Robert M. Schwartz
The complex study of cultures is nothing that should be overlooked because of issues with reading skills. In fact, coinciding with the appropriate philosophy that students will rise to the level to which they are challenged, more complex cultural study within a reading intervention classroom can provide challenge, pique interest, and possibly account for effective improvement of reading skills. As part of the Read 180 curriculum, struggling readers are asked to delve into the world of “Survivors.” Students read about a musician in Columbia who sings about loss and struggle in his home country, a young female surfer who loses her arm to a shark attack yet perseveres despite her injury to become a champion, and an organization in California that provides employment for former gang members. This unit is part of the Read 180 curriculum and is used nationwide. However, this section of this curricular unit can be used with any foundational reading study or intervention. In fact, it is the foundational nature of the study that aligns so well with inclusion of Native America – the foundational culture of our continent. We consider ourselves the “First World” – a country where we do not deal with the problems and struggles the survivors of the “Third World” endure. Columbia, for example, is a country where much of the population merely survives – doing so in much tumult and turmoil. This provides students with an incomplete sense of what happens in their own country – forcing them to endure unaware, in many cases, of the struggles faced by American Indians historically and continually. The inclusion of American Indian study to enhance the skills of struggling readers, in this regard, aligns quite well. Really, there are many Native American stories that could align perfectly with a unit on survivors. This reading intervention section of this curricular unit begins with a foundational overview (above) of the history of American Indian experience including struggles; then, the students delve into short fiction by the ubiquitous Native author Sherman Alexie; finally, students take a look at the enduring struggle of tribal nations to maintain sovereign jurisdiction over prosecution of sexual and violent assaults on Native women by non-Natives.
Sliver of a Full Moon,
written by playwright, attorney and member of the Cherokee Nation, Mary Kathryn Nagle, is a poignant, thought-provoking play that encapsulates the modern triumph of sovereign American tribes, and their struggle to this day to fight for rights other Americans take for granted.
Activities
Students will begin with the aforementioned overview of American Indian history and discuss survival. This is a good opportunity for journal entries and class discussion. In the reading intervention classroom, this is an important time to also include the elements of focus for reading comprehension. For this purpose, the students will focus on main idea, supporting details, and summarizing.
Students might be asked what they know about American Indians. What have they been taught in their academic experience? What comes to mind on the subject? Brief journal entries are a popular part of the reading intervention classroom, as are think-pair-share activities for class discussion. Once students have done their think-pair-share is a good time for the overview of American Indian history, culminating in the examples of modern thriving American Indians, adding at this point Sherman Alexie, whose short story
This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona
is apt for use in both introducing the “Survivors” unit, and beginning activities surrounding the skills of finding main idea and supporting details, and summarization. Students should read the story (Appendix A-1) – it can also be read aloud by the teacher or one or several students (common in a reading intervention classroom is reading aloud – it is important for struggling readers to make a visual and also audio connection to the text). The story focuses on two American Indian boys traveling far off their reservation to collect the remains of one, Victor’s, father who recently was found deceased in Phoenix, Arizona. It is a story of companionship and certain aspects of the American Indian experience: poverty, disenfranchisement, surviving and thriving, strength of human spirit; and is rich for practice in the aforementioned skills. Further activities may include time to find main idea and supporting details and sharing out, work-shopping these notes, and using them to construct an effective summary of the text. “One of his dreams came true for just a second, just enough to make it real,” writes Alexie in his story.
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Alexie’s singular voice makes American Indian culture accessible to all, and is particularly apt for students who struggle in reading, as it is relatable (even if you are not American Indian), readable and engaging.
Once the students have a foundational understanding of American Indian history, they will foray into a more modern legal study. Keeping with the important feature of high-interest subject matter, students will be given a lesson surrounding the text of Mary Kathryn Nagle’s
Sliver of a Full Moon
. This play, centered on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and its reauthorization in 2013, focuses on the Native American women and their supporters who fought to include said women in the Act. The play is poignant, highly engaging, and very complex. In this regard, the story will be told in a more simple, straightforward way in order for struggling 9
th
grade readers to conceptually align it with their study of survivors. A threefold advantage of study through this curricular unit is apparent here: reading skills, an understanding of Native struggle, and a socio-emotional appreciation for citizens they may not usually think about, in this case tribal women who are victims of sexual and violent crimes, and the perpetrators of these crimes who are not held to tribal jurisdictional prosecution.
Students will be able to relate because it is a human story. The advantage of using Native American study to enhance their “Survivors” unit includes the aforementioned, but also will help encourage these young learners to begin asking why:
Why has there been so much persecution in human history?
Why has it taken so long for some people to attain justice?
Students can watch any or all of the play online (Appendix A-2). It may be advisable to give the context and show them excerpts, especially the emotional ending when VAWA is passed in congress (the junior American literature class outlined below will be required to read or view the entire play). Many freshmen, in their regular English classes (recall that this is an intervention classroom and more than likely will be taught as a supplement to their regular freshmen English class), will be studying themes such as social justice and human nature, so they can make a connection to those themes while practicing summary skills – there are more complex supporting details in the play. It will be a challenge for them and they may need to be helped to support their understanding – as aforementioned, challenge is imperative for growth. Once developed, students can take this understanding and juxtapose it with other stories – in the case of Read 180 the “Survivors” stories – working right from the foundation with challenging concepts but relatable themes.
At this point, it will be valuable for students to compose a piece of writing – either an extensive journal entry or mini-essay – on their developing understanding of the difference between surviving and thriving. Can they think of any examples from
This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona
? From
Sliver of a Full Moon
? After they have done this, it can be revealed to students that Alexie’s short story was made into a feature film entitled
Smoke Signals
(Appendix A-3). This film is more extensive and detailed than the short story, and therefore acts as a strong assessment of main idea, supporting details and summary skills if students are asked to write a detailed summary of the film. It is also a fun, poignant, engaging film and can serve as reward for hard work well done in the students’ learning up to this point.
Read 180 is a very structured curriculum, so it is recommended that these activities are utilized in the Read 180 room of the more experienced educator who is aware of time constraints – it is the educator’s prerogative which activities to include or not include to supplement the “Survivors” unit. In a general reading intervention classroom, or really any reading or English classroom, these activities can act as a stand-alone unit for foundational understanding of Native America and reading comprehension skills.