ALL CLASS DISCUSSION #5: I'll Give You the Sun in West Bridgewater, MA

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ALL CLASS DISCUSSION #5: I'll Give You the Sun in West Bridgewater, MA

11/2/2017

Because the novel’s two main characters age 13 to 16 respectively, I’m really interested in how this text would play in a 10th grade English Class. This week’s scenario is West Bridgewater Middle-Senior high school. West Bridgewater has an enrollment—for both middle and high school—of 606 students. It’s a small school in a small town. Also, Plymouth county is one of the most politically conservative towns in the entire state. That doesn’t necessarily mean any one thing in particular, but the parents of these students live in this county and it’s these households they were raised in.

There is minimal information available about WB high. Here is what I could find:

506 verbal, 508 math, 496 writing 1510 total (2015–2016) If this matters at all, 500 is the cut off score in the old SAT for placement in ENGL 101. So, on the average, these students just barely place into 101.

I did find a little information about the town itself, which, again, can tell you something about who the students are who attend WB.

The racial makeup of the town (in the last census) was 96.40% White, 0.95% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.45% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.01% of the population.

There were 2,444 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.9% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families.
The median income for a household in the town was $55,958, and the median income for a family was $64,815. Males had a median income of $41,863 versus $31,835 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,701. About 2.0% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.5% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

So, considering what we can know, what would be the joys and complexities of teaching this book? Let’s add to this, what texts might you pair it with in a standard 10th grade English class (available here)? What media might you bring in to support strong reading and discussion of the text?

30 Comments

Herby Jolimeau

11/3/2017 03:57:36 pm

To start, one of the joys of teaching a book like this is the discussions it would lead to. I'm sure especially in a class of tenth graders there would be a lot of dialogue on some of the topics brought up in the book. Instead of having a whole class discussion to begin, I would actually have them break into smaller groups, and I would then assign the topics brought up in the book to those groups. For example, one group would have to discuss the topic of sexual identity, while another group is talking about parent-child relationships, another group would discuss love, and maybe adultery if they're mature enough. I think all these smaller discussions would add to a greater class discussion where some students will agree on certain things and obviously they'll be disagreements but thats good because the objective of the lesson is to have conversation. One of the difficulties of teaching a book like this though is some of the topics might be to personal to some of the students. Some may not want to discuss some of these things because of emotions it might bring up in them.

Cayla Marks

11/5/2017 12:08:42 pm

Herby, I really love this idea of small group discussion. Some of my favorite memories of my high school experience were the English classes and lesson where we'd read a text and use a small group discussion format to analyze the texts and really dig deep. I took more out of these small group discussions than any other lesson I remember doing in high school. I agree that some of these themes are personal and I think maturity is an important thing to look at with these texts. Having a disclaimer in the beginning demanding maturity out of students may help force a more productive classroom environment, but I'm not sure. This is one of those things I think that depends on experience and the class itself.

Cristina Almeida

11/4/2017 08:49:40 am

One of the joys of teaching I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson would be that it would work well in a more conservative town because, unlike so many other LGBTQ books, Nelson’s book does not “present homophobia as the major problem of the novel, while seeking to normalize LGBTQ identities” (Wickens 149). Noah’s struggle to be more confident about his sexuality is a minor plot point in a book primarily about two twins falling apart after the death of their mother. Therefore, Nelson’s book normalizes homosexuality far better than many other LGBTQ books. Of course, the more passionate conservative students might make class discussions a complexity. Another joy of teaching I’ll Give You the Sun is its unique structural style that contributes to themes such as grief, growing up, growing part, and more. In order to highlight this style, this book would best be taught alongside Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet which also has a unique structural style. Like I’ll Give You the Sun, Romeo and Juliet presents readers with mirrored scenes (such as Romeo and Juliet finding out the other is from an opposing family soon after one another) and characters (such as Tybalt and Benvolio) and with different perspectives (such as the servants sharing their thoughts on the feud between the two families). Both stories also deal with similar themes like the influence of family and transformations. With Shakespeare’s work, it’s always a good idea to show students a film version of the play. Not only do students get to hear the words being spoken, but they also get to visually see the mirroring of characters and scenes. Focusing on the structure of these two texts relates to the following Massachusetts Framework Standard:
RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

Kasey Pelletier

11/4/2017 11:45:01 am

I really enjoyed your perspective on this text and I like how you made the point that it doesn’t make homosexuality the whole point of the novel and instead normalizes it by doing so. The text shows Noah struggling to show his sexuality, but so many other things happen too. It doesn’t want that to be the whole point, but instead shows it as being just a part of his growing process. It seeks to discuss suicide of his mother and how the two coupe with the situation. It is very much about growth and perspective. I too see how it would be hard to get more conservative areas more understanding of these topics but it is important to show them these new perspectives. I like how you also made good connections to Shakespeare. You definitely made great points about how the texts both show mirroring and focus on relationships and grief.

Gustavo Barandas

11/4/2017 09:54:12 am

I think teaching and debating I’ll Give You the Sun to a 10th grade class would be harder than discussing The Carnival at Bray for a 12th grade class, as it presents more controversial topics including sexual identity. Unfortunately, we still live in a society that do not fully embrace race and sexual identity differences that diverge from the typical norm standards. The emphasis of I’ll Give You the Sun does not solely focus on Noah’s sexual identity; however, it is a relevant part of the book and one of its main themes. The prompt does not give us information about the students’ sexual identities, so it would be interesting to see their opinions about Noah, specially boys. Teaching Nelson’s book to a 10th grade class will require lots of class discussions to address Noah and Jude’s personal struggles. Perhaps dividing the class in half and having one side debating Jude’s perspectives and the other Noah’s would work well. Each group could formulate questions to the other, trying to figure out and better understand, for example, Jude’s justification for not mailing out Noah’s application to the Art school, Noah’s relationship with Brian, and Dianna’s love affair with Guillermo. There are some I’ll Give You the Sun scenes made by students uploaded on YouTube. Students could also watch it to help them remember and analyze some of the crucial aspects of the story.

Leah O'Bryan

11/4/2017 12:44:52 pm

I love this idea. I actually separated my class by a "Noah Group," and "Jude Group," and had discussion be the biggest part of teaching the novel. I believe that discussion is highly important with this novel because there are so many different topics that come up and it will spark a lot of the students interests, thoughts and ideas. I also agree that this novel might be harder than discussing Carnival At Bray, but I feel with the teachers guidance they can do it well.

Kasey Pelletier

11/4/2017 10:42:25 am

I absolutely loved this text and feel that I’ll Give You the Sun would be a strong addition to a classroom setting. There are varying joys of this text. For one, the text is challenging in a good way. The text is not traditional which can be much more engaging to students at times. It goes against what students are used to by the use of two narrators and is such a rich narrative between the two perspectives. Aside from encouraging students to think more intensely about the narratives, students, though potentially more conservative, could relate to varying aspects of the text. There are parent-child dilemmas in terms of relationships (the mother’s affair, Noah’s sexuality) which they may not directly understand, but they could likely relate to having issues with a parent, vying for their attention or struggling to connect with one. There is also sibling rivalry which anyone who has a sibling would likely understand. These concepts could lead to a journaling exercise about times where they have fought with their family members as a way to connect to the characters or think about certain ages where they fought with them more than others which would allow them to see how the narrators’ ages can affect their perspective. The complexities can be connected to the joys while others are different. The diverse perspectives and in specific, the inclusion of a homosexual character, can become complex in a conservative setting. I think that conservative areas often need to be exposed to those that they deem different so that they can better understand others. We could definitely have a discussion about sexual identity alongside affairs and other challenging topics presented in the text and talk about them in a way so that students can understand as opposed to just being judgemental. Also, the structure of the text could prove to be hard for to students to follow, so I could have students make a storyline for each character, tracking the story through each of their chapters to help them piece everything together. Overall, I think this is such a powerful text that could prove to be informative for a classroom at the 10th grade level!

Kasey Pelletier

11/4/2017 11:12:57 am

Also, if I were to use it as a support text the similarity can be potentially Romeo and Juliet. I think this text is much unlike any text I've read so it might be a stretch but there are aspects of hidden love (Noah) but also forbidden relationships (Dianna and Garcia) and suffering in the aftermath of suicide. Essentially I feel it would be difficult to connect, but there are certainly some ways to tie the two together.

Cristina Almeida

11/4/2017 04:38:14 pm

I agree that I’ll Give You the Sun is a book that’s “challenging in a good way.” How else are students supposed to become better readers and writers if they are not introduced to a wide variety of difficult texts such as this? I think it is a great idea to have students make a storyline for each character in order to help them overcome any challenges they might initially have with Nelson’s writing style. I’ll Give You the Sun often feels like a journal due to its personal and expressive descriptions so it makes sense that you would implement journal exercises in your classroom. I think journals are a great way to help prepare students for discussions on topics that can be deemed controversial in a conservative classroom.

Gabrielle Rosson

11/5/2017 12:33:03 pm

I agree that the book is challenging (in the right way) but I also think it is less challenging (and even maybe less controversial) than some books which have made their way into the classroom (I'm thinking of Everything is Illuminated, for example) so--I think as far as being a book that strengthens a student's ability to read--it's right where it should be; not too hard, not too easy (or boring.)

Laura Gittleman

11/5/2017 08:42:23 pm

I really like how you address the fact that some of your students may approach the text from a more conservative point of view. I definitely agree with you that it's important to address the more challenging topics so that students can better understand the characters, rather than judge them. Would you have them do any specific activities to address any biases they might have prior to reading the novel? Or would you maybe address them as you go? A storyline would be really helpful because the story itself isn't told in a linear style, and it would help the students keep track of what happened during the story, which could definitely prove useful for students who may forget what happened earlier in the story. I really like the way you approached this situation!

Leah O'Bryan

11/4/2017 12:42:29 pm

Personally I would truly love teaching this text to my own class. And with the class at West Bridgewater I feel like class discussion would be key because I feel that main both characters very complex people, especially when thinking out loud about their own thoughts. For my class I want to assign each student a character to focus on while reading the book, either they’ll get Jude or Noah. Throughout the novel, we will read in class together, then separated into the Jude and Noah groups. My students will keep a reading journal, taking notes about themes, motifs, metaphors, symbols and more. These will be checked at the end of book for a grade. After every chapter, because they are pretty long, at least I thought so, I will put two questions on the board (one for Noah’s group and one for Jude’s) and have each group discuss it and I want them to put themselves in the shoes of the character they have and answer it as if they were that character and say why they choose the things they do. I feel like my whole lesson will focus around characterization. Before the last two chapters of the novel, I want my students to pair up within their “Noah and Jude Groups,” and each write a chapter for their character of how they think the story will end based on what they already know about their character. Then they’ll share with their groups and then summarize to the whole class some chapters each wrote. Finally we’ll read the book and they’ll write an essay about Noah or Jude, their choice connecting the character. I feel that the joys will be seeing the students working together and making connection and discussing topics on their own about sexuality, sex, parenting, relationships and more, with the guidance of my questions. But I think it might be difficult to get everyone talking about tough issues, which is why I will use the questions to guide them and have them explore it in their reading journals. I know not everyone likes to verbally participate because some people don’t like being the center of attention, so the reading journal might help those students express their own opinions and explore their ideas.

Gina Mendes

11/5/2017 05:36:25 am

I really like your idea about having the students do a reading journal because of the fact that not all student like to speak out in class, which I agree with. I think the reading journal will give the students a place to put all of the ideas they are too shy to talk about in class. I know that I really liked having a reading journal in high school before I found the courage to talk in class and share my ideas. As far as your assignment, I think it is great! There are a lot of complex pieces to this novel, so breaking it up into focusing on the perspectives of either Jude or Noah and tracking their specific journeys is key. There are a lot of joys of reading this text but one fear that I personally have is having my students become lost while reading it. In a lot of our journals we discussed the complex nature of this novel and that it will challenge our students to have to work very hard to track what is going on, so I think that your idea of breaking the text up by focusing on either Noah or Jude will be a good way to tackle some of that confusion.

Alex D.

11/5/2017 02:40:26 pm

I think that having the students pick a character to keep a reading journal on is a wonderful idea. This will make for some interesting discussions and every paper will offer diversity because everyone has picked either Noah or Jude to write about. Also, the students can follow along with their chosen characters and grow with them as they read about the experiences that make them who they are. I think that maybe asking the students to write a response about their own experiences would also be a good idea. And yes, some students are shy and a little more personal with their writings so journals can be used as a gateway for expression without the pressure.

Gina Mendes

11/5/2017 06:18:34 am

I would be so excited to teach "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson because it presents a lot of the issues that middle school and high school students have to deal with. Some of these issues include the trials of puberty, the death of a loved one, the loss of identity and journey to get it back, the struggles of homosexuality, as well as sibling rivalry. I have observed at West Bridgewater Middle-Senior High School before and the kids are very engaged and would respond well to this kind of novel. I remember during the time I was observing the students were reading "A Thousand and One Nights" which, if you have read it, you know is a complex text. It has a lot of moving parts including a frame story that begins after the original storyline of the two brothers. After one brother figures out that his brother's wife has been unfaithful, he sentences her to death. The frame story includes the woman pushing back her execution by way of telling stories to the king, but only starting them and never finishing them, so that the king will keep her alive to hear the ending. I think this is a perfect text to pair with "I'll Give You the Sun" because it will prepare the students how to tackle a complex text, follow all of the moving parts, and be able to come to a conclusion confidently, rather than being lost throughout both stories. I would start by having my students read "A Thousand and One Nights" first, so they get a feeling of how a complex story works, and then begin to read "I'll Give You the Sun." Throughout reading the two texts, my students will be in groups tracking the story lines of each one. At the end, we will come together as a class and discuss how these complex texts caused us to challenge ourselves and changed the way that we read a story.

Dan Chahine

11/13/2017 11:33:32 am

I really like how passionate you are about teaching "I'll Give You the Sun" and is something that I can see so many of us teaching in the future because of how entertaining and great the text is. I like how you talked about the very important parts of the novel that students can relate to such as homosexuality, sibling interactions, and trying to find identity. These are all great subjects but the question is how can you teach everything? I agree that these are some great topics and think this book would really help with so many things going on in a students life but how can we tackle all of these down while teaching? I am very interested in how working in groups would work as well because I feel like the educator has to trend lightly but it can turn out to be an amazing class if done right.

Cayla Marks

11/5/2017 12:22:34 pm

I remember reading "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck in 10th grade. I remember disliking the way my teacher went about the novel, and I simply finished reading it in 2-3 days, a week before the rest of the class. I think this novel pairs well with "I'll Give You the Sun." I especially enjoy the idea of examining character development and relationships in both of these novels. the relationship between Lenny and George ends tragically, and betrayal, I think, culminates this pair; conversely, Jude and Noah betray each other in "I'll give You the Sun" but in a different way. Examining death, the intricacies of relationships, and how personal identity and development affect those around you would be important topics. As far as media, I think having the student watch a video from the YouTube channel Jubilee would be excellent. I have provided a link, but essentially this series attempts to explore the interpersonal reactions and affects one's actions have on other people. The link below is a video titled "People Read Strangers' Biggest Secrets." This video connects to the text through the theme of betrayal, and students would see the affects of hurtful experiences visually. This would prepare them for discussion of the novel, as well as for a formative assessment. The joys in this are the empathetic responses, as well as the close connection many students may have to this text. This novel deals closely with topics that are grim and sobering; this is both a joy and a difficulty. Aside from content, I think a difficulty in teaching ths text is the pure length. At nearly 400 words, getting a 10th grade low-performing English class to read this novel will be a challenge in itself, especially if we preceded "I'll Give You the Sun" with "Of Mice and Men." I do think "Of Mice and Men" is fairly short, at only 187 pages, but the overall feel of the book is starkly different from Noah and Jude's story; however, with that being said, perhaps another focus of this unit can be the concept that tumultuous relationships truly transcend time. They are universal and necessarily to our own development.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5r2ZAV5CWI&index=1&list=PLBVNJo7nhINSGlNpGW5eYugjpcs-a1Ko0

Gabrielle Rosson

11/5/2017 12:41:27 pm

I have to say I'm going to agree with everyone here and I, too, would use a lot of discussion based lessons to teach this book. One thing I
would do differently, however, is do a majority of the reading in class and have discussions as the story unfolded. This would allow for a lot of speculation from students to see where they believe the story is heading. I also think it would help to break the subject matter down a little more too, to go a bit slower and digest it together as a class. I do like the group work/discussion idea, and so I might ask students to work together to discuss, analyze, or even write about the book. But what I wouldn't do, is make sexuality a major topic--because I think the writer purposely avoids this for a reason. If the point is to kind of normalize this, then I wouldn't want to shine a huge spotlight on it either. Not that it couldn't be discussed (especially if it was something students wanted to talk about), I'm just saying I might stick to some of the broader themes about family and relationships, and then let students pull out the sexuality piece if they felt it was vital to discuss. My fear would be that parents would latch on to this story detail and try to keep their kids from reading it. We still live in a very bigoted world, sad to say. This might also be the reason I wouldn't run after that as a guiding topic of interest.

Amy

11/5/2017 02:20:32 pm

Incorporating I’ll Give You The Sun into the curriculum would truly increase the classroom’s motivation to read and truly participate in any lesson involving it. This novel is extremely relatable, which may be over said but relating to a text is an important aspect in understanding and being interested in reading. One of the joys that would come from teaching this novel is the split narration. It’s interesting to read a story from two different perspectives in two different time periods. It would allow multiple analyses and definitely a conflict of opinion. Differing opinions would create a lively discussion amongst the tenth graders in this classroom. Split narration would also allow for some interesting assignments differentiating the twins, as Noah and Jude are equally as important but encompass different plots, emotions, and themes. This novel would allow for multiple essay prompts that allow students to explore what they found most interesting and significant in the novel. Another one of the joys that would come from teaching this is the incorporation of a struggling, (at one point) closeted gay character. Too often do characters from texts look, sound, and essentially are the same. Noah’s character is artistic, creative, confused, and truly struggling emotionally. Teaching this novel would allow students to see this darker side to emotionally tolling situations, straight from his perspective. With that being said, Noah’s sexuality may be one of the complexities of teaching this novel. Some parents may not agree with teaching a novel with a gay character, wrongly so, but it is something to consider when teaching this book to a politically conservative town.

Alexandra Dewey

11/5/2017 02:30:32 pm

Though I think they book “I’ll give you the sun” will offer many complexities when it comes to teaching it, the joys will easily outweigh the challenges. It’s beautiful written and has so much to offer young students who are struggling to find their way. Because it is written from the viewpoint of both Jude and Noah, gender does not pose an issue when it comes to presenting this book. It has something for everyone and touches heavily upon themes of family, sibling issues, relationships, loss, death and forgiveness. The only complexity I see has to do with Noah’s sexual experiences. There are a lot of intimate moments in the book between Noah and Brian that could make the students feel a bit uncomfortable as they read it, as well as the parents. However, themes of sexuality are prominent in todays world and it can expose students to things they weren’t yet familiar with while teaching them these things are normal and okay. Also, students who have different sexual preferences will be able to relate to Noah and connect to the things he experiences. I think this book has so much to offer and it will help students to open up and be honest with themselves and each other. As for how I would teach this text, I think that I would want to focus on the theme of forgiveness. It is not something that teachers, or people in general tend to focus on and I think it is a crucial part of growing up and dealing with life. Forgiveness can offer people freedom from themselves and from others. It can help a person move on from their past and be released from the cage they once felt trapped inside of. Students will go through things in life that will hurt them, and It’s important that they learn how to move past these things and forgive. For my assignment, I would have the students pose as either Noah or Jude (their choice) and write a letter to Dianna (their mother) expressing how forgiving her has set them free. This will allow students to practice forgiveness and prepare them to use these techniques in real life scenarios.

Jennifer Sinnott

11/5/2017 04:20:10 pm

Wow! Oh my gosh that was so beautifully written and well thought out! I love how you defend this book and it's right to be in the classroom. I'm also ridiculously impressed with your idea to focus on the forgiveness aspect over many of the other themes in the book. You're hundred percent correct when you say that teachers don't tend to focus on the themes such as that, but it is really what helps form our students, and kids in general, into proper adults. Our jobs as teachers are not to just educate on school material, but we are molding the future of our country. I think that if we teach students valuable lesson such as forgiveness, then will be doing exactly that. It is such a crucial aspect of being a mature adult, forgiveness. Although I will tell you that I'm a little leery with your assignment, not because it's bad or anything. I just worry that if you have a student who has had a parent pass away that they may have a difficult time doing an assignment like this. This wouldn't be a hypothetical or what if for them, it would be their actual reality, and you never know how someone would react to that. So I think that your assignment has awesome potential, but I think one should make sure you know students family lives first wouldn't be a hypothetical or what if for them, it would be their actual reality, and you never know how someone would react to that. So I think that your assignment has awesome potential, but I think one should make sure you know students family lives first (as much as you can know from what you hear and what administration tells you. Don't outwardly ask)

Jennifer Sinnott

11/5/2017 04:10:43 pm

I think this book, I'll give you the sun by Jandy Nelson, is definitely a teachable book, but a difficult one to teach. There would need to be a lot of classroom discussions in order to walk students through everything that happens in the book. This book also tends to bounce around through time, so it might be a little difficult for students to keep up without teachers help. That being said, I think the fact that this book talks about the LGBTQ community is an awesome asset to have in the classroom. I think it opens up a lot of discussions and done correctly, it could create a more open and inviting environment in the classroom. I think if I were to pair I'll give you the sun with another text it would probably be something like Dracula by Bram Stoker. This text was written in or around the Victorian age, therefore it's a very conservative text. It still has many aspects of sexuality including the sexualization of men by men. I think this text although subtle, would be a good comparison to see how texts like these have been around for a long time, and will continue to be around. I don't think in my future career as a teacher that I would ever pick this book to teach, but I think that it would be a really interesting choice, and I would love to see what could be done with it.

Greg Arthur

11/5/2017 04:39:24 pm

West Bridgewater being a very conservative town does seem to be a “challenge” when teaching a book such as I’ll Give You the Sun, however I think (hopefully) these younger generations of kids are a little more politically correct than we are assuming their parents are. I think that regardless of political view, if gone about the right way, this book can be effective in any classroom. This text does require a lot of discussion, but like the other books that we have read for this class, writing first seems necessary. Talking about the death of a parent, experimenting sexually with other people (in this case of the same sex and opposite), and the general struggles that this book shows to the reader, should always be written about privately at first. Having a journal that students feel comfortable putting their thoughts into is a key to any English classroom. At the end of the day, however, this book really is about the struggles of growing up with siblings and going through those awkward teen years, that a 10th grade classroom could definitely relate with. Approaching this book as a text about growing up, and then addressing the heavier issues that students may feel awkward talking about seems to be the best way to go about it in my opinion. Weirdly, I think I would pair this book with The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. That book is about 4 daughters of chinese immigrants who are coming of age, and each have their own individual struggles and triumphs throughout the book. This may be a weird choice, however I feel that the way it is written matches the non-linear fashion of I’ll Give You the Sun pretty well.

Jess Baccari

11/5/2017 07:54:17 pm

I think that the joys of teaching this book would be exploring all of the creative opportunities it comes with. I’ll Give You the Sun is bursting at the seams with creativity from the way it’s written to who the characters are and how they view the word around them. One of the lessons I would want to do with this text would be a writing exercise on perspective. For the assignment I would ask students to pick one twin to write from the perspective of and then write about the other. So, if a student chose to write from the perspective of Jude they would have to write about Noah. I would ask them to do this at various points through out the text, at a minimum they would do it three times. By doing this activity I think the students will be able to get closer to the characters, work on their writing skills, and most importantly see the character development that takes place over the course of the book.
The only complexity I can come up with as of right now if I do not know what other text I would pair this book with. I have ever read a book like this one and I am not really sure how to link it with the more traditional texts that are generally used in the classroom. The only book that comes to mind that I think might work is The Catcher in the Rye. I would connect the two on the topic of grief and have the class look at how the death of a sibling impacted Holden up against how the death of the parent and grandparent effected Noah and Jude but I am not sure if this would be too far of a stretch or not.

Laura Gittleman

11/5/2017 08:33:00 pm

I really enjoyed "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson so it would be a joy for me to be able to teach it in a slightly different way than how I would normally teach a text. While a traditional group discussion would work really well for this book, I'd want to do an activity where I'd read a polarizing question that students could either strongly agree or disagree with. They would move to one side of the room when they made a decision, and then choose evidence from the novel to support why or why not they agreed with the statement. Given the fact that West Bridgewater is a politically conservative town, I would want to discuss the more difficult aspects of the novel such as Noah's sexuality, or Jude's experience with Zephyr, in an environment where the students feel comfortable expressing their opinions. I think this activity could engage them in such a way that makes them think about why they relate to one twin over the other, or what makes them dislike certain characters. As an alternative, I would consider maybe pairing this novel with some spoken word poetry. Students could look up examples of spoken word poems that they could relate back to one of the characters, particularly Jude or Noah. The reason I suggest this is because the characters experienced such strong emotions that I found myself beginning to feel what they felt as I read, and spoken word is all about emotion and narration. Frankly, I'm not sure what text I would pair with this book because of how complex it is in terms of its themes, such as sexuality, parent death, isolation from family members, and so on. I would maybe consider teaching it with William Shakespeare's Macbeth, because the characters in Macbeth are also so driven by their emotions and desires, like Noah and Jude are in "I'll Give You the Sun." Even though it may be difficult to get on the West Bridgewater curriculum, teaching "I'll Give You the Sun" would definitely be worthwhile.

Amelia Fuss

11/5/2017 08:45:22 pm

What sticks with me from this text is the pivotal moment of Diana’s death. What would have happened had she left a minute later and missed the car accident? Was it meant to be? What is fate and how does it work? I find this book to be full of important themes that would be accessible to a diverse student population. What I would focus on is this idea of fate and how students see how it works. My main assignment would be to have them rewrite the ending as if Dianna had lived. How would life be different? The joys of teaching this text would be watching students read into the characters and get to know their emotions. It’s a great book to connect with at any stage of life. I think it would be difficult to text the themes to students raised in conservative homes because it may not coexist with how they understand certain themes; I am thinking most directly about the LGBTQ themes through the text. However, the book does provide an example in literature for students that portrays the affects of divorce and affairs. Some students may have persona experiences with divorced parents which would allow them to connect with Noah and Jude. I would probably pair this book with Beowulf because both books are built on the idea of fate and it would be interesting to me to juxtapose the use of fate in both.

Stephanie Doyle

11/6/2017 07:35:43 am

I think the joy of teaching this book would be the discussions that it would bring. Thought this would also be something that may cause problems as well. But I think for the most part it would call for a great start of understanding. I think that the idea that there are SO many topics in one book it would be a great way to get MOST of the class to understand and to touch base on what they may or may not understand about other people.
After reading this weeks journal entries from my group Amelia had brought up a great idea with having student re write their own ending based on what would happen had the mother lived. And i think that that is an AWESOME idea. because as she pointed out it opens their minds to creativity and it also gets them involved in the book in a different way

Samantha Correia

11/6/2017 01:24:37 pm

"I'll Give You the Sun" was possibly my favorite book that we've read so far, mostly because Jandy Nelson has such a beautiful writing style. The split narration makes the text engaging and gives the reader multiple perspectives to work with. One of the joys of teaching this novel would be that it's fun to read, and I think the artistic aspect of it will really resonate with the students in the class who are artistic. I would definitely consider pairing this novel with some poetry to show the students how figurative language can work in different literary genres. One of the difficulties of this text is that some students might find it confusing since the text jumps back and forth between years and narrators. However, since this is a harder text I think it will really push the students to think about the text and for them to be okay with the gaps in their understanding. I think something that frustrates students in an English class is when they don't understand a text; it bothers many students because they want answers and they don't like confusion. But I want to teach my students that it's okay to be confused and to have questions--in fact, that's the point of an English class in many ways. Another book that I would consider pairing with this text (if the author was added to the standard Mass curriculum framework) is the YA novel The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli. This novel also follows a set of teenage twins, which is why I think it would work well in discussion with this text. Molly and her sister Cassie are learning to find their own identities separate from their twin identity. Molly and Cassie are drifting apart as they start spending time with romantic interests, and seem to not get along anymore, but in fact they need their sisters now more than ever. This book has similar themes of identity, family, and sexuality that I'll Give You The Sun also has. Plus, like I'll Give You the Sun, the Upside of Unrequited was published recently, so students would probably be able to relate to their issues and lives more.

Stephanie Doyle

11/7/2017 07:16:51 pm

This weeks discussion board seemed to cover a lot of different idea on how to teach this text in a class room. Christina mentioned that a joy she thinks would be that Nelson normalizes Noah being gay in the story line making it so that it isn't the primary topic in the story. I have to agree with her in saying that would be a joy because its almost like we no longer have to teach kids that its OK to be gay but to read about it in a novel as it just being there, like it was always there. Gustavos idea of having half the class discuss and follow Noah's time line and the other follow Jude was an awesome take on a class project. Adding that it would be interesting to see what the class would say to each other in learning about the other twin. I am on board with Kasey having her class journal about a dispute that her students may have had with their own families, as it may help them to get through a tough time they don't want to talk about out loud. Christina would want her class to make a story line for each character and Leah would have group projects, splitting the class, journal entries and a final essay on the twin of their choice.Gina thought that putting "Ill Give You the Sun" and A thousand and One Nights" together would be a good idea to have the class take notes and discuss the characters of each book, and Cayla said she would pair with "Of Mice and Men" to discuss the betrayal between George and Lenny and then with Jude and Noah, I'd also like to add the betrayal between the Twins and their mother. Gabby feels like most of the reading would take place in the classroom and have the discussion unfold that way which is a great way at getting the class to interact and be involved in the reading. Amy mentions that the Split narration is a great reading tool and allows to reader to get more involved. Greg also likes the idea ok keeping a journal and thinks this book would call for a large amount of discussion. Jess thought the idea of having each student pick a twin and have them right about the other from their choices point of view would be a good choice and I think that would be interesting to see how that would unfold. I think all in all this book would be a good choice for most of out class to read with our own classes, given the chance!

Dan Chahine

11/13/2017 11:28:16 am

Based off of the information given for the classroom's setting, in a tenth grade class being predominantly full of white students, I believe one of the best ways to engage this book is through a hybrid of discussion questions in class and free writes. This was a very interesting and entertaining book that many students can relate to while also being a novel that can broaden a students horizons and give them a different perspective on many different philosophical subjects, such as asexuality and can also be used to let the students' use their imagination and perspective to understand what is going on in the novel because it can be seen as confusing.

The discussions we have in the classroom should heavily focus on the non controversial topics so nobody gets offended like the plot and character development and common themes and motifs and what some students believe is happening and why.

The quick writes where they can freely write their own opinions without risk of being criticized by anyone should be about the more controversial topics presented in the novel. I don't want people who have strong beliefs about homosexuality being right or wrong to get their feelings hurt but I want them to be able to express their own beliefs and be able to ponder on what they believe by writing it down. That is why I believe the best way to teach this text is by using both quick/informal writing assessments and by having in class discussions.

ALL CLASS DISCUSSION #5: I'll Give You the Sun in West Bridgewater, MA

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