Tag: current events

Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, by Laurie Ann Thompson and Sean Qualls

“Be respectful, take care of your family, don’t ever beg. And don’t give up.” – Mama Comfort

Emmaunuel Ofosu Yeboah is a real person who was born missing part of his right leg. Where he was born in Ghana, children with disabilities were not allowed to attend school like normal children. Emmanuel’s mother, Mama Comfort, was not satisfied with that and insisted that her son would attend school. She carried him back and forth to school until he had grown too big for her to carry. At that point, Emmanuel was determined to keep going to school so he hopped to and from school every day on his one leg.

Emmanuel knew that he was different from the other children at his school, but he wanted to play with them and do the things that they were doing. He was very clever and extremely determined. Emmanuel found a way to play with his classmates and to learn to ride a bike peddling with just one leg.

Emmanuel’s mother had great faith and was always encouraging her son to follow his dreams. Eventually the time came that Mama was too ill to care for Emmanuel and his siblings, so Emmanuel left to go to the city where he could work and earn money. Finding work was not easy as many people did not believe that Emmanuel was capable of working due to his disability. He was told by many people to go beg like other disabled people. This insulted Emmanuel who continued to follow his mother’s instructions to “Be respectful, take care of your family, don’t ever beg. And don’t give up.”

Emmanuel was gone from home for two years before he returned home before his mother died. His mother’s words and guidance continued to impact Emmanuel in every part of his life. Mama Comfort had told Emmanuel to follow his dreams, that his disability did not mean inability. He took her words to heart and went on to share his ability to persevere despite other people’s expectations of what he could not do. Emmanuel continued to advocate for his own rights as a disabled person, as well as the rights of other people with disabilities.

Emmanuel has been recognized for his continued work on behalf of others with disabilities. This story tells of his childhood and how to set out on the path to advocate for others. Children and adults will be inspired to learn about Emmanuel and how he followed his mother’s instructions and followed his dreams while helping others as he followed his dreams. This is a remarkable (and true) story about a young man who is a living breathing example that disability does not mean inability.

This book would make a great addition to the elementary classroom. Based on a real person with a physical disability who not only overcame that disability, but went on to do great things setting an example for people with and without disabilities this story teaches readers that where there is a will there is a way. Classrooms are made of diverse learners, and students of all different abilities make up today’s classroom. Students will be able to use this book to learn about a real person with a physical disability and how he worked to be recognized as person who should be treated as a person who is capable instead of a disabled person who should not go to school or work or do things like every one else.

Below is a video of Emmanuel, telling his story.

https://youtu.be/BHUDh82sZYs

Ideas for Classroom Incorporation of Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah:

  • ELA: multicultural literature, literature based on real people, connections to diversity, what is your dream and how will you make it a reality, sequence of events
  • GEOGRAPHY: locate Ghana on a world map, identify the distance between Ghana and the United States, identify key facts about Ghana and the United States to compare and contrast
  • SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL: identify what it means to have a physical disability, discuss the difference between disability and limitation, create a visual representation of how Emmanuel’s story can teach all people to follow their dreams

Unwind, by Neal Shusterman

What are the potential possibilities when the concept of harvesting divided bodies for their parts becomes part of the lawful state? Who is safe? Is it possible to be an Unwind and still continue to live? Who decided this plan was a good idea? And why doesn’t anyone make it stop?

In this young adult novel, Neal Shusterman takes the reader down a dark and disturbing road to a time when teenagers are marked to be unwound. To have their organs harvested for the benefit of those more desirable than the terribles who will be taken apart piece by piece. What about the Unwinds who are thrust into harvest because of family beliefs that it is the responsible thing to do? These teenagers who are donated, or tithes as they are called, are groomed to believe that their lives have a higher calling because they were fulfilling their destiny to help their fellow man by donating their healthy body parts to those who would transplant or graph them to a person in need.

In this dystopian society, the practice of unwinding is completely normal and everyone has a role to play. You are either an Unwind, or you are someone who remains eligible to receive organs or other body parts because you have positively contributed to society and your community. As an Unwind, you will not benefit from the removal and transplant of your parts – but the law promises that you will be left alive. Harvesting body parts and organs is not intended to kill a person, it is just intended to extend or improve the life of others.

As a teacher, this book presents so many different conversation starters for the classroom. The connection to current events, ethics, morality, justice, fairness, human rights, symbolism, characterization, tone, and perspective are just a handful of ideas that come to mind after reading this book. There are main characters, who each present a different journey to being an Unwind. A girl and two boys who readers follow throughout the story as they encounter many more secondary characters who directly shape and potentially shift how the reader feels about each character. There are characters for readers to love, and some to hate. Each one bringing additional depth to this book that has chilling references to current events and places that the readers will recognize as real in our everyday world.

Being an elementary school teacher, this book is outside of what I would normally select for classroom use for my students. I cannot deny that I believe some of my previous students would be interested in this book for the shock and chaos elements that make up so much of the complex storyline. I would recommend this book for upper middle school, or high school students based on maturity and exposure to complex concepts – their developmentally appropriate ability to separate fact and fiction.

Personally, I am still not sure I can say whole heartedly that I liked this book. But – I am definitely intrigued about what happens next. This book is the first in a series by Neal Shusterman and it was a book that once I began reading I wanted to stop but couldn’t stop because I was compelled to know what happened next. I have talked about this book to everyone I spoke to this week. Like it or not, it absolutely held my attention and made me think!

Ideas for Classroom Incorporation of Unwind, by Neal Shusterman

  • ELA: have students write their own Bill of Life, write an argument for or against unwinding, debate unwinding, create character webs identifying internal and external traits for 1 main and 1 secondary character, create a trailer for the prequel of Unwind that explains how and why unwinding came to be
  • SCIENCE: (biology) anatomy
  • ECONOMICS: budgeting, how to financially support yourself – your family – an underground community in the dystopian state, establish financial rules for different elements of society