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= The Golden Flower by Nina Jaffe [|Click Here for a Google Book Preview] Nina Jaffe's [|Author Page] = **On her page you can find: ** -Nina's short biography -Audio introduction from Nina (in English and Spanish) -Titles and reviews on each of her works -Information on FEAST (Folklore Education and Storytelling for Teachers)

= Summary: = //The Golden Flower// tells the tale of how Puerto Rico was created as an island of it's own. The story starts out with the whole earth being covered with land. There was no water and one day a young boy was picking up seeds on the lower grounds. He then planted these seeds at the highest mountain and from them grew large amounts of trees and plants. In the center a large orange flower grew as well and one day two people sought out this flower from far away. Unfortunately both people arrived at the flower at the same time. The two fight over the flower to the point where it bursts and out comes the sea. The water and the creatures keep rising until just the very tallest mountain is left afloat. And that is how Puerto Rico is created...

= Teaching Activities: =
 * Have students write their own "creation" story about where they live. How did the land become that they live on now? Students can make a children's picture book with their story that can be read to younger students at a later point. This will give students the motivation to create a story that will be shared with an actual audience. Creation stories also create a sense of community among its members.
 * In //The Golden Flower// there are many symbols that Jaffe uses to create the story. Use this story as a tool to teach a lesson on symbols. Have students identify the symbols in the story by identifying symbols that they see in their own life. Then have them pick a symbol and write a short story with the symbol included to show students how a symbol can develop throughout a story.
 * These stories were once carried throughout generations orally. Have students identify any stories that their family has passed down and share them with the class. Discuss the differences between spoken and written text.

= Children's Books: = Although this book was designed for younger students, I would never underestimate children's literature in the adolescent classroom. Adolescent students still love to be read to when it is done in an exciting way. A story such as this isn't meant to be long and wordy but the power is in the actual story line and meaning that lies behind such a simple expression.

I think that some teachers recognize the fact that some of their students are audio learners and they try to implement activities like audio readings and popcorn reading but unfortunately these are usually completely ineffective. But then how will we give students the chance to listen to stories? Children's books give teachers the oppurtunity to share a story with the students in a way that is engaging and interesting.

= Using Children's Literature with ESL Students: = This link provides a powerpoint presentation on the benefits of using children's literature with ESL students... [|The Department of Education, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2009]


 * Benefits of Children's Literature: **
 * Allows the teacher to model how to read and the thinking process that goes along with such
 * Pictures fortunately are universal images that tell a story on their own
 * Allows students to interact with the teacher during the reading for questions/comments
 * Oral expression and/or intonation of voice aids the story and emotion portrayed by characters
 * Usually have universal themes (typical moral story lines/lessons to be learned)
 * Simple sentence structure allows students to comprehend the story without only focusing in on the language

Eventually you can have students read children's literature to a small group of students or have them create their own story to share with classmates or younger readers.

P.S. If you feel that you can't read well to students, here is a site that will read for you! []

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

Lucky is a young girl that finds herself living with her father's ex-wife after her biological mother passes away by being electrocuted. Her guardian Brigitte came from France to California to take care of Lucky. Brigitte's family continually sends her packages containing memorabilia from home to try and lure her back to France. Lucky becomes convinced that Brigitte doesn't want her anymore so Lucky decides to run away before Brigitte has the opportunity to leave her. After her journey away, she recognizes that Brigitte actually wants to legally adopt Lucky and stay in California to open a French restaurant.


 * The POWER of this novel in the classroom... **
 * Lucky is a quirky ten year old girl that students can relate to
 * The novel takes place in a town that is little more than a few trailers and a stadium for sand storms
 * Students can relate to the idea of being unwanted/wanted
 * Lucky's family is not nuclear and we see her thoughout her journey to make sense of her family
 * 2007 Newbery Award Winner



= Controversy: = The beginning of the book starts out with Lucky sitting outside of a 12-step meeting, listening in on the stories of the members. Short Sammy describes the day before he became sober from alcohol. Long story, short, Short Sammy's dog was bitten by a snake in his scrotum. I'm not going to lie, the word kind have caught me off guard as I wondered exactly why the author chose that body part to get bitten. Patron defends herself on NPR's Talk of the Nation. Other Newbery Award winners backed her up as well.

I discuss this point to bring up the idea of censorship with literature. Who gets to decide what to censor? Does this take away value from the book? Why do author's chose to include material that might be controversal? Fortunately this allows for great discussion within the classroom. Have students debate the idea of censorship in literature and for older students, the idea of the literary cannon. How do books get placed on the literary cannon? Is the cannon even important? Why?

I'm just shooting out some questions that can fuel classroom discussions about literature. Many students don't appreciate literature or understand why it is important and censored or controversal books present an open-forum for this type of discussion. A teacher could potentially create an entire unit around the most popular banned books while incorporating the ideas of censorship and the literary cannon.

media type="youtube" key="S518SoYdUsQ" height="315" width="420" align="center"

Above is a video with the author Susan Patron as she discusess her passion for being an author and librarian. The beginning of the video discusses her struggles with censorship.

= Title/Pre-Reading: = I think it can be interesting as a pre-reading activity to try and decipher the meaning of a title and it is especially interesting with this novel: The Higher Power of Lucky. Allow students to make predictions about the novel before they read. Then during and/or after the novel discuss how those predictions have come true or changed.
 * What is the higher power?
 * What is the significance of the word "lucky?"



This book doesn't have specific mythological elements but Lucky is a female heroine that students can look up to. She goes through a journey and a monomyth cycle. Here is a basic sense of Lucky's fit into the monomyth:

Departure:
Lucky leaves home because she believes her guardian Brigitte no longer wants her and not to mention, living in a town with a population of 43, she needed to explore what laid outside her town's lines.

Initiation:
Lucky faces trials and tribulations on her journey outside the town like finding Miles injured and the sandstorm.

Return:
Lucky ends up returning home to Brigitte as she wants to adopt Lucky officially.

= Relation to mythological stories: =
 * Lucky describes herself physically as a "sandy-mushroom" color, in many other novels I have recognized the reoccurance of the color gray in humans
 * Brigitte as her guardian- Just like Grover in //The Lightning Thief//- a guardian is placed in someone's life to guide and protect them
 * Sidekick- Lucky has her dog HMS Beagle that is always by her side
 * Lincoln- he is Lucky's best friend but he is creative (a knot enthusiast) and innovative/quick-thinking (fixs the "Slow Children" sign)- most characters in mythological novels have a special skill or certain interests just as Lincoln does
 * Problem-solving skills- Lucky is extremely smart and can see situations in ways that others can't. For example, Lucky is able to get the snake out of the dryer by scaring it back out of the vent instead of just leaving it in there to die like Brigitte wanted to do
 * The idea of a higher-power that Lucky continually seeks out

= Connections between //The Golden Flower// and //The Higher Power of Lucky//  =
 * Both protagonists are young people
 * The geographical features of each book are prominant and important
 * One is seeking or under the influence of a "higher power"
 * Each character is on a journey where something good comes at the end
 * There are trials/tribulations- "scary moments"
 * The feelings of being feeling small compared to the greater world at large
 * Feeling of hope- reinventing oneself



=  Customer Reviews:For //The Higher Power of Lucky//... =

Beautiful book, not for the faint at heart, every word relevant,February 18, 2007 By [|Shulamit Widawsky "Shulamit.info"] I bought this book for my 8 and 11 year old boys. And then I bought more for presents for my friends' kids. The idea that some librarians are choosing to keep this book off the shelves due to the use of the word "scrotum" right at the beginning of the book is more offensive than the word. Reality check: my boys have lots of words for that part of the anatomy, it's about time they read the proper word used in context of another boy saying it. Surprisingly, if it is the "word" that stuns people, then they haven't read the book and thought about how stunning it is to consider a child (Lucky) listening in on a variety of 12-step groups. But those two aspects, and all the rest of the "shocking" things that happen in this book, are all absolutely appropriate, and beautifully written, to make this book something special. I highly recommend "Lucky", and I fully agree with the age suggestion assigned it (9-12). My 8yo thought it was awesome, but then, he is in the 4th grade. My 11yo loved it. The reality is kids in this age range have all kinds of scary ideas and powerful curiosities. Being able to read about Lucky going through such things gave my kids the opportunity to think about and talk about all kinds of things. As a family, we thought this was an excellent book. **Lucky is as lucky does**,January 22, 2007 By [|Kelly Herold "Big A little a"] Lucky has not had it, well, lucky. Her father has abandoned her, her mother died in the desert, and she lives in a tiny dusty town of 43 residents. Lucky's town, Hard Pan, doesn't have much going for it. There's an improvised beauty salon, a post office, and the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center. Lucky cleans up the Visitor Center, and spends her time eavesdropping on the Anonymous meetings (smokers, drinkers, overeaters, and gamblers). She likes their stories and she's especially inspired by their search for the Higher Power. If only she, Lucky, could find the Higher Power. Then she could stabilize her life. At the moment, Lucky doesn't feel that stable. She lives with her guardian, Brigitte, a Frenchwoman and Lucky's father's first wife. Brigitte is homesick, still speaks to Lucky with French terms of endearment, and, most importantly, has kept her passport. Lucky knows what that means: Brigitte will leave her in Hard Pan and head back to France. Brigitte and Lucky live in an improvised home, comprised of three trailers linked together and mounted on concrete blocks. She has one friend in town, a knot-fantatic named Lincoln, and is followed around by a sad 5-year-old boy named Miles with a penchant for cookies and "Are You My Mother?" Lucky resolves to follow the twelve step program, embarking on the "next step after rock bottom, the getting-control-of-your-life step." She decides to run away during a dust storm, taking a survival pack of her own design with her. Better leave than be left. "The Higher Power of Lucky" is a charming, powerful tale for the younger Middle Grade reader (7-11). Susan Patron uses the Anonymous metaphor to good effect here. As Lucky herself explains, "It's almost impossible to get control of your life when you're only ten. It's other people, adults, who have control of your life, because they can abandon you." Isn't that the truth? Lucky is a scrappy young protagonist and a straightforward narrator. She's also an intelligent girl, interested in biology and Charles Darwin, and means well in her search for the truth. The reader roots for her in her attempt to take control of her life, even when she makes mistakes, and is thrilled when she finally finds home.([|LINK]) = For //The Golden Flower//: = **The Golden Flower**,January 20, 2002 I have read this story to second and third graders and the story keeps them entertained and interested. They have fun predicting what will happen next. The illustrations are true works of art. It can be used to introduce Puerto Rico and also to show that there were native people living in all areas of the "new world" before Europeans arrived. It can be a little tricky discussing a creation myth in a public school setting but the positives outweigh the negatives with this story.([|LINK])

**hermosisimo!**,June 16, 2007 By [|FolkFan] This book is beautifully illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez. Full-page paintings on every page make the myth come alive. His dazzling imagination and sense of design and warm colors make the tale both cosmic and human at the same time. Savor every page. ([|LINK])