Written by Maya Angelou
Photographs by Margaret Courtney-Clarke
Published in 1994
Ndebele is a young girl in South Africa and through vivid pictures of her homeland, she takes you on a journey of what it is like to be her friend. The photographs are real life photos of this young girl and her village, which creates an authentic feel for the reader. The title tells the story of her house and what the different designs mean in her native land. She takes us through her village and tells us of different customs going on. One special story is what the women wear to the village and how they are the best dressed women in the area because of their fine clothes and fine jewelry that are hand crafted. One of the most important themes in the book is friendship. The chicken is her best friend because it will never tell her secrets. When dealing with elementary students, this is a great book to discuss the elements of friendship and to have students determine what makes a good friend. One activity to do with your students is to create an outline of a body and each student write one word on the body that is a good trait of a friend.
Something interesting to me in the book is the difference between school clothes and the clothes the children wear at home. This book could be a fun introduction into teaching Code Switching. Students could discuss--or even draw pictures--about the clothes that they wear at home compared to the clothes they wear at school. This is especially applicable to schools with uniforms or strict dress codes.
ReplyDeleteAfter discussing this difference, conversation could wander to other differences of how we act at home compared to school. Finally, we could lead into code switching--and the type of language we use at home and at school. Academic language could be discussed, and it could lead to an excellent conversation throughout the year.