The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Although I'm not a huge sci/fi fan, I LOVE post-apocalyptic books. Not only do they stretch the reader's imagination, but they reveal deeper truths about the nature of society. The fact that The Hunger Games takes place in what is the former United States region, Appalachia, was very intriguing to me because District 12 is located in Georgia. Geography aside, this book reveals multiple themes--good vs. evil, the struggle/will to survive, sacrifice for those you love--that I think would be useful to address in a middle school ELA classroom. While its lexile scores it in a fourth or fifth grade range, I think the basis of this book--children killing children--would be rather heavy to address with 9-11 year olds. I would, however, consider using it in a seventh or eighth grade classroom. Especially now that it has been made into a movie, I think students would be more receptive to reading a sci/fi novel, a genre that doesn't always have the best reputation. Analyzing the concepts and themes of The Hunger Games in the classroom would also be a great opportunity to tie in other ideas--government, civics, power, society--and connect them to social studies (my second content area).
This book definitely had me hooked, so I look forward to reading the second and third books!
"The Challenge of Challenging Text," by Timothy Shanahan, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey
In this article, the authors discuss the main aspects that determine a text's complexity: vocabulary, sentence structure, coherence, organization, and background knowledge. Together, these elements of a text can be a challenge to a reader. But without exposure to new words, phrases, structures, and ideas, readers will not be able to enhance their literacy/reading skills. Teachers can help their students build these necessary skills by offering assistance in decoding a text, understanding and establishing the purpose of it, defining complex vocabulary words, and foster motivation and persistence in their readers. A text's complexity is not defined by its length or syllable count; instead, it is determined by vocabulary, sentence structure, coherence, organization, and background knowledge. Without challenging a reader, he/she will reach a plateau in his/her reading level. Similar to lifting weights, playing a sport, or any other activity, a person only becomes better with reading when presented with a challenging text.
"Text Complexity: Is This Book at Grade Level?"
In my other LLED class, we discussed how to determine a book's lexile score by plugging in an excerpt of about 100 words into a lexile generator. The generator considered several factors, such as sentence complexity, vocabular, and content, to determine the lexile. While this measure is not "fool proof" and may not equate to the book's entire lexile score, it can provide a good idea of what the book's reading level is. Similarly, this article discusses the measures taken in order to determine a text's lexile: qualitative, quantitative, and reader and task. I personally feel that when assigning a text, the teacher should preview it, in order to determine its appropriateness, content, and reading level. From my exposure to hundreds of texts, I am comfortable determining where a text ranks on elementary, middle, and high school levels. Rather than basing a text off a simple number, such as the quantitative measure suggests, teachers should base it off of their students' needs and interests, which fall under "reader and task" and "quantitative" considerations.
Thursday 28 March 2013
Thursday 21 March 2013
Folk Literature Week
Onions and Garlic: An Old Tale, retold by Eric A. Kimmel
In my experience with reading folk tales, they are either a hit or a miss--and this book was a miss. I felt rather underwhelmed as I read such a random tale. The premis of the story centered around Getzel, the son of a merchant. Though his father loved him most of all his sons, he referred to him as "Getzel the fool," because he was too soft and trusting of his buyers--qualities that were rather undesirable in this job field. In a quest to prove his worth as a merchant, Getzel set sail with a load of onions. But before he could reach the market, a powerful storm carried his ship to an unknown island, where diamonds littered the beachy shore. When he finally found people on the island, Getzel could only offer them onions and diamonds in exchange for food and shelter. Because diamonds were so common and onions had never been seen before, these people offered Getzel a ship full of diamonds in exchange for his onions. When he returned home and told his family about his adventures, they decided to travel back to the island to sell the locals garlic--a "delicacy" they surely could not resist. But rather than leaving the island with another boatful of diamonds, they were sent back with sacks of onions. What? Is there some kind of weird underlying message I'm missing? Despite the point that I did not like the story itself, I found the illustrations to be rather dull. I would not consider incorporating any element of this book into a classroom--unless I used it as an example of a "bad" folktale.
Sirko and the Wolf, adapted by Eric A. Kimmel
This picture book was a little bit better. It read more like a traditional folktale, answering the lifelong question as to why dogs howl when they hear the howl of a wolf. The illustrations were vivid, the story was simplistic and entertaining, and I liked how it was set in the Ukraine. There doesn't seem to be much attention on that country, so I think the slightest reference of mention of it (even if it's in a folktale picture book) might also generate some discussion about the country and its geography. I also believe the illustrations depicted accurate the characters' physical appearance accurately, and in a social studies class, I could see using the pictures of their clothes and foods to generate discussion about the Ukrainian culture. This book didn't knock my socks off, but I thought the story was "cute," and that some aspects of it could be useful in a classroom.
Longer Collection: The Sword and the Grail, retold by Constance Hieatt
Now that I have read a third, but longer, folktale, I think I have come to the conclusion that I am simply not a fan of them. This realization comes as a surprise to me, though, since I always thought I would like folk literature. Then again, maybe I just happened to pick out three books that were not my cup of tea. This third book, The Sword and the Grail, told the story of a Perceval, a naive young man, secluded from the rest of the world by his overprotective mother, who stumbles across a few knights in the woods. These knights ask him if he has seen two other knights and their captive maiden. But Perceval, entranced by these strange men and their foreign attire, is too consumed in trying to make sense of these mysterious men. He later confronts his mother about his encounter with the knights and informs her that he is going to King Arthur's castle to talk to him about becoming a knight himself. Though his mother pleads with him not to desert her, Perceval decides that becoming a knight is the nobel thing to do. Long story short, because Perceval was kept from society his entire life, he is rather awkward and intolerant when he reaches the kingdom. Sure, this aspect was slightly humorous. Who doesn't love an awkward guy who mistakes a woman's bed for the House of God?
Despite Perceval's limited knowledge of the outside world, he is able to rescue the maiden, defeat the knights who captures her, and becomes a hero. Oh, and by the way, it turns out that he is the key to unlocking the misery of the kingdom, because he is the rightful heir to the throne and rightful owner of the Holy Grail. And everything and everyone lived happily ever after. Literally, this is the last sentence of the book: "And never again did the land over which he ruled become withered and dry; even in the wintertime there were always more green things growing there than anywhere else in Britain, and it seemed a land especially blessed" (p. 82). Now, I understand that this is typically how folktales conclude, but I'm just not buying it. I don't like cliche and happy endings that I can predict before I even open a book, but I suppose these endings come with the territory and it's something I have to accept/expect.
"Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales in the Classroom", by Debbie Reese
When Native Americans are often misrepresented in school textbooks, pop culture, and in the media, it is crucial that we, as educators, make critical and informed choices when we incorporate Native American literature. Folktales especially can reveal insightful information about a tribe's culture, religious beliefs, rituals, and everyday experience. Incorporating these folktales into the classroom will help expand a student's understanding of Native Americans and counteract predetermined/stereotyped ideas about them. Additionally, there may be a student who identifies himself/herself with a tribe, or has Native American ancestry, who would benefit from seeing his/her heritage in the classroom and in literature.
In my experience with reading folk tales, they are either a hit or a miss--and this book was a miss. I felt rather underwhelmed as I read such a random tale. The premis of the story centered around Getzel, the son of a merchant. Though his father loved him most of all his sons, he referred to him as "Getzel the fool," because he was too soft and trusting of his buyers--qualities that were rather undesirable in this job field. In a quest to prove his worth as a merchant, Getzel set sail with a load of onions. But before he could reach the market, a powerful storm carried his ship to an unknown island, where diamonds littered the beachy shore. When he finally found people on the island, Getzel could only offer them onions and diamonds in exchange for food and shelter. Because diamonds were so common and onions had never been seen before, these people offered Getzel a ship full of diamonds in exchange for his onions. When he returned home and told his family about his adventures, they decided to travel back to the island to sell the locals garlic--a "delicacy" they surely could not resist. But rather than leaving the island with another boatful of diamonds, they were sent back with sacks of onions. What? Is there some kind of weird underlying message I'm missing? Despite the point that I did not like the story itself, I found the illustrations to be rather dull. I would not consider incorporating any element of this book into a classroom--unless I used it as an example of a "bad" folktale.
Sirko and the Wolf, adapted by Eric A. Kimmel
This picture book was a little bit better. It read more like a traditional folktale, answering the lifelong question as to why dogs howl when they hear the howl of a wolf. The illustrations were vivid, the story was simplistic and entertaining, and I liked how it was set in the Ukraine. There doesn't seem to be much attention on that country, so I think the slightest reference of mention of it (even if it's in a folktale picture book) might also generate some discussion about the country and its geography. I also believe the illustrations depicted accurate the characters' physical appearance accurately, and in a social studies class, I could see using the pictures of their clothes and foods to generate discussion about the Ukrainian culture. This book didn't knock my socks off, but I thought the story was "cute," and that some aspects of it could be useful in a classroom.
Longer Collection: The Sword and the Grail, retold by Constance Hieatt
Now that I have read a third, but longer, folktale, I think I have come to the conclusion that I am simply not a fan of them. This realization comes as a surprise to me, though, since I always thought I would like folk literature. Then again, maybe I just happened to pick out three books that were not my cup of tea. This third book, The Sword and the Grail, told the story of a Perceval, a naive young man, secluded from the rest of the world by his overprotective mother, who stumbles across a few knights in the woods. These knights ask him if he has seen two other knights and their captive maiden. But Perceval, entranced by these strange men and their foreign attire, is too consumed in trying to make sense of these mysterious men. He later confronts his mother about his encounter with the knights and informs her that he is going to King Arthur's castle to talk to him about becoming a knight himself. Though his mother pleads with him not to desert her, Perceval decides that becoming a knight is the nobel thing to do. Long story short, because Perceval was kept from society his entire life, he is rather awkward and intolerant when he reaches the kingdom. Sure, this aspect was slightly humorous. Who doesn't love an awkward guy who mistakes a woman's bed for the House of God?
Despite Perceval's limited knowledge of the outside world, he is able to rescue the maiden, defeat the knights who captures her, and becomes a hero. Oh, and by the way, it turns out that he is the key to unlocking the misery of the kingdom, because he is the rightful heir to the throne and rightful owner of the Holy Grail. And everything and everyone lived happily ever after. Literally, this is the last sentence of the book: "And never again did the land over which he ruled become withered and dry; even in the wintertime there were always more green things growing there than anywhere else in Britain, and it seemed a land especially blessed" (p. 82). Now, I understand that this is typically how folktales conclude, but I'm just not buying it. I don't like cliche and happy endings that I can predict before I even open a book, but I suppose these endings come with the territory and it's something I have to accept/expect.
"Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales in the Classroom", by Debbie Reese
When Native Americans are often misrepresented in school textbooks, pop culture, and in the media, it is crucial that we, as educators, make critical and informed choices when we incorporate Native American literature. Folktales especially can reveal insightful information about a tribe's culture, religious beliefs, rituals, and everyday experience. Incorporating these folktales into the classroom will help expand a student's understanding of Native Americans and counteract predetermined/stereotyped ideas about them. Additionally, there may be a student who identifies himself/herself with a tribe, or has Native American ancestry, who would benefit from seeing his/her heritage in the classroom and in literature.
Thursday 7 March 2013
Historical Fiction Week
Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson
As someone whose entire family is from the South, I have to admit that it was a breath of fresh air to read a book that focused on slavery in the North. Granted, this book concerns the American Revolutionary War, but after teaching an eighth grade class on the War, they seemed to forget that the North also welcomed slavery during this time. But the fact that the North took some heat for our regrettable past is besides the point. This book was very compelling because it gave us a perspective of the cruelty that many young slaves endured from their masters. As a future teacher, I could definitely see using Chains in a social studies or language arts classroom because it combines historical content with literary merit. For the Patriots, the Revolutionary War symbolized their fight for freedom from the British, but meanwhile, they ironically enslaved other human beings.
After teaching the Revolutionary War, I realized how confused the students were when we discussed the fact that not everyone in America was a Patriot and wanted to remain loyal to the British--hence why they were called "Loyalists." This book could definitely help clarify the confusion about the colonists' feelings about the War while providing an insight into the unfortunate life that many slaves endured.
Articles:
As someone whose entire family is from the South, I have to admit that it was a breath of fresh air to read a book that focused on slavery in the North. Granted, this book concerns the American Revolutionary War, but after teaching an eighth grade class on the War, they seemed to forget that the North also welcomed slavery during this time. But the fact that the North took some heat for our regrettable past is besides the point. This book was very compelling because it gave us a perspective of the cruelty that many young slaves endured from their masters. As a future teacher, I could definitely see using Chains in a social studies or language arts classroom because it combines historical content with literary merit. For the Patriots, the Revolutionary War symbolized their fight for freedom from the British, but meanwhile, they ironically enslaved other human beings.
After teaching the Revolutionary War, I realized how confused the students were when we discussed the fact that not everyone in America was a Patriot and wanted to remain loyal to the British--hence why they were called "Loyalists." This book could definitely help clarify the confusion about the colonists' feelings about the War while providing an insight into the unfortunate life that many slaves endured.
Articles:
"Historical Fiction or Fictionalized History? Problems for Writers of Historical Novels for Young Adults", by Joanne Brown
I think historical fiction can be very powerful in teaching history because while the character (or another aspect) may be fictional, the story can help the reader develop a sense of the time period and/or setting. I do, however, understand that teachers should be cautious when choosing a particular historical fiction work. We should always be asking what parts or elements of the story are fictionalized and how accurate the "historical" components are. As the genre of historical fiction continues to rise in demand, I could see some authors compromising the historical elements in order to sell more copies. Regardless, I do believe this genre can be powerful in the classroom, but we--as teachers--should research how much (or little) it can contribute to a student's historical understanding.
"What Role Should Fiction Have in the U.S. History Classroom?", by Nicholas J. Aieta
As mentioned above, I definitely think historical fiction can help enhance a student's understanding about a particular time or event in history. As mentioned in the article, many students lose interest with history because they consider it "boring." Historical fiction, however, can help pull in readers with its affective story telling abilities--but it is this aspect that can mislead a student's understanding of what is actual truth. As with many other sources, readers of historical fiction should read it with a critical eye to distinguish truth from fiction.
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