Laura Soto November 16, 2013 LRC480C- Childrens Literature Family Visit #3 Selecting Books and Artifacts Im a huge

worry wart and very detailed oriented. Therefore, when it came to choosing my literature and artifacts, I became very obsessed with getting it right. I thought about all the challenges I could encounter, I made a list of the families information and separated it into funds of knowledge and interests, and I spent a lot of time reading different books in The University of Arizona library. I identified moving/traveling as a funds of knowledge that came from Mom but didnt know how to incorporate it. (I had an idea during my visit that I will discuss later in this paper). Other funds of knowledge that I identified were language (Dad speaks French, both parents speak Spanish, and older sister is learning and teaching younger siblings Mandarin), Spain (dad is form Spain and mom did her dissertation there), Opera (I couldnt decide if this was an interest or fund of knowledge but the children all love opera and drag the parents to shows), Dress up (the family goes shopping for vintage clothing, has inherited vintage jewelry that the children dress up with, and mom had a renaissance era dress custom made for herself). Then I identified Gold Fish and Books as a family interest. Both of these interests will be explored more in depth later in the paper. A challenge that I anticipated was that the father wouldnt be involved in the interaction because he hadnt shown interest in previous visits. I wanted to involve him so I tried to pull from his funds of knowledge the most. This turned into a mistake because I became too fixated on his funds of knowledge. However, Mom was great and still participated a great deal. I explored many books and that list consists of: The Beautiful Butterfly: a folktale from Spain by Judy Sierra (I chose this in hopes that dad might know the story or mom might have heard it), Mother Goose in French by Hugh Latham (Dad speaks French and I was hoping to use this book

Laura Soto November 16, 2013 LRC480C- Childrens Literature Family Visit #3 to engage him. I ultimately didnt use this book in fear that Dad wouldnt want to read the book), A Fiesta of Folk Song from Spain and Latin America by Jules Maldoff.(I again chose this because of Spain but chose not to use it because it didnt have engaging pictures), The First Book of Opera by Hilary Abrahams (I really wanted to involve opera but this book was meant for an older audience so I didnt use it), Little Treasures by Jaqueline Ogburn (Maria guided me to this book because it had endearments in different languages), Lets Eat by Ana Zamorano (Maria underlined that the family might identify with this book because of their eating traditions so I brought it to my visit), and , lastly, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut by Dr. Seuss (I chose this book because of their interest in books and almost didnt bring it because I only thought it was an interest. At the last minute, I decided to bring it anyways and discovered a funds of knowledge that Ill discuss later in the paper). The biggest resource for finding books was The University of Arizona library and my audio recorded visits. Its hard to remember everything. I also appreciated Marias help because I know how hard it can be to help fifteen students at the same time. The artifacts I chose to bring were my Quinceaera crown and a picture of my sister and me. I brought many ideas to the debriefing and they included: Opera LP Record (The family has a LP player but mom still hasnt found a piece to it because theyre still unpacking so I didnt want to bring something we couldnt play), Jamon Serrano (This is ham from Spain but its really hard to find), Calaito by Antonio Iglesias (I was going to bring this song because it was the popular song in Madrid in 2000. This is when Mom did her dissertation there. However, I learned this through research and not through Mom so I feared that it wouldnt actually be a popular song during that time), pictures from Italy (I thought of bringing my picture album from when I traveled to Italy

Laura Soto November 16, 2013 LRC480C- Childrens Literature Family Visit #3 in hopes that it would encourage the family to take out their own pictures of their trips to Spain but I feared it would turn into a visit all about me), and I thought about having the family play Gold Fish again but found out later that this is more of a mommy game. I ultimately chose the Quinceaera crown because it tied in with the The Beautiful Butterfly. There are both about stories and traditions that you pass down. Then I chose to bring a picture of my sister and I after Maria recommended Little Treasures. The picture is when I was younger and had blonde hair. My nickname as a child was Guera and I was hoping this would get stories about the childrens nicknames. Description of Event My third visit took place in the familys living room. Its a highly stimulating environment with computers, books, television (this was off), and boxes that hadnt been unpacked yet. During the interaction, I tried to get as many of the family members to interact but my main participants were the youngest child who is three years old (She will be referred to as Child 3) and the middle child (She will be referred to as Child 2) who is nine years old. This being said, Dad and Mom interacted for pieces of the invitation. For the most part, the youngest child and I sat on the couch. Throughout the visit Moms location changed from a rocking chair that was close to us but not closes enough to engage with us, the computer behind us or the floor next to us. I also want to note that I was sick on my third visit and the youngest child was cranky because she hadnt had a nap that day. Mom said that it was because shes scared shell miss something important. From the very beginning of my invitation I knew Id have to go with the flow and be flexible. The youngest child was crying when I first entered the door and mom gave a lecture on

Laura Soto November 16, 2013 LRC480C- Childrens Literature Family Visit #3 how to treat visitors. Then the youngest child noticed the books before I even had a chance to introduce them. This gave me the perfect opportunity to say that this was an invitation that I was hoping the whole family could partake in. Unfortunately, Mom immediately informed me that the middle child was busy packing for her trip to Catalina Island Marine Institute for a field trip. I was also informed that Mom was leaving for Madrid again and got a haircut for it and was going through small sample bottles that shed collected throughout the years for traveling purposes. This interaction convinces me that traveling is indeed a funds of knowledge for this family. This interaction also allowed mom to tell me about her upcoming trip. She was excited to go back but was scared to see how their bad economy has affected Spain since her last trip there. However, her face lit up as she reminisced about Madrid and the ability to just walk around. Im going to describe my interaction with each literature and artifact but the audience must keep in mind that the youngest childs attention span was very low on this day. Therefore, in reality the order of these interactions went back and forth. For example, wed talk about a book, look at her toys, look at an artifact, go back to the same book, then look at another book, and go back to the former artifact then get distracted by the later artifact. Therefore, I figured itd be easier to follow the conversations if I described each piece individually. I can read with my eyes shut by Dr. Seuss was the first book that the youngest child and I interacted with. The conversation went like this: Child 3: Are we going to read those. I can read some of these books. Me: Yes, we even have some in different languages! Child 3: Only if you find only English ones. Me: Ill see what I have Child 3: Lets see if there is a book that I can read. These are pretty ones. If you find English things I can read them

Laura Soto November 16, 2013 LRC480C- Childrens Literature Family Visit #3 During this interaction, I noticed that the child immediately noticed the illustrations. Mom, later mentions, that its because of the illustrations that they love the Dr. Seuss books. This was my first clue that reading was more than a simple interest in this family. The next interaction with the book completely confirms the notion: Me: This one is English. Do you know who this is? Child 3: Its cat in the hat. Me: Do you know who the author is. Child 2: Do you know who wrote it. Child 3: (nods) The author. Mom and Child 2: Yes (laugh) Child 3: Dr. Seuss!!! Me: Dr. Seuss, youre right. Child 3: We have a lot in my room. I can bring some from my room. Can you help me read this??? Me: I can, how would you like me to help you? Child 3: Help me do the words. Me: Okay, you can point at the words and Ill read it. Child 3: (Furrows her eyebrows so I try a different approach.) Me: Do you want to tell me whats happening and Ill read it? Or maybe your sister can help you? Child 3: Can you help me read this book. (She is asking Child 2. Child 2 walks over) Child 2: What is the cat doing? Child 3: Reading. Child 2: Where is he reading? Child 3: In his bed. Child 2: What color is that? Child 3: Brown. Child 2: Well thats brown what color is this. Child 3: Purple. I was completely blown away by the strategies that both children had obviously learned from someone else. The thing that I had previously thought was an interest had unexpectedly transformed into a funds of knowledge right before my eyes. Once I made this connection, other things started to fall into place. For example, I found that Dr. Seuss is a huge author in this home. Child 2 brought me the movie Lorax and the book after reading this story. Then I was introduced to a huge shelf filled with only Dr. Seuss when I went into Child 3s room. Child 3 summarized a lot of the Dr. Seusss books simply by looking at the pictures in the book that I brought. Child 3 also told me about reading glasses and how they are necessary when you read by grabbing her moms glasses from the computer. It also inspired her to show me her favorite book: Jungle Sounds. Later Child 3 mentions that she would read Lorax to me but it would have to be in a quiet spot.

Laura Soto November 16, 2013 LRC480C- Childrens Literature Family Visit #3 The next book interaction was, The Beautiful Butterfly: a Folktale from Spain by Judy Sierra. This book encouraged Child 3 to ask Child 2 for her butterfly wings. This immediately turned into a dress up session. They have a whole trunk of dress up clothes and Child 2 dressed up as a farmer. This caused Child 3 to say she was a farmer butterfly. Little Treasures by Jaqueline Ogburn was the next book and I brought it to invite dad to feel more comfortable interacting with me. It had endearments in different language. Unfortunately, it did not work as well as I would have hoped. This is how the engagement went: Me: I have a book with endearments in French and I was wondering if they were used in your family or if they were accurate. Mom: Oh thats his department (points at dad in the kitchen). Alex, she has a question for you. (I restate my question and Dad reads the endearments). Dad: Yes, yes, they are completely accurate. Mom: We use some of those. Child 3: my dad can read French and English. Dad: Lets see if they have Swedish. Its funny that they have Finland but not Sweden. Me: Did you live in Sweden Dad: Yes I learned there. (He looks through the book one more time and then goes back into the kitchen). Unfortunately, this book along with Lets Eat by Ana Zamorano did not entice the family into story. However, by questioning further I learned the childrens nicknames. Child 2 is called Nessy, Child 3 is called muggy (a combination of mushy and snuggle) and Child 1 doesnt really have a family nickname. I came to the conclusion that it wouldnt be easy to get stories today but I was proven wrong when I pulled out my artifacts. My Quinceaera crown allowed the next interaction to take place: Child 3: You have a crown? I like crowns. My crown is broken. We can put crowns on Me: Do you want to hear about that crown? Child 3: Does it fit me? Me: It might. Its a very special crown. Do you see this number right here? Child 3: Can it be for dress up? Me: Kind of but its kind of more special than that. Do you see this number? What two numbers are they? Child 3: A one and a five. Me: Yes thats right and a short way of saying that is fifteen. When I turned fifteen I wore this crown at my birthday party. Child 3: I want to try to put it on. Mom: You had a Quinceaera? Me: I did! Mom: Did you have a big poufy dress? Child 3: this is very pretty. Me: Do they do Quinceaera in Spain? Mom: Its more here. Its like posadas they dont do it in Spain but they do it here. Its kind of a colonial culture. Its stuff that came a really long time

Laura Soto November 16, 2013 LRC480C- Childrens Literature Family Visit #3 ago. They brought it here but its considered old fashion or 16th century vocab. Its the same thing with French Canadian. Many of the words they use here arent used in France at all. It was interesting that a simple artifact form my life could trigger stories of Moms research. It also triggered Child 3s memory of her own crown which caused her to bring out her broken crown and talk to Mom about how we should treat our toys. This caused Child 2 to bring out a microphone and Child 3 sang songs from a song book. The second artifact was just as successful and evoked the following conversation: Child 3: Can I see that. Me: This is me and my sister. Mom: Thats you and your sister? You have such golden hair. How old were you when it started to go brown. Me: I think when I was ten. Mom: Child 3s hair is starting to turn brown. Child 1s has always been brown. Mine used to turn blonde in the sun through high school with lime juice and then it would turn a little red. Then the conversation became focused on me. Mom began to ask how old my sister is, where does she live and are you going to see her for thanksgiving? I tried to refocus the attention back but was unsuccessful. Analysis of the Event I evaluated myself by how much new information I learned on this visit. I feel a little disappointed with the experience because I was hoping to learn more about Dad. I was also disappointed because I didnt have a whole family interaction but I was excited that Child 2 joined in on the experience. Especially, because the new funds of knowledge I was able to pinpoint were because of her actions with her sister. The circumstances (me feeling sick and Child 3 feeling tried) made the event a little more complicated. I feel I wasnt able to be as adapting as I normally am and it affected the experience. Another challenge that I faced was that Child 3 brought a lot of her toys to show off and I tried to encourage stories out of them but it was very difficult.

Laura Soto November 16, 2013 LRC480C- Childrens Literature Family Visit #3 Teaching Implications If I could re-do the experience, I would have rescheduled for an earlier time so that the child wasnt exhausted. I learned timing means everything no matter if its within the classroom or in a home visit. Having seen dad in action, I think I would have kept the French mother goose book in the interaction. I could have asked him to translate and tell the story to Child 3. The Spain song book might have also been a great resource to keep. I would have also added a suitcase as an artifact to incorporate traveling. Based on the interactions I had, the only book that I feel confident in keeping would be the butterfly book and thats because of the beautiful pictures. As Maria points out in class a lot, the illustrations are very important to capture interest and it was proven during this visit.