The ability to function well in group situations is a advantage when teachers use cooperative learning groups and in peer tutoring settings. The Hispanic culture with the emphasis on the group and attention centered away from the individual can cause difficulties for the student in public schools which are controlled by the dominant individual-centered Anglo culture. Hispanic students are often inadvertently overlooked and not given the attention that more aggressive white students receive. The quiet Hispanic students are often labeled apathetic or insolent; they may refrain from raising their hands to volunteer information or answer a teacher's questions (Baldauf, 1997, p. 1). Hispanic parents are generally reluctant to speak at teacher meetings or inquire when their children are struggling or failing. The parents do not want to be perceived as questioning authority or being disrespectful. These culturally acquired attitudes hinder the Hispanic students in school and contribute to the high drop out rate of Hispanic children. Nearly one-third of Hispanic students entering school in the United States will leave before attaining their high school diploma (Baldauf, 1997, p. 1). In urban areas, the drop out rate for Hispanic students is 50 percent or higher and 56 percent are functionally illiterate (Berry, 1998, p. 631). Ober, H. (1994). How music came to the world. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. This tale is based on a pre-Columbian Aztec myth. In it the god of wind, Quetzalcoatl, and the sky god, Tezcatlipoca, meet to discuss the silence of the world. Tezcatlipoca, the sky god, convinces Quetzalcoatl, the god of wind, that the world is too quiet and needs music. So Tezcatlipoca sends Quetzalcoatl to the House of the Sun to bring back the best of the musicians and singers. After many adventures the god of wind, Quetzalcoatl, returns with music makers to fill the forests, valleys, and deserts with beautiful music. This book could be used as the introd |
