As many of you know before I started my life as a special education teacher I was originally planning on being a Social Studies teacher. I love just about everything that falls under the social studies umbrella (except for economics, but that is whole 'nother story). The problem is there are lots of other young teachers who love social studies as well so it is hard to find a teaching position in Minnesota. Now, had a been willing to locate to Texas or North Dakota my career would have gone in a whole other direction. So, I turned to special education and found that that is where I belonged.
During my interviews this past year, I like to stress that I have a social studies background...I feel it gives me a leg up on the competition. Kind of like getting two teachers for the price of one! During my interview for my now position on EHS, I was told that if I was offered the job I would be teaching a special education social studies class. So, long story short (but not really, it took me two paragraphs) I am able to incorporate both my loves into one class. I am working with students with special education needs as well as my love of everything social studies.
September 17th was Constitution Day (there is a piece of Trivial Pursuit knowledge for you!). I put together a lesson about the Constitution because not only is it am important piece of our American history, it comes up quit often regarding some of our presidential candidates (some get it right, some get it wrong) and the next election. While researching for information and materials about the Constitution, I came across an interesting website
www.freedomforum.org. Now, this website is only dedicated to the First Amendment (can anyone name the five rights/freedoms without the help of a book or the Internet?). So I put this information aside to save for another day.
Well that day came onTuesday, when I introduced the First Amendment to my students. Typically, they didn't seem engaged at all (I am pretty sure they all think I am a huge nerd). But yesterday and today, they perked up and we had the best conversations and discussion we have had all year. The subject....challenge and banned books! I love it! The lesson is entitled "Do Students Have the Right to Read?" and they talked more during this discussion than ever before. We had a great time laughing about reasons people have challenged books (example...
Harry Potter for being anti-family and promoting Satanism) and researching which books have been challenged the most. Did you know that from 1990 to the present more than 10,000 books have been challenged or banned? TEN THOUSAND! And most of them are repeatedly challenge, usually with no success. As Albert Einstein once said "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
Many of the young adult books contain real-life situation, such as teen-pregnancy, suicide, depression, death, drug-use, etc. Yes, we want to keep our children young as long as possible but it is important to, as they get older, expose them to the knowledge of the real world. Life happens, everything isn't always shiny and perfect, and as one my students put it today why would we ban books that have relatable characters?
For more information about banned books (there is a banned book week every year) visit the American Library Association website. And remember "think for yourself and let others the privilege to do so, too" ~Voltaire
Top Ten Challenged/Banned Book of 2010:
10.
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer - religions viewpoint, violence (one of my students said this should be banned because of the poor quality of writing!)
9.
Revolutionary Voices by Amy Sonnie - homosexuality, sexually explicit
8.
Nickled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich - drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint (SERIOUSLY, seriously?)
7.
What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones - sexism, sexually explicit, unsuitable for age group
6.
Lush by Natasha Friend - drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuitable for age group
5.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - sexual explicit, unsuitable for age group, violence (quite possibly one of the best YA novels I have read in a long time)
4.
Crank by Ellen Hopkins - drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit
3.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - insensitivity, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
2.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - offensive language, racism, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence
1.
And Tango Make Three by Pete Parnell and Justin Richardson - homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuitable for age group (Damn the gay penguins, they are ruining the world!)
And Tango Make Three YouTube video of the book.
If you are laughing about the above list...here is another one.
Top Ten Challenged/Banned Classic Books
10.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
9.
1984 by George Orwell
8.
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
7.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
6.
Ulysses by James Joyce
5.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
4.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
2.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
1.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Think about it...the best way to get a child or student to read a book is to tell them it is bad for them and they can't read it.
Remember parents, according to the Library Bill of Rights..."parents and only parents have the right and responsibility to restrict access of their child and
only their children to library resources."
PowerPoint presentation to come soon!
