The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

In The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi, a little Korean girl, Unhei, struggles with her identity as she tries to decide if she should keep her Korean name or choose an American name.  The children in her class help her by writing down names they like on small sheets of paper which they then place into a jar on Unhei's desk--the name jar.  My students have gotten a few chuckles out of the suggested names! Ultimately, Unhei, with the help of her friend Joey, keeps her Korean name and shares it with her classmates.  The story relates the loneliness and disorientation of new immigrants through the eyes of Unhei: a relatable, multi-faceted character.  I think that many students (and their parents) will see some of themselves while reading this story.

Ideas for the ESL classroom:

• Class discussion about native-language names vs. "American" names
• List native-language words that have become a part of the English language; choose some words to illustrate and share
• Feelings and emotions are threaded throughout the story.  Discuss synonyms and antonyms of different emotions.  Make a chart.
• Unhei often visits the Korean store with her mother, where everything is written in both Korean and English.  Communities and markets around the city can be explored through maps, websites and possibly field trips with an emphasis on international connections.  Students can make maps of their local community and include places they visit with their families.
• Character development would be a great focus while reading this story.  Unhei changes throughout the story, and students could track her changes using evidence from the text.
• Unhei's mother tells her that although they are in America now, they will not stop eating Korean food.  Teacher and students can discuss aspects of their home cultures that they have kept up in America.  This could be a class discussion and then a journal activity or essay.
• Some words that might be tricky for ELL's: nervous, fingered, pouch, carved, grooves, blush, relieved, curious, identity, teased, familiar, characters (multiple meanings), concern, souvenir

Something cool to check out...an interview with the author: http://goodcharacters.com/newsletters/the.name.jar.html


Happy reading!
Jacquie

Carmen Learns English

I have to admit, I did not love this book.  While I appreciate the author, Judy Cox's, intent, I am not a fan of multicultural books written by people who are not either a part of the ethnic group about which they are writing or embedded in that culture.  The illustrations in ink, watercolor and acrylics by Angela Dominguez, however, are engaging and full of emotion.


The story follows the experience of a Spanish speaking kindergartner named Carmen who is nervous about attending school in English.  The themes are pretty standard--she is nervous about speaking English in class, she misunderstands some of the words used in class and has trouble pronouncing others, a couple of times she is made fun of, ... The author attempts to use code-switching, but it is stilted and awkward--not at all natural.  The feelings experienced by the main character, Carmen, feel superficial and forced. 


The one element threaded throughout the story was that of Carmen going home and teaching her younger sister, Lupita, the little bit of English that she learned at school each day.  Had that been explored more and made the main focus of the story, I would have liked the book much more.

Some ideas for the ESL classroom: Students could discuss and journal about their first days of school and how they felt.   A comparison/contrast essay comparing the students' first days of school to Carmen's could be crafted using a Venn diagram as a pre-writing tool.  Students could also write about what they have taught their families at home after learning something fun at school.  Graphing could be explored using words that are hard for students to pronounce in English.  Teachers might pull some words from those that Carmen struggles with and add a few that their own students have difficulty saying.  A graph would be made on chart paper.  Then, students can vote using sticky notes for the top three most difficult words in English to pronounce.  Activities would then be based on the graph.

Happy reading!
Jacquie