WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE DIVERSE BOOKS
There is a deep importance in building a classroom library that lets all students feel represented, and in our current moment that requires putting in more effort to find books for our marginalized communities since as we discussed in the mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors there is a massive representation of white children over all other groups. From within our textbook Powerful Thinking by Adrianne Gear within chapter 10 there is a focus on indigenizing education “Few of us were indigenous, so that, in and of itself, became a challenge. Many didn’t necessarily feel qualified to be deliverers of this information, so we sought ways to be authentic and respectful about the material and content we were bringing into our classrooms.” (Gears, pg 142). This quote still feels accurate to how it feels to be indigenizing lessons now, especially as a student teacher who is being told to indigenize our lessons but is feeling very drowned trying to find ways to indigenize lessons meaningfully and respectfully and also truthfully with the added issues with Artificial Intelligence being used to create information which is not always correct.
BOOK TALKS
Ktunaxa legends is a book filled with a large collection of Ktunaxa legends. The book is definitely one you need to read through for your own class or possibly one to keep and pick and choose which stories to read to the class. I have used this book for finding literary devices in a grade 5/6 class by photocopying a story for the class to be able to highlight literary devices while working in groups.
Fatty Legs: A True Story by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton. A story about Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton about her time in residential school. It does start with Olemaun wanting to go to the school no matter how much her older sister and her father did not want her to go but she does go. While at the school she is subjected to mocking by the adults and other students but does not get broken.
Not Quite Snow White by Ashley FranklinA book about Tameika who love to do performances she was excited to play snow white in a school musical. Other students thought she was not a fit to play snow white due to her appearance (weight, Hight, and race). The story goes into her parents helping her find love for herself and that she was perfect just as she was.
This book could be great for students, especially to remind them how perfect they themselves are exactly as they are.
Indigenous ingenuity by Deidre Havrelock and Edward Kay. A book that is a collection of different indigenous creations from sports to fashion to transportation it has information on a lot. The book has everything written in smaller sections which makes it a great book for students to read as early finishers since the sections can be jumped into and are not long time commitments to read. The book could be a great jumping off point when working on indigenizing lessons as well for teachers.
Jacob’s New Dress By Sarah and Ian Hoffman.This book is about a child who enjoyed dresses and shows the acceptance from his family for him wanting to wear dresses while also still showing that not everyone will always accept that he wears dresses. The showing of not always having everyone be accepting does give students the idea that some people will not be accepting of everyone while still showing how it is ok to be yourself.