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Ikenga

Ikenga -YA Lit Rationale

Okorafor, N. I. (2021). Ikenga. VIKING CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Summary:

The beloved Chief Egbuche Icheteka has saved the city of Kaleria from organized crime. He has fought corruption from lowest levels to the highest levels. He is then murdered that leaves a city and family in shambles. The person suspected of being behind the murder is the chief of chiefs, the head of the police but also the head of the crime mob. Ikenga is the story about the search for justice for Chief Icheteka by his son, Nnamdi. Nnamdi, who is 12 years old, feels powerless to the crime mob that he suspects of killing his father. He is visited by the spirit of his father and given the power of an Ikenga , which translates to a personal spirit. This Ikenga allows him to transform into a large shadow man. The shadow man, dubbed “The Man” has superhuman strength and speed that generates tremendous fear in Nnamdi’s opponents. Nnamdi is able to work his way through the town searching for his father’s killer. The search brings Nnamdi to refine his intentions and search for justice for this fallen father. Eboni Njoku from Horn magazine says “The story puts its readers on a roller coaster of action as Nnamdi battles to harness his newfound power as a tool for good.(Njoku, 2020)”

The story is told through the eye of Nnamdi. He is joined in his quest by friend Chioma as they face off with unique named criminals that terrorize the members of the villages.

Interesting sidenotes: Among the Igbo, located in Northern Igboland, there is a tradition of creating what is known as an Ikenga. An Ikenga is a carved wooden figure that has a human face with animalistic attributes. These figures can be represented in naturalistic or abstract ways.

The Ikenga stood for the power of the right hand; however, a right hand was not always present in abstract Ikenga figures, rather the concept of the right hand and what it stood for was present instead.

Intended Audience:

This book is a great book club or individual recommendation. The question of if this book would be great as a class or small group read. This book is for middle school aged children from 5th to 8th grade. This mystery thriller would draw in most students. The fantasy elements would also give the readers an additional layer of entertainment. The theme of vengeance versus justice is an important lesson for students. Every student can find some level of connection in this modern superhero story. There is a chance that some students may find this too juvenile, the main character is a 12 year old boy from an african town. The book has roots in african folklore that “Peppering her work with Igbo phrases, folklore, and local pop references, Okorafor succeeds in imbuing West African culture throughout the origin story of a memorable new superhero.

There are themes of revenge, justice, empowerment, self actualization and more. They would all serve young readers well and allow for their own journeys.

Educatucational Use

This book offers great opportunities in the area of prediction, visuluatazion, themes, character development and cultural studies. There are vivid imagery and actions that the readers can follow. From a pedagogical point of view, this would fit in my own feminist stances, it is a book that challenges tradinonal viewpoints. The book also gives some expressivist themes , it drives students to define the user voice and give points where they could develop their own voice and choices. Nnamdi is faced with a few tough choices, the choice to seek revenge or justice. The choice to use his new power for the good of the city or emotional release. The multiple perspectives of how “The man” is defined by the villagers , police and the news all show how a hero and villain are easily defined by those who give the definition.

From a cultural perspective, this book brings in a mix of African folklore and fantasy. In an interview about Ikenga the author, Nnedi Okorafor, discusses the importance of bringing mythical and cosmological beliefs saying that “I feel like colonialism has stifled a lot of that and made those things taboo or to be viewed as evil. And I think that's highly problematic.(Garvia-Navarro,2020)”

Education concerns,

There are moments of violence and starts with a murder, none are graphic but could be triggers to some student. The folklore of an Ikenga could lend to some religious conflicts. The leader (teacher or student) may have to spend some time on vocabulary and other cultural terms. Once again , the cultural and African terms may turn some readers off or cause confusion. There would need to be lessons on vocabulary for the new region. There are episodes of violence that may be of some concern to some readers. It would be considered to be low on the graphic side.

Alternative titles:

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi- A young girl who meets a monster based on his mothers painting.

Miles Morales - Jason Reynolds- The telling of a young african american and hispanic super hero who takes on the role of spiderman.

Scythe-Neal Shusterman- Dystopian Population control via a Scythe.

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Week 8 photo -

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Week 7- Critical Theory

Last week was a great meeting - We took a in dept analysis of Critical Theory. When compiling a list of sources , I think first of Friere- one of the biggest voices in the philosophy of Critical theory. Having read his book Pedagogy of the oppressed, really talk about breaking free from single narratives and limited perspectives.

From there I read bell hooks - teaching to transgress- her teaching philosophy is based on critical theory also but pushed it toward more of removing the teacher as the center of learning.

Hooks points out in Teaching to Transgress that the educational foundation is built on a male white supremacy which supports only the growth of academic achievement to the loss of social growth.

The ideal of intellectual questioning for a union of mind, body, and spirit had been replaced with notions that being smart meant that one was inherently emotionally unstable and that the best in oneself emerged in one’s academic work (hooks,1994, p.16).

She maps a different road with building a pedagogy involving self-actualization, working on towards being involved with inner well-being. She reiterates that a professor that is whole, can help students become whole.

https://www.bellhooksinstitute.com/

https://www.freire.org/paulo-freire/

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Connecting Students with Meaningful Texts - Looking to get the building Young adult reading into lifelong readers. We think  of finding the right book for our students. I think of this weeks big three ideas for me. Staying current with YA novels. There are so many , the search for new classic or up to date works . I say that and yet I want to stay way form trendy works. Works that will come and go. The genre is expanding so quickly , there are a lot of books to sort out.

That being said I try my best to become a matchmaker for students. In reality , working with students who do not read much is harder than finding those dream students who read all the time. The dream student knows what they like and just need something similar. Most students need to find something to inspire them to read more. I feel as thought I  have a handful or books I could go with for most situations.

Which bring the last take away. I have been trying to find a book that would work for a entire class read. It is not as easy as it seems. But really looking to find out if there is a book more of a class book, or book club or not at all. The toughest for me  is for the class. Those have such bigger ramifications. , if the class doesn’t like it is one thing. if it’s too complicated , you will lost most students. Just a bit frighting.

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Books for you - week 6

Connecting Students with Meaningful Texts - Looking to get the building Young adult reading into lifelong readers. We think  of finding the right book for our students. I think of this weeks big three ideas for me. Staying current with YA novels. There are so many , the search for new classic or up to date works . I say that and yet I want to stay way form trendy works. Works that will come and go. The genre is expanding so quickly , there are a lot of books to sort out.

That being said I try my best to become a matchmaker for students. In reality , working with students who do not read much is harder than finding those dream students who read all the time. The dream student knows what they like and just need something similar. Most students need to find something to inspire them to read more. I feel as thought I  have a handful or books I could go with for most situations.

Which bring the last take away. I have been trying to find a book that would work for a entire class read. It is not as easy as it seems. But really looking to find out if there is a book more of a class book, or book club or not at all. The toughest for me  is for the class. Those have such bigger ramifications. , if the class doesn’t like it is one thing. if it’s too complicated , you will lost most students. Just a bit frighting.

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Week 3 - Vocabulary

What I learned about vocabulary lessons. This week funny enough, has been a week I have had to teach vocabulary.  We are doing the book Holes as a class. So I have to start working lesson. So I have learned a few things that matter to me. First - Keep it short - you do not need a super long list of words. The amount of words that students do not know will always be at an deficit. Keep what you teach and test to a low number. I choose 7 words for the week and we worked those into the weekly lesson.

2nd . keep it fun- there are some boring functionalism to class and vocab, but there are points where you can shake it up and make it a bit more bearable. I added the vocab words to our apple to apples game - and it made for some fun at the ends of the week.

3rd. I learned using an automatic graded test is not a teachers dream situation (not the most creative), but it is the most efficient. It takes time to make the test but less time grading and just keep it moving. There are so many things I have to grade, and spending less time on that works perfect for me.

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Week 2 Decoding and Fluency

Week 2

3 Things that Stand for the reading come from the week are from the reading of “Improving Adolescent Literacy” pdf. As a new teacher, I am transition from academic speak to classroom speak. I find myself thinking of my word choice and how I would build that bridge between those two. 

#1 Data from the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading report that 69 percent of 8th grade students fall below the proficient level in their ability to comprehend the meaning of text at their grade level.- This statistic should shock readers, but as a teacher- I feel this is very accurate. We are taking the fast test this week, so I will have more data to add to this finding.

#2. The Checklist that is page 9 and 10 in the pdf. Wow... I printed it out and really have used it to shape this weeks actions. Now can I do them all or clearly define them in my lessons/plans? No but does it help me give good effort towards ensuring my reading classes are growing in the right direction.

#3 - Recommendation 1. Provide explicit vocabulary instruction- For me, this is the word encapsulates...... I had not idea what it meant until last year,  I heard it like a thousand times and just let it go in one ear and out the other.  I can now see my students can really feel lost without clear understanding of whats asked. Which goes to my first statement of mixing academic and student language

rjn

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Week 2 Decoding and Fluency

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Do Readers start like this ---a somewhat empty vessel ?

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Week 2, Reading is Fun!?!?

As I come to teaching this year , I have really seen two different but not opposite views of literacy in the education system. Last year, I found myself as an education assistant in a school in Minneapolis. The class I was in was somewhat engaging yet methodical , and the teacher was very much regimented with the lesson. The class period was a traditional 50 mins long (which helped keep the lesson long enough for the class).   Watching last year, I felt as though literacy was not a high priority . There was not a large focus on getting the students to read books or read at all really. There was a lot of focus on parts of reading and literature . Yet, they were getting kids to read. There wasn’t a push to get kids to be engaged with reading outside the classroom. Now , the class was an ELA class and not a reading class and the limitations of online and distance learning. 

Transition to this year, I am now Teaching a reading class and an On track Literacy class. The school is different, The school has a block schedule of 90 min classes. This changes the way it operates. When sitting with my mentor teacher , she said that most times - half the class would be spent reading. Where normally there would be 4-5 lessons in the week , there are just 2-3.  The attention span of the kids are not at the range of 80-90 mins or straight lecture or an activity. I find myself really trying to give short lessons followed by activities and then maybe (just maybe) a second lesson .  I am not sure how well we will make it through the planned curriculum. So many of the classes are really focused on the students becoming better readers. The advisory class has a reading component to give time for the student to read. What I find difficult is when you allow the students to graze text is that they often choose text that is too easy for them . Some students look for the thinnest and or simplest text to meet the requirement. Maybe it is a lack of joy from reading. The functionalism of school strikes again! We make children read, but does it help them become active readers?

I have started to introduce students to new authors of classic and contemporary works. Finding smaller portions of text hopefully will allow students to connect with text into their personal lives. At this grade level, they have not had much more than required reading and I look forward to building a book club component to this classroom. I think that YA literature  gives students a comparable reading experience to adult book clubs. They are able to challenge their vocabulary sets and yet have material they may relate to closer.

  Now a week later, I find that engaging MOST students into reading has not been the issue. I am surprised by the amount of reading most of the students do. I have strived to increase reading stamina via time, amount and genre.  Genre is the most difficult to veer the students from their lane. The tenderness or fragileness of the students even reading is something I find hard to teeter with at this moment. If reading was a seed, I would like for this one to grow some roots before pushing it to grow higher.