Sorry this is a little late but there are some good ideas.
Yes. I ask the kids what it means to ban a book or challenge a book.
Once we have the definitions down I gather a picture book and a
chapter book from the banned books list for each table and ask them to
look at the books and decide what someone might find objectionable.
then we show the books from each table and discuss. I also make it
clear that their parent shave the right to decide what is right for
them to read, view, play, etc. the problem comes in when someone else
tries to make the decision for everyone. I also point out that some of
the books that have gotten the most publicity because of people's
objections have profited from the media hype. I also mention that our
district has a process for reconsidering books. It is usually the best
lesson. I did have a teacher go to the principal with concerns but she
backed me up by telling him that it was in the curriculum.
Last year my students enjoyed hearing about some reasons why picture
books like, "In the Night Kitchen" had been challenged and/or banned.
Then I read "The Cat in the Hat" and I put the students into 2 groups,
one group is for banning the book and the other book supports our
intellectual freedom to keep the book. It fun because the students
come up with crazy reasons such as, "ban it because it teaches kids to
let strangers in the house!" or, "ban it because the fish is put in
harm's way and that's animal cruelty!" It helps them to see the
absurdity in some of the challenges and then I tell them that this
books has actually been challenged and what the reasons were. They
have a lot of fun with this and I've used it with 5th - 8th graders.
I am doing a lesson this week with my three 6th grade classes for
banned books week. First, I have a display of banned books at a table
in the front of the library with the question: Do you read banned
books? prominently displayed. When each 6th grade class comes in, I
start a discussion about what banning books is and who should have the
power and authority to ban books: teachers, parents, administrators,
etc. Soon after this discussion is underway, one of our security
officers comes into the library and starts putting all the banned
books on display into a box. When I question his actions, he tells me
that the Board of Directors of the school has ordered that the books
be removed from the library. When I protest, he puts me in handcuffs
and takes me and the books out of the library. The classroom teacher
continues the discussion. You can probably modify this so that
someone else is arrested so that you can continue the discussion for
your observation.
Hope this helps and is not too "out there."
I do the banned book week with grade 6 only. I have a cart of books
that were challenged
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-commonly_challenged_books_in_the_United_States
or
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/index.cfm
for lists) and i cover the cart with black paper and a caution
tape. we will ceremoniously rip off the paper and tape to reveal the
'bad' books.
(this is an interesting report to read:
http://www.aclutx.org/files/2006%20Banned%20Books%20Report.pdf)
when the students arrive, i dim the lights and i tell them that we
are going to have a serious discussion that i only do with sixth
graders. we talk about our rights.......where do they come from? i
pull out copies of the declaration of independence and bill of rights.
we talk about the rights we have. freedom of speech, etc. we
discuss that the documents say that, although children have rights,
their rights are determined by their parents.
i show them some of the books that were challenged.........the banned
books cannot be in schools. we discuss the reasons books may be
challenged or banned. i then have them go into groups of 4, selecting
a book they are familiar with. within the groups, one person will
think as an adult, one as a teacher, one as a grandparent or librarian
and one as a student/child. they are to make an argument for why they
want to challenge or not challenge their book, based on the role they
are playing. we share findings.
more often than not, the students will be checking out these
challenged books........
this is a really important saying we discuss:
Free People Read Freely
what does it mean, etc.
the kids really love the lesson, especially since they really do feel
very grown up.
--
Crystal
Librarian
Owen D. Young
csweet@odycsd.org
Read the best books first,
or you may not have a chance to read them at all.
~ Henry David Thoreau ~
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