Digital Participation Project

For my Digital Participation Project, I explored both Pinterest and Goodreads.  I am obsessed with Pinterest in every way, and I had been exposed to Goodreads before, so I decided these were the best avenues for me to put time into.  I enjoyed both, but definitely preferred one to the other. 

Goodreads has proven to be something I really enjoy using.  I love being able to keep track of the books I have read, ones that are my favorite, and ones that I want to read.  I also love that I can "like" favorite quotes on Goodreads as well.  I also love that Goodreads recommends books for its users through user ratings.  I would love to eventually make a "bookshelf" on Goodreads for books that I think would be great for my students to use for pleasure reading books.  I am still working on figuring out the details of Goodreads, like the recommendations.  I haven't read a lot of them, and I'm not sure if I'll ever write one, but I do plan to explore the feature more.  I could also see myself getting my students to use Goodreads to track their reading progress.  It would give them a place to mark what they like and don't like and explore different genres.  I really think Goodreads is an incredible resource, and I plan to continue to use it for as long as possible! Here is the link to my profile:

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4629107-madison

I also utilized Pinterest for my DPP.  I do love Pinterest for things like DIY projects and ideas, but I wasn't really sold on the idea of using it for teaching ideas until pretty late into my project.  I felt like I really had to search and look for pins that applied to what I was looking for.  I eventually found some Pinterest pages made by Scholastic and Random House Publishing.  These were really helpful.  I didn't pin a lot from them, but I did read them and look at a lot of the pins on the boards.  Below is a link to my Pinterest board:

http://pinterest.com/madisonbunch/a-good-book-is-your-best-friend/

Out of my Mind

I fell in love with this book as soon as I read the first chapter.  I mean seriously, how can you not love Melody instantly? She is adorable, loving, kind, intelligent.  And gosh, I feel sorry for her! But not in a way like when people say, "Oh bless her heart," but more like because I know she has SO much to offer and contribute to the world, but is restricted by a stupid disease.  I think middle school students will also fall in love with the story and its characters.  I also think that the author addresses issues that are common in schools and that are not always comfortable.  These issues, like bullying and special needs students, absolutely need to be addressed.  I think it also helps when these kinds of issues are not pushed onto kids through lecturing, but through the medium of a novel or something similar.  I also love that Melody is extremely intelligent despite her physical disability.  Most kids do not realize that one is not dependent upon the other in certain cases.  How often do we just assume that someone who may have physical disabilities is not as smart as one who does not? This story is a great example of a counterexample.  I have the same opinion of this book in a lot of ways as I did about Wonder.  It would not hurt for every middle school student to read it.  I really think it could revolutionize the way students treat each other.  I would definitely recommend Out of my Mind to individual students as well as possibly use it for a whole class.  

Text Complexity and Book Leveling

     I found the article "Text Complexity: Is This Book at Grade Level?" interesting mainly because of the author's stance on Lexile level.  We just talked about Lexile level in our other LLED class last week and I have definitely heard of it before.  I knew previously to reading this that CCSS put an emphasis on Lexile levels as well. With all this previous knowledge, I found it interesting that the author said that the Lexile level was the least important aspect to consider.  Honestly, it made me think about what I would consider most important when choosing books for my students.  
     The article on text complexity was also enlightening.  I think as educators, we need to make sure we are preparing students for literacy success in college and in the workplace...if we're not, what exactly are we doing? Through reading this article, I discovered that there are many factors that affect the complexity of a text.  As teachers, we need to be very aware of all of these aspects to make sure that the texts we are providing for students, whether fictional or informational, are a good medium of hard enough, but comprehendible. 

Messenger

     For this week, I read Messenger by Lois Lowry and started Son, also by Lois Lowry.  These are the 3rd and 4th novels in The Giver Series, preceded by The Giver and Gathering Blue.  Let me just start by saying that The Giver is possibly my favorite book ever.  I read it for the first time in 5th grade, and I was immediately obsessed.  Of course, Lois Lowry never disappoints and Messenger was right up there with The Giver for me.  
     I love the style with which Lowry writes and the themes and symbols she comes up with for her stories.  These novels are great ones to use when introducing the ideas of themes and symbols to middle school students.  I feel like Lowry pretty explicitly states her themes and symbols, but she allows room for the reader to dive deeper into what's behind the story.  I also love how Lowry foreshadows, but not too much which just hooks me even more as a reader and causes me to read her books in one setting.  For middle schoolers, this foreshadowing will keep them interested and wanting to read which is exactly what we want for our students.  
     The aspect of Messenger that I loved the most was the underlying current of the story.  For me, as a Christian, this underlying current was the story of sacrifice very similar to that of Jesus.  The main character in Messenger, Matty, is equipped with a special gift where he can heal things through touch.  This gift in general reminded me of Jesus...I feel as if a lot of the gifts in her novels (seeing beyond) are reminiscent of the powers of Jesus.  Throughout the story, Village, where Matty lives, and Forest, through which Matty travels carrying messages, become "sick" and filled with people who have become bad instead of good.  Ultimately, Matty has to heal the land, which heals Forest and Village, in order for everything to return to good.  This action kills Matty, giving himself up as a sacrifice for the greater good of the world.  I think these kinds of connections can easily be made in a middle school classroom.  Some students with a religious background may see it this way. Some students may get different messages from the novel, like that what we do today greatly affects our future.  Whatever way students interpret the work is perfectly fine because ultimately, the most important message is what each individual finds in it for themselves.  

The Random House Book of Fairy Tales

I chose this book because it was just one big book of all the greatest fairy tales! Almost all of the stories in the book have been adapted into movies, mainly Disney movies.  I did not even know that several of the stories, like "Puss in Boots," were actual fairy tales instead of just solely Disney movies.  I really enjoyed looking over all the stories in the book as they were all a little different than other versions I had heard before.  Reading this book made me think a lot about how much traditional stories change as they are passed down and recorded by different people or through different genres.  I think it is always a great idea to look at various versions or genres of a story in the classroom and compare and contrast them. I would definitely use this book to do so in a classroom as well as use it as a great example of traditional literature.  There are illustrations that go along with each story that are rather old looking and nothing super special, but I think that adds to the "oldness" and history of the stories which works perfectly in this case!

Traditional Literature Picture Books

The Nutcracker

This book was a great representation of the ballet, The Nutcracker.  I enjoyed both the story, which was on point with the ballet, as well as the colorful illustrations which were also very reminiscent of the play.  I think this would be a great book to read to a class during Christmas and could also be used for comparison and contrast if studying plays, ballets, musicals, etc.  

CinderEdna

Cinder Edna was quite an interesting book and not at all what I was expecting.  The idea behind the book was to compare the princess attributes of Cinderella's story with a "Cinderella" story that wasn't so girly, frilly, and perfect....the not-so-girly fairy tale perhaps.  The notion the author had was good, but I'm just not so sure it was carried out the best way possible.  The plot was a little confusing at times and sometimes the illustrations didn't match what was going on in the story at that part.  It did have a lot of humor, especially in little words and phrases hidden in the illustrations, that middle school students would definitely find funny. I'm just not sure that the plot is super easy to understand all the time.  I definitely got slightly confused, so I think younger students could as well.  All in all though, I liked the idea behind changing up the fairy tale and think it would be great to read a book like this and then get your students to do a writing project based off changing around a fairy tale.  

Beauty and the Beast

I have only ever seen the Disney adaptation of Beauty and the Beast and the musical at the Fox Theater.  This book was definitely very different than either of those versions.  It was more like a folk tale or old-timey fairy tale than the more modern versions I've been exposed to. Differences like these would be interesting to explore in the classroom so that students can see how important it is to see how stories evolve throughout time.  I think it is also important to study differences between different versions to see if the aspects that are changed about the stories might be misrepresenting a culture, a problem this week's article addressed. 

Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales in the Classroom

I like that the author points out how important traditional literature and the accuracy in which it is taught and portrayed is to a culture.  If we as educators don't get this right, students will have very flawed views of various cultures.  The author points out several things that she finds to be not culturally accurate about her Indian tribe from a popular book.  It is very important that we find literature for students that is "approved" by the culture it represents so that students are learning accurate information even in fictional stories.  This is of course another way to fight against the American Indian stereotypes that are so very prevalent in the US today.  I think the guidelines given in the article are very practical and are attributes that I will consider when choosing folklore for my classroom.  I'm very glad we were able to read this article because it has definitely opened my eyes to how educators need to view traditional literature. 

Historical Fiction or Fictionalized History?

     Reading this article enlightened me on how hard it can be for author's to write accurate historical fiction while still engaging and entertaining a reader.  I didn't realize that historical fiction is sometimes looked down upon in the fictional realm of books either. I have always enjoyed historical fiction, so I had no clue that it can be so difficult for kids to engage in and such.  I also really liked how the article talked about how historical fiction does not have to include historical figures. I think this is a really great point.  I tend to enjoy historical books that don't include prominent historical figures, but are about young, seemingly insignificant people who make a difference.  This brings me to the points in the articles about how historical fiction authors tend to write about these "real" people who become so heroic that they don't seem "real" at all anymore.  I think this is also a great point and is actually what I have experienced in a lot of my reading of historical fiction. 

     The quote above stuck out to me a lot in the article.  This really showed me the real challenges of writing good historical fiction.  I would really like to find historical fiction for my students that is a good mixture of heroic characters and historical facts.  We just read My Brother Sam is Dead for our other LLED class and actually ended up talking about the anti-war message and the time in which it was written, another point made in the article.  I thought the book portrayed a great message about the consequences of war, but when we talked about it in class, we discussed how it was written around the time of the Vietnam War.  The book received very negative criticisms in the 1970s because of its message.  I found this article very interesting, and it taught me a lot I wasn't aware of about historical fiction.

Code Name Verity

     I have a confession to make.  I am exercising my right to not finish a book.  This is a right I have used not very often in my lifetime.  I am always compelled to know how a book ends, but all the distractions from aspects I didn't care for stifled that desire in me for now.  After I was about one hundred pages in, I just couldn't do it anymore.  
     The story in this book is no doubt amazing and suspenseful.  It just wasn't for me though.  I am a little picky about an author's style when reading a book.  I just don't like the way Wein writes I think.  I also found it a little hard to follow.  I couldn't imagine being a middle school student trying to read this book. I wonder if maybe it would be better used for high school students or even adults. I was fascinated by the story, and I am going to try to finish it, maybe even next week over Spring Break.  I just felt like it wasn't something I could read over a few days or even a week. It was almost so much to take in that I felt as if I needed a fairly long period of time to read it. I also felt like I was reading it rather slowly, another reason why I couldn't imagine giving it to a middle school student.  My opinion may change after finishing the novel, but as of now, I'm not convinced that it's the most middle grades appropriate book.  I guess you could say I am choosing to take a long break from the book rather than not finishing it.  (Not finishing it is just too much for me to deal with perhaps).  Although I don't enjoy the author's style and am not sure of the appropriateness for age level, I would still offer it to my students if I found out it was readable for middle school students. I look forward to hearing what you and my classmates who read it (or tried to) have to say tomorrow.  I also look forward to trying to finish it if for nothing else than the challenge of finishing a book that presents a style that is not my favorite and a little confusing. 

American Born Chinese

I have already figured out that I don't particularly love graphic novels.  I recently read The Tempest in graphic novel form and was not a fan.  I assumed that because I didn't like The Tempest, I would not enjoy American Born Chinese also.  To my shock and surprise, American Born Chinese was a very enjoyable and enlightening read.  The book tells great stories about issues that students will face, especially in middle school.  Lots of great themes surface in the book including fitting in with peers and dealing with stereotypes in school.  This book could spark such great discussion among students about how to treat others and what's important in life.  For middle school students, it would be very beneficial as sometimes they need a little help with how to treat one another.

The illustrations go great with the story and the words were very easy to follow on the page.  It was quite a quick read which I think would hold true for middle school students as well.  I also think it would be a useful introduction to graphic novels...I consider it one for myself.  I was confused about one aspect of it.  Tze-Yo-Tzuh basically quoted Psalm 139 at one point, and some parts in particular seemed very symbolic of stories in the Bible.  I just could not ever decide though how religious of a text it really was though.  Like was the author trying to make a point with the incorporation of the Biblical references? I couldn't ever decide.  Any thoughts?
  

Biography Picture Books

Ella Fitzgerad: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa, by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney

This book was really cute.  The illustrations were absolutely gorgeous and a little more abstract than normal I think.  A variety of color was used throughout the illustrations which will keep students interested throughout the book.  One of the great qualities of the book was that it was more than just a list of facts about Fitzgerald, but was most definitely a story that children could be entertained by.  The author wrote about how Fitzgerald actually failed before she became successful.  A story like this one is sure to inspire students to continue trying even when the first few times aren't successful.  The book was told through the voice of a Scat Cat who also appears on every page.  There are also little "chapters" of the book referred to as tracks like on a record.  I thought these aspects might have had a little too much going on for the story in some regards.  With so much going on in the story, I think younger students may find it a little hard to follow.  Overall though, it's an entertaining, colorful book that tells a great story about an African-American female who overcame adversity to be very successful!

Abraham Lincoln, by Amy L. Cohn and Suzy Schmidt, pictures by David A. Johnson

While giving the facts, this book is also written to tell a story about the life of Abraham Lincoln.  The illustrations are nice, not too bright, but are great for the story.  Most of the facts in the book, I had heard before about Lincoln. One thing I did really love about the book was that it had direct quotes from Lincoln.  Almost every page contained one.  At first, I thought it was strange how much the author focused on Lincoln's tall stature, but on the last page, a picture of the Lincoln Memorial accompanies the words, "He looks like a giant, doesn't he? He was."  These few words say a lot about Lincoln's life and how he poured himself into efforts like uniting the country during the Civil War and fighting for the freedom of slaves.  This would be a great book to use for teaching Lincoln, presidents, or the Civil War! 

Choosing Not to Read

This article was very insightful.  Being a person who loves to read and who always has, it is sometimes hard for me to understand why someone wouldn't like to read.  I have often thought about how I would deal with students who didn't like to read as I would have to be the person who made them read and want to be the person who inspired a love of reading in them.  I know that a lot of middle school students are not fond of reading, but I think the article helped me realize it may be more than I originally thought.  It really inspired me to want to cultivate a love of reading in my students, but more than that, to advocate how important of a role parents play in students ability and love for reading.

I grew up with a grandmother, mother, and aunt who constantly read to me, bought books for me, took me to the library, and would spend any amount of time or money on my love of reading and books.  I knew that these were the reasons I loved it so much, but I never thought about if my situation had been the opposite.  If I had not had one member of my family who took an interest in introducing me to and keeping a passion for books and reading, would I have loved it? After reading this article, I'm not sure I would.  My heart breaks to know that students possibly hate to read because a parent or family member did not nurture that so important need in a child's life.  

Another realization that made me sad was to realize that students hate reading because of what we, teachers and educators, have turned it into.  I think the interview with Katy, which is repeated twice in the article, puts it the best:

“So, Katy, what should I tell teachers to do so that they can help students like to read?”

“Tell them to ask the students what they thought. No teacher ever asked me what I thought. And when I start to tell them what I thought, they say, ‘We all have our opinions, but what does the story tell us?’ and you know what that really means? That really means what I think isn’t important. But maybe it is; maybe it was important to me.”

Katy's thoughts simply prove how important it is to recognize children's thoughts, not just about literature, but about everything.  Children need to know their thoughts are important and valued.  Honestly, if I was told that my thoughts didn't matter, I wouldn't like the subject it pertained to either.  Teachers must keep in mind that they do have control over how much a student can grow to love reading in their classroom. Teachers have to create a classroom environment which allows readers to grow in their passion and love for reading. 

On a final note, society as a whole has to put an emphasis back on reading.  Students interviewed in the article cited things like TV, Internet, and video games time and time again as past times that were more entertaining and exciting than reading a book.  We, as a world, as educators, as parents, have a duty to show children the magic, adventure, emotion, and love that can be found between the cover of a book.

The link to the article is below.  It is well worth the thirty or so minutes it might take you to read it:

http://www.csun.edu/~krowlands/Content/Academic_Resources/Reading/Useful%20Articles/Beers-Choosing%20not%20to%20Read.pdf

The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T. Barnum

I picked this book out in the library because I wanted a biography about someone different, someone whom I didn't really know anything about.  Before reading this, the only thing I knew about Barnum was in reference to Barnum and Bailey's Circus.  I have come to find out there was quite a lot I didn't know! Fleming does a fabulous job of telling the story of Barnum's entire life from childhood all the way to death and everything in between.  She covers his years of owning museums in New York as well as his many personal and financial struggles.  I thoroughly enjoyed learning just how much of a prankster Barnum was and how he shaped American history.  

The book is a little lengthy, but I think it's completely worth the read.  It includes all black and white pictures and photos from Barnum's life, but they are all very interesting and worth looking at.  There are also black inserts on a lot of pages offering extra information like information about Barnum's hometown and circus talk.  I think the book could most definitely be used for middle schoolers.  If I was doing a unit on biographies and requiring students to read a biography, I would most definitely recommend this one. It is around 130 pages, but a student could probably read it in a week's time at most.  The author keeps the reader invested wanting to find out what happens next in Barnum's roller coaster of a life.  Great for middle school students or adults! Fascinating story about an extremely interesting man!

Informational Text Picture Books

Georgia: Past and Present, by Stephanie Watson

This book offered a lot of interesting information about Georgia.  The information wasn't an overwhelming amount and covered a variety of facts about Georgia.  The charts, maps, and photos were also very helpful and showed important facts about the state.  This book wasn't necessarily anything special, but it did give valuable information about Georgia and could be used in a Georgia studies class or as a source to gather information about Georgia.  The glossary and lists of important facts and events in the back of the book are also useful.

The Battle of Bull Run: Confederate Forces Overwhelm Union Troops, by Wendy Vierow

  













This book was interesting.  It was a little lower reading level than I initially thought it would be, but it would be great for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders.  I really liked that it was set up like newspaper headlines and articles.  Each page/section also had an illustration or picture that went along with it which was nice.  The book covered a bit more than just the Battle of Bull Run which I was a little disappointed in because I thought it would just that battle.  It seemed to be slightly scattered because it started by talking about Bull Run, then the beginning of the Civil War, then Bull Run again, and then after Bull Run.  Overall though, it was a good informational text and would be great for younger middle grades students. 

Hitler Youth

I felt like this book was very interesting and informative.  I've always been pretty interested in WWII and all the historical events surrounding it including the Holocaust and Hitler.  I hadn't really ever read anything specifically about the Hitler Youth until this book.  It definitely opened my eyes as to how Hitler was able to so easily take over Germany by going through the younger generation.  One reason I find teaching middle school appealing is because of the stage the students are at in their lives.  Adolescents are so easily influenced and want to fit in with their peers. Hitler really capitalized on this characteristic of young teenagers and took full advantage of it to win over the German people.  For this reason, I think this is a useful event of WWII for middle school students to study.  It shows how their generation can have a tremendous impact on the history of the world.  Not only did the Hitler Youth participate in negative activities, but many of them tried to rebel against Hitler and ultimately lost their lives because of it.  Students can learn great lessons from these stories about bravery, courage, and standing up for what one believes is right.  As far as using this book for middle school students, I'm not quite sure the best way to use it.  If I was teaching on WWII, I might would read snippets from it to the class.  I would also recommend it as a resource to use on a paper or project.  As far as handing it to a student to read, I just don't know about.  It was A LOT of information and slightly overwhelming.  I couldn't imagine a middle schooler being able to make it through the whole book without getting weighed down with all the material, especially if they weren't extremely interested in Hitler Youth.  Although it was written with stories in some parts, I think a book with more specific stories about less characters would be more enjoyable for middle schoolers.  Overall, I enjoyed the informative parts of the book and was really enlightened as to how Hitler managed to conquer Germany as he did.

Poetry Picture Books

Pigmares...by Doug Cushman

I thought this book was adorable and creative while still being very appropriate for middle school students, even the older middle grades. All the poems are based off scary movies that have been turned into poems about pigs.  I would definitely use this book while teaching a poetry unit to not only show students really great poems that are creative, but also to inspire them to write poems like these.  Reading this book and then turning things like movies or stories into poems in a different context would be a great class activity to really channel students' creativeness.  I also think this would be a book that could be read to a class to then discuss the poems and the rhetorical devices they use like rhyme and line breaks.  The illustrations also really go with the poems.  I would really love to see a class compose a book like this one that could be used in a younger classroom even!

The Company of Crows...written by Marilyn Singer...illustrated by Linda Saport

I really enjoyed this book.  Definitely written on a higher level than the previous book.  It's a little more abstract, both the poetry and the illustrations.  I think this would definitely be good for an older middle school poetry unit both to analyze poetry and inspire students to write it.  I loved how the titles of every poem were incorporated into the pictures and how the poems capitalize on different aspects of crows.  I've grown to really love authors notes and this one was great.  The author talked about how he wrote this to change reader's perspectives on crows as most people think they're evil, but they are really loyal, faithful, and good parents. 

Locomotion

When I was told we had to read a poetry book for this class, I was less than thrilled.  I DO NOT LIKE POETRY.  Reading a poem now and then is ok, but a whole story told just from poems...no way.  My very unenthusiastic attitude changed within the first few pages though.  Lonnie instantly captured my heart, sympathy, and respect.  What a kid! He's suffered so much in his young life, yet he is far stronger than he realizes.  And he's a phenomenal poet, especially for his age.  The author did such a great job of incorporating Lonnie's daily life into poems.  This is definitely something I did not think was possible for a whole book.  I also think that if the book had not been written in poems, I wouldn't have gotten as emotionally attached to the story as I did. Lonnie's emotions were much rawer than they would have been had the story been told just in prose.  I think this book would be great to use in any middle school classroom, especially when teaching about poetry.  Students could see that poetry doesn't have to be complicated or have deep, secret meanings.  The subjects of poems can simply be how one is feeling that day, a memory, or what is happening at that moment.  Students can also learn that they can be great poets...it doesn't take a professional or a teacher to be able to express themselves through poetry.  I'm really glad we got to read a poetry novel as it opened my eyes to how great poetry can be!

Responses to Articles

Observations on Publishing in 2011
The thing that stood out most to me about this article was the amount out of 3,400 picture books that were about or written by authors outside of white people.  I really had no idea, until we started talking about it in class, that other cultures were so left out of picture books and literature in general in today's world.  I think it's important to focus on the books that are out there and make sure we're incorporating those into the classroom.

Children's Books by and about People of Color Published in the United States
I think this article shows some shocking statistics as well regarding how culture is represented in literature.  I do think the statistics show that we are making progress year after year with the amount of multi-cultural literature published.  Society needs to keep pushing for more and more to be put into circulation. 

Cover Matters: On Whitewashing
I found this article very interesting. I am the world's worst to judge books by their covers, but I've never found myself thinking about the color of the person on the cover or if that person's ethnicity matches the color of the actual character.  It's such a subtle gesture that I would at first think that it's just coincidence, but after reading this article, I would think it's not the case.  I also thought the whole argument that covers with white people sell better is a crazy argument.  I do think this is something that needs to be looked into in the world of publishing.  It's definitely a subtle gesture that I think is possibly holding society back slightly.

For Young Latino Readers, an Image Is Missing
This article proves that even young kids notice subtle differences in how white children are represented in literature and mainstream media versus how other cultures are.  It's something that I think teachers can and should address in the classroom, especially if a student brings it up.

Wonder

First of all, this might be my new favorite book!!!!! Like wow wow wow!!!

Ok, now that my emotions are out in the open, I'll get on to my real blog post...

In my opinion, Wonder should be required for all middle school students.  Middle school is such a difficult time for students, even without having to deal with the difficulties that August has.  Middle school was one of the most difficult times of my life because some girls decided I just didn't need to be their friend anymore.  Basically, when you mix all the hormonal changes of adolescence with a changing social realm, kids who used to be sweet sometimes turn mean.  This book has changed my outlook on kindness as well as even how I look at someone who is different.  It really opened my eyes to how much people notice in the subtle ways we treat people who are different from us.  I think this book could have a huge impact on middle school students.  It could also lead to great class discussions about why we should be kind to all people regardless of how they look, how they act, or how they treat us.  

I also really appreciated how the book was written.  I thought it gave it a whole other dimension.  Not only was it written from several different character's perspectives, but all the parts were the same story, but from different perspectives.  If the author had chosen not to do this, there's a lot of interesting information we would have missed out on. For instance, I thought the part when Via talked about the genetics of August's disease and how she wouldn't have kids because of the risk gave us a whole new insight to Via.  Seeing how Jack felt when he was talking to the boys about August on Halloween also gave the reader empathy towards his situation too.  He was put in a hard place too, but really was trying to do the right thing in the end.  

Our Thoughts on Banned Books

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I was absolutely shocked and silent when I finished this book.  I couldn't even tell anyone about it.  All I could say to my roommates was, "I cannot believe the book I just read."  The insight that Charlie gives to the issues that teenage students deal with is incredible.  At first, I thought that the book was inappropriate, and I couldn't believe some of the material the author had chosen to include.  The further I got into the book though, the more I realized that these were real issues that some students in middle school and high school deal with every day.  I never dealt with problems like this, but for some students, drugs, sex, alcohol, and abuse are very real.  Throughout the whole book, I was trying to figure out exactly what was wrong with Charlie...was he mentally disabled in some way? I wasn’t really sure.  A few hints surfaced while I was reading, but when I reached the end and realized what he had experienced, it all made sense.  It was like those parts in movies when they do a quick flashback of lots of different scenes when the mystery is finally solved.  I could not imagine facing adversities like these and being a normal person.  Charlie wasn’t normal for sure, but who really is? Was he just super gifted? I can definitely see why this book is on banned lists for school libraries. I am not even quite sure I would let an eighth grader read this, let alone any younger middle schooler.  Although some students may be dealing with the very things in the book, I just could not let them read it! The book does offer deep insight into the struggles of teenage years, but it is troubling.  I definitely liked it and got a lot out of it, but it just seems like a lot for a middle schooler to take in. I feel like this post is a little scattered, but the book was just overwhelming and so much to take in.  I would definitely recommend it to education majors.  We will eventually come in contact with students who have experienced this kind of trauma before...I feel like I'll be much more aware of students who are having problems after reading this.   

My Picture Book Picks

No Mush Todday
by Sally Derby illustrated by Nicole Tadgell













No Mush Today was a good read.  It might be suitable for the younger middle grades.  The main character, Nonie, is very relatable for middle school students.  Nonie is dealing with having a new baby brother which can be a very common situation for middle grades students.  The language used in the story is also very relatable for students because it sounds like Nonie is just talking like she would in her every day language.  The author makes the language sound less proper to make it seem more like a child is talking.  For example, she uses "'bout" instead of "about" and "laughin'" instead of "laughing." I also loved the symbol of the ducks in the story.  This would be a great discussion to have with a classroom after reading this book, especially to introduce the concept of a symbol in a story.  Nonie carries a stuffed animal duck around with her everywhere...it appears on every page.  Read ducks come up when Nonie and her dad are out in the paddleboat, and he makes mention that they always stick with their family.  Even though Nonie is obviously having a hard time adjusting to her new baby brother, she should still stick with her family.  Deep down she wants to, she just needs a little help with feeling loved and wanted.  One aspect of the book I didn't care for too much were the pictures.  They were not as lively or colorful as they could have been.  I just found them to be nothing spectacular, but maybe that was on purpose.  This story isn't one of anything super special or adventurous, but more of just the ordinary situations of life.  Maybe the illustrations were supposed to go along with that.  No Mush Today is also about a black family which is of course always great to read as African-Americans are not represented in a lot of children's literature.

Sir Cumference and the First Round Table
A Math Adventure
by Cindy Neuschwander illustrated by Wayne Geehan















I absolutely loved this book because it combined two of my favorite things: a story book and math! The first Sir Cumference book I read was in a sixth grade math class I was observing in at my middle school at home.  It was about the number pi and how it relates to a circle.  The teacher read it to her sixth graders before they worked on an activity with finding circumference.  As I observed the students working, I was surprised how many of them referenced things in the book to help remember how to do the problems on their page.  The great thing about this book is that it incorporates the history of King Author and the Knights of the Round Table and diameter, circumference, radius, and other shapes into a story.  It also uses diagrams and drawings to show the mathematical concepts in the book.  These drawings and characters make it so much easier for students to remember what certain content area vocabulary means.  For instance, they can associate Lady Di of Ameter with diameter knowing that she can stretch the length across the middle of the circle.  The illustrations are also bright and colorful which always helps in keeping the students' attention as well.  Overall, the Sir Cumference books are definitely some of my favorite picture books to incorporate into the classroom.

Black and White
by David Macaulay

Well, this book was rather interesting.  It was on a list for top picture books for middle school and also won a Caldecott Medal in 1991 (the year I was born!).  With all this recommendation, I expected a great book, but I didn't expect how very unique and creative it would be.  I would love to discuss Black and White with a middle school English class...or heck, even a high school or college class.  I have never seen a picture book written like this one.  It has four separate stories on four windows of the page, but by the end, they're all part of the same story.  Basically, a boy is on a train and observes some of the events that happen in the other stories.  One story is about the people waiting at the train depot for the train the boy is on which has gotten delayed because some cows escaped. There's a criminal hiding in the cows as well as other places like the train the boy is on. Another story is about parents who have been stuck at the depot for so long that they started dressing themselves in the newspaper they had been reading, so their kids think they have gone crazy.  The illustrations also eventually fade into each other and one story as well.  This is one of the best picture books I've ever seen.  I literally feel like I don't even know what to say about it because I'm so blown away by it!  If for no other reason, I would share it with my students just so they can witness the sheer creative genius of the author!

Aren't These Books for Little Kids?

One criticism I have of this article is that it only talks about incorporating picture books into the Social Studies classroom, but no other subjects.  As Social Studies is not one of my concentrations, I didn't find it extremely helpful.  I do think that picture books about Social Studies topics could be used in an English classroom to incorporate another subject as well as spark different conversation.  This article also sparked an idea for me.  Picture books could be read to the whole class, a discussion could happen, and then writing could take place.  This one book could be covered in one class period.  A situation like this wouldn't happen with a novel or chapter book.  Multiple books could be covered in a class period too if students were broken up into groups.  I also liked the examples of questions that can be asked after reading the book, like "Whose story is this?" or "What voices are not being heard?" By asking questions like these, teachers can create an environment where picture books are in fact appropriate literature for middle school students.  

A Middle School Teacher's Guide for Selecting Picture Books

I thought this article was very helpful and informative.  Using picture books in a middle school classroom had never occurred to me before beginning this class and reading this article.  The more I think about it though, the more it really does make sense.  I was in a sixth grade classroom for my practicum last semester.  There was quite a variety of reading levels in our three classes.  A lot of the students felt comfortable with the chapter books they were reading, but I think a lot would have felt even more comfortable with picture books.  Although my teacher never used picture books in our classroom, I think it would have been a really useful tool, especially in sixth grade.  The students definitely would have still been interested and would not have found it too juvenile.  I would definitely love to incorporate picture books into my classroom one day whether I end up teaching math or English.  In an English classroom, I would want students to have to explore the deeper meanings that can be found in picture books, as the article discusses.  Discussing how the illustrations relate to the story as well as how the give the story meaning would also be an interesting topic for discussion in the middle school classroom.  I would love to incorporate picture books into my math classroom as well.  Writing is very important across subjects, so I would definitely want to read books, like Math Curse or the Sir Cumference books, to my classes to have them write about them as well as to help them understand math concepts better.  

First Post!

I'm beginning this blog for my LLED 5210 class...excited for a semester full of reading children's literature and learning lots!