Multicultural Book Project
By: Rebecca William
Book Introduction
Title: La Llorona: The Weeping Woman
Author: Joe Hayes
Illustrated by: Vicki Trego Hill and Mona Pennypacker
Genre: Children's Literature
Topic: La Llorona, a Hispanic legend
Awards: N/A
Hayes, J. , Hill, V., Pennypacker, M. (2006) , La Llorona: The Weeping Woman. Cinco Puntos Press
Joe Hayes
Vicki Trego Hill and Mona Pennypacker
Introduction To La Llorona
Cultural Relevance
*This book is consistent with values, customs and folklore of a specific cultural group by using many pictures within the book to convey scenes of cultural significance and portraying values that are important in the Mexican culture like family and music.
*This book is tells the story both in English and in Spanish allowing students who are bilingual or just beginning to learn English to read this story. It also allows students who speak nothing but English build a culturally rich schema.
*This book honors diversity and celebrates bonds of humanity because ghost stories can be found all over the world. There is the poltergeist in Germany, the banshee in Scotland, and all kinds of other ghost stories of Native Americans. When the children see this it may help open their eyes to the fact that all people are very similar and we all have our own stories and myths of cultural significance that can be fun to share.
Classroom Teaching Application
Grade Level: 4th
Common Core ELA Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening
Literacy Teaching Standard: Choose words and phrases to convey ideas precisely
Brief bulleted or narrative statement included related to:
During my lesson I would have the students raise their hands and talk about things that you could do during a power outage then I would say that one of the things me and my friends like to do when the lights go out is tell ghost stories. I would have the students then raise their hands if they had ever heard a ghost story. That is when I would read La Llorona. While reading this text I will ask students comprehension questions and pause for them to retell the story in their own words. While the story is being read to them they will be allowed to jot down notes in order to more easily retell the story. At the end of this lesson I would have them write their own story. This could easily be connected to students of any culture. Every student would have chance to retell a ghost story of their own using their own language and phrases to convey that idea. Almost every culture has its own ghost stories so if they wanted to bring in a story from their own culture or heritage they would be able to.