October Mourning
Written by Lesléa Newman
Candlewick Press, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5807-6
Grades 8-12
Teaching Ideas and Invitations
Research
Researching Lived Experiences.
Oftentimes, in school, we consider research a value-free exercise, without
emotional impact or weight. Five days after Matthew Shepard was beaten and left
to die, author Lesléa
Newman arrived in Laramie, Wyoming to give the keynote address to launch the
University of Wyoming’s Gay Awareness Week. Her personal experiences in Laramie,
as well as her lesbian identity, fueled her research and writing of October Mourning over a decade later.
Have your students brainstorm local, national, or global events about which they
have visceral memories. Have students select an event to research, letting
their memories and their personal connections guide, but not dominate, their
research. Students can conduct the research individually, in pairs, or small
groups, and choose to share what they have learned in a variety of ways.
Whatever vehicle they choose to share their research, be sure that they
represent the multiple perspectives that they seek out in their research
process.
Contextualizing Source Materials. To write October Mourning,
Lesléa
Newman used a wide range of source material. Many of her poems are introduced
by direct quotes or reference something that someone said on the news, in the
newspaper, or in court testimony. Have your students read October Mourning before you conduct a research project already
embedded in your curriculum. As your students reference source material
parenthetically within the papers, have them jot down notes about why they are
citing that particular source at that particular moment. When the paper is
done, require students to include a “Notes” section like Newman does,
describing the source material, and why the quote or information was important
include.
Writer’s Craft
Poetry Genre Study. Use October Mourning as a way to explore the
craft of poetry writing and the various ways in which different poetic forms
operate. First, have students read the book as a novel, and explore the ways in
which the various forms help to shape characterization as well as pacing. Next,
think about the choices the author made about these different forms, drawing
from the “Explanation of Poetic Forms” included in the back of the book. In
addition to a traditional poetry genre student, in which students write and
revise poems drawing on a variety of forms, topics, and themes, have your
students create a short narrative using a minimum of five different poetic
forms.
Exploring Verse Novels. Through an exploration of the theme of loss, have your students study the art of verse novels in small groups. Alongside October Mourning, you can explore Ann Turner's Hard Hit, Guadalupe Garcia McCall's Under the Mesquite, and Margarita Engle's Tropical Secrets. For each novel, have students compare and contrast how the authors built the narrative art into the collection of poems. How do free verse novels operate compared to October Mourning's use of a range of poetic forms? What roles does figurative language play? How do the poems shape the pacing of the overall story? To further enhance their exploration of verse fiction, have your students write short stories told in verse, and publish your collection in print or digitally to share with fellow teens. You may or may not ask students to focus on the theme of loss that permeates this constellation of books.
Researched Verse Fiction and Nonfiction. After reading October
Mourning, have your students read Marilyn Nelson’s nonfiction Fortune’s Bones: The Manumission Requiem.
Fortune’s Bones also explores loss
and bigotry, through the life of Fortune, an enslaved African man living in 18th
century Connecticut. Both books are heavily researched. Have your students read
each book and compare and contrast the ways in which each author uses what she
researched to represent the events of Matthew Shepard’s death and Fortune’s
life and death. To further enhance their study of researched verse, have your
students research a person of interest who is no longer living, and reconstruct
that person’s life, partially or wholly, through verse fiction or nonfiction.
Make sure your students include an author’s note that articulates how they
built upon their research to construct their narrative.
Further Explorations
Digital Texts
Lesléa
Newman Official Webpage
The Matthew Shepard and James
Byrne Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009
NY Times Topics: Matthew Shepard
“The Crucifixion of Matthew
Shepard,” Vanity Fair, Melanie Thernstorm
The Matthew Shepard Web Archive,
University of Wyoming
The Matthew Shepard Foundation
Matthew’s Place
The Trevor Project
Parents, Families, and Friends,
of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
Human Rights Campaign
Books
Engle, M. (2009). Tropical secrets: Holocaust refugees in Cuba.
New York: Holt.
McCall, G. G. (2011). Under the mesquite. New York: Lee and
Low.
Nelson, M. (2004). Fortune’s bones: The manumission requiem.
Honesdale, PA: Front Street.
Turner, A. (2006). Hard hit. New York: Scholastic.
Courage
Has No Color
Written by Tanya Lee Stone
Candlewick Press, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5117-6
Teaching Ideas and Invitations
Exploring the Military in World War II. Courage has No Color
explores the role of one group of African-American men during World War II. Using
a literature circle approach, have students explore the book alongside other
American men and women whose service in World War II was limited because of
prejudice, such as Black Men and White
Air Men by John Fleishman and Yankee
Doodle Gals by Amy Nathan. There is no comparable middle grade or young
adult nonfiction book specifically on Japanese-American soldiers, in particular
the 442nd Regiment, but there are digital collections listed below
that can also be explored. After focusing on these three trade books, as well
as digital texts, have students examine several textbook accounts of World War
II or a basic survey book on the topic. What role do the men and women they
read about play in these more general accounts? Are they mentioned? Is a
comprehensive history of the war possible to write?
Research
Comparing Research Strategies:
After reading Courage has No Color,
make sure that students read “The Story Behind the Story” within the back
matter. Next, have your students read a variety of entries from the Interesting
Nonfiction for Kids (INK) blog. Have them compare and contrast the different
approaches writers and illustrators take to complete their research, and the
similarities and differences between Stone’s approach and others’.
How Far Have We Come? After
reading Courage has No Color, have
your students explore contemporary issues of equity within the military. Using
some of the resources below, as well as other digital and print texts, have
your students explore the recent demise of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy
that prohibited gay and lesbian men and women from being out while serving in
the military, and the recent termination of the ban on women in combat.
Students may also want to consider the make-up of our all-volunteer force and
the number of men and women of color in the military today as compared to during
World War II.
Oral History. To write
this book, Tanya Lee Stone had to conduct many interviews with the veterans of
the 555th, who are in the eighties and nineties. Have your students
conduct oral histories with senior citizens in your community about their
memories of World War II. Be sure to have your students read more widely about
the war before establishing general research questions and specific interview
questions. You might want to organize groups to interview men and women based
on the different roles they played at war and on the Homefront. Decide together
the best way to share their research. They may want to co-author articles with
the senior citizens whom they interview, to publish a class magazine that can
be donated to the school and public library. Or, students might use this as an
opportunity to introduce multimodal digital composition to senior citizens in
your area, working together to photograph artifacts and momentos, locate old
songs, and record some of their conversations, in order to create a portrait of
their memories.
Writer’s Craft
Author Study. Have some
students in class read Courage has No
Color, and have others read Almost
Astronauts. What are the similarities and differences in content and theme?
What are some of the similarities and differences in the structures of the
books? What visual narratives are created within each book? How did Stone
approach her research in each? How does the author’s note and source material
guide you? What are some of the lessons
in craft that they learn from her books?
Further Explorations
Digital Texts
Tanya
Lee Stone Official Webpage
INK Blog: Nonfiction Writers
Sharing Their Craft
The Triple Nickles Association
Walter Morris, “Experiencing the
War: Stories from the Veteran’s History Project,”
The Library of Congress
“Army Honors Triple Nickles
Legacy at Pentagon Ceremony,” US Army Homepage
CIA: Japanese-American Spies in
World War II
Japanese-Americans in World War
II, The History Channel
World War II, Library of Congress
The 442nd Regimental
Combat Team Historical Society
NY Times Topic: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
NY Times Topic: Women at Arms, 2009
“Women in Combat and the Price
They Pay,” NPR
Books
Fleishman, J. (2007). Black and white airmen: Their true history.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Nathan, A. (2002). Yankee Doodle gals: Women pilots of World
War II. Washington, DC: National Geographic.
Stone, T. L. (2009). Almost astronauts. Somerville, MA:
Candlewick Press.
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