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Summary
Summary
Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess is a 2018 Schneider Family Award winning novel about how Macy is navigating her way through life being deaf and communicating through sign language, despite all the change and challenges that comes with it. When Macy is tasked with creating a family tree for a school project, she struggles deciding who should be on her tree when all she really has is her mom and does not want a stepfamily to change that. But, as a friendship with her neighbor grows over their common love for books, Macy learns that change can be good as it may create new stories of her own.
Keywords/phrases: Sign language, Change, Stepfamily, Books, Messages
Suggested Delivery: Independent read
Key Vocabulary
Deaf: Having total or partial hearing loss, lacking the ability to hear.
Sign language: A system of communication using visual gestures and signs, as used by deaf people.
Fingerspelling: A method of communication with deaf people in which the representation of individual letters and sometimes numbers are made using specific finger positions or shapes.
Interpreter: A person who listens and translates speech into sign language.
Stepfamily: A family that is formed by two people and the child or children of one or both of them are from a previous relationship or marriage.
Decipher: To make out the meaning of something or understand something.
Goddess: A woman of beauty and charm who is adored by many people.
Extravagantly: Going beyond what is reasonable, such as spending too much money
Depths of despair: At the worst or most unpleasant stage of something, a very strong negative feeling
Kidnapper: To take a kid away illegally or by force.
Reading Strategies
Before
Before
Students will be provided with visuals of the signs for fingerspelling to give the students more insight on how the main character Macy communicates with other characters in the novel, which will build their background knowledge on the content. The students can also try to make each letter on their own or form a word to form a connection with Macy and her form of communication.
During
During
As the students read, they will question the author of the novel to enhance their understanding of the text. For example, why would the author write this novel in free verse? Why would the author only write some of the text in bold? Why would the author only write some of the text in italics? Is there a deeper meaning behind doing this?
After
After
Students will watch a TED talk by Nyle DiMarco, an activist that was born deaf that talks about his life experiences and how we need to spread awareness of the deaf community to increase their access to education. Watching this TED talk will make students aware that there is a percentage of our population that cannot hear and sometimes their education is poor because of that. Students can turn and talk to partners to discuss how they can spread awareness of the deaf community after watching.
Writing Activity
Reading Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.1 – Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Writing Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.1.A – Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.
Activity: Students will create their own cookie recipe and write about the meaning or feelings that are associated with the cookie like Iris creates throughout the novel. In other words, students will create a message that they want people to know when they eat the cookie. Students should provide clear reasoning as to why that message belongs with that specific cookie.
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