I believe the general rule for college classes is that you get what you put into them. That might even be true for everything else in life, but I don't think I have the time to try to prove it :) But I found that to be especially true for this class. I could see a few of my classmates coming to class unprepared, and they didn't really get much out of our discussions. But after doing the readings and thinking critically about the books, I found that our class discussions were quickly taking on lives of their own, taking us down paths that none of us expected. And that was the most exciting part of all: watching our discussions begin with a common starting point (the books we had just read) and take off in all sorts of different directions. I've been avoiding reading other reflections because I didn't want them to alter my own thoughts, but our class discussions were definitely my favorite part of the class. They really opened up my imagination to worlds of possibilities that I never considered when reading on my own.
If nothing else, participating in this class has reinforced the idea that reading is social. We get so much more out of a book when we discuss it and share our ideas with other people - that's why children love read-aloud time, that's why book groups still exist, and that's why we take Children's Literature classes and discuss our thoughts and feelings as a group. And that's why as educators we must do our best to embrace the "social-ness" of reading within our future classrooms. No matter what age your students are, they will be capable of reading and having enlightened conversations about what they've read. They might need support and guidance, but to remove reading from a social context does an injustice to everyone involved.
Overall, I found this class to be really beneficial, and it really opened my eyes to the plethora of ways that literature can be used in the classroom. It also got me thinking about how we judge literature. What makes "good" children's literature is as much up to the children as it is to us. As teachers we must be able to help students locate literature that is exciting, thought-provoking, and developmentally appropriate. It is not our job to impose our own values onto our students. We can show them examples of what we think is "quality" literature, and hope that they'll agree. But if little Billy still wants to read Goosebumps in his free time, then he'd probably best off if his teacher could find some way to support or acknowledge that.
Even though I struggled a bit to keep up this blog, I think that blogging has been a helpful tool for our class to use. Blogging is a great way to get our thoughts "out there" for the rest of the world to see - that includes classmates as well as random Korean strangers :) It would also be a great resource for any teacher to use, whether to make book recommendations to students, to connect with other teachers via the internet, or to keep an up-to-date newsletter informing parents of classroom happenings. That's the great thing about the internet: it's easy to use, the information is free, and it connects us to a potentially infinite audience.
I really enjoyed this class, and I have taken a lot of great ideas from it. Hopefully with the information I have acquired this semester, I can help instill in my students a life-long love of reading. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Butterfly Count
By Sneed B. Collard III
Illustrated by Paul Kratter
When Amy's great-great-grandmother farmed the prairie, the regal fritillary was her favorite butterfly. But now, many years and many lost acres of habitat later, the regal fritillary is rarely seen at all. Amy and her mother are going on a 4th of July butterfly count on the family's old land, and Amy is downright determined to find the regal fritillary once again.
While I found this book during my search for books on "endangered animals," this book seems to strike a chord for conservation instead. The two go hand-in-hand, of course, but I think this book is especially great to use here in Iowa because it is very relevant to our own land. Did you know that 99% of Iowa's native prairie was destroyed and plowed to make room for all of our farms? And the regal fritillaries, once a common sight among the tall prairie grasses, are in danger of going extinct. Additionally, the 4th of July butterfly count is an actual national event, which makes this book seem even more realistic. While the story itself is fiction, I really appreciated the realistic details included.
Overall... this probably isn't the most entertaining or the funniest book that kids will ever read, and to be honest some will even probably find it boring. But personally, I really value its realism and the message it tries to send. It would work perfectly within a broader discussion of either endangered species or nature conservation.
Illustrated by Paul Kratter
When Amy's great-great-grandmother farmed the prairie, the regal fritillary was her favorite butterfly. But now, many years and many lost acres of habitat later, the regal fritillary is rarely seen at all. Amy and her mother are going on a 4th of July butterfly count on the family's old land, and Amy is downright determined to find the regal fritillary once again.
While I found this book during my search for books on "endangered animals," this book seems to strike a chord for conservation instead. The two go hand-in-hand, of course, but I think this book is especially great to use here in Iowa because it is very relevant to our own land. Did you know that 99% of Iowa's native prairie was destroyed and plowed to make room for all of our farms? And the regal fritillaries, once a common sight among the tall prairie grasses, are in danger of going extinct. Additionally, the 4th of July butterfly count is an actual national event, which makes this book seem even more realistic. While the story itself is fiction, I really appreciated the realistic details included.
Overall... this probably isn't the most entertaining or the funniest book that kids will ever read, and to be honest some will even probably find it boring. But personally, I really value its realism and the message it tries to send. It would work perfectly within a broader discussion of either endangered species or nature conservation.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Diary of a Worm
By Doreen Cronin
Illustrated by Harry Bliss
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a worm? I thought it would probably be pretty boring, but Doreen Cronin proved me wrong. This hilarious picture book gives us the inside scoop on what it’s like to be a worm. The unique diary format, creative illustrations, and great sense of humor will delight all readers. Take June 15th’s entry, for example: "My older sister thinks she's so pretty. I told her that no matter how much time she spends looking in the mirror, her face will always look just like her rear end. Spider thought that was really funny. Mom did not."
This book is a great way to bring a new perspective to a commonly overlooked subject. It has a lot of great things going for it, and I think most young children would find it to be very entertaining and interesting. Similar to Yours Truly, Goldilocks, this book would be another way to talk about unique formatting for books or how the point of view of a story can definitely change the entire book. And even if you're not looking to teach a lesson, this book is absolutely hilarious. I think it's a great read!
Illustrated by Harry Bliss
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a worm? I thought it would probably be pretty boring, but Doreen Cronin proved me wrong. This hilarious picture book gives us the inside scoop on what it’s like to be a worm. The unique diary format, creative illustrations, and great sense of humor will delight all readers. Take June 15th’s entry, for example: "My older sister thinks she's so pretty. I told her that no matter how much time she spends looking in the mirror, her face will always look just like her rear end. Spider thought that was really funny. Mom did not."
This book is a great way to bring a new perspective to a commonly overlooked subject. It has a lot of great things going for it, and I think most young children would find it to be very entertaining and interesting. Similar to Yours Truly, Goldilocks, this book would be another way to talk about unique formatting for books or how the point of view of a story can definitely change the entire book. And even if you're not looking to teach a lesson, this book is absolutely hilarious. I think it's a great read!
Swan Song: Poems of Extinction
By J. Patrick Lewis
Woodcuts by Christopher Wormell
I think the foreword to this book sums everything up pretty well:
More than ninety-nine percent of all species that have ever lived are now extinct. The most enduring and compelling image of large-scale death is that of the dinosaurs, colossal reptiles who vanished from Earth sixty-five million years ago.
At the other extreme, the last falling feather of the Passenger Pigeon, which once numbered in the billions, had all the impact of a single snowflake fluttering down a canyon. The last Barbary Lion, far form being celebrated, amused a North African king as a carpet. The howling echo of Miss Waldron's Red Colobus monkey will soon be a memory to no one at all.
This book is about the recently departed. In Earth's geat forests and fields, they buzzed and chirped and bellowed through little incidents of sorry from roughly 1627 to 2000. Whether beautiful or homely, giant or dwarf, each species was its own drama in many disappearing acts, even if it was very far off the Broadway of the dinosaurs.
On Earth, six animal species die every hour, many of the most recent due to climate change, habitat destruction, or human greed or carelessness or indifference. Here are a few small epitaphs in verse to mark their passing.
There a lot of really great things that I like about this book. First, that all of these extinct animals are presented in poetry (in "a few small eitaphs," as the foreword says) makes their passing much more emotional and easy to relate to. Of course it is interesting to read nonfiction books about extinct animals as well - but many nonfiction books simply present the facts and hardly seem to mourn the loss of such interesting and unique animals. I believe that presenting this information in poetry makes it easier for children (and adults!) to recognize the importance of preserving our planet's wildlife.
Second, the illustrations in this book are all black and white woodcuts - somehow simultaneously portraying each of the animals intricately and simply at the same time. These woodcuts seem to capture the true essence of these animals, without any cartoonish qualities. Of course, many of these animals were never photographed, so I think that using woodcuts is an effective way of illustrating them.
The third thing I really enjoy is the wealth of information that this book offers. The animals are listed in order of extinction, starting with the Aurochs in 1627 and ending with Miss Waldron's Red Colobus monkey in 2000. At the top of each page is the animal's Latin name, the date of its extinction, and where it used to live. At the bottom of each page is a continuing time line telling us important events that were happening at the time - the bubonic plague in 1681, the publishing of Frankenstein in 1818, the invention of Coca-Cola in 1899, the beginning of WWI in 1914, the Great Depression in 1933, etc. I really like the inclusion of this time line because it gives us the context in which these animals disappeared. The back of the book includes "Endnotes" which give us more factual information about each of the animals, since some of the poems don't cover all the details.
This book would definitely be best suited for upper elementary readers, since a lot of the information is too specific for younger readers to fully understand. But overall I think this book would be a great resource for the classroom, because it is very interesting and it presents a serious topic in a very unique way. I definitely recommend this book!
Woodcuts by Christopher Wormell
I think the foreword to this book sums everything up pretty well:
More than ninety-nine percent of all species that have ever lived are now extinct. The most enduring and compelling image of large-scale death is that of the dinosaurs, colossal reptiles who vanished from Earth sixty-five million years ago.
At the other extreme, the last falling feather of the Passenger Pigeon, which once numbered in the billions, had all the impact of a single snowflake fluttering down a canyon. The last Barbary Lion, far form being celebrated, amused a North African king as a carpet. The howling echo of Miss Waldron's Red Colobus monkey will soon be a memory to no one at all.
This book is about the recently departed. In Earth's geat forests and fields, they buzzed and chirped and bellowed through little incidents of sorry from roughly 1627 to 2000. Whether beautiful or homely, giant or dwarf, each species was its own drama in many disappearing acts, even if it was very far off the Broadway of the dinosaurs.
On Earth, six animal species die every hour, many of the most recent due to climate change, habitat destruction, or human greed or carelessness or indifference. Here are a few small epitaphs in verse to mark their passing.
There a lot of really great things that I like about this book. First, that all of these extinct animals are presented in poetry (in "a few small eitaphs," as the foreword says) makes their passing much more emotional and easy to relate to. Of course it is interesting to read nonfiction books about extinct animals as well - but many nonfiction books simply present the facts and hardly seem to mourn the loss of such interesting and unique animals. I believe that presenting this information in poetry makes it easier for children (and adults!) to recognize the importance of preserving our planet's wildlife.
Second, the illustrations in this book are all black and white woodcuts - somehow simultaneously portraying each of the animals intricately and simply at the same time. These woodcuts seem to capture the true essence of these animals, without any cartoonish qualities. Of course, many of these animals were never photographed, so I think that using woodcuts is an effective way of illustrating them.
The third thing I really enjoy is the wealth of information that this book offers. The animals are listed in order of extinction, starting with the Aurochs in 1627 and ending with Miss Waldron's Red Colobus monkey in 2000. At the top of each page is the animal's Latin name, the date of its extinction, and where it used to live. At the bottom of each page is a continuing time line telling us important events that were happening at the time - the bubonic plague in 1681, the publishing of Frankenstein in 1818, the invention of Coca-Cola in 1899, the beginning of WWI in 1914, the Great Depression in 1933, etc. I really like the inclusion of this time line because it gives us the context in which these animals disappeared. The back of the book includes "Endnotes" which give us more factual information about each of the animals, since some of the poems don't cover all the details.
This book would definitely be best suited for upper elementary readers, since a lot of the information is too specific for younger readers to fully understand. But overall I think this book would be a great resource for the classroom, because it is very interesting and it presents a serious topic in a very unique way. I definitely recommend this book!
The Dirt on Dirt
By Paulette Bourgeois and Kathy Vanderlinden
Illustrated by Martha Newbigging
This book is a fantastic resource when it comes to random facts about dirt. Bourgeois and Vanderlinden describe the dirt under your toenails, dirt biking, how to “make the world’s greatest dirt,” how rocks become dirt, tracking animals in the dirt, quicksand, buried treasures and archaeology, worms, mud baths, and just about everything else that is remotely related to dirt. As you can imagine, this book really captures the multifaceted world of dirt, and all the ways it relates to our lives. All of these fascinating facts are accompanied by hands-on projects, such as making "the world's greatest dirt" by composting in a milk carton and how to make a delicious "mud cake."
The wide variety of facts in this book is accompanied by vivid color photography, cartoon drawings, and diagrams. Together, the text and illustration create an exciting and interesting exploration into the world of dirt. This is a great resource for dirt-lovers or others who just like to learn random facts. More exciting than most nonfiction books on dirt, and more varied than books such as A Handful of Dirt, this book will offer young readers all the random facts and experiments that they could ever need.
Illustrated by Martha Newbigging
This book is a fantastic resource when it comes to random facts about dirt. Bourgeois and Vanderlinden describe the dirt under your toenails, dirt biking, how to “make the world’s greatest dirt,” how rocks become dirt, tracking animals in the dirt, quicksand, buried treasures and archaeology, worms, mud baths, and just about everything else that is remotely related to dirt. As you can imagine, this book really captures the multifaceted world of dirt, and all the ways it relates to our lives. All of these fascinating facts are accompanied by hands-on projects, such as making "the world's greatest dirt" by composting in a milk carton and how to make a delicious "mud cake."
The wide variety of facts in this book is accompanied by vivid color photography, cartoon drawings, and diagrams. Together, the text and illustration create an exciting and interesting exploration into the world of dirt. This is a great resource for dirt-lovers or others who just like to learn random facts. More exciting than most nonfiction books on dirt, and more varied than books such as A Handful of Dirt, this book will offer young readers all the random facts and experiments that they could ever need.
A Handful of Dirt
By Raymond Bial
This was probably my favorite "dirt" book I read while I was compiling my text set. It is nonfiction but it describes things much more poetically than most nonfiction books for children. Beautiful and descriptive language makes it easy to see how dirt relates to our lives in an essential way. Even if you find most nonfiction books about dirt to be dull or boring, this book will definitely open your eyes to the rich, life-giving side of soil. Bial, an award-winning photo essayist, also offers a wide variety of vivid photographs, which help readers connect to the text even further.
Overall, I don't think I can say enough good things about Bial's work. It presents a lot of information in an interesting, enjoyable way.
This was probably my favorite "dirt" book I read while I was compiling my text set. It is nonfiction but it describes things much more poetically than most nonfiction books for children. Beautiful and descriptive language makes it easy to see how dirt relates to our lives in an essential way. Even if you find most nonfiction books about dirt to be dull or boring, this book will definitely open your eyes to the rich, life-giving side of soil. Bial, an award-winning photo essayist, also offers a wide variety of vivid photographs, which help readers connect to the text even further.
Overall, I don't think I can say enough good things about Bial's work. It presents a lot of information in an interesting, enjoyable way.
Yours Truly, Goldilocks
By Alma Flor Ada
Illustrated by Leslie Tryon
This book is comprised of a series of letters between Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, the Three Little Pigs, Peter Rabbit, and two Big Bad Wolves. Though the entire story is told through these letters, it is very easy to understand the plot development. The three little pigs, after finally building their brick house, are planning to have a house warming party with all of their friends. Their excitement grows but somehow the wolves (Wolfy Lupus and Fer O'Cious) catch wind of this plan, and decide to make a plan of their own. Since this is a fairy tale, you can probably guess who wins, but I'll let you read the book to find out how it all unfolds.
I really enjoyed reading this book for a few reasons. First of all, combining well-known fairy tales always interests me because it offers new twists on the stories that everyone already knows. Using characters from common fairy tales gives us shared background knowledge that doesn't need to be explained in the book, yet the book itself stretches our imaginations and opens our minds to a whole new world of "what ifs." Additionally, I really enjoyed the letter format of this story. Using this book and its prequel (Dear Peter Rabbit) could very easily turn into a discussion about different points of view and how they affect stories. Or, if you want to take a different route, these books could be used to teach a lesson on how to write a letter in the correct form. No matter what direction you want to take with this book, it is always a lot of fun to read and enjoy.
Illustrated by Leslie Tryon
This book is comprised of a series of letters between Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, the Three Little Pigs, Peter Rabbit, and two Big Bad Wolves. Though the entire story is told through these letters, it is very easy to understand the plot development. The three little pigs, after finally building their brick house, are planning to have a house warming party with all of their friends. Their excitement grows but somehow the wolves (Wolfy Lupus and Fer O'Cious) catch wind of this plan, and decide to make a plan of their own. Since this is a fairy tale, you can probably guess who wins, but I'll let you read the book to find out how it all unfolds.
I really enjoyed reading this book for a few reasons. First of all, combining well-known fairy tales always interests me because it offers new twists on the stories that everyone already knows. Using characters from common fairy tales gives us shared background knowledge that doesn't need to be explained in the book, yet the book itself stretches our imaginations and opens our minds to a whole new world of "what ifs." Additionally, I really enjoyed the letter format of this story. Using this book and its prequel (Dear Peter Rabbit) could very easily turn into a discussion about different points of view and how they affect stories. Or, if you want to take a different route, these books could be used to teach a lesson on how to write a letter in the correct form. No matter what direction you want to take with this book, it is always a lot of fun to read and enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
