Michelle+Harrison

Hucko, Bruce. 1996. **A Rainbow At Night.** Chronicle Books. 44. Scottsdale Public Library – Civic Center. Kawano, Kenji. 1990. **Warriors Navajo Code Talkers.** Northland Publishing Company. 107. Scottsdale Public Library – Civic Center. Kalman, Bobbie. 2004. **Life of the Navajo.** Crabtree Publishing Company. 32. Scottsdale Public Library – Civic Center. Bruchac, Joseph. 2002. **Navajo Long Walk.** National Geographic Society. 47. Scottsdale Public Library – Civic Center. Ramen, Fred. 2008. **Native American Mythology.** The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. 64. Scottsdale Public Library – Civic Center. Wyborny, Sheila. 2005. **Native Americans of the Southwest.** KidHaven Press. 48. Scottsdale Public Library – Civic Center. Jackson, Ellen. 1996. **The Precious Gift.** Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 31. Scottsdale Public Library – Civic Center. O’Dell, Scott. 1970. **Sing Down the Moon.** Houghton Mifflin Company. 137. Scottsdale Public Library – Civic Center. Hunter, Sarah. 1996. **The Unbreakable Code.** Rising Moon Books. 30. Scottsdale Public Library – Civic Center. Miles, Miska. 1971. **Annie and the Old One.** Hachette Book Group USA. 44. Scottsdale Public Library – Civic Center.
 * __Nonfiction __**
 * 1) 1. This book is a fantastic example of Navajo artwork and beliefs all demonstrated through Navajo children. The text has a brief paragraph or so about each belief, a piece of artwork done by a Navajo child, a picture of the child, their name and age, and a brief explanation by the child of their artwork. At the bottom of the page is a prompt to encourage student thinking and an art project idea to represent the same concept that the Navajo child was creating. Some examples of the beliefs presented in this book include the idea of the balance of the universe, the importance of animals like horses and coyote in the Navajo culture, and the hogan’s importance of the Navajo.
 * 2) 2. The main concept in the story is social studies but artwork, math, writing, and reading are all incorporated in this text. The stories within the text are windows to look into the ways of the Navajo people and are relatable to children. The text also includes various art projects that relate to the Navajo beliefs or practices and provides students and teachers with ideas for doing artwork in their own classroom that will help students relate to the concepts. This project could be used for writing by going off of one of the prompts available at the bottom of each page, such as “How do you help with your family’s work?” and then artwork goes side by side with it, “Draw yourself, a brother, a sister, or parent performing a family chore.” You can also incorporate math by working with students to create lines, use rulers in their artwork, count the different colors within each piece of artwork, and even use the different concepts, such as “how many pets do you have?” and then creating word problems to go with it. Students could answer a word problem with a picture and then each student could present their picture and explain their understanding.
 * 1) 1. 1. This book is a powerful memoire style text that has a multitude of pictures of Navajo Code Talkers, some brief captions beneath the picture or stories from the Code Talkers, and as a long introduction talking about the text, photographer, and who Code Talkers were and are. The book is controversial because of some of the lines in the text, but is a great resource for students to physically see the Navajo people who gave so much for their country, when their country did not give them anything in return. The Navajo Code Talkers are some of history’s greatest and most tragic aspects, talking about how the Navajo were not accepted for being who they were, but it was who they were to begin with that saved the U.S. during World War II. The fact that the Navajo received no recognition at the time for their efforts only further saddens the story.
 * 2) 2. 2. This book is a great reference material for children to visualize the people that they are learning about. History, writing, and mathematics can all be incorporated into a lesson using this book. Students could write letters to the Code Talkers or they could create a picture for the code talkers. Students can also do fun cryptograms and code puzzles that give them the opportunity to think and see like the Navajo Code Talkers did. This book also provides a huge list of Navajo words that students could use to write their own Navajo codes.
 * 1) 1. Life of the Navajo is a collection of information about Navajo beliefs, practices, lifestyles, history, and culture. This book explores the Navajo completely, talking about every aspect of their society, and does it in a way that is simple for students to understand at younger grade levels. The book has a great deal of pictures and illustrations for students to relate to and provides many Navajo words to explore and explain the Navajo language. The book talks about how the land is sacred to the Navajo, where the Navajo live and have lived in the past, and how they developed into the culture that they are today.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. This book is great for history, art, and writing. It provides an excellent resource for students to use during informational text writing, and allows students to begin understanding how to use resources in their writing and to support their writing with resources. Students can create any number of art projects based off of the information in the book, including their own weavings, jewelry, sand paintings, or homes. Students are also able to create a firm understanding of the Navajo and learn some fun Navajo words to help their excitement about the topic grow and develop.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. This book is a powerful account of the Navajo “Long Walk.” Like the trail of tears, it is a discussion on the white man’s movement into Navajo land, the destruction of the Navajo way, and the movement and dehumanization of the Navajo people. This story explores racism, bigotry, and the painful past in America’s history. It has illustrations that are powerful and bring tears to any eyes, and gives students insight into the power of words and actions when taken against other people. It also talks about the power of belief and faith in the face of great adversity and pain.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. This book brings tears to any eye, even the eyes of most students. It provides students with so many opportunities for learning history, writing, and reading. It can also be a good exploration into different art forms and power of art in relation to this particular text. Students can explore the idea of emotion in artwork, the play on colors, the method for drawing each picture in the text and how it makes the students feel as they read and explore this tragic history.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. This book explores all of the different Native American mythologies and beliefs. It gives small details from each tribe, links the beliefs, and shows similarities and differences between each tribe. It also provides an overarching view of the belief systems and how they functioned within Native American societies. The myths are broken down into creation myths, trickster myths, and hero myths, and the text has a brief introduction on the world of Native Americans.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. This is another great writing and reading resource, as well as art and history. It provides students with a text to base their research on for informative papers, and also gives students the opportunity to explore beliefs that they’ve likely never heard of before. Students can learn about and create Kachina dolls, explore the Native American tricksters, learn about Native American heroes, and then connect their learning to their own belief systems and stories that they’ve heard from home. It gives students the opportunity to connect with a very different system of beliefs and gives them something to take home and ask questions about, creating a family connection to their learning, as well.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. This easy to read book talks about a variety of Native American tribes here in the Southwest. They detail and explore many different religious ceremonies, where the Native American tribes in Arizona lived, how they lived, and what they wore. This book has many pictures and illustrations to support student learning and give students the chance to see and learn about some of the Native American dance ceremonies that they may have never seen before.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. This book is a great resource for students to use in their writing and in their history, but can also be used to get students physically involved in activities. Students love to see the Native American dances and learn how the dances are important and representative of the Native American beliefs of animals. Students could create their own tribal dance, to get some activity, while also learning to be respectful of the Native American beliefs and the differences that their culture has from the students’ cultures.
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fiction __**
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. The Precious Gift is a Navajo Creation myth story talking about how certain animals became the way they were, how the Navajo believe man and woman came to the Earth, and how they created water and streams in the desert to live from. This book explores many different concepts of the Navajo beliefs and allows for student exploration and interaction. The imagery in the book is beautiful and illustrated with gouache.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. This book is a fun and exciting art and writing lesson, as well as a history lesson. Students can write their own stories about how the world was created, they can write about how their own beliefs are different or the same as this Navajo creation myth, and can write about how they think animals became the way they did. Students can even create their own folktales based off of this, and other, stories. Students can also create artwork about this story, drawing any of the characters, or comparing the characters traits and characteristics through drawing. Students can also explore the gouache art style and practice it themselves in the classroom to create some beautiful pictures for a class book.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. Sing Down the Moon is a book about a 14 year old Navajo girl. It takes the reader through the life of this girl, in firsthand accounts, and explores the Navajo culture through her eyes. Students are able to see how the Navajo see things, how their lives are different and the same, and how they are affected by the choices of those around them and how their culture has been affected by the choices around them.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. Students can use this text for writing, drawing, and history. It provide students with a background in the Navajo, but also gives a character that students can relate to and talks about many concepts and ideas that students have had to face, such as death, pain, mistakes, and fear. This book also has no pictures, which gives students the opportunity to illustrate each chapter themselves and talk to one another about their own learning, providing ample room for discussions and group conversation and work.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. The Unbreakable Code is a story account of the life of the main character, John’s, grandfather during World War II. He talked about how he had been in a boarding school, helping John with his transition from the Navajo lands to the Minnesota school he would be attending. He then talked about how he joined the army in World War II, even though he wasn’t old enough to do so, and told John about his commitment and the dedication that he and his fellow Navajo had to the cause. John’s grandfather told him about the way he was treated, his fears and the pain he went through, and discussed the importance of why he had gone to Japan in the first place.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. This story is an amazing Social Studies lesson and a great opportunity for writing, reading, and mathematics. Students can break or create their own Navajo codes, learning some parts of the language as they do so, which combines mathematics and writing together. Students can also explore the idea of codes through numbers, letters, and other methods used in World War II. On top of all of that, students can take the opportunity to write and ask questions to Code Talkers and to the Navajo people. This way students can see that these parts of history are real and are current and affected their lives.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">3. Annie and the Old One is a Navajo story about a little girl named Annie who loves to listen to her grandmother tell stories. Annie is a part of a traditional Navajo family, who lives in a Hogan and who farms, weaves, and creates jewelry. Annie’s grandmother, the Old One, tells the family that she will go back to the Earth when the weaving is finished. Annie does everything she can to prevent the weaving from being finished, even pulling out strings and letting her sheep out of the pin. Her grandmother figures out what she is doing and tells her that she cannot stop time. Annie comes to understand that there is life, even in death, and that death must come for all. Annie then wants to learn to weave, as her mother and her grandmother have. This story is so vital to teaching students’ about another perspective on family. Annie’s love for her grandmother, Annie’s mother’s respect and understanding of the beliefs that form their lives, and the practices, such as a grandmother asking her children what they would like to have in her passing, are all concepts that may be different from the beliefs or practices of the students inside of the classroom, and this book explores them with a character that is relatable to students.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">4. This story is a moving social studies book that provides students with the opportunity to learn about many different concepts relating to family, Navajo beliefs and practices, Navajo culture, and the concept of life and death. This book opens the opportunity for students to write, read, create a piece of artwork, and discuss their own families and the way their families act and work. Students could do a variety of artwork types to show a section of the story or students could weave their own small blanket which could be combined to be “Annie’s Blanket.” Students could use Annie’s story to write a poem, or maybe a letter to Annie that gives her support or advice that will help her through her hard time, or a letter asking Annie for advice and support to help students who are going through a hard time. Annie’s story is one of strength and determination, and students should be able to see that in any project that comes from the book. Students can also do a compare and contrast, comparing Annie’s life and the way she lives to their own.