A Different Kind of Literature

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

The students at my urban high school are full of life and curiosity, but many struggle with learning. Our demographics comprise 1,950 students, of whom approximately 60% are Hispanic, 25% are African American, 13% are Caucasian, and 2% are Asian/Pacific Islander. 84% are members of low income households, 9% have limited proficiency with English and an additional 16% have other special needs. In my classes, the number of students with special needs range from 17% to 50%. For those who grew up in homes where Standard English was spoken, it can be hard to understand the learning difficulties that trouble students who have not. For these students, basic literacy is a challenge that lowers outcomes in all their school courses, not just English. For many students, literacy deficits result in their repeating a class in evening or summer school. And repeating a failed class can create reluctant learners who question the value of putting effort into learning that frustrates them and makes them feel inadequate. I teach English in evening and summer school in addition to standard daytime classes in Graphic Communication and Computer Education. The students in my English classes have trouble relating to the traditional literature used in high school and I want to create a bridge for them with a non-traditional narrative, My Bloody Life. An earlier repeating class I taught used this story with great success, despite having only two copies to share among the class. The students recognized names and places in this story and inherently empathized with the protagonist’s conflicts and challenges. Louis Rosenblatt’s transactional theory of reading posits that this “experiential” aspect of reading is essential to developing analytical reading skills. The sense of personal connection students felt toward My Bloody Life helped them link to literary analysis and find deeper meaning while developing and practicing writing skills. For example, students were able to compare and contrast My Bloody Life with traditional Heroic Journey concepts and phases in The Odyssey, enhance vocabulary and practice language arts by rewriting passages, and develop analytical skills by writing essays on themes in the book. But perhaps the greatest value in using My Bloody Life was the students’ desire to read and reflect on the text. Although simplistically written, the story grabbed students’ attention and motivated them to fully participate in learning activities. All the students wanted to share insights, opinions and personal anecdotes about the book during class discussions and had no trouble choosing themes from the book to write about that resonated with them. These kinds of results are a huge boost for teaching and learning. They give students confidence and improved skills to tackle traditional texts, not just in literature, but in math and science as well. Your help in obtaining a class set of My Bloody Life books for my students will help failing students find pleasure in learning, overcome literacy deficits, get high school careers back on track, and improve their options for post-secondary education.