Wangenheim is a racially and ethnically diverse community that includes many levels of English learners. Students of African, Asian, Filipino, Hispanic, Indochinese, and European descent create a rich mixture of cultures. With our melting pot of cultures and backgrounds, Wangenheim students are eager to learn and develop empathy for others. Middle school students often feel that the universe revolves around their needs and wishes. Last year several classes studied, in depth, the Japanese Internment during WWII. It really gave them an appreciation and opened their minds and hearts to these and other struggles and sacrifices their ancestors and others have endured to make this a better world for all.
My Project
We have students with very diverse backgrounds and English language skills. We are hoping that through the lens of graphic novels we will be able to reach reluctant readers as well as English learners to explore historical events in a format that they enjoy. They will use them as a gateway to learning. Reading and sharing in literature circles, they will be able to learn about the mistakes and lessons of the past and how it has changed our present and molds our future.
They need to understand that the liberties they have, cannot be taken for granted.
It will help them realize the sacrifices and determination of others who have believed in and worked toward a better world for them as well as those who will come after.
I am of Japanese-American descent. My mother was interned at Poston, Arizona. It is a personal journey for me and one I have shared with our students. It is so easy to forget how events in the past have shaped our present as well as future. Although there is still a long way to go, much has been accomplished.
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