Blog Post #6

I'm Not a Plastic Bag - Rachel Hope Allison

1.    Please include a detailed description of the text. Take into consideration that your colleagues might not be familiar with the text that you have chosen. A detailed description will include everything necessary for your classmates to gain an understanding of the text without reading it. Your job is to introduce the text in a complete way so that it is possible for others to decide when, where, and how this text might be appropriate.

This graphic novel touches on “humankind’s connection to the planet” (Google Reviews). I’m Not a Plastic Bag includes a series of pictures illustrating plastic pollution is a variety of environments. Specifically, this book highlights The Great Pacific Garbage Patch and its effects on animals and the ocean.

2.     Please explain why you chose this text. What was your rationale? How does your understanding of this text influence your thinking about your teaching?

            I chose this text because I felt that the message behind it was really influential. Plastic pollution is one of the many reasons our environment is diminishing, and using this book is a great way to spread awareness about humankind’s plastic addiction and its effects. This text influences my thinking about my teaching, because not only do I have the capabilities to teach common core this way, but I can also rely on a message/strike up a conversation related to real-life occurrences that tie into educational requirements.

3.     Please include some teaching ideas. How do you envision employing this text in a secondary English language arts classroom? Provide at least 3 specific ideas for what is possible with this text.

One teaching strategy I would try first is to have students write down what they think the story is about/what happens before discussing it and reading together as a group. This way, students can articulate their thoughts/feelings about the story.  After students have a few minutes to write, I would ask a few to read what they wrote. From there, I would attempt to mediate the discussion and lead to the beginning parts of my lesson.

Another teaching strategy I would employ is to have students collaboratively discuss plot elements of the graphic novel. I feel this would be especially useful for students because it would challenge them to find plot elements in a wordless story. By doing this, I’ll be able to see where students exceed/struggle with plot elements while also sparking a discussion about what choices students made and why.

The third way I would attempt to teach this graphic novel is to have students discuss literary elements such as theme, setting, or style, to better understand the novel’s underlying message(s). By doing this, students are challenged to find literary elements without having quotes/text to give them clues.

4.     Please consider some challenges to using strategies from this text. What are the potential issues that may arise from using these strategies? Predict students’ responses. How will you address these challenges?

Some potential issues that may arise from these strategies are that 1) students may not even like my graphic novel choice. If students don’t like the book, then they are not likely to be stimulated enough to learn from it. If my students don’t want my graphic novel choice obviously, I can just pick a new book. However, I feel that it’s essential for me to ask the students why they liked/disliked the book so I can take these reasons into consideration in the future; or we can pick a novel as a class 2) Since this novel is illustrations only, it may be hard for some students to understand certain plot/literary elements and how to find them.. If students are having problems identifying plot/literary elements, my first solution would be to refresh their understanding of these elements (define them). From there, if students are still struggling or if a number of them are, I would try to identify plot/literary elements along with them and then let them try it on their own once they feel comfortable.

Since this is just a picture book, there are no recourses to help you teach common core. So, for someone teaching specific standards as a beginning teacher, this may be a challenging book choice.

5.     Anything else you think is important for us to know and understand about this text and its use with students.

This book provides factual information about plastic pollution as well as information on how you can get involved to help reduce plastic consumption.