Building your classroom library is a work in progress. It’s never really done, because your students change, the pressing issues of the day change, and new books are published every month. Before Native American Heritage Month begins in November, pick up your copy of We Still Belong and add it to your shelves. Your students will love it.
Title: We Still Belong
Author: Christine Day
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Range: 10+
Summary: The story follows Wesley for one day—Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It’s a big day for Wesley. Her poem is published in the school newspaper. She plans to ask her crush to the school dance. And in the evening, there’s the intertribal powwow her family will attend to honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Tucked in these big events are the smaller (but oh-so-relatable) middle school moments, the unwrapping of her backstory, and the heartwarming reflection on what type of person Wesley wants to become.
It’s similar to other titles in your classroom library…
- Hope in the Valley by Mitali Perkins (a middle school girl finds her voice to speak up for what she believes in, plus strong intergenerational relationships)
- The Things We Miss by Leah Stecher (a strong relationship with her grandfather helps a 12-year old girl navigate how she sees herself in the world, plus absent fathers and strong mothers)
- A Bit of Earth by Karuna Riazi (a pre-teen girl seeks to define for herself what it means to belong in her family and broader community)
How to teachWe Still Belong…
Independent Reading
Perhaps you, too, have been seeking out and reading middle grade and young adult novels by American Indian authors. My classroom library certainly did not have the representation that my Native students deserved — nor was I able to offer these stories as windows for non-Native students.
If you’re nodding your head, then this gentle but empowering story of being a descendant of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe is an important addition to your classroom. To help students choose it, you can:
- Share it during First Chapter Friday
- Recommend it to students who like gaming and/or poetry
- Read it yourself then share your favorite part to close out class one day
- Ask your librarian to order it for your school library
Whole Class Novel
November marks Native American Heritage Month in the United States. We Still Belong clocks in at 236 pages. If you and your students read about 15 pages a day, you can read the whole book in 2-3 weeks. It’s doable. In that time, you could discuss:
- Why have many cities and states stopped honoring Columbus Day and instead celebrate Indigenous People’s Day? What does it take for a culture to make such a shift?
- What role do cultural events play in keeping cultural identities alive and vibrant?
- How can schools embrace student activism?
If these essential questions are akin to the issues your 6th-8th graders are grappling with, I encourage you look into developing a unit around it. (I can help, and so can author Christine Day).
Final two cents: As ELA teachers, we teach our students that the person who tells the story gets to own the narrative. Day’s storytelling ensures that she (and Wesley) get to contribute to an authentic narrative of being Upper Skagit.
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