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Centering Race in Literary Studies in the Kindergarten ClassroombyKatherine Swann
Literary Studies has historically used a colorblind approach. With this approach, race is not explicitly named, often dismisses difference by race, and the outcomes perpetuate segregation and a hierarchy of race. This is highly problematic for me and for the education of my students. As a kindergarten teacher, it is my goal to create a community within the four walls of my classroom. A community that not only includes everyone but embodies the true spirit of a community. We learn through many different lenses. We are explorers, investigators, scientists, mathematicians, literary scholars, and, most importantly, we are a community. My community is Oberle Elementary School which is a public elementary school in the Christina School District in New Castle County, Delaware. Oberle is one of fourteen elementary schools in Christina School District. The district is the largest district in the state, largely suburban with a handful of schools in an urban setting. There are close to 650 students enrolled, at Oberle. The school represents a diverse mixture of ethnicity’s, including 55% Hispanic and 28% African American population. At Oberle, 56% of the students qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch Program. The students at Oberle have access to all the academic’s required for an Elementary school in Delaware. As a fully inclusive school, students of different ability levels are in my classroom, so I must ensure that all my lessons can be easily differentiated. The students are given different opportunities to apply their skills based on their abilities. This unit will redirect my literary studies focus away from a colorblind approach towards a race-centered approach.
The ELA curriculum leaves room for teachers to select stories they might see fit to teach the skill of the week. The district provides a list of books that will work with the skill; however, I have discovered that the books typically have the same story told over and over again. The books lack diversity in their images and storylines, and often fail to give students meaningful ways of talking about race and racism. It is my job to make sure that I expose my students to diverse stories and to introduce new reading practices that do not simply reproduce the colorblind model of reading. This makes the challenge for me to create a unit (and future units) that have a race-centered approach as well as for all students to learn early on more critical vocabulary of race.
The goal for this unit is to create an engaging experience for the students that not only incorporates basic writing and reading skills as well as develop critical thinking skills. This unit will include scaffolding as the students’ progress which will allow the students to learn on their level. This unit will also lead the continuous education of the students and staff in my classroom about culture, heritage, and race. The displays in my classroom will be reflective of the lessons covered. In addition, I plan to make sure this unit helps to encourage our school librarian to incorporate more culturally inclusive and allow students to see themselves in the stories we read. I will provide the librarian with lists of texts that will help to create this environment.
In the English Language Arts, students are expected to be able to describe the connection between texts and point out the similarities and differences of those texts. This unit will expand students understanding of texts that they may not be familiar with. The unit will challenge them to see beyond the norm and start to question why those were the norms. It will allow the students to become true critical thinkers. The unit will show the importance of race-centered reading practices in the elementary school. It will require a huge undertaking by both myself and the students but when they move onto other more difficult texts throughout their education, they will have a better understanding on how to dissect literature for greater gains. As a part of the unit, students will be keeping a visual (drawings or writing) journal that not only allows them to get their ideas down onto paper, it will also allow them to use their creative energy towards the common goal of identifying parts of the stories that are similar and different.
Teacher Background Knowledge
Colorblindness and Race Neutrality
Teachers who adopt CBRI are likely to avoid racial questions or comments from students because they are “uncomfortable” or “sensitive” and because they believe in emphasizing “sameness” over difference. However, teachers who dismiss students’ questions or comments about race, fearing that they will introduce prejudice into the child’s life or assuming that differences do not matter, thwart the child’s ability to engage in constructive discourse and to develop critical thinking on the subject.1
When you hear “colorblind” or “race neutrality” what do you think? For most, you assume that this is a good practice. Colorblindness and race neutrality indicate that race is not explicitly named and has little to no impact on society. The true problem with these words is that they are actively dismissing the differences of race and the outcomes that will continue to perpetuate segregation and hierarchy. The terms create segregation under the guise of the language of neutrality. In the classroom, bringing awareness to racism or a consciousness to racism is to engage students to question and evaluate power and our society. It is important to know that neutrality does not equal justice and treating unequal conditions equally will only reproduce inequality. Lifting the veil of colorblindness allows you to examine the impact and not just the intent. Ultimately, this allows the focus to move from being on the process but allowing you to examine the power.
We must examine power in all disciplines, however, in this unit I will address it through the humanities. Felice Blake speaks of this very idea in her article, “Why Black Lives Matter in the Humanities” from the book Seeing Race Again. Blake explains it is not enough to just include populations that have been excluded but also change our approach to reading. She uses the example of The Color Purple written by Alice Walker asking, “did we think critically about the novel’s profound concern with the vulnerability and the complexities of poor black community’s even as we championed Black creativity?”2 It is with this question I see the change to my own thinking. One way to change our approach is to acknowledge when something was not right and using the statement, “The United States was wrong about…” or substituting a person’s name for the United States. Even admitting that I was wrong about… allows students to see that it is ok to be imperfect, vulnerable and that no one is infallible. We teach our students that it is ok to question whether something is appropriate or just or moral, then we provide the students to use the analyzation skills to seek the truth about different subjects. In this ELA unit, my focus must be on the telling and retelling of stories that give some insight into where the author has been as well as where they are going.
We read not simply to marvel at the creativity of literariness, but to do so in ways to acknowledge that power as it articulates new ways of being, knowing and engaging. Race -conscious reading practices point us toward a reorientation and transformation of the humanities and of the university itself. A revitalized humanities studying & documenting how people process human experience would be poised to set forth a new vision of possibility.3
Blake understood exactly what reading should look like in the classroom. She references the university but the same is true on every level of education and the importance of acknowledging the power each book we read has over us. It reminds me of the telling of the story of the three little pigs. In the many versions of the book, each pig makes a house, one of sticks, one of straw and the other of bricks. The story continues with the villain, “The Big, Bad Wolf” coming to get the little pigs. Ultimately, the story is about the outsmarting of the wolf. However, in The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, the story is told from the point of view of the wolf. (Spoiler alert: the wolf had allergies and although the pigs thought he was after them, he was just looking to make some friends.) When I use these stories to teach sequence of events, I also teach the students that sometimes what appears to be the truth in one story is only the truth of the storyteller. I am sure that many stories shared with our students have different points of view and it is complicated to show our students how one’s point of view can change their interpretation of events. This is essential to helping our students learn that we need to not only include different points of view, but we need to see how important these points of view are to the community.
Grace Lee Boggs described the dominant model of schools as a “factory model of education”4 in which schools served as a pipeline from the classroom to the factory. Students would sit through hours of lecture where they would be given all the information, they needed to be successful. Teachers would stand at the front of the room and provided students with all the material they would need as they moved forward in their lives. The problem arose that this version of school was not beneficial for the students to learn and grow. Freedom Schooling however is offering up many sites of learning and engagement that go beyond the classroom. The focus is that students and teachers are exchanging knowledge on a horizontal axis. Allowing students to be active makers of knowledge and shaper of social life.
The very nature of our current curriculum design makes it impossible to value and honour the rich culture, tradition, and familial experience each child brings with them in the classroom.5
Much of modern history curriculum is about the United States, it around colonialism and the establishment of this country through the eyes of those in power. Although most history books mention slavery and the civil war, they leave out the fact that all slaves were not free until June 19, 1865 which was two years following Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and 5 months after the passing of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The Civil Rights Movement is introduced, what is left out is that the fight for Civil Rights did not end with the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In fact, many of the rights that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and so many others fought for are still being fought for by many groups including the Black Lives Matter Movement. If we look at any of the creative arts curriculum, there is still a focus around a “whiteness” or the thought that the products created by people of color are not as crucial to our society because it is not the “norm”. As we look at curriculum, we must analyze it for what it is trying to tell us and not what it is simply written. In the article, Teaching K-8 Students about Race, it points out that “…what makes the history curriculum a central space for debating issues of representation, national history, and race is that most if not all U.S. citizens are expected at one time or another to read, sing, and learn a common narrative of American history in school.”6 We expect all citizens to know that basics of American History but leave out the impact that some of the citizens had on the country. It is our job as teachers to expand our knowledge and challenge the curriculum to present all sides of history as one cohesive history. Not one of the different sides of history happen independent of the others. In fact, when we review most of history, we will see how they work together to show the whole picture of history.
An obstacle in our approach to teaching about race and racism is that it can be extremely uncomfortable to have open discussions about these topics. Do not get me wrong, I know how uncomfortable it is to have these discussions, but it is our obligation to our students to learn and grow as they are learning and growing. Not only must we go looking for this information, we must bring it back to our schools and districts to assist in the change throughout the system. I know that teaching race and racism may seem like a difficult subject especially for our younger learners, however, it is possible that this may not only assist with the students interactions with each other but extend into their homes where they will be share what they are learning. Teaching social justice requires that we change how we teach so that we can create an environment that produces active and engaged learners. Using different mediums (newspapers, magazines, online journals, blogs, etc.), also will allow the student to become more engaged in the learning because they will see how history or racism affects them in their world.
When I begin to unpack how I want to teach any unit, I ask myself “how will I get my students attention?” This unit will allow me to expand my different teaching strategies and try some different approaches. Many of the skills I will focus on are skills that apply to every ELA lesson I teach, however with the focus on community, it will also have a link to the Social Standards. First, students will be given the opportunity to ask and answer questions about the stories we read. They will need to focus on the key ideas and details from the texts. The students will work to integrate their knowledge or ideas to compare the narrative elements of familiar stories and the retelling of those stories. Many of these opportunities will lead to a focus on speaking and listening which is a major foundation of kindergarten.
In addition, I will use visualization using art and music to allow the students to refocus and prepare for the day’s instruction. The students will also use their visual journals to make notes or create their own form of art in response to what they see and hear. As I always include in my instruction, I will provide differentiated instruction. The students will use a variety of approaches, whether working in individually or small groups. The pacing and support provided will be adjusted to ensure that all students are engaged and actively participating throughout the learning. Students will be given opportunities to work in cooperative groups to complete assignments and activities. This will allow students to work together taking on various roles based on the lessons with a focus on success for all.
Prior to the beginning of this unit, the students will have already read and learned that most of the stories taught will show characters, setting, and have a beginning, middle and end. Once the students have become proficient at being able to identify those pieces. We will expand their critical thinking skills to be able to compare and contrast different stories that have a similar story but are written in different languages or cultures. Using the knowledge, the students have about different fairy tales will allow them to further explore how each of these stories address morality and storytelling.
In this unit, we will start by reading, Red Riding Hood by James Marshall. The students and I will examine the story and identify the parts of the story. We will then read additional stories that are similar to Red Riding Hood from other areas. The students will look for the similarities and the differences. After seeing the basic differences between cultures and their story telling, I will then introduce additional pieces of literature that allow the students to see a different perspective of life. Using books such as My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey, we will explore the stories offering the students an unique opportunity to learn and discuss experiences of racism and visions of racial justice and to learn how important it is to not just tolerate other races but understand and show how essential these stories are to our society.
By the end of this unit, students will be able to speak about specific experiences of race and racism and have a better understanding and be able to share their knowledge with those that are around them. The students will walk out of my classroom with a head full of knowledge and the ability to access that knowledge to apply to the rest of their schooling and life. One day I hope they see how this unit and units similar to this are beneficial to the world we live in. They will be able to share their love for all literature with everyone they encounter. This unit is designed to integrate social studies concepts with the reading standards that are required for all teachers to use in their classroom. By using these standards, it creates a cross-curricular unit plan. With little to no specific instruction around our social studies, this will create a true cross-curricular unit for Kindergarten. This unit will create curriculum that has never been available for the students. The unit will incorporate activities for the students as well as assessments that will benefit the students in kindergarten.
This unit will create an engaging experience for the students that not only incorporates basic writing and reading skills as well as develop critical thinking skills. This unit will include scaffolding as the students’ progress which allows the students to learn on their level. My goal is to create a unit is to not just support the current standards within my classroom but to help students to be able to disrupt the norms in their experiences. Ultimately, this unit will help to shape and have a positive effect on consciences. I will spend my time working through this unit and the rest of my curriculum to ensure that the lessons I am teaching are not exclusionary and allow all students to be heard. My goal is to have a classroom environment and pedagogy that can liberate, transform, and empower my students.
Changes in the Classroom Environment
In the struggle to create an environment that does not continue to focus on the colonial standard that most of us are comfortable with, where can we start? The idea that we must decolonize our library and not just our readings, while focusing on expanding our reading practices. Literature is designed to shape the cultural meaning and identity. It is the product of the knowledge of ourselves. The expansion of our reading repertoire must extend to realizing that there is not one voice to share their experiences of their community but taking many voices to see how each is impacted and part of the community.
In addition, we must analyze the items we bring into our classroom for use with our students. As we work to create an environment that is beneficial for all our students, it is important that we take the opportunity to expose the students to many different artists, musicians, and ways of thinking. It takes more than a simple modification to one lesson in our history unit to allow to change how we approach an Anti-Racist classroom.
An example of this could look like this: when students enter the classroom, music from the different genres and artists like A Tribe Called Red or La Santa Cecilia will allow the students to hear music that may not be familiar to them and will allow them to challenge their own sense of music norms. My goal is for the students to explore their knowledge of music and see how music can relate to all facets of their life. Students may start their morning writing in their visual journal about a piece of art that is projected onto the whiteboard from the artists Ramiro Gomez or Titus Kaphar that gives them access to a different understanding of art. Using that piece of music or art to further the understanding that we must look past the basic idea and look for the deeper-rooted ideals in everything we do. The use of music and art not only allows students to begin their day thinking outside of the typical language arts lesson but also is a great way to get the students hooked into the lesson. It can also help students to be more excited about learning in the classroom.
Each of the activities may be used in a virtual as well as in a in person school setting. I find that it is extremely important to create curriculum that is adaptable for any type of setting we might have and the national pandemic we are currently dealing with it is important to be prepared.
Introduction of Unit
The unit will begin with me reading, Same, Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw which will allow us to start a conversation about race and colorblindness. After we read the book, we will spend some time defining these new terms for the students. We will create a vocabulary page for them to be able to use throughout the unit. We will start with race, colorblindness, and community. I will give the students an opportunity to help come up with the definitions so that they are in student friendly language. The page will have room for the students to add additional words as we move throughout the unit.
A View of our Community
We will use maps to identify observations about community. We will start by looking at a map of the United States, the Mid-Atlantic, Delaware and our neighborhood. For each of the maps, we will discuss what they see on the map, any differences that they might notice, and about community. When discussing community, we will talk about how the community changes as we switch maps. I will use chart paper to display the key points the students bring up. When we get to our neighborhood map, we will discuss specifics of the area. I will point out the local stores, clubs and where our homes are on the map. I will explain to the students’ the type of places every community has in it. In addition, we will extend our learning to discuss the indigenous history of Delaware, the contemporary presence of Native people and nations and historic African American communities in our area. This would lead us to going on a field trip (virtual/actual) to Iron Hill Science Center which is less than fifteen minutes from our school. On this site, they provide lessons about the Lenni Lenape Tribes of Delaware. The Iron Hill School was one of 80 schools built for African American children between 1919-1928 by Pierre Samuel du Pont is also housed on the same property.
What makes a community?
For this activity, I would start by reading My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey by Jeanne Walker Harvey. After reading this book, we will discuss how this book shows Romare Bearden’s life through the use of Bearden's art. I will then ask students to create their own presentation that will explain who they are and what their community looks like to them. It will be an open project so that students will have general directions but will be allowed to create/present it in any manner they would like to and that they are comfortable creating. The directions will include talking about their family heritage, favorites, and must include a picture (drawn or printed) of themselves. I will encourage them to be as creative as possible and share as much as they would like to with their classmates. The students will present in front of the entire class and then be paired up with classmates so they can compare themselves to each other. They will spend the time discussing how their differences make them unique and how those differences come together to create our community in the classroom.
The visual journal could be a composition book, a notebook, or even created in a digital media to allow access for all students. Students will be asked to keep a visual journal throughout the school year. At multiple points during the unit, the students will be asked to write, draw, or sketch out their response. This journal will allow the students to express their ideas however they choose. It is important for students to be able to answer a prompt or question without worrying about the words specifically. It is so important that at their age they feel like they are being understood. The Visual Journal is a way that I can make sure the students are engaged in learning and address any concerns the students might have with the current lesson.
My students and I will take a picture walk of the book for the day prior to reading it. During the walk we will use what we have learned about story structure and the author’s purpose to begin our discussions. We will discuss what characters might be in the story, where the story may take place, some details the pictures might give away, and make educated guesses about why the author may have written the book. The students will draw their prediction of what the story is about in their visual journal. Then, I will read the book and then we will see if our observations during the picture/book walk were correct.
As I continue to have daily read aloud time, I will incorporate several books. I will start with the stories of red riding hood. I would start with James Marshall’s version, then move onto Petite Rogue: A Cajun Red Riding Hood by Mike Artell, Pretty Selma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa by Niki Daly and Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young and use a graphic organizer that allows the students to be able to compare several stories at the same time. It will look like a t-chart with multiple columns. The top of the chart will have the name of each story. On the left side of the chart there will be four sections, Setting, Characters, Details, and Something I noticed. The first three sections are easy for the students to answer. The last sections give the students the opportunity to point out something unique they may have noticed or even a question they might have about the book. They might also have some insight when comparing the stories. I will also use their visual journal here to minimize the stress for students to communicate what they see versus what I share and ask the students to tell me in the graphic organizer. As we finish each story, the students and I will reflect on the story and how race and colorblindness are seen in each story. We will talk about how reading one story from an area does not mean that is the only perspective on the race or culture. After we finish all these books, we will examine how each story is different and the same. We will also discuss how major differences we might see are because of the setting. These stories will prepare the students to be able to read additional books and see how the books influence the reader.
The students and I will read other stories such as Li’l Dan, The Drummer Boy: A Civil War Story by Romare Bearden, Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard. The students will use these books to see how the differences of these stories show students a different perspective on topics that we have read or will continue to read about. The books will be to not only expose students to other perspectives but also to learn that one viewpoint is not the only available from that race or culture. The students will use their visual journal to express how the book makes them feel, what they might notice about the stories, or how this book speaks to the student.
Artell, Mike. 2001. Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood. Penguin Books.
This is one of the read aloud for the students to compare.
Bearden, Romare. 2003. Li’l Dan, The Drummer Boy: A Civil War Story. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
This is one of the read aloud for the students to be exposed to additional perspectives.
Daly, Niki. 2006. Pretty Selma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
This is one of the read aloud for the students to compare.
Harvey, Jeanne. 2011. My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey. Two Lions.
This is one of the read aloud for the students to be exposed to additional types of books.
Kosteki-Shaw, Jenny Sue. 2011. Same, Same but Different. Henry Holt and Company.
This is a book to allow the students to start a discussion about race and colorblindness.
Maillard, Kevin Noble. 2019. Fry Bread. Roaring Brook Press.
This is one of the read aloud for the students to be exposed to additional perspectives.
Marshall, James. 1987. Red Riding Hood. Puffin Books.
This is one of the read aloud for the students to compare.
Young, Ed. 1989. Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China. Philomel Books.
This is one of the read aloud for the students to compare.
Blake, Felice. “Why Black Lives Matter in the Humanities.” In Seeing Race Again, edited by Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Daniel Martinez HoSang, and George Lipsitz, 307–26. University of California Press, 2019.
This Article is a good resource to regarding the importance of the black lives matter in humanities.
Boggs, Grace Lee, Scott Kurashige, Danny Glover, and Immanuel Wallerstein. The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century. Berkeley, UNITED STATES: University of California Press, 2012. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/yale-ebooks/detail.action?docID=919284.
In this book, the chapter entitled A Paradigm Shift in Our Concept of Education gives information about different types of schools and how to change out we educate our students.
Brown, Keffrelyn D., and Anthony L. Brown. “Teaching K-8 Students about Race: African Americans, Racism, and the Struggle for Social Justice in the U.S.” Multicultural Education 19, no. 1 (2011): 9–13.
This book is a prime source for use when looking for ways to change how we see race.
Castro-Atwater, Sheri A. “Color-Blind Racial Ideology in K-12 Schools.” In The Myth of Racial Color Blindness: Manifestations, Dynamics, and Impact, 207–25. Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1037/14754-013.
This article is an insightful discussion of the threat of color-blind ideology on students.
Husband, Terry. But I Don’t See Color: The Perils, Practices, and Possibilities of Antiracist Education. Sense Publishers, 2016.
This book is a great resource to use when looking for background information while teaching this unit.
Appendix on Implementing District Standards
With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
Students will be comparing and analyzing the stories that we are reading. They will be asked to be able to share what they find to the class. We will spend a lot of time analyzing different stories in a search for commonalities and ways they can link the stories to their own lives.
With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
Throughout the unit, students will be asked to answer questions about each book we read as well as sharing their own experiences.
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups
The students will work together in oral conversations regarding the books as well as the conversation of community.
Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.
Throughout the entire unit, the students will be asking and answer questions about what they have read, it’s importance, and how it impacts them.
1 Castro-Atwater, “Color-Blind Racial Ideology in K-12 Schools.”
2 Blake, “Why Black Lives Matter in the Humanities.”
4 Boggs et al., The Next American Revolution.
5 Husband, But I Don’t See Color.
6 Brown and Brown, “Teaching K-8 Students about Race.”
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Morphology, on the other hand, examines how words are formed, whereas syntax is concerned with what happens to sentences. Phonology is divided into two categories: phonetics and phonologicals. Ample examples on all levels are provided with detailed annotation for the non-specialist reader. WebStarting from the smallest, most basic unit of language (phonetics) and graduating up to the study of discourse and contextual meaning (pragmatics), linguistics consists of the following sections: Phonetics. What does it mean to you? In pragmatics, one focuses on use of language in social context. 1 - From a pragmatics perspective, the phrase "hungry as a horse" just means "really hungry". Every language makes sentences in a variety of ways. Morphology can be used to study the development of words. What factors place children with speech sound disorders at risk for reading problems? Wren, Y. E., Roulstone, S. E., & Miller, L. L. (2012). Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 57, 21022115. WebView Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, And Pragmatics Webinar.docx from ECS 575 at Grand Canyon University. A linguistic approach to distinctive feature training. Upload unlimited documents and save them online. Webappears that anothercomponent of grammar (morphology or syntax) or the lexicon is imposing conditions on the makeup ofphonological units. Common bound or grammatical morphemes include the following: -ing (the present progressive), -s (the regular plural; e.g., cats), -s (the possessive inflection; e.g., mans), and ed (the regular past tense; e.g., washed). Semantics is a term which is derived from the Greek word seme meaning sigh. f 'lo"NK-eAUY S L=?5Uxt14J )%F$S,I^zH2hV~k9J7N|S#igIf''vg 7 International classification of functioning, disability and health. Foreign accents occur when a set of phonetic traits of one language are carried over when a person learns a new language. (1989). ". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 38, 10911107. Differential diagnosis and treatment of children with speech disorder. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 17, 2531. The Modularity of Grammar The picture just sketched presumes a modular view of lin-guistic organization, iriwhich (at least) phonology, phonet-ics, morphology, syntax,semantics, pragmatics, andlexicon Dagenais, P. A. suffixes are added to the words in this manner. Each of these domains offers different meanings and contributes to language in different ways. Morphemes are a subset of units that are both meaningful and small. However, look at the following idiomatic phrases: Neither of these uses of the word white refers to colour, but we all know what they mean! Blache, S., & Parsons, C. (1980). Lexical semantics = The study of the individual meaning of words. Intntalo de nuevo. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2015 (3), 142. Our understanding of language could not exist without these domains and they serve as the foundation for other higher-order language skills. The professional roles and activities in speech-language pathology include clinical/educational services (diagnosis, assessment, planning, and treatment); prevention and advocacy; and education, administration, and research. Explain and give examples. Match all exact any words . Ruder, K. F., & Bunce, B. H. (1981). Webphonology and morphology but also of syntax; from phrase level to complex sentences and pragmatics. All Rights Reserved. recognize all dialects as being rule-governed linguistic systems; understand the rules and linguistic features of dialects represented by their clientele; and. A numerical scale or continuum of disability is often used because it is time-efficient. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Dialectal variations of a language may cross all linguistic parameters, including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. - The implied meaning of "what time do you call this" is often inferred as "why are you so late? Differential learning of phonological oppositions. Can you crack a window? Please enable it in order to use the full functionality of our website. We unlock the potential of millions of people worldwide. Phonological approaches are often selected in an effort to help the child internalize phonological rules and generalize these rules to other sounds within the pattern (e.g., final consonant deletion, cluster reduction). Definition: sets of words in which some similarity in sound seems to reflect a vague similarity in meaning. Morphology and syntax help us understand how words are placed, as well as the parts of words. Intelligibility can vary along a continuum ranging from intelligible (message is completely understood) to unintelligible (message is not understood; Bernthal et al., 2017). Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54, 16281643. Carrigg, B., Baker, E., Parry, L., & Ballard, K. J. For example, the word 'blue' refers to a color but can also be associated with feeling down or upset. Dodd, B., Holm, A., Crosbie, S., & McIntosh, B. Compositional semantics = Examines how smaller parts of discourse, i.e. Implicature is an utterance that implies or suggests something without it being explicitly said. The percentage of consonants correct (PCC) metric: Extensions and reliability data. Phonology describes sounds that are produced in language; morphology describes the structure of words that contain meaning; syntax describes the relationship of words to one another; and phonomatics describes human perception. Preston, J. L., McCabe, P., Rivera-Campos, A., Whittle, J. L., Landry, E., & Maas, E. (2014). Idioms are phrases or words that have predetermined connotative meanings that can't be deduced from their literal meaning. McLeod, S., Verdon, S., & The International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech. Treatment of phonological disability using the method of meaningful minimal contrast: Two case studies. National Institute for Literacy. ), Interventions for speech sound disorders in children (pp. Pragmatics. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 25, 5969. Discuss the Environmental Factors and Health Promotion Presentation : Accident Prevention and Safety Promotion for Parents and Caregivers of Infants. For example, the speaker may be hinting that they want the window closed. (2009). The assessment process must identify whether differences are truly related to a speech sound disorder or are normal variations of speech caused by the first language. From the second extreme perspective it falls into the group of socio-linguistics where it considers features of speechrelated to accent and intonation. Language is based on rules at all levels. [ T, Semantics is what gives idioms their meanings. 701 (1973). The conditions and course of clinically induced phonological change. This, along with the fact that we can comprehend the meaning of a sentence, can aid in the understanding of how it is expressed. Prevalence and natural history of primary speech and language delay: Findings from a systematic review of the literature. The word "dogs" has four phonemes: d, o, g, and s. A phoneme does not have meaning by itself, but combinations of phonemes do. Usually, we divide morphemes into two different types: free and bound. Los nmeros que has introducido no concuerdan con la imagen. What are the two main categories of semantics? A combination of morphologies and syntax allows us to better understand how words are formed and how they interact with one another. Phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, grammar, semantics and pragmatics. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 28, 141157. Webappears that anothercomponent of grammar (morphology or syntax) or the lexicon is imposing conditions on the makeup ofphonological units. Connected speech sampling provides information about production of sounds in connected speech using a variety of talking tasks (e.g., storytelling or retelling, describing pictures, normal conversation about a topic of interest) and with a variety of communication partners (e.g., peers, siblings, parents, and clinician). Distortions and assimilations occur in varying degrees at all levels of the continuum. What is the relationship between semantics and pragmatics? <> Ve a la cesta para obtener ms informacin. Connotation refers to all the possible meanings we associate with a word beyond the dictionary definition. We will discuss why! Morphology and syntax are at the heart of grammar. Articulation and phonological/language-based approaches might both be used in therapy with the same individual at different times or for different reasons. During each cycle, one or more phonological patterns are targeted. Morphemes are a means of modifying word structures to change meaning. Law, J., Boyle, J., Harris, F., Harkness, A., & Nye, C. (2000). 2 0 obj Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 42, 14611481. WebThe standard example of the relation between Syntax (considered as all grammar), Semantics, and Pragmatics is the various aspects of a Stop sign in use. In addition to selecting appropriate targets for therapy, SLPs select treatment strategies based on the number of intervention goals to be addressed in each session and the manner in which these goals are implemented. Semantic categories are used to sort words. Morphemes are used to form words and each morpheme differs from another (aka they all serve different meanings). <>>> : PRO-ED. Intelligibility is frequently used when judging the severity of the child's speech problem (Kent, Miolo, & Bloedel, 1994; Shriberg & Kwiatkowski, 1982b) and can be used to determine the need for intervention. Speech sound disorders is an umbrella term referring to any difficulty or combination of difficulties with perception, motor production, or phonological representation of speech sounds and speech segmentsincluding phonotactic rules governing permissible speech sound sequences in a language. Free morphemes can stand alone as their own word (e.g., dog, the) and bound morphemes require another morpheme to make up a word, as they cannot occur alone (e.g., -er, -s). Historically, treatments that focus on motor production of speech sounds are called articulation approaches; treatments that focus on the linguistic aspects of speech production are called phonological/language-based approaches. The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Then count the total number of consonants in the sample and the total number of correct consonants. Pragmatics is the study of rules that govern the use of language in social situations. After all, what is the point of language without meaning? The syllable is used as the building block for practice at more complex levels. Natural Process Analysis (NPA): A procedure for phonological analysis of continuous speech samples. (2001). Semantics includes a persons vocabulary or lexicon. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) must distinguish between dialectal differences and communicative disorders and must. These domains of language cover much of what we (speech-language pathologists [SLPs]) target in language-based therapy and the evidence-based approaches behind our decision-making. 2. Language linguistics is the study of and interpretation of style and tone in languages. Se ha producido un error. When comparing semantics vs. pragmatics in other words, semantics looks at the literal meaning of words and the meanings that are created by the relationships between linguistic expressions while pragmatics examines how meaning is created; however, it pays more attention to context. Overby, M.S., Trainin, G., Smit, A. The first language acquired by a bilingual or multilingual individual can influence the pronunciation of speech sounds and the acquisition of phonotactic rules in subsequently acquired languages. Wie beschrieben, top Zustand, bin zufrieden, vielen Dank gerne wieder, LORENZ Leitfaden fr Spediteure und Logistiker in Ausbildung und Beruf - Band 1 (#295137901710), - Studies in Formal Slavic Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics and Informatio. Form of Language. See also Kent et al. The purpose of the screening is to identify individuals who require further speech-language assessment and/or referral for other professional services. Possible connotations include the number sign and a hashtag used in social media. As with any language, AAE has its own phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, all of which are crucial to consider. Give us a call or send a message, and well be happy to bate your curiosity. Residual or persistent speech errors were estimated to occur in 1% to 2% of older children and adults (Flipsen, 2015). Baltimore, MD: Brookes. Literature. Efficacy of electropalatography for treating misarticulations of /r/. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 24, 795824. (2010). On the other hand, Semantics is the study of the meaning in language. There are no subordinate clauses in a compounded sentence. WebDialectal variations of a language may cross all linguistic parameters, including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. Pragmatics and discourse can also be included; delimitation varies between institutions. (20016b). The morphology of a given language describes the rules of such modifications. When we communicate with other people, there is a constant negotiation of meaning between the listener and the speaker. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 9,289299. They focus on improving phonemic contrasts in the child's speech by emphasizing sound contrasts necessary to differentiate one word from another. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 18, 343360. WebQuestion 2. a) Discuss one subfield of language (e.g., phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics) that non-human primates (NHP) are more successful at learning. Connotation refers to all the possible meanings we associate with a word beyond the dictionary definition. Goldstein, B. The relationship between morphology, syntax, and semantics is more complex than most people realize. There is a close relationship between morphology and phonology. m-Z|@Adh`i axaf Om3|T(00)Yq:EI)p,]Di)>bI}? Naturalistic intervention for speech intelligibility and speech accuracy. In the following examples, the free morphemes are underlined; the bound morphemes are in capital letters: oceanS, establishMENT, bookED, colorFUL, DISconnect. Williams, A. L. (2000b). In addition, although the maximal oppositions approach trains targets in contrasting word pairs, the complexity approach does not. See ASHA's Person-Centered Focus on Function: Speech Sound Disorder [PDF] for an example of assessment data consistent with ICF. The cycles phonological remediation approach. Elbert, M., & McReynolds, L. V. (1978). Base, root or free morphemes are word that have meaning, cannot be broken-down into smaller parts, and can have other morphemes added to them. Williams, A. L. (2003a). Consult systematic reviews of this treatment to help guide clinical decision making (see, e.g., Lee & Gibbon, 2015 [PDF]; McCauley, Strand, Lof, Schooling, & Frymark, 2009). Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 21, 136149. Children with motor disorders are frequently observed with disorganized or immature language in phrases and sentences. endobj Frequently reported risk factors include the following: Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) play a central role in the screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of persons with speech sound disorders. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. Syntax and morphology are concerned with two major categories of language structure. 2023, Suffolk Center for Speech. The book Morphology and Its Relation to Phonology and Syntax was reviewed and written by Steven G. Lapointe, Diane K. Brentari, and Patrick M. Farrell. 4 0 obj Success! Fey, M. (1986). Kosmos. Phonemes are individual sounds, like /b/ and /h/ in the words bat and hat. Ve a la cesta para obtener ms informacin. - Votos emitidos por el comprador 0***c (601). This field is considered to be one of the important parts of theoretical linguistics. See the Resources section for information related to assessing intelligibility and life participation in monolingual children who speak English and in monolingual children who speak languages other than English. Eadie, P., Morgan, A., Ukoumunne, O. C., Eecen, K. T., Wake, M., & Reilly, S. (2015). Peterson, R. L., Pennington, B. F., Shriberg, L. D., & Boada, R. (2009). Syntax and semantics are two processes that collaborate to create a meaning, and they are both difficult to separate. The early utterances of preterm infants. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 9, 282288. Examples of a few of these categories are recurrence, rejection, and causality. screening of individual speech sounds in single words and in connected speech (using formal and or informal screening measures); screening of oral motor functioning (e.g., strength and range of motion of oral musculature); orofacial examination to assess facial symmetry and identify possible structural bases for speech sound disorders (e.g., submucous cleft palate, malocclusion, ankyloglossia); and. Accents may be regional; for example, someone from New York may sound different than someone from South Carolina. Lee, S. A. S., Wrench, A., & Sancibrian, S. (2015). The child's error productions are recast without the use of imitative prompts or direct motor training. Important functions of utterances include the following: Providing listeners with adequate information without redundancy, Making a sequence of statements coherent and logical. Developmental complexity of the stimuli included in mispronunciation detection tasks. See the Service Delivery section of the Speech Sound Disorders Evidence Map for pertinent scientific evidence, expert opinion, and client/caregiver perspective. <>/ExtGState<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> Washington, DC: Author. However, when we engage pragmatics, it can be inferred that you wanted to reserve a table for this Saturday. sound meaning and sound (2010). (2006). *It is important to note that "typical pragmatic language" looks different across different cultures and individuals. stream Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 45, 431444. In contrast, morphology is generally regarded as the more difficult of the two fields, and is widely thought to be the study of word form and the rules that govern its composition and composition. The cycles approach targets phonological pattern errors and is designed for children with highly unintelligible speech who have extensive omissions, some substitutions, and a restricted use of consonants. - Votos emitidos por el comprador 1***6 (900). Copyright 1995-2023 eBay Inc. Todos los derechos reservados. Discourse refers to how utterances are related to one another it has to do with the connected flow of language. In A. L. Williams, S. McLeod, & R. J. McCauley (Eds. It may be possible to understand and transcribe a spontaneous speech sample by (a) using a structured situation to provide context when obtaining the sample and (b) annotating the recorded sample by repeating the child's utterances, when possible, to facilitate later transcription. Morphemes are used to form words. See ASHA's resource on assessment tools, techniques, and data sources. Vocabulary development depends heavily upon environmental exposure, as well as the individual capacity each child brings to the learning situation. In addition to the prefixes and suffixes, Korean has a number of words that have meanings that are different from the English version. Everything you need for your studies in one place. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11, 243249. Semantics is defined by the way words, syntax, and sentences are structured, as well as the meanings they convey. The fourth aspect of language analysis is phonology, which is classified into phonetic and phonological analyses, and morphology, which is classified into morphological and syntactic analysis. (1994) for a comprehensive review of procedures for assessing intelligibility. (1995). ". There are several reasons why morphology and phonology are related. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11, 215220. Identify your study strength and weaknesses. Ultimately, the decision of whether to study syntax first or phonology and morphology first is a personal one that should be based on the individual learners needs and preferences. How is pragmatics different from semantics? (2005). In the English sentence, syntax indicates that the adjective precedes the noun, but in the Spanish sentence, syntax indicates the noun precedes the adjective. Non-speech oral motor treatment for children with developmental speech sound disorders. The interface is important because it allows researchers to understand how the four disciplines interact with each other. The term was coined by the philosopher HP Grice in 1975 and is an important part of pragmatics. No se garantizan la precisin ni la accesibilidad de la traduccin proporcionada. In English, the subject is usually followed by the verb and the object (the object is referred to as SVO). Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 9, 119. Using a mirror for visual feedback of place and movement of articulators, Using gestural cueing for place or manner of production (e.g., using a long, sweeping hand gesture for fricatives vs. a short, "chopping" gesture for stops), Using ultrasound imaging (placement of an ultrasound transducer under the chin) as a biofeedback technique to visualize tongue position and configuration (Adler-Bock, Bernhardt, Gick, & Bacsfalvi, 2007; Lee, Wrench, & Sancibrian, 2015; Preston, Brick, & Landi, 2013; Preston et al., 2014), Using palatography (various coloring agents or a palatal device with electrodes) to record and visualize contact of the tongue on the palate while the child makes different speech sounds (Dagenais, 1995; Gibbon, Stewart, Hardcastle, & Crampin, 1999; Hitchcock, McAllister Byun, Swartz, & Lazarus, 2017), Amplifying target sounds to improve attention, reduce distractibility, and increase sound awareness and discriminationfor example, auditory bombardment with low-level amplification is used with the cycles approach at the beginning and end of each session to help children perceive differences between errors and target sounds (Hodson, 2010), Providing spectral biofeedback through a visual representation of the acoustic signal of speech (McAllister Byun & Hitchcock, 2012), Providing tactile biofeedback using tools, devices, or substances placed within the mouth (e.g., tongue depressors, peanut butter) to provide feedback on correct tongue placement and coordination (Altshuler, 1961; Leonti, Blakeley, & Louis, 1975; Shriberg, 1980), determining whether to use a bilingual or cross-linguistic approach (see ASHA's Practice Portal page on. The term semantics has been introduced by French linguist Michel Bral (1832-1915), who is also known as a founder of modern semantics. Pragmatics Preston, J. L., Brick, N., & Landi, N. (2013). Fig. Nota: Al usar la funcin de traduccin, aceptas nuestras. The broad term "speech sound disorder(s)" is used in this Portal page to refer to functional speech sound disorders, including those related to the motor production of speech sounds (articulation) and those related to the linguistic aspects of speech production (phonological). See the Treatment section of the Speech Sound Disorders Evidence Map for pertinent scientific evidence, expert opinion, and client/caregiver perspective. The population of children with persistent speech difficulties is heterogeneous, varying in etiology, severity, and nature of speech difficulties (Dodd, 2005; Shriberg et al., 2010; Stackhouse, 2006; Wren, Roulstone, & Miller, 2012). WebLas mejores ofertas para Little Words: Their History, Phonology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics, and Acqui estn en eBay Compara precios y caractersticas de productos Semantics = We would observe the literal meaning created by these words and would assume that this person wants to eat a horse. What is the difference between connotation and denotation? Teele, D. W., Klein, J. O., Chase, C., Menyuk, P., & Rosner, B. Prezas and Hodson (2010) use a continuum of severity from mild (omissions are rare; few substitutions) to profound (extensive omissions and many substitutions; extremely limited phonemic and phonotactic repertoires). Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 43, 97115. Comparison between Phonology and Semantics: Phonology is another branch of linguistics which focuses on the organization of sounds by studying speech patterns. Some audiological, psychological, educational and behavioral characteristics of children with bilateral otitis media with effusion. Shriberg, L. D., & Kwiatkowski, J. What is morphological awareness? Instead, they may be related to a feature of a speaker's dialect (a rule-governed language system that reflects the regional and social background of its speakers). Phonology can be viewed from two extreme viewpoints first viewpoint is towards anatomy and physiology; related to the organs of speech and how one learns how to use them. McReynolds, L. V., & Bennett, S. (1972).


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From Panel to Pen: Using Greek Mythology to Create Graphic Stories to Enhance the Writing Process for Young LearnersbyShannon Foster-Williams
On any given day, my students excitedly create paintings and drawing that depict narratives of their family lives, special events and people they admire. Welcome to Mrs. Williams’ class, where students are given freedom, the freedom to create something called “Free Art.” It’s a moment during class, after students have completed their initial class assignments, when they are given the opportunity to create any image of their choosing. Furthermore, they are also given the liberty to select any medium of their choice. So these students may choose to create with a range of materials, from coloring pencils to paint. Their pictures express many emotions and subjects from the love of unicorns floating on rainbows, to the admiration of Stephen Curry, a star basketball player for the Golden State Warriors. These lovely pieces of artwork often inspire my students to stand and give the equivalent of a verbal dissertation, describing every detail of the events that they depict on paper. These accounts include razor sharp descriptions of the events that took place before and after their crayon figure jumps the rainbow or slam dunks the basketball with four seconds left in the game. These children with such enthusiasm and confidence want to share with the entire class every detail of the story that they have created in a singular image. Yet, when asked to write me a story about these pictures, they wither into the shadows as if I have stolen the sun and their joy. “What is the problem?” I’ve often wondered. How can a student be so expressive verbally and visually but give me a one sentence summary of what took them almost 15 minutes to describe to the class. Why are my students so stymied by the process of writing? I wasn’t sure, but I knew that I wanted to find exciting ways to help them overcome the obstacles that steer them away from becoming great writers as well as artists.
The goal of this curriculum unit is to provide students with the experience of creating graphic stories based on historical references. The students will produce original works of art in visual and written form that tell stories based on the stories and characters of Greek mythology. I plan to connect this social studies objective of my third grade students with the Visual Arts content of illustration. The instructional focus will explore how pictures tell stories. The overall curriculum content of this unit involves the integration of visual arts, language arts and history. The visual arts aspect focuses on the study of skills and techniques for creating illustrated panel drawings that will be adapted to create comic strips or graphic novels. These drawings will be used to retell the stories of Greek mythology. The students will use these images to help create a written narrative related to a mythological character of their choice.
My intent is to encourage storytelling and creative thinking about how the combination of pictures and text communicates information. I believe that this unit will be a great vehicle for allowing students to experience the dynamics of telling a story through verbal, written and visual methods. Many students have difficulty telling stories in written form, but feel comfortable with expressing their ideas through artwork. I encourage my students to create their own visual narratives using paper or canvas as a space to share feelings and experiences. Artwork can tell multiple stories. I believe this premise will assist me in creating a curriculum unit that helps my students become more expressive artists as well as writers.
This unit has relevance for my students, because beyond the production of artwork in class, my students are also challenged to analyze, critique, discuss and write about the work that they view and create. My third grade students are emerging writers. Once these students enter this grade level, they begin to participate in writing assignments that have more rigor and technical requirements than they have experienced in earlier grades. Most of my students struggle with the basics of writing. The creative writing and sequential summary skills are also a challenge for most. This unit plan hopes to guide students through the mental process of telling a story, as well as the technical aspect of summarizing and sequencing that is involved with comic strip illustrating. The focus on exploring how the combination of text and images can change the reading experience, can assist me in creating brainstorming activities to help my students investigate how their artwork mirrors the written text that they use when creating literary narrative from their illustrated images. The images created by my students will serve as visual cues to drive the process of developing their writing skills. The hope is for outcomes that produce detailed and descriptive writing.
I hope to use these ideas to bridge the interpretation of art with the comprehension of content, and other story elements present in graphic novels, literary text, film and other media. The process and techniques of analyzing imaginative illustrations and text, is parallel to that of interpreting, creating, and analyzing Art. In the same way that students can derive a story from their interpretation of art work. By viewing a painting students can describe the events, mood, setting and the artist’s purpose. This skill is shaped by what they see and how they feel about those images. They create stories in their heads that are varied. This same process takes place when students view illustrations. This skill of interpreting art impacts my students by helping them develop an appreciation for art work, an understanding of the artist, recognition of the time period in which artwork was created, and the purpose for creating the art. These skills also help the students to better understand themselves and develop as individuals
Using Greek mythology as a platform to develop inspiration and background knowledge will connect Visual Arts curriculum to core subjects such as language arts, history, and writing in a cross-curriculum approach. Introducing students to multi-media imagery for the purpose of developing a creative process and approach towards art, creative writing and comprehension skills that will help my students’ better express ideas through their art and writing. This focus on creating individual stories by students that are illustrated and developed into graphic novels works double duty.
Students will be examining how the relationship between pictures and words assists them in writing detailed descriptions of the characters that they research. Students draw pictures that explain an event or story, and my students will be using the pictures as a tool to influence and critique their written accounts of the lives of characters in Greek Mythology. The students will use the visual evidence found in each panel that they create to enrich and add to the depth and complexity of the story that they are trying to convey. The Visual aspect of this unit is the primary focus. Creating the visual narrative will be the starting point in my Art class, giving students that space and time to master their drawings and study how panels and comic strips are created. This catalyst will propel the students into the process of developing their own comics. Students will be introduced to the techniques and process that graphic novelists and cartoonists employ when producing these works of art. This understanding connects students with a better understanding and respect for illustrating as an art form by placing them in the position of the artist.
The result is to positively impact the process of teaching young learners how to communicate stories in a pictorial sense that nurtures and support students’ understanding of content. Also, the unit explores the power of visual narratives in relationship with writing.
The curriculum content objectives involved in this unit comprise the stories of Greek Mythology as the (S.O.L.) standards of Learning set forth by the Commonwealth of Virginia, as outlined by the Department of Education as third grade Art History and Cultural Context SOL. The standards for third-grade students include an introduction to the heritage and contributions of the peoples of ancient Greece and Rome 3.11 The student will identify how works of art and craft reflect times, places, and cultures. 3.12 The student will identify distinguishing characteristics of genres of art. 3.13 The student will identify how history, culture, and the visual arts influence each other. 3.14 The student will identify common attributes of works of art created by artists within a culture. 3.15 The student will examine the relationship between form and function in the artifacts of a culture. 3.16 The student will compare and contrast art and architecture from other cultures.1
We are exploring how images and text work to complement each other as well as communicate to the reader. We are also exploring how visual images work to better help young learners with reading and also, as in this instance, how it may help them become better writers. The written module of this unit is to be compared, critiqued and edited using the visual images as the tool of measurement, by which the students are to compare the chronicles, details, omissions and inclusions found within their literary work.
Before students can retell the stories of Greek myth they must first be introduced to the subject of mythology. Developing an understanding of the relevance of these tales can only be achieved by learning why these stories have cultural and historical importance. “The answer to that is very simple: to learn. People still study the ancient Greeks and their myths much in the same reason they study other cultures and that is so they can learn from it. After all, when you study a culture as progressive as that of the ancient Greeks, you really can’t help but learn lessons. These myths, for their part, show modern people a glimpse of how they thought in the past, what they considered important, how their morals worked, etc. Another reason to study those Greek myths is because they have contributed a lot to classic and modern literature in the form of symbols.”1
Understanding the past is important for students. Teaching them about other cultures as well as their own and showing them the connections between people of the past and the modern world that they currently live is an essential part of my art curriculum. Helping students understand and appreciate other cultures is the basis for developing an understanding of how and why art is produced by people of the world, past and present. It is also important to understand that people borrow and adapt ideas, beliefs, and culture from one another. Ancient cultures such as Greece and Rome are great contributors to our world. The architecture, government structure, art and literature that we surround ourselves with has many influences from Greek culture. “Most people will not really notice it unless they are told to do so, but there are so many Greek influences around the world today. In fact, it is impossible to understand the basics of things like fine arts, literature, and performing arts without touching on some Greek myth”2 These myths were an important part of ancient Greek life. These stories taught lessons and gave reason and explanation to the theological belief that higher beings existed. “These stories were passed down for generations. Some might wonder what the point is to just passing down stories—stories that were made up and were in no way true but that was the beauty of Greek mythology in ancient times.2
The 15 Greek Myth Mini-Books: Reproducible Comic Book-Style Retellings, by Danielle Blood introduces children to these classic stories in an age appropriate manner. I am using one of these books as a visual example for my students. The character of Greek mythology that I will use as the model for this unit is Hercules. I will use his story as an introduction to help students become familiar with many of the descriptions and powers of these Greek gods and goddesses. Hercules is valuable as an initial point of reference because of his many great deeds including his twelve labors. His many adventures can be retold in pictorial fashion without worry that students will mimic or repeat my examples. The students will read summaries that I provide, outlining the individual characteristics of each of these Greek gods. From here, each students will be given the opportunity to select a character of their choice to depict in their art.
“These myths were told to people and it helped them realize the difference between right and wrong. Also, these tales tell people of heroes and how true greatness was achieved by those who dared while at the same breath, showing the flaws of these heroes.2 These stories include the Greek Gods and Goddesses known as the Twelve Olympians, commonly considered to be Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus. In ancient times it was believed that the world was ruled by this group of gods. There are many versions of the ancient stories, some have small changes depending on the storytellers. These ancient stories were told by both the Romans and the Greeks. They were retold and changed somewhat over the course of thousands of years. “Any storyteller might create a new adventure for the gods or might change a story slightly to make it more interesting to his listeners. What was important is that the gods' personalities remained the same. Everybody in ancient Greece knew the gods' personalities!”1
The Greek god Zeus was the king of all the gods. He is characterized visually as a muscular male having long flowing hair, carrying a thunder bolt and usually framed in images that portray him standing on high with storm clouds and lighting surrounding his form. He is usually described as having magical powers and superhuman strength. Zeus’s wife is Hera, the queen of all the gods, and also the goddess of marriage. Hera and Zeus had two sons named Ares and Hephaestus. But these were not Zeus’ only sons. Zeus had many other children, both sons and daughters: Hermes and Apollo and Artemis and Hercules. Some of his children, like Hercules, were believed to be those born of human mothers. These gods had a unique family structure that linked most of them to Zeus in some way. Their stories are connected and interwoven in a way that makes them exciting to learn and makes the character interesting to follow. Once you strip away the family tree that explain their relationship with one another and their family dynamic you understand why the family of Zeus was so interesting.
The Greek god Ares was the god of war. He was a son of Zeus. He could be described as the prince of the Gods. Having many of the characteristics of a person of royal pedigree, he was handsome and quite self-absorbed. Ares was not well liked due to his spirit of disagreement, turmoil and destruction. It was believed that Ares was at work whenever the ancient Greeks went to war. While Ares liked to destroy things, his brother Hephaestus was his opposite. Hephaestus is the god of fire and forge. He was a builder and enjoyed creating things. It is told in some stories that he fashioned the thunderbolts of Zeus.
Most of the Greek gods were connected. This complex family tree of gods had Zeus at its roots. While many refer to him as the King of the gods, he could also be called the father of the Greek gods. Apollo was also a son of Zeus’. Apollo had a twin sister, Artemis, the huntress. Apollo was well liked by the ancient Greeks. He was kind and gentle. He presided over music and was believed to raise the sun. The youngest of the sons was Hermes the messenger. He was also liked and trusted by the other gods. Zeus also had two brothers. Each ruled a different area of the earth. Zeus ruled in the heavens and on earth from atop Mount Olympus while his other brothers the Greek gods Hades, ran the underworld and brother Poseidon ruled the seas.
Zeus also had three sisters, Demeter, Hera and Rhea. Because of the incestuous nature of the relationship between Hera and Zeus, I am omitting her from the list of choices in an effort to be age-appropriate for my elementary students. Hera is described as the sister of Zeus as well as his wife. These Greeks myths are exciting stories that at times can be reminiscent of a modern day soap opera. This should be considered when and before leading students to research and study this topic. I am providing books and worksheets that provide descriptions of each Greek God and Goddess, a choice that I highly recommend to primary school teachers.
Zeus’ sister, Demeter, was in charge of the harvest. If Demeter did not do her job, the crops could die, and everyone would starve. These Gods and Goddess had characteristics and powers that helped to explain the scientific and the unexplainable events to the simple man. These myths helped the people of ancient Greece make sense of their world and helped them to explain things such as the changing of the seasons, morality, karma, consequences, and the nature of man.
Zeus also had daughters, one was Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Greek myth describes Athena’s creation as being delivered and from the mind or brain of Zeus. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt. She was Apollo's twin sister. Artemis was Apollo's opposite. Artemis was cold and liked to be alone. Unlike her sister Aphrodite, known as the goddess of love and beauty. Artemis was not warm and loving in the eyes of the ancient Greeks. All of the siblings and children of Zeus were the subject of Greek myths. The variety of characters and stories that exists in the mythological world of Greek storytelling gives student a wide range of choices when deciding what story they wish to tell. Due to the adult nature and subject matter related to some of these characters I have devised a limited list of characters, stories and resources that I will allow my students to use. The focus of this unit is not on research, but the retelling of stories and the use of images and artistry to communicate information.
How do we share stories and how do we define what a story is to our students? I grew up with a father who told many stories. In fact my father is one of the best story tellers that I know. His ability to pull you in and engage you totally is one of his greatest talents. He never read his stories from a book, yet he could communicate a story with such detail that it created visual images in my head. So in all the times that I’ve heard stories or seen pictures, I have never had text pop into my head. I suppose neither have my students. So, what is a story? Is it the string of sentences in a chapter book, a song on the radio or the griot style apologue that is verbal? To some it is an oral interpretation, to others it is text, but for the artist it is imagery.
“A Story is a narration of a sequence of events deliberately arranged for telling.”1 (Eisner, pg. 3). The famous comic book artist Scott McCloud describes graphic stories or comics in a similar way. He defines comics as “Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.”2 (McCloud, pg. 9) It seems that the definitions focus more on the order and sequence than on the methods of communicating the story. We are developing artwork that can tell stories graphically, making a series of images that are to be organized and structured in similar ways to literary text. The challenge for the students is pulling those images from their minds and organizing them in a way that lends understanding to the information they are trying to convey. “All stories have a structure. A story has a beginning, and end, and a thread of events laid upon a framework that hold the two together. Whether the medium is text, film or comics, the skeleton is the same”.4 (Eisner, pg. 3)
The difficulty of creating a story for most of my students stems from their inexperience with constructing text in a manner that is sequential. Pictures allow them to move past this obstacle unknowingly. The process of making a set or series of images that connect to one another and span a time frame that defines “Now, Then” or “later” seems to be simpler and a more concrete concept for my student when approached through artistic means. “Before a story is composed, it exists in the abstract. At this point it is still a lot of thoughts, memories, fantasies and ideas floating around in one’s head”4 (Eisner, Pg.4) The concepts involved with creative writing, and the process of taking the abstract idea from your mind, planning, and retelling it using text, are a hurdle for many young learners. This does not seem to be an issue when using pictures to represent a narrative. Because students have success in my classroom with putting pictures in order in such a way that they make sense, this method of drawing first then writing was a eureka moment for me. Fluent representation of actions or events is one of the strong characteristics that make their pictorial work a positive vehicle for telling stories. Navigating the process and time needed to develop multiple images that can shape a pictorial narrative is the target of the activities and visual art production for this unit. One image alone, even when partnered with words, does not automatically constitute a story. “It becomes a story when told in an arranged and purposeful order. The basic principles of narration are the same whether told orally or visually.”4 (Eisner, pg. 4)
Strategies and Visual Art Components
The visual art component of this unit is a study in the steps and techniques necessary to create a visual narrative known as a comic strip or graphic story. “Master comic artist Will Eisner uses the term sequential art when describing comics.” 5(McCloud, pg. 5) Emphasis on visual sequencing will be an important part of the visual arts process of creating the illustrated panels. This unit will be covered over a nine week span of time. The subject of time is different for each person that chooses to teach this unit. Because I see each of my 3rd grade classes once a week in an elementary school setting, this time frame will better be defined as nine class sessions. This distinction is being made in an effort to be clear as to how the unit plan is introduced and implemented during each interaction with my art students. The majority of the unit time will be used to introduce students to images, graphic novels and to create the artwork that is to become each panel. These panels may be created in a variety of shapes and sizes to accommodate the artistic license of each student. Panels can also take on the shape of images, such as geometric forms or silhouettes. In my example I plan to use the shapes of Greek vases, for each of my 8 panels to connect visually with the theme of Greek art and myth. Each of these panels should represent a different moment or time period within the story. As Scott McCloud notes, “The panel is a sort of general indicator that time or space is being divided”.5 (McCloud pg. 99) I will introduce students to books that use the genre of comics to tell stories of the past. Students will view a number of images related to drawings that represent visual stories. Some of these images include wordless pictures such as cave paintings, Egyptian tomb drawings and Greek vases. The Bayeux Tapestry and Bas Reliefs will also be used as examples of graphic stories. The students will work collaboratively to develop images that are to be reproduced as representations of the main characters of their pictorial narrative. The students will also be introduced to the art skill of tracing on vellum to reproduce their original images for use in each individual panels. A more descriptive detail of the visual art production can be found in the activities section of this unit.
“Writing is commonly perceived as confined to the manipulation of words. The process of writing for graphic narration concerns itself with the development of the concepts then the description of it and the construction of the narrative chain in order to translate it into imagery.”4 (Eisner, pg. 113). This may be true for the professional illustrator and author, but for the purpose of educating my students, I am turning this idea on its head. This reversal, of using the image first, giving the image the greatest voice in the process of telling a story. This idea reaches back to the early ages when cavemen drew images that recorded their history and ancient people decorated tombs with the paintings and drawing that eulogized the dead. This language of using pictures to share information and ideas existed before alphabet and language systems were developed. Before man talked, he drew. Before preschoolers write, they draw. As McCloud notes, “As near as we can tell, pictures predate the written word by a large margin”.5 (McCloud, pg. 141). Pictures have always enhanced the reading experience for young learners. This unit seeks to engrain that idea in the process for creating a writing model that makes writing organized, concise and unintimidating.
The process of becoming graphic storytellers and combining those visual elements to enrich the student’s relationship with text is the overall gain from this unit. Yes the creative element and the artistic process is very important. I do not want to lead anyone to think of the literary piece to this unit, as being an afterthought. The writing will become just as important as the imagery that the students create. I plan to address the subject or writing as the weeks unfold and the young artists reach different stages in the process of developing their art work. The classroom introduction to this unit purposefully omits any discussion with students about writing until the students have completed the illustrated portion of their stories. The focus on writing will take shape and be revealed as the culminating activity. This strategy is to keep students engaged and unafraid. The writing component will span the last two sessions of class and will be framed as the final enhancement needed to complete these works.
“The ideal writing process occurs when the writer and artist are the same person. This, in effect, shortens the distance between the idea and its translation. It produces a product that more closely reflects intent of the writer.”4 (Eisner, pg. 113). The writing component entails a reflection on the illustrated story created by each student. The students are to use large index cards that will later be edited and typed. These cards will contain the written interpretations and accounts of the stories that represent the acts and deeds of the Greek God or Goddess that is the subject of their visual narrative. The students will be retelling the stories of these characters from two points of reference. They will be moving from the position of illustrator to acting as the author of the story. They are to develop four to six sentence paragraphs that depict, explain and define the events that are visually evident in each of the eight panels that they have created as part of their graphic story. These accounts must be sequential and as descriptive as possible. They should reflect with clarity and accuracy the events as illustrated in each panel. Each paragraph must be related solely to the one panel that it is defining. This guideline is necessary to refrain students from summarizing the entire story on one index card. Each illustration is to be assigned a paragraph that summarizes that specific moment in the story’s sequence.
“Comics is a medium confined to still images, bereft of sound and motion, and writing must accommodate these restrictions.”4 (Eisner, pg. 116) Upon the completion of the graphic novel, I hope each student will develop an understanding of how writing is like developing a sequence of pictures, whether on paper or in your mind, that can lead to great writing and transform students into becoming a great writers.
Activity one: Students will participate in character development. The students will receive and read a brief summary describing the Greek gods that are the subject of our graphic narratives. Students will discuss the character traits of the Greek God that they are selecting. The students will draw symbols that are related to those traits. Students will create a character, either literal or abstract, that will represent their God throughout their graphic story. Students will create a brainstorm bubble that includes facts and traits that they learn about the character. The characters may also be designed based on each student’s interpretation or artistic creation. Characters may be as abstract as a lightning bolt representing Zeus, or as detailed as drawing of him as man.
Activity two: Students will view a film on the animation and creation of the Disney film Hercules. Students will view and discuss how the animators work on storyboards to create the sequence of events that are to take place in the film. Students will participate in an activity where they have to put illustrated pictures in sequential order to tell a story. The students will work in teams of three, to create a storyboard that retells a story of one of the twelve labors of Hercules. Students will critique each team's story board and participate in a classroom discussion related to how planning and drawing the events in sequential order, or failure to use sequential order can impact their work. The student will explore how the pottery was used as panels to tell the stories of Hercules. Students will decide what type of panel system they want to use as the platform for their images.
Activity three: The student will work of pencil drawing of their characters and the events that take place in myths. The students will work on completing a minimum of six panels that tell the story from beginning to end. This activity will take more than one class session. I believe a reasonable amount of time is four to five class sessions. The students will use black sharpie markers to outline and trace their pencil drawings. The fourth and fifth sessions should focus on setting, background, and detailed elements that will enhance the visual understanding of what is going on in each panel. Students have the choice of adding color or creating black and white images.
Activity four: During session five students are to participate in self-assessment and class critiques where they analyze their own work and that of a partner. Students will answer the following essential questions:
- Does the imagery created effectively depict the events of the story you are telling?
- Does the writing mirror what is illustrated?
- How does the art capture the character and the sequence of events?
The following books are part of my reading list:
- “The 15 Greek Myth Mini-Books: Reproducible Comic Book-Style Retellings”, by Danielle Blood
- “Comics, Comics & graphic novels: A History of Comic Art” by Roger Sabin
- “Julius Caesar the Graphic Novel” by Dan Whitehurst and William Shakespeare
- “D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths” by Ingrid & Edgar D'Aulaire's
- “Greek Gods and Heroes” by PhD. Berry Katz and Alice Low
- Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: Making Comics, Manga, Graphic Novels and Beyond by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden
- The Art of Comic Book Writing: The Definitive Guide to Outlining, Scripting, and Pitching your Sequential Art by Mark Kneece
- Art of Making Comics by Alex Simmons
- Reinventing Comics: Evolution of an Art Form by Scott McCloud
- Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative by Will Eisner
- Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
- Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets by Scott McCloud
Abel, Jessica, and Matt Madden. Drawing words and writing pictures: making comics: manga, graphic novels, and beyond. New York, NY: First Second, 2008.
D’Aulaire, Ingrid, and Edgar Parin. D'Aulaire. D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths. Random House Children's Books, 1992.
A Good resource for teachers and students to learn about the stories of Greek mythology. This book is age appropriate for student age 8 to 13. Perfect for elementary age students.
Education, Virginia Department of. "Virginia Department of Education." VDOE: Virginia Department of Education Home. Accessed August 04, 2017. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/.
This site list the Virginia Standards of Learning for students that attend public school in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Eisner, Will. Graphic storytelling and visual narrative: principles and practices from the legendary cartoonist. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008.
This is a great art resource. This book takes a thoughtful and concise look at the ways to tell stories through illustrations. This book examines visual cues, tools and elements that can enhance graphic storytelling.
"Greek Mythology for Kids." Greek Mythology for Kids and Teachers - Ancient Greece for Kids. Accessed August 04, 2017. http://greece.mrdonn.org/myths.html.
This website is an excellent student resource. The content is age appropriate and provides short, one page summaries of Greek myths, as well as descriptions of Greek gods.
McCloud, Scott. Making comics: storytelling secrets of comics, manga and graphic novels. New York: Harper, 2007.
McCloud, Scott. Reinventing comics. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2008.
This resource highlights the format and blueprint for making comics and graphic stories.
McCloud, Scott, and Mark Martin. Understanding comics: the invisible art. New York, NY: William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2014.
Great source for background on the steps to creating visual narratives. This book provides a wealth of insight on the process and history of making comics. The visual imagery makes it fun to read and understand. This would be a great resource for both teachers and students.
Mileff, Geri. "Why Ancient Greek Mythology is Still Relevant Today." Owlcation. June 08, 2016. Accessed August 04, 2017. https://owlcation.com/humanities/Why-Ancient-Greek-Mythology-is-Still-Relevant-Today.
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. New Delhi: Campfire, 2013.
The resource is a good visual resource to introduce students to how graphic novels and comic books look. The images depict how the environment looked during ancient Greek and Roman Times.
- Education, Virginia Department of. "Virginia Department of Education." VDOE: Virginia Department of Education Home. Accessed August 04, 2017. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/.
- Mileff, Geri. "Why Ancient Greek Mythology is Still Relevant Today." Owlcation. June 08, 2016. Accessed August 04, 2017. https://owlcation.com/humanities/Why-Ancient-Greek-Mythology-is-Still-Relevant-Today.
- "Greek Mythology for Kids." Greek Mythology for Kids and Teachers - Ancient Greece for Kids. Accessed August 04, 2017. http://greece.mrdonn.org/myths.html.
- Eisner, Will. Graphic storytelling and visual narrative: principles and practices from the legendary cartoonist. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008.
- McCloud, Scott, and Mark Martin. Understanding comics: the invisible art. New York, NY: William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2014.
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