This is an interesting work. While I think it has a lot to offer--easily accessible informational writing, great illustrations, engaging format, etc.--I'm not sure how much value this would have in a classroom. If a teacher wanted to discuss the 9/11 attacks in a unit, however, I would find this book useful. Apart from that, I don't see its value.
This is, more than anything, a way to get kids to read about and understand what happened on September 11. It is a graphic representation of the 9/11 Commission Report that was compiled by the government in the weeks after the attacks. Compared to that commission report, this book seems like a wonderful tool for teaching kids about the attacks, and it is, but compared with other texts, it just doesn't stack up. While the illustrations make it more digestible and a little more engaging, the problem remains that it is still just too sodden in information regarding motives and planning for the attack. All of this is indeed very interesting, but will kids who were not alive during this incident find it extremely interesting? My first thought tells me, for the most part, no. That said, I'm sure some students would find this a very engaging read.
Ultimately, though I see the value of this book, I don't see its value in my future classroom. Has anyone else thought about this book with regard to your classes? Has anyone else thought of interesting ways to incorporate this book into your classes? Finally, does this book have much sway with students today and in the future. Our students will not have experienced this event at all. Hell--I was only in 7th grade when it happened. This seems like it might be a challenge to get students engaged in the topic. For me, it would be easy--I can vividly remember what I was doing, where I was, etc. For my students, however, I can't expect the same. Anyway, those are my thoughts, I would love to hear yours!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
I Am the Messenger
What a cool premise for a book. I think this one would be engaging for a wide swathe of students at the high school and middle school levels. Ed is a pitiable but lovable character, and Zusak has crafted some other memorable ones as well (my favorite is The Doorman). This book has a lot of the same feel of the Da Vinci Code or one of those Dan Brown books, but, for me, its infinitely more enjoyable. This is not nearly as predictable, and has much more interesting characters and conflicts. I don't mean to trash Dan Brown, just voicing my opinion that I would much rather use this book in a class than those ones.
Anyway, while I was reading this book, I couldn't help but notice all of the wonderful Australian slang that Ed and the other characters use. I think this book would go well with a few lessons on English slang from countries around the world. I'm sure there are hilarious, interesting and provocative usages of the English language out there that we don't know about here in the US. Moreover, I think it would highly engage kids. When I was in middle school, if someone told me new ways of saying the things I always say, I would have tried to incorporate them into my speech immediately.
Of course, the instructor would have to carefully choose what words to include, but I have no doubt that it would be relatively easy to find a list of sayings from English-speaking countries around the world that are all school appropriate.
Anyway, I really like this book. It has a nice mix of literary elements and the pace feels right. I don't frequent the mystery/thriller genre too often, but with I am the Messenger, I have truly enjoyed myself.
Anyway, while I was reading this book, I couldn't help but notice all of the wonderful Australian slang that Ed and the other characters use. I think this book would go well with a few lessons on English slang from countries around the world. I'm sure there are hilarious, interesting and provocative usages of the English language out there that we don't know about here in the US. Moreover, I think it would highly engage kids. When I was in middle school, if someone told me new ways of saying the things I always say, I would have tried to incorporate them into my speech immediately.
Of course, the instructor would have to carefully choose what words to include, but I have no doubt that it would be relatively easy to find a list of sayings from English-speaking countries around the world that are all school appropriate.
Anyway, I really like this book. It has a nice mix of literary elements and the pace feels right. I don't frequent the mystery/thriller genre too often, but with I am the Messenger, I have truly enjoyed myself.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Hunger Games
I'm about to start reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I'm excited, I must say. Literally, this book has been EVERYWHERE this past year. I've talked with teachers who said this series swept through their school like pink eye. A blockbuster movie also debuted, which added to the Hunger Hysteria. LeBron James even took to reading this series prior to his games in this year's NBA playoffs. (proof)
Clearly, this book has something going for it, and I can't wait to join in on the fun. My question is: what is it that everyone likes so much about this book?
Is there a reason that everyone from adolescents to teachers to professional athletes seems to enjoy this book immensely? For those of you who have read it, what did you like about it? Is there more to it than just another page-turner a-la the Da Vinci Code or something similar? Without having read a single page, I would bet that there's something more to this book.
In other posts, people have brought up the ideas of "honest" books and "truthful" books. Is this one either? Both?
All in all, I'm trying to locate what it is that captivates us all about this book. Hopefully in my reading, I'll come across some answer, but in the meantime I would love to hear from everyone else!
Clearly, this book has something going for it, and I can't wait to join in on the fun. My question is: what is it that everyone likes so much about this book?
Is there a reason that everyone from adolescents to teachers to professional athletes seems to enjoy this book immensely? For those of you who have read it, what did you like about it? Is there more to it than just another page-turner a-la the Da Vinci Code or something similar? Without having read a single page, I would bet that there's something more to this book.
In other posts, people have brought up the ideas of "honest" books and "truthful" books. Is this one either? Both?
All in all, I'm trying to locate what it is that captivates us all about this book. Hopefully in my reading, I'll come across some answer, but in the meantime I would love to hear from everyone else!
A Monster Calls
I'm not sure if this happened with anyone else, but the premise of this book intrigued me more than any of the others. I've always been into the whole dark/creepy/weird/sad vibe, and this book exemplifies all of those adjectives. I'm sure everyone knows the premise by now, so I'll spare the brief summary.
This book has a few central ideas, the most obvious being something along the lines of "life isn't always black and white, you've got to take the good with the bad, and accept the hardships along the way." There are more eloquent ways to put that, I'm sure, but that should cover it for our purposes. Anyway, I think this is a really valuable lesson, especially for adolescent students. At times, it seems like adults or the world itself ignore the easiest and most desirable outcomes for terrible reasons. For Conor, he just wants things to go back to the way they were before his mother was diagnosed with Cancer. Unfortunately for him, that is not the way the world works.
What I'm getting at, I suppose, is that I really think this book would have some value in a classroom. I think the premise of a monster coming in the middle of the night is enough to grab students who might otherwise be turned off at the mention of a death/cancer story. Certainly, this book is heavy, there's no getting around that, but it's more than that.
Another nice aspect of this book is the illustrations. They add so much to the story and the overall mood/ambience you feel as a reader while you progress through the story. For these reasons, I think this book would be a great piece to work with in any language arts class of adolescent students.
Friday, June 15, 2012
The Red Umbrella
I've only just begun to read this book, but I like it so far. I'll be honest, my first reaction to this book was something like this: "This book will probably be good for Latino/a students, as they might have experienced some of the same things that Lucía goes through." I continued thinking about it, though, and I realized that one Cuban girl's story from the 1960s may not resonate with current day Latino/a students, perhaps from Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala--wherever. The fact is, just because this protagonist is Latina does not mean that many of my future Latina students will identify with her and enjoy this book. So, my question to those who have read this book also is: what sort of student would you try and recommend this book to? Immigrant students? Cuban students? Students with parents in their home countries?
I guess what I'm asking is, simply, how would you incorporate this book? It would certainly lend itself to history curriculum surrounding the Cold War era and the whole Communist/Capitalist aggression during the period. Personally, I think this is the book's strong point. The historical aspect could help history and English teachers work together and plan collaboratively around a unit on the cold war and what it was like to be caught in between the "warring" sides.
Ultimately, I'm looking forward to finishing this book, and it is one that I think has value in a classroom. What I'm struggling with, and this is due in large to not being very far along in the book, is what demographic looks like of students that would benefit from this book. Perhaps that is one thing I'll learn as a teacher--don't assume your students will take to a certain book based on extraneous factors. Regardless, I like this book's potential. I'm just trying to quantify exactly what that potential is.
I guess what I'm asking is, simply, how would you incorporate this book? It would certainly lend itself to history curriculum surrounding the Cold War era and the whole Communist/Capitalist aggression during the period. Personally, I think this is the book's strong point. The historical aspect could help history and English teachers work together and plan collaboratively around a unit on the cold war and what it was like to be caught in between the "warring" sides.
Ultimately, I'm looking forward to finishing this book, and it is one that I think has value in a classroom. What I'm struggling with, and this is due in large to not being very far along in the book, is what demographic looks like of students that would benefit from this book. Perhaps that is one thing I'll learn as a teacher--don't assume your students will take to a certain book based on extraneous factors. Regardless, I like this book's potential. I'm just trying to quantify exactly what that potential is.
The Declaration
The whole time I was reading Gemma Malley's The Declaration, I kept thinking of it as a 1984 for reluctant readers--a book that treats many of the same ideas, but is a little easier to grasp completely. In this book, the protagonist and occasional narrator is Surplus Anna. She lives in a Surplus Hall in England in the year 2140, when humanity has discovered the key to living forever. In this new world, overpopulation is an obvious concern, so people are, for the most part, not allowed to have children. When they do, the parents are sent to jail and the children to Surplus Halls where they are trained to be "Valuable Assets," really no more than slaves to those fortunate enough to take Longevity drugs.
Personally, I am a big fan of the dystopian genre, and Malley has constructed an intriguing one in this book. Of course, whenever you read a dystopia, the narrative point of view is really fascinating, because it is very often limited, only showing us certain aspects of the setting. In this book, Malley mostly employs a third person narrator, but she also includes diary entries from Anna's POV. For this reason, I think this book would be perfect for exploring point of view and perspective. More specifically, I'm thinking of activities involving students trying to write from the perspective of characters in this book. They could write from the point of view of the Surpluses, the "Legals," any of the authority figures, certain members of the underground resistance movement.
Are there any other ideas or themes that jumped out at anyone while they were reading this book? For me, perspective is one that I always think of when reading dystopias, but there are sure to be many others!
Personally, I am a big fan of the dystopian genre, and Malley has constructed an intriguing one in this book. Of course, whenever you read a dystopia, the narrative point of view is really fascinating, because it is very often limited, only showing us certain aspects of the setting. In this book, Malley mostly employs a third person narrator, but she also includes diary entries from Anna's POV. For this reason, I think this book would be perfect for exploring point of view and perspective. More specifically, I'm thinking of activities involving students trying to write from the perspective of characters in this book. They could write from the point of view of the Surpluses, the "Legals," any of the authority figures, certain members of the underground resistance movement.
Are there any other ideas or themes that jumped out at anyone while they were reading this book? For me, perspective is one that I always think of when reading dystopias, but there are sure to be many others!
Friday, June 8, 2012
The other day, I finished reading Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and let me say that I absolutely loved it. It has everything, and something that I think it extremely difficult to accomplish in text--a genuinely funny narrator. This is a first-person story of a 14 year-old Native American boy named Junior, from the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington. Junior goes through ups and downs as he transfers schools off the reservation, experiences death, and makes friends as well as enemies. This is a really fun book--I hope others have the chance to read it.
One of the central issues in this book that I think would resonate with students (more specifically, minority students), and that is the struggle the narrator goes through in determining his identity. He is split between being native and being white. Junior struggles with this, eventually finding a happy medium between his two worlds after enduring various (mis)adventures.
The problem is, Junior wants to go to an all-white school, and this makes all the people on the reservation think he wants to be white. This is something that many people in education have tried to counter: achieving highly in school, but still maintaining his cultural, racial identity. To me, this is one of the best things that students could take away from this book.
Of course, there are plenty of other things that kids could take away from this book, but to me, that seems to be the most obvious. What do others think? Are there specific ideas or questions explored in this book that you might emphasize over others in a classroom?
One of the central issues in this book that I think would resonate with students (more specifically, minority students), and that is the struggle the narrator goes through in determining his identity. He is split between being native and being white. Junior struggles with this, eventually finding a happy medium between his two worlds after enduring various (mis)adventures.
The problem is, Junior wants to go to an all-white school, and this makes all the people on the reservation think he wants to be white. This is something that many people in education have tried to counter: achieving highly in school, but still maintaining his cultural, racial identity. To me, this is one of the best things that students could take away from this book.
Of course, there are plenty of other things that kids could take away from this book, but to me, that seems to be the most obvious. What do others think? Are there specific ideas or questions explored in this book that you might emphasize over others in a classroom?
The first book I read was Monster by Walter Dean Myers. The book is written in the first-person from the point of view of an African-American high school student from Harlem, accused of taking part in the murder of a convenience store owner. The book is written as a movie script that flashes between scenes in the courtroom and prior to Steve's (the protragonist) arrest.
I was talking about this book with my mother, a former Madison elementary principal, and years ago, she was designated to show Walter Dean Myers around Madison when he was here on a lecture circuit (or something like that, I don't actually remember).
Either way, after seeing downtown Madison, Myers asked my mother, "Where are the ghettos?" This story doesn't really go anywhere other than an interesting question posed by a famous author, but it got me thinking about how I would teach this book in a classroom, especially one in Madison.
I think this book would be perfect to pair with a community service project of some kind, perhaps after researching an issue with crime or other community issues that students could address. Although most of our future students will not be on trial for murder, many will certainly come from underserved communities, and therefore will identify at least in part with this protagonist. It seems like a perfect opportunity to get students involved in the community. What do you all think? Are there any sorts of activities that jump out at you after reading this book?
I was talking about this book with my mother, a former Madison elementary principal, and years ago, she was designated to show Walter Dean Myers around Madison when he was here on a lecture circuit (or something like that, I don't actually remember).
Either way, after seeing downtown Madison, Myers asked my mother, "Where are the ghettos?" This story doesn't really go anywhere other than an interesting question posed by a famous author, but it got me thinking about how I would teach this book in a classroom, especially one in Madison.
I think this book would be perfect to pair with a community service project of some kind, perhaps after researching an issue with crime or other community issues that students could address. Although most of our future students will not be on trial for murder, many will certainly come from underserved communities, and therefore will identify at least in part with this protagonist. It seems like a perfect opportunity to get students involved in the community. What do you all think? Are there any sorts of activities that jump out at you after reading this book?
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