Diversity Webquest - A Glittering History

 Kira-Kira is an excellent novel for students to explore prejudice and racism, and I created a WebQuest to guide them on their way. The book’s title means “glittering” or “sparkling” in Japanese, and this book truly shines. In the novel, the children at a predominantly white school did not talk or befriend the main characters in the novel simply because they were Japanese-American. However, many students in today's middle school may not understand the complexities of why this took place in the novel due to the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor in World War II. Though this is no excuse for the prejudice and racism exhibited by the people in the novel, this WebQuest gives some historical context. In addition, this WebQuest integrates standards form both English Language Arts and Social Studies. Prejudice and racism is never acceptable, but we always need to try to understand why some people have these attitudes. History explains this in many instances. Click here if you would like to view the WebQuest. I've also included an interview with the book's author, Cynthia Kadohata below.