Book Choice

For my final project for this unit I've chosen to use Cool Salsa by Lori Marie Carlson and Stories That Must Not Die by Juan Sauvageau.

I know that the assignment was to choose one book, but I think these two will go nicely together.

I chose Cool Salsa because I love poetry and because a book like this is an opportunity for students to see things from multiple perspectives. The book features many authors who write on many themes, including racism, revolution, family, and life in general. Also, poems are presented in Spanish and English. This helps English language learners (native Spanish speakers who may not be totally comfortable or fluent in English) fully understand the text (and may allow them to be the experts at explaining the differences in translation or bringing out some of the emotion that may be lost in translation), it helps students learning Spanish to practice, it allows students to share the poems with relatives who may not speak English, and it gives non-Spanish speaking students a look at the text in another language.

I chose Stories That Must Not Die because I think it provides a wonderful cultural tie in to the poetry. Again, it is presented in both Spanish and English, and it presents folktales. One Amazon reviewer said that the book even contained stories her grandmother had told her when she was a child. There is available a version of the book that contains discussion questions, and it could be used to get kids to start thinking about their own folklore (stories they remember, stories from their own lives - self, family, friend, community, school).

Perhaps we'll see the stories influencing the poems, or at least catch glimpses of a recognized history in each.