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.