A review of The Name Jar as it relates to language and cultural literature.

1. Language and Cultural
Literature Presentation
By Karen Littlefield
EDEL 530
September 20, 2017

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
HOKU2reywe0About

3. Summary
This book is about a young girl who moves away from her home in
Korea to the United States. She soon discovers that being new is
even more complex when the other children cannot pronounce her
name, Unhei. The other children tease her because they don’t
understand her name. In class, she decides she will select an
american name. Her classmates start filling a jar with name
suggestions and leave it on her desk for her consideration. As
Unhei attempts to adapt to american culture, she keeps returning to
a gift in a small pouch. Before she left Korea, her grandmother
gave her a wooden stamp with her Korean name imprinted into it.

4. Language and Culture
At the end of the story, Unhei decides that she is going to keep her Korean name because it is special to her. The
man at the new market also has stated that her name means, “grace.” Her name is culturally relevant to her identity
and heritage. Unhei tells the class, "I realized that I liked my name best, so I chose it again. Korean names mean
something”(Choi, 2003). In Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) is important for teachers to support working
with diverse groups of students. “In CRP teachers observe students in their homes and communities in order to
create a synergistic relationship with home culture and school culture.”(Ladson-Billings, p.467). Unhei’s teacher
takes CRP a step further by providing her new friend, Joey with a nickname that means friend in Korean. Teacher
modeling is a significant way to “welcome a student’s home language, schools facilitate the flow of knowledge,
ideas, and feelings between home and school across languages." (Cummins, p. 42).

5. Educator’s
Resource
http://www.colorincolorado.org/book
list/between-two-worlds-asian-
pacific-american-heritage
In this unit, The Name Jar is part of the
book theme: Between Two Worlds,
Asian Pacific American Heritage where
students can explore the immigrant
experiences of the character and learn
about various backgrounds.

6. https://youtu.be/cyVzjoj96vs
This fun video promotes self-awareness
and respect. Students of all ages love
music as it has been called the
universal language.
Video Resource

7. Curriculum Strategies focusing on ELA Framework and CA ELD Standards
The main character, Unhei, speaks both Korean and English and enters the school system as a biliterate student. Her
entire classroom community would benefit from culturally and linguistically responsive teaching. In this format, the
teacher would reinforce an “equity-focused approach” embracing all students with culturally sustainable pedagogy.
This format would provide self-awareness, value and pride to all students. The Name Jar can be expanded into a
variety of activities to learn more about diverse cultures. For example, this story can be discussed as a class
promoting making connections with home culture as a strategy for supporting learners’ engagement.

8. Reflective Writing Lesson
Students will ask their family members about the history of their name(s). They will be encourage to ask the
following questions:
What does my name mean?
What language is my name?
Was I named after anyone special?
The students will collectively contribute to a wall display in the classroom that they can refer to throughout the
school year. When new students join the class, they will be added to the display.

9. References
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/cf/documents/elaeld
Choi, Y. (2001). The Name Jar. New York: Random House.
Cummins, J., Bismilla, V., Chow, P., Cohen, S., Giampapa, F., Leoni, L., ... & Sastri, P. (2005). Affirming identity in multilingual
classrooms. Educational leadership, 63(1), 38.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2014). Culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: aka the remix. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 74-84.
Los Angeles Unified School District. 2012. LAUSD English Learner (EL) Master Plan. Los Angeles Unified School District.