Seedfolks is a novella-length work that tells the story of how an inner city Cleveland neighborhood finds "common ground" by working together in a community garden. The novel uses thirteen different narrators to tell the story of the garden. These thirteen people come from all different backgrounds and walks of life, and they create a strong story about the power of community and the chain reaction that can occur when just one person starts something good. These themes of developing community identity and working to make a difference are significant for today's secondary students because they are often distanced from the community and develop a separate, rather that unified, identity. However, developing community is a more powerful way to make a difference, and as students read Seedfolks they will learn that significant things can be accomplished when people become united.
Another important theme in Seedfolks is the value of diversity. Many of the thirteen narrators are immigrants. They are both young and old and middle-aged, have different motivations for working in the garden, come from many occupations, but they begin to associate with one another in ways they had never before. Some characters note that they would never have spoken to a certain neighbor had it not been for the garden bringing them together. Through this theme of community despite diversity, students will learn to appreciate, rather than shun diversity, being asked to see what each narrator contributes to the overall product of the garden. This theme will be valuable both in very diverse school settings to show students the value of interacting with diverse groups and also in homogenous settings to expose students to the benefits of diversity. The diversity of the narrators also provides an excellent opportunity to explore Vietnamese, Russian, Korean, Cuban, Haitian, Mexican, Indian, and inner city cultures.
The novel with its diverse narrators also treats many literary devices such as voice, structure, plot, and characterization, which provides teachers an opportunity to address those important elements of literature. Seedfolks also facilitates reading, writing, speaking and listening in the classroom. All of the strategies that follow are based on reading or pre-reading and the format of the text also makes it accessible for oral reading in the classroom, utilizing listening and reading skills. Most of the strategies also include discussion of the themes noted above. As students are asked to speak about the novel they will interact more fundamentally with the themes of community, diversity, identity, and working together. Studying Seedfolks also provides many writing opportunities as students are asked to reflect on their findings in writing and also synthesize their learning through writing.
Seedfolks is appropriate for all secondary students, although for high school grades it would be most effective when paired with a full length novel. The strategies in this novel portfolio have been designed for use in an eighth grade classroom.
| Reading Strategies developed by
Amy Ferguson Hackworth Fall 2000 for Dr. Sirpa Grierson, BYU | Page created by Amy Ferguson Hackworth Fall 2000 Last Updated 11 December, 2000 | Banner courtesy of
|
|---|
