Standard 4

Standard 4 Diversity

• Provide differentiated instruction and instructional materials, including traditional print, digital, and online resources, that capitalize on diversity.

I am reluctant to admit that before this class I didn’t realize that choosing great multicultural books was an important aspect of reading education.  Learning about other cultures is usually a lesson learned in social studies or history classes, or at least that is what I used to believe.  I now realize that multicultural books are critical in early education as these young students usually don’t have social studies or history classes until later in elementary school.  These children often have questions and don’t understand why we don’t all look alike or speak the same languages.  Learning about other cultures is important so that they can understand that we are not all the same and that it is ok to be different.  This is a lesson that will follow them throughout their lives, so it is vital that they learn it at a young age.  In choosing great multicultural books it will allow students to understand different values, cultural influences, languages, as well as how activities and celebrations vary according to culture.  The multicultural book that I chose for my lesson with Liv was The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi.  This book, as most multicultural books do, had a very compelling message and demonstrated the values of Unhei’s (the main character) homeland of Korea.  Students are told how Korean children are sometimes named and why those names are special.  This book also allows students to relate to Unhei, as everyone has something about themselves that they don’t like and everyone wants to fit in.  It also provides an opportunity to show students that just because someone is different does not justify making fun of them.  Now, after reading Chapter 2 in That’s a Great Answer and taking this course, I will be sure to include numerous multicultural books in my lessons!