The Name Jar (multicultural)

The Name Jar

by :  Yangsook Choi

This story is about a girl that moved to America from Korea, and is the new girl at school. When introducing herself to the class she decided that she wants a new "American" name, because she feels her name is to hard to pronounce, so her classmates start name jar, adding name ideas. In the end the best name choice was her own, Unhei, meaning Grace, and the kids agreed and loved her name "choice."

This is a multicultural book published in 2001. It is also considered contemporary realistic fiction, because the charcter and story could happen in the real world. As the textbook Literature and the child states: "the story is plausible, has a well-defined conflict, and strong charcterization (Lee2010)."In the description above I stated that this was a new student from Korea, she is shy about revealing her name in a new place and to new people, who come from a completely different culture. This makes the story plausible and makes a character who is completely believable. The illustrations depict the story very well and is a wonderful addition to the book.

Some motivational activities to go along with this book could be a name jar. The book uses a name jar that the students add too to get ideas for names. Before reading the book, you can have the students write down (appropriate) names that they have been called that they disliked. For example: ugly, stupid, etc. (no curse words), and put it into the jar. Explain the impact that names have on people, what the bad names do, and the good. Then read the story. At the end of the story discuss how the students feel about being called something other than their own name. Another idea, taken from the textbook, is  is to have the students write an essay, but instead of the textbooks suggestion I would have them write about a time that they felt worried to share something about themselves, when they felt vulnerable, or when they were a new student surronded by unfamiliar people and places.

I really enjoyed this book, and feel that this is a great book to help teach diversity, understanding, and acceptance in the classroom. I also think it shows how children can build each other up by using kindness when dealing with classmates.

References:

Choi, Y. (2001). The Name Jar. New York. Knopf.

Lee Galda, B. E. (2010). Literature and the Child. 7th Ed. Belmont: Wadworth. Cenage.