Revision Plan Abstract
- To Kill a Mockingbird – White Savior/ Racism 5.5 hour read
- Maus- profanity, sensitive images 5 hours
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian- drug/alcohol, profanity, sexual references and sexual allegations against the author 5.3 hour read
- 1984- procommunism, sexual explicit 4.5 hour read
- George or Melissa by Alex Gino, LGBTQIA+, conflicts with religion, community views 3.5 hour read
- All-American Boys- for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism, and because it was thought to promote anti-police views, contain divisive topics, and be ‘too much of a sensitive matter right now. 5.3 hours
- Fahrenheit 451- use it as an example as to what can happen when we start banning and censoring and how it affects what the mass public learns and knows
Scaffolding/ Lesson Planning for Books
What was happening when the book was written? Why is it happening in the country? Two sides to the controversy? How do you put opinions aside and give all kids an equal basis for opinions? Getting other departments into the conversation, how to work with other disciplines- standard 5
Find commonalities in them Historical and current events
Books banned because of historical events and books banned because of current events
To Kill a Mockingbird
- Racism/Implicit Bias
- The South in the 1930’s, what it was like for African Americans during this time
- Atticus as being a good person and not White Savior
Maus
- The holocaust
- What actually happened during the holocaust
- These are real experiences that people lived through 60-70 years ago, people are still alive from it
- Things like this are still happening all over the world
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
- Native American life on reservations in the modern day, how it has evolved
- Being different from other people
- Bullying, the effects it can have on people
- Alcoholism and drug use, effects it has on children and family
1984-Taking this out as a part of the book selection, instead is used as background info maybe/ what society could look like if we continue to censor.
- Political ideology
- Governmental control, how its used in real life
- Being an individual, overcoming oppression
George/ Melissa
- What does it mean to be LGBTQIA+
- Supporting people that are transgender, how do we do that
- Laws and situations that they experience that other people do not
All American Boys
- Police Brutality, what is it? What is happening now
- Racial stereotyping/ Implicit Bias
- Diverse perspectives on the same situation
Appealing to Parents and School Boards
-Why is it important for students to read these books
-What do they do/have that make them suitable for classrooms
-The importance of having the freedom to read anything that a students wants, and that it is best they read sensitive subjects when in the presence in a teacher that can teach the material, than to experience something poorly and be traumatized
-censorship is not the answer, will only lend to them wanting to read it more and more, when you take something away people only want it more
Try to get more facts- less biases
Both sides of the story
Why are they controversial issues- Northern US/ Southern US
More about history and context of the book and allow students to form opinions for themselves- not looking to change opinions- trying to teach facts- “engage learners to challenge their own assumptions”
There is a difference between being in the Northeast- more progressive
Resources
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22914767/book-banning-crt-school-boards-republicans
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/02/10/book-bans-maus-bluest-eye/
https://web.archive.org/web/20171111225837/http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/457/853.html Board of Education vs Pico 1982 Supreme Court Descion on Book Banning
https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1818370/Called_Meeting_Minutes_1-10-22.pdf Maus Banning Meeting
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/22/its-a-culture-war-thats-totally-out-of-control-the-authors-whose-books-are-being-banned-in-us-schools “If a kid wants to read Mein Kampf, it’s better to do it in a library or school environment than to discover it on Daddy’s shelves and be traumatised.” “This is a book about memory,” said Spiegelman at the time.
“We don’t want cultures to erase memory, because then they just keep doing the same thing again and again.” Maus Author
As Oscar Wilde once wrote: “The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the
world its own shame.”
https://www.procon.org/headlines/banned-books-top-3-pros-and-cons/
