing-along.  Then guide the children in figuring out what elements, such as rhyme, repetition, choice of silly words and absurd situations, have made these songs appealing to successive generations.  Have the students speculate, as I did when writing my picture book, The First Song Ever Sung, when and why people might have first come up with these songs:  to allay boredom or set a rhythm while working in the fields, to banish loneliness while herding cattle, to put a child to sleep, to provide entertainment while sitting around a campfire in the days before a click of the mouse or the remote could bring instant entertainment, etc.  

Then have the group sing “The Eensy Weensy Spider,” followed by reading The Eensy Weensy Spider adapted by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott.  In this zany adaptation, Hoberman comes up with all sorts of continuing adventures for the spider, including hugging a baby bug, going swimming, and shoe-shopping (now, that’s my kind of spider!).  Tell the children that they are going to take part in a similar effort, as a group, using another song.  

For the writing exercise, pick a song having many variations on a single theme.  It should be one in which only the chorus has end-rhymes, since requiring every line to rhyme would narrow the children’s choice of words as they devise their own verses.  For example, for “She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain,”  the students could select a protagonist of choice, such as a sports player, a super hero, or for the sake of this example, a dragon.  The chorus could still be “She’ll (or he’ll) be comin’ around the mountain.”

The verses might go,

“He’ll be breathing smoke and fire when he comes,

He’ll be breathing smoke and fire when he comes,

He’ll be breathing smoke and fire, he’ll be breathing smoke and fire, he’ll be breathing smoke and fire when he comes.

He’ll be roarin’ and a snortin’ when he comes, etc.

He’ll be stompin’ and a thumpin’ when he comes, etc.

For the “The Wheels on the Bus,” you could describe a venue other than the bus, such as your school itself or a vehicle like a firetruck or train.  For “We’re Going to the Zoo” by Tom Paxton, select a different destination, such as the forest or ocean.  For “I Had a Cat,” instead of barnyard animals, use jungle animals, woodland animals, animals found in your backyard.  These songs present many opportunities to make up sounds and devise creative descriptions of actions.  (Some research on your part or your own memory will no doubt reveal other songs that work well.)

Have the children create as many new verses for your chosen song as possible.  When your group’s new version is complete, join together in a rousing group rendition.  After this activity, older students may be given the assignment of choosing another traditional song and creating a variation all their own.  

http://www.laurakraussmelmed.com/