Towell/Smilan & Hellman article response.

I think the biggest challenge for a teacher in the classroom is to provide opportunities for students to really get creative, and relate to what they're learning about. It can be especially difficult to create lesson plans that will engage all students because each student comes from a different background, culture, and a different set of experiences. Multicultural/postmodern picture books are a great way to engage students without even having to do much yet (if you choose the right book) because the book does the work for you at first. A book can spark feelings in students through color, through content, and there is something new on each page that can hopefully spark some creativity or inspiration in each student. I loved that In the Towell, and Smilan article they talked about honoring what is important to students. Popular culture is constantly changing, and if teachers always keep the same lesson plans they are slowly losing more and more of the classes interest. The teachers should be using symbols of current culture as well as references to a multicultural learning. I am thrilled at the idea of using these picture books for a lesson plan because I remember absolutely loving story time in the library, and I even remember reading the Stinky Cheese man. My favorite books were always the ones that gave you more to think about than just the main story. Hellman was definitely right in say that, "you don't read a postmodern picture book, you experience it."