My Text Set: Poverty

Text set as a whole:

My text set includes three picture books, On Mother’s Lap by Ann Herbert Scott, Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth, and Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting. These three books all represent different aspects of poverty but all have family dynamics as their common theme. These three books are a great start to a diverse library for my classroom. I thought these three books were important to include because each book is focused on a certain culture, one on Inuit family, another on an African American girl, and finally one focused on a Caucasian family. I thought it was important to include these three different cultures because it is important for students to understand that poverty can happen amongst any culture. Poverty is an issue that I feel isn’t very well represented in children’s book or in classroom libraries. Cultures are becoming more prevalent in libraries but I believe poverty is a sub-culture that should also be addressed which is why I have chosen this sub-culture as the topic of my text-set. Each book describes a different aspect of poverty yet in each circumstance there is a family member who takes care of the young individual and allows them to feel safe and loved within their circumstances. I thought it was important to consider each of these books when looking at poverty because each brings a unique aspect and can be read to different age groups.

On Mother’s Lap is a book that I would read to a younger audience especially when doing units on home’s and families. This family is unique because only a Mother, son, and baby are shown. It is also unique because of the limited possessions that the family has yet the son finds that there is love and comfort always on his mother’s lap. Something Beautiful is a book that can be read to an older elementary audience and gives a great message of what beauty truly means and how this meaning can be different depending on the person. The important thing to remember is that beauty is everywhere. Fly Away Home is a book I would also read to older students because homelessness is a difficult topic but I believe that is something that all individuals will have experience with at some point in their lifetime. The book is realistic and offers hope but not an unrealistic idea of the possibility of things taking awhile to change. The young boy living in the airport finds hope within a bird that is able to leave yet we don’t see the boy escaping. Instead we see his trust in his father and his determination to save money. In all three stories there are things that any child could relate to, whether it is the aspect of money, family, or community. These books also give children who may not have much experience with poverty a glimpse into the lives of families who may have different situations. Overall I think this text set represents a broad range of aspects of poverty allowing students to be able to relate to some aspects of poverty but also allowing them to understand some of the things they may not be as familiar with. By looking at these books my hope is that students gain a better understanding of different cultures as well as sub-cultures.
I would recommend these books to individuals of all age groups. As an adult I really enjoyed reading these books and found that even I was gaining information and insights into lifestyles unlike my own yet I was also able to see my like mirrored in some aspects of these books as well which made the experience worthwhile. These authors did a wonderful job representing different aspects of poverty in a realistic yet gentle way in order for readers to gain the most from these picture books.

Undersanding the Students We Teach: Poverty in the Classroom

Review of Professional Resource:

The article that I have chosen to include is titled: "Understanding the Students We Teach: Poverty in the Classroom." from the magazine: "The Clearing House". It was written by Missy M. Bennett.

This article was about a study on the conditions of life students who live in poverty and how this impacts our job as future teachers. It discusses the effects of a project, college students were asked to take a “driving tour” to look into the lives of students and discover the place in which they call home. They were asked to answer specific questions and consider different thoughts about transportation, community, employment, and residence.

The article addressed the lack of discussion and information that future teachers get on the issue of poverty. Diversity is a topic that is usually covered yet socioeconomic status is usually not included and this subculture has great effects on students and classrooms and is something that needs to be discussed. It is imperative to realize and understand how these socioeconomic differences will play a role in the classroom as well as learning how to adapt to these circumstances and allow your classroom to be a place where everyone feels comfortable and accepted. “Themes that emerged were development of awareness of socioeconomic differences, development of empathetic rapport and caring attitudes, and development of a commitment to culturally responsive teaching.” (Bennett) The article recalls that according to the U.S. Census Bureau (2008) 12.7 percent of the United States is living in poverty. This is higher in certain states and lower in others but overall in a class of 30 students, 3 of them would be living in poverty. This is reason enough to be knowledgeable as a teacher but also assist students in the classroom in understanding others around them. The professor who conducted these driving tours took 60 papers she received and has provided the most valuable insights. She notes the one student said, “ I did not expect to see people living in situations like this—in homes that appeared to be unsafe to live in.” For many students, they cannot begin to imagine a life unlike there own and therefore by proving this literature we are able to give them a glimpse and educate them about others. Students in the class were asked to comment on how project impacted their understanding of their future classroom. One student said, “Not everyone’s home life is pleasurable and school is sometimes an escape. Some students use it to rebel and express their pain.” By allowing both teachers and students to become educated about the lives of others both can be more understanding of others. It is important for everyone to realize that no one’s lives are easy and everyone struggles but that each person is going through something different. We must learn to understand other’s differences but also to embrace everyone and learn to interact together as a successful classroom community.

I was immediately drawn to this resource due to both it’s relevance with the topic of poverty but also because it describes the lack of information given to individuals planning to teach about this subgroup. Poverty is prevalent in many communities around the country and will more than likely be something that, as future teachers, we come across in our classrooms. This article did not address literature specifically, rather the need for development of responsive teaching. By understanding that these situations are occurring in the lives of many students, we must help them to feel unified through literature in the classroom. It also helped me to better understand the need for this type of literature in the classroom. The article was addressing college level individuals who were still uneasy and unable to understand individuals they were interacting with because of the socioeconomic differences. This lack of knowledge made it clear that these individuals who had more than 12 years of school had yet to be exposed to this subculture and therefore the need for this literature in the classroom. This article was a great resource and I hope to inspire others to look into this issue, especially those becoming future teachers and maybe when placed, take a look at the surrounding area to really get a feel for the individuals you will be interacting with.

This project was done at Georgia Southern University.

Student quotes and information came from the article:

Bennett, Missy M. "Understanding the Students We Teach: Poverty in the Classroom." The Clearing House Aug. 2008.

On Mother's Lap by Ann Herbert Scott

Image found: on the Barnes and Noble website

Scott, Ann Herbert and Coalson, Glo. On Mother’s Lap. New York: Clarion Books, 1992.

On Mother’s Lap is the first book that I have chosen for my text set on poverty. The picture book is about an Inuit boy who enjoys rocking on his mother’s lap.

This book starts off with the main character Michael sitting on his Mother’s lap rocking. Michael then decides that his dolly wants to rock as well so he goes and gets dolly. They rock for a bit and then Michael says that his boat needs him so he brings boat onto mothers lap and they rock. He goes on to gather his reindeer blanket and his puppy and they all rock on Mother’s lap back and forth. But then baby starts to cry, she would like to rock as well. Michael feels that there isn’t room for baby to rock with them but Mother disagrees. She gets baby and they all rock together. Michael is satisfied and Mother lets him know that “there is always room on Mother’s lap.

The title page illustration shows the setting of a cold climate along some type of water. All the houses in the picture appear to be very similar, made out of wood and small. We then see the inside of Michael’s house. There is a single chair in which he and his Mother are sitting in along with a clothes line across the wall where a pair of gloves, socks, and one t-shirt are strung. There is also a small stove, but that is all that is there. The walls are bare and the floor is wooden but both Michael and his mom have smiles on their faces as they snuggle together. When Michael goes to get his doll we see another angle of the house, which appears to just be one large room and there is a dresser and a box on the floor. In the pages following we see Michael sitting on his mothers lap, they are both smiling with the items that he has gathered but the surrounding areas of the page are white. This allowed me as a reader to just focus on the two of the and not their surroundings. It seemed that nothing else mattered just that the two of them were enjoying each other’s company. We are then shown another angle of the room as Michael goes to retrieve his reindeer blanket. His baby sister is shown lying on a bed. As the story concludes Mom, baby, and Michael are all snuggled up in the rocking chair together with a doll, puppy, boat, and blanket and they all appear to be at peace among their bare house.

I thought this picture book was interesting because when just focusing on the text of the book, it is hard to see the issue of poverty. Many children of all different socio-economic statuses enjoy rocking on their Mother’s lap and often don’t like to share this time with siblings. Because the situation is common, I feel that many children would be able to relate to the storyline and therefore have a connection with the book. Once I took a look at the illustrations I was able to see how poverty was a subculture represented in this book. Their house appeared to be a single room which was bare only including a small stove, dresser, bed, and rocking chair. Mom and Michael wore boots throughout the story possibly because the lack of heat in the house. The warm tones of colors chosen allowed for a subtle look into the life of this child living in poverty.

I think this would be a great book to read to early elementary school children to introduce the idea of poverty. The refrain “back and forth” draws children in and allows them to feel connected. This would be a good book to read aloud and then later allow the children to view the illustrations more closely. Although the book didn’t directly give any information about poverty, through the illustrations readers were able to see that although the house was bare, Michael, Mom and baby all loved each other and were happy anyway. There was always room to rock back and forth on Mother’s Lap. This book would definitely be one that I would include in my classroom library. I believe that it promotes a positive view of family and although students in the class may not have the same living conditions it is important for them to be able to see that there are similarities like maybe being rocked by their Mothers.

I believe this book does work as a piece of diverse literature because although it does not provide direct information about living in poverty, the reader is shown a familiar situation of a boy and his Mother yet is also able to see how the household may look different from theirs. The author, Ann Herbert Scott notes in the back of the book how she was inspired to write this story by her son Peter. Therefore this “universal childhood experience” as the front flap puts it, is something that she has seen in her own son. She is an insider on the main theme of family that I have found within all the books that I have chosen. The illustrator of the book, Glo Coalson lived in as Eskimo village for a year, according to the back flap and therefore has had an authentic experience to base her illustrations off of.

Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

Image from: amazon.com


Wyeth, Sharon Dennis, and Chris K. Soentpiet. Something Beautiful. New York: Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1998.

Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth is the second book I have chosen for my text set on the issue of poverty.

This picture book is written in first person. The individual speaking is a young girl who appears to be in elementary school. She is African American and lives in a neighborhood where she encounters broken bottles, trash, graffiti, and homelessness yet she is in search of something beautiful. One the first page the young girl looks out her window and sees the trash and broken bottles, she compares them to fallen stars. Along with the trash we can also notice that there are bars over windows and wood boarding up a door which is connected to the building in which she lives. “DIE” is written on the front door of her building. She walks past a lady who is home is a cardboard box and she is using plastic as a blanket. The lady has no shoes on and is sleeping. The young girl appears sad when looking at the lady. She appears scared as she runs past a dark alley which is also covered in trash and has a chain-link fence. Yet she continues to wonder, her mother has told her that everyone has something beautiful in their lives and she has yet to find something. Her facial expression appears scared and fearful. School is shown and the students in the classroom are learning about the word that is written across the board, “BEAUTIFUL”. The teacher is a smiling African American male. The students in the class are mostly African American, one is a Caucasian girl. The speaker defines beautiful, “something that when you have it, your heart is happy.” Then it seems that although poverty is around her, beautiful things are around her as well. Miss Delphine at the Diner serves her what she believes is beautiful, a fried fish sandwich. The young girl then travels outside where she sees three of her friends, a young African American boy, and two girls, one Caucasian and one African American. She asks them what they have that is beautiful and they all have different responses, their jump rope, beads, and shoes. It appears that everyone has a different idea of what is beautiful to them but everyone is able to think of something. Other friends even tell her that their moves and sounds are beautiful. An older gentlemen sitting on his steps finds a smooth stone beautiful. Her aunt allows her to hold her baby boy, she tells that the baby’s laugh is beautiful. She travels back home to her stoop where she is again surrounded by the graffiti one her door and the trash that is on the ground. She then decides to clean up the trash and scrub off the graffiti. She has the power to change her surroundings, at least some of them. Her mother comes home and when asked what something beautiful she has, she says her daughter. Both mother and daughter are smiling at one another. Amongst the poverty that we are shown throughout the book, each individual can find something beautiful and in the end the speaker is something beautiful to her mother.
I thought this book was a great way to show poverty to a class. Graffiti especially can be seen in many neighborhoods, on train cars, trash cans, or even street signs. It is something that many individuals can relate to. I thought the book did a good job portraying a neighborhood where there were homeless individuals but there were also individuals like Miss Delphine who were successful. Although this young girl struggled to find something beautiful in her neighborhood, it was her mother who gave her the idea that “everyone should have something beautiful in their life.” By doing this her mother is giving her hope and encouragement and allowing her to believe that everyone can have that something that makes them smile and that they find beautiful. This thread of family, finding hope from her mother, as well as in the end realizing that she was the something beautiful that her mother had helps readers to understand that beauty is dependent upon the person. This book did not ever use the term poverty but it allowed the reader to have a window into a neighborhood which appeared to be in poverty, with barred windows, boarded up doors, homeless people sleeping near the buildings in which people lived, and graffiti written on this young girls building door. Through the illustrations we see though that although there is trash in the courtyard, the sun is still shining. And in the classroom, the teacher appears to be excited to be teaching about beauty and there are colorful paintings which decorate the walls. Her friends are smiling and even the older individuals that live in her neighborhood all can offer her insights into their idea of beauty. I believe this book is not stereotypical displaying both African American and Caucasian individuals. There are individuals in the book who appear to be successful as well as individuals in the book who appear to be struggling but all are a part of this neighborhood. This book promotes a positive message about beauty and allows readers to look for the good in any situation. It would also allow teachers to talk about different lifestyles and neighborhoods in the community and how although they all may be different, there is beauty in each of them. This book will definitely be a part of my classroom library as it shares many values in which I would like to promote in my classroom.
This book is a good example of a diverse piece of literature and was written by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. She is African American and speaks from her own childhood experiences, as readers can gather from the front flap of the book. She “reminds us that there is strength in community and that our greatest treasure is our children.” In the back of the book the author’s note also describes that when she was first married she received a small pitcher from her mother, that was her something beautiful. She placed it on her windowsill so she wouldn’t have to look at the alley outside. Therefore her idea of the book came from a direct memory from her mother and how her mother’s love inspired the story. The illustrator of the book is Chris K. Soentpiet who was born in South Korea, according to the back flap of the book, but was adopted along with his sister when he was eight years old. He does a wonderful job with color, allowing the reader to gather information through the images that he has created that tie in with the text.

Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting

Photo from: Fantasticfiction.com

Bunting, Eve, and Ronald Himler. Fly Away Home. Ed. James Cross Giblin. New York: Clarion Books, 1991.

The third book I have chosen to include in my text-set about poverty is titled Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting.

This picture book describes the life of a young boy and his father who live in an airport. The book is written in first person and the speaker is a young Caucasian boy. The boy begins the story stating that he and his father live in the airports because it is better than the streets which automatically allows readers to understand that they are a family who lives in poverty. He describes how the most important rule to follow while living in the airport is to never get caught. He explains what belonging they have, they wear blue jeans, blue T-shirts, and blue jackets and they carry blue zippered bags with a change of blue clothes. He talks about an experience they once had where a lady got caught living in the airport and quickly was removed, “She wore a long, dirty coat and she lay down across a row of seats…” He explains that he and his dad sleep sitting up and use different airport terminals to stay unseen. He talks about how there are others they know who also live in the airport but they don’t sit together because that would be noticeable as well. He talks about how everything in the airport is in motion, yet he and his father stay. The little boy then digresses to tell a story about a bird he once saw in the airport that was stuck. The boy gave encouragement to the bird silently, and in a few days the bird escaped through a sliding door. The boy expressed happiness in seeing the bird escape. The boy then goes on to describe his usual routines, getting clean by washing up in the airport bathroom, buying food from the cafeteria, and how his dad leaves for work on the weekends. His dad is a janitor but only works on the weekends. He describes how on those days he is watched by another family, the Medinas, who also live in the airport. He and another boy return luggage carts or call cabs for people to get money. His dad pays the Medinas for watching him by buying them dinner. He expresses his want to have their own apartment again and is even saving up money in his shoe. He shares how he knows that his dad is looking for apartments but they are all too expensive and that makes his dad sad and angry. He also discusses how next year his dad says he has to start school. We are able to see his frustration with him and his dad’s lifestyle. He envies others who are at the airport and have homes. He describes, “Sometimes I just want to cry. I think Dad and I will be here forever.” Yet he finds hope in the bird that was able to be free.

I feel that this book is a very good book to include in this text set because it talks about how this young boy is able to cope with his situation. His feelings seem realistic, wishing that he was able to have a home like others, but also hopeful that by collecting money he will eventually be able to escape. Homelessness is something that is not usually discussed in children’s books but by including this book in my text-set I am allowing children to gain a better understanding of situations that are occurring in many communities. This book works as a piece of diverse literature because it includes the aspect of homelessness as something that can happen to any family. The book also received a “Heal the World” award from school children. Even if students have had no experience with homelessness themselves they have more than likely seen it when traveling or in the least heard family members talk about money. Especially in today’s economy I feel that it is an important thing to talk about especially in terms of community. Eve Bunting lived in Northern Ireland for a period of time where she saw a depressed economy. Her and her family moved to California with no work or money but felt that that is where opportunity was. Therefore I believe Eve Bunting is an insider who has had unique experiences with poverty and therefore can accurately write about the topic.

Information about Eve Bunting found at:

Polichenco, Jennifer. "Eve Bunting." American Collection: Educator's Site. 5 Dec. 2008 .

TE448 Final Reflection

When looking back at the class as a whole, there is one specific week that I found myself learning the most. The week was about GLBTQ. Having gone to some of the GLBTQ Safe Schools Seminars and learning so much from those I feel that I have really pushed my thinking about this topic and expanded my knowledge. I feel that in general I am open to diversity and issues of GLBTQ but I had never specifically thought of how this issue could impact my classroom. While reading Boy Meets Boy I gained a better understanding of things that I had not thought about before. Being heterosexual I have never given thought about things such as walking down the street holding a guy's hand. Yet, when I see a homosexual couple walking down the street holding hands I do take a second look. Not because I agree or disagree with their lifestyle, but simply because it is something I am not used to seeing. Those are the situations in which I have no idea what it feels like and I understand that those are things I may never understand but simply realizing that I feel is important. In order to connect with my students I feel that I need to recognize that maybe I don’t know what their lifestyle is like and I will never know but I can be apathetic and just be there for them in any way possible. Another issue we talked about among my small group was name calling in the hallway or the classroom. I feel that this is still going to be something that I need to work on, how to handle situations in which students may be calling each other gay, as a put down, and how to appropriately handle that situation.Name calling is hurtful and happens with all age groups and I think in order to make both the school and the classroom a safe atmosphere name calling is something that should not be tolerated. How to make the environment such a place is something that I am going to have to work towards as a teacher. Having the discussion with my group I understood that there is still a lot to learn and there are experiences that I will have as a teacher that will test what I know and what I believe and those will have to be taken in strides. I realize that there is no way to be prepared for everything but by taking classes like TE448 I feel more prepared and feel like my classroom will benefit from these experiences that I have had.

Recently I was able to view part of the movie Blindness and thought it would be beneficial to share some of the lines that were in the movie that I thought were interesting. In the first scene of the movie on individual becomes blind while driving in his car. He seems scared so he does not continue driving. Other people notice and thankfully a few men come over and ask him what is the matter. He replies that he has become blind. He says he just wants to go to his apartment and his wife can help him. The men's commentary is quite interesting. One volunteers to take him there. As the man who has just become blind is stepping out of his car he hits his head, one man says, "Careful, take care of him, watch him, he can't see." It is like he went from being a fully functioning adult to a child who is unable to do things like walk on the street alone. The man that is driving him asks him if he can still hear, and tells him to say something if he needs anything. I also thought it was interesting it shows what the blind man is seeing. He describes it as "swimming in milk". Then things go blurry, almost like the audience is also blind, but then they focus back in again. The "helper" of the blind man announces to bypassers "He is blind! He can't see" I thought this was also interesting. The blind man says to his wife that he would rather die than stay like this. He tells his wife that he can see nothing at all and she tells him to try harder. A doctor tells him they will try and fix this. There is a lot of the blurry effects and then the camera sees to come into focus.
Overall it seemed like blindness was this strange science fiction idea, like a strange plague coming over different people rather than something that individuals have and still continue to be fully functioning. In my opinion, it is interesting that when I see someone who is blind I know they do not want or expect me to feel sorry for them but this movie portrays that being blind is the worst thing that could happen, especially when the character says he would rather be dead than blind. Yet there is an entire community of blind individuals that are happy, healthy, and a part of our communities.
I didn't have time to watch the entire movie but thought I would share the part in which I did see and my reactions to that. I didn't really have much interest in watching the rest of this film.