Re: Helllllllllllllllllp please!

[Melody Frese <haikumelody@yahoo.com>]

I agree. Put it back on the parent. I did this last year when a parent
objected to the violence in the Greek mythology we were reading. I told the
parent my goals for the unit and asked her to come up with another way to
meet those goals with an alternative text. She relented because she wasn't
prepared to do all of that work, I guess.

Melody

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, on 12/10/06 1:53 PM, "Nancy Vait"
<vait3@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi Trisha -- I just returned from two days of writing
> curriculum and saw your post.  A couple years ago I
> remember finding a YA booklist with suggestions that
> were "positive and uplifting" with classics geared
> toward the parent you describe.  I can't find the
> list, however, either online or in my own files.
> 
> Here are a whole bunch of questions.  Do you have a
> district or school list of required 8th grade books?
> Are you held to teaching certain titles, like Night,
> which IS a powerful book but, you're right, probably
> will set this parent off again?  Who in your district
> or building will back you or offer you some guidance?
> You mentioned in an earlier email that your staff is
> forward thinking.  What do the other English teachers
> do with this problem?  Have you talked to your
> principal?  This doesn't seem like something that you
> should take on by yourself.
> 
> Clearly, this parent wants choices for her child.
> Okay . . .  But clearly, you cannot and should not
> change your entire curriculum to meet her demands.
> You might put the question back to her and ask her
> what books she would consider suitable and choose from
> those as an alternative.  I've done that with a couple
> parents in past years and it helped defuse the
> situation.  As others have written, I've either had
> these students work independently with a reading guide
> which I found online, or I've run lit circles.  This
> woman sounds like someone who finds power in
> confrontation.  Definitely offer alternatives.
> Definitely have supportive arguments for books like
> Night.  I think you can find them at the ALA or YALSA
> sites.  Someone on this list will know.
> 
> Good luck on this, Trisha.
> 
> Nancy
> 
>