Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What does it mean to have a disability? Think in terms of both mental and physical disabilities. What are some of the main obstacles that people with disabilities face? How might the attitudes of the people around them—their friends, families, and communities—make a difference?

Teaching Suggestion: Kira, the protagonist of Gathering Blue, is born with a physical impairment that causes her to be an outcast in her community. However, her mother teaches her to see her disability as a source of strength, and Kira does not let it limit her experience of life. Some students may struggle to understand how Kira’s experiences relate to their lives, not understanding that many people live with disabilities and there are many causes of disability. This prompt and the resources that follow are intended to deepen students’ understanding of the lived experiences of people with disabilities and curb any potential tendency to view Kira as an “other.”

• This article from Forbes, by Andrew Pulrang, explains five key ideas that nondisabled people should understand about disability.