Today I had to read the following story from the textbook to my 9th grade class. Keep in mind that they didn't understand most of what I was saying; it was listening practice:
A Mother’s Lullaby
A big, old tree stands by a road near the city of Hiroshima. Through the years, it has seen many things.
One summer night the tree heard a lullaby. A mother was singing to her little girl under the tree. They looked happy, and the song sounded sweet. But the tree remembered something sad.
“Yes, it was about sixty years ago. I heard a lullaby that night, too.”
On the morning of that day, a big bomb fell on the city of Hiroshima. Many people lost their lives, and many others were injured. They had burns all over their bodies. I was very sad when I saw those people.
It was a very hot day. Some of the people fell down near me. I said to them, “Come and rest in my shade. You’ll be all right soon.”
Night came. Some people were already dead. I heard a weak voice. It was a lullaby. A young girl was singing to a little boy.
“Mommy! Mommy!” the boy cried.
“Don’t cry,” the girl said. “Mommy is here.” Then she began to sing again.
She was very weak, but she tried to be a mother to the poor little boy. She held him in her arms like a real mother.
“Mommy,” the boy was still crying.
“Be a good boy,” said the girl. “You’ll be all right.” She held the boy more tightly and began to sing again.
After a while the boy stopped crying and quietly died. But the little mother did not stop singing. It was a sad lullaby. The girl’s voice became weaker and weaker.
Morning came and the sun rose, but the girl never moved again.
The End
Lovely, eh? Wrong, I think. I had to stop in the middle of reading so as not to cry. It seemed inappropriate for a 3rd year English class, where they barely have a grasp on "I like soccer" to be hearing this serious story, at the same time not understanding why 'Julie Sensei' is upset.
I had the teacher explain at the beginning of class that the topic is much more complex than, "On the morning of that day...", and I insisted on having a mini history lesson on WWII to explain the context. All in all, I never want to do that lesson again, but I will have to deal with it in other classes soon. Can I hear your input?
I tell of my day-to-day experiences in a funky Japanese town from my American viewpoint. This blog could also be called 'Bizarro World', 'Notes From Kyushu, a Smaller Island', or 'Teaching English in Japan: Smash Your Ego in 10 Easy Lessons."
Friday, September 17, 2004
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2 comments:
The easy answer to the question, "Do I have choice...?" is no. It is a listening unit in the text book and it must be covered.
The more accurate answer is that it would create quite a disturbance if I were to refuse to participate in a lesson. The teachers wouldn't understand and would probably take it personally, because they don't really comprehend the complexity of the issue for me. It's not as straight forward as one might think, because here it is of great value not to be the cause of any disturbances(, which kind of goes against my American individualistic ideals; but that's the way it is).
P.S. I can't seem to change the clock on this; it's currently 5:55PM
Julie,
This is Chris from CU. I agree that you have no choice but to go through with the lesson. That story has been around for years, and if you are very unlucky, one of your students will choose it for the annual recitation contest and you will be asked to coach him or her for hours on end on the pronunciation of it. Try to remove yourself emotionally from the task and get through it.
c
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