Red, Rescue & Jessica, and Last Stop on Market Street
Red: A Crayon's Story is a children's book all about a crayon whose wrapper says "red", but whose color is actually blue. The book follows Red as he struggled with trying to be "good" at being red. He tried to draw things that were supposed to be red, but every time he did, his pictures came out blue. Instead of other crayons accepting that he was blue, they often told him all of the things he did wrong. One day, Berry crayon asks Red to draw her an ocean, and then the other crayons begin accepting that Red was actually Blue. This story is one of acceptance, kindness, and compassion. While the other crayons sought to "fix" Red, Berry was the only one who accepted him as he was and was kind to him. Michael Hall does a beautiful job of incorporating different fonts of texts within each page and actual crayon drawings within the book. This would be an addition to texts that are used to begin lessons about differences and acceptance in classrooms.
Rescue & Jessica tells the story of a service dog, Rescue, and a girl, Jessica, who needs a service animal after her leg amputations. Rescue was originally bred to be a Seeing-Eye Dog, but his career course takes a turn when his trainer decides he will best serve as a service-dog. He wonders if he will be a good shrive dog, what his new partner will be like, and whether she will like him. Meanwhile, Jessica is in a hospital after her leg amputation. Like Rescue, she wonders what her life will be like now that she is not doing what she was intended to do. When both Rescue and Jessica are finally united, they make each other better- Rescue helped Jessica open things, helped hold her steady when she fell, and gave her a companion. In turn, Jessica played with Rescue and made him feel loved. This story is one of friendship and a beautiful story of a symbiotic relationship- both Rescue and Jessica needed one another and truly felt "rescued" by each other. What I love most about this book is that it was written by Jessica and Kensky and Patrick Downes, who are both amputees due to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2012. The authors use "own-voice" to tell the story of when Jessica met Rescue and the story that unfolded when the two were united. In the "about the author" section they write:
"We hope this story inspires you to celebrate others the way we have been celebrated".
Not only can this book be used as a great read-aloud for students, but it can be used to celebrate differences and inspire acceptance. This would be a great addition to a classroom when talking about acceptance, kindness, friendship, and celebration of diversity.
Last Stop on Market Street is the story of young CJ and his nana as they ride the bus across town to Market Street, just like they do every Sunday. On this trip, CJ wonders out loud why they have to ride the bus, why they have to go to Market Street, and why they can't be like all his other friends. His nana is quick to remind him of the good after every question he asks. CJ asks his nana, "How come we always gotta go here after church?" ... "Miguel and Colby never have to go nowhere", to which his nana sweetly replies, "I feel sorry for those boys," ... "They'll never get a chance to meet Bobo or the Sunglass Man"
No matter how much CJ complains or asks why, his nana is quick to remind him of the good things that lie ahead as they make their way towards Market Street. As they reach their stop on Market Street, we see that the two of them were on their way to a soup kitchen where they serve as volunteers. One of my favorite spreads in the book is where CJ wonders how his nana is able to see something beautiful everywhere they go, even when they are walking in the midst of dirt and debris as they make their way to the soup kitchen. He is able to see things just like nana as they make their way inside, and is even glad they came.
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When I read these books for the first time, I thought a lot about how I could incorporate these into a lesson in my own classroom. There is always a need for talking about acceptance and kindness, but these books go one step further in doing that. I want these books to have a deep connection to this theme of acceptance and kindness and go further than just saying to my students, "these books do a great job of showing kindness and this is something we can do in our lives, too". I want my students to find themselves in these stories and to be able to use critical lenses, no matter how old they are.
I hope to be in a first or second grade classroom after graduation, and I really feel like these books correspond to the social studies standards for both grade levels:
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1.C.1.2
Use literature to help people understand diverse cultures.
2.C.1.3
Exemplify respect and appropriate social skills needed for working with diverse groups.
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Both of these standards want teachers to highlight diverse cultures, and what better way of doing that than reading diverse texts that teach our students about the world and its people. Rather than just telling my students about cultures and different people, I would love to read a book that shows them a different perspective or different kind of person, and or even for them to find themselves in the books I choose to have on my shelves and read aloud.
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A great lesson that would coincide with Last Stop on Market Street and the social studies standards for both 1st and 2nd grade is the critical literacy strategy "Connection Stems". Connection Stems help students monitor thinking and create prompts that encourage their thinking while reading or after reading a text. One great thing about using the lesson "Connection Stems" is that students can make responses by drawing, writing, or even verbally talking about their own connections to the text. All three of these are great options for first and second graders because they may wish to use a combination of all three in order to communicate their connections.
Examples of Connection Stems can be:
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That reminds me of...
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I remember when...
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I have a connection...
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An experience I have had like...
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I felt like that character when...
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If I were that character, I would...
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I remember another book about this...
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Not only does this lesson allow for students to voice their own personal experiences, but it creates a connection between the text and students as they relate their own personal narratives to the text. Students can see themselves in the character CJ or to his nana as they create connections and talk about their own personal experiences that are similar to those in Last Stop on Market Street.
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http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/curriculum/socialstudies/scos/k-2.pdf
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Hall, M. (2015). Red: A Crayon's Story. New York, NY: Green Willow Books.
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Kensky, J., & Downes, P. (2018). Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
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Peña Matt de la. (2015). Last Stop on Market Street. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
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DeVoogd, G. L., & McLaughlin, M. (2004). Critical Literacy: Enhancing Students' Comprehension of Text. New York, NY: Scholastic.