Posts Tagged book lists

“Finding My Way”: Teaching with Themed Literature Units

By on December 12, 2012   /   Book Lists, For Teachers  

Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.
Virginia Euwer Wolff

Each of us must find ways to live with courage and hope in an imperfect world. Middle grade students, in particular, stand on the cusp of self-discovery but are often uncertain how to navigate their path through adolescence.  Many care deeply about fairness, justice, and reaching out to others, yet they wonder Where do I fit in?  How can I make a difference?

In my writing and in my work with beginning teachers, I’ve been inspired by National Book Award-winning author Virginia Euwer Wolff and her quote above.  She goes on, “It’s the kids with the faltering voices … many of us are writing for them.  Not to change them into different kids, but to keep them company while they evolve.”  Books raise questions, offer a sense of life’s complexities, and illustrate how people make decisions under less-than-perfect circumstances.  Fiction and nonfiction can help middle grade readers develop empathy and gain insight into how people – real and imagined – deal with challenges no matter who they are, or where or when they live.  And often, it’s a teacher or librarian who puts the book into a reader’s hands that helps her find her voice.

My job is to help beginning teachers learn how to open the world of literacy to students in kindergarten through eighth grades.  One of the most meaningful assignments we undertake is a Themed Literature Unit, a structured unit of study designed to develop crucial literacy skills as students read, write about, discuss, and sometimes respond artistically to high-quality children’s literature.  Each unit is focused on what I call a “human issues theme” (e.g., working for justice, reaching out to others, persevering despite obstacles, caring for the environment), vital challenges that we all face as members of a democratic and global society.

Here are three examples of units my graduate students will be teaching this winter:

Adapting to New Situations ~ 4th grade
Susie Henderson teaches at a highly diverse urban school in Seattle.  Her students and their families come from all over the world and have had to face the challenges of adapting to new environments.

Here’s how she explains the goal of this unit: “It is my hope that students will make connections to their own experiences and mature/grow in their understanding of the real world through the exploration of this theme. Given that adapting to new situations is a vital skill for all of us, the unit will pave a path for students to explore what it means to adapt and also realize that this is something that all humans do.” 

Big Ideas
The unit guides students to understand three big ideas:
Adapting to a new situation or environment means we find a way to belong in an unfamiliar place or with different people;
It takes courage to adapt to new situations; and
In order to adapt, we must be willing to reach out to others and get to know them.

Book List
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Di Camillo.  A young girl, India Opal, moves to a new town with her father. Her mother left when she was just a baby, so she is lonely when her father, a preacher, is too busy to spend much time with her. India tells a story of how she came to be friends with many interesting people, all because of a big dog that falls into her lap one summer day shortly after moving to her new Florida town.  I will offer this as one of our book club choices.

My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada. Maria is a new girl in the United States, who has just moved from Puerto Rico. Her teacher insists on calling her Mary, but she wants badly to be called by her real name, which tells a lot about her family and her past. Book club choice.

Seaglass Summer by Anjali Banarjee. Poppy Ray wants to be a veterinarian. She gets to go spend the summer with her uncle on an island in Washington, which tells her a lot about what it is really like to be an animal doctor. Through this experience, she starts to reconsider if this is what she wants to do with her life. Book club choice.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Born into a wealthy family in Mexico, young Esperanza has lived a good life,. But things change all of a sudden, and Esperanza has to move to California with her mother where they no longer have the life they have always known. Esperanza realizes quickly that her life might never be the same. Book club choice.

The Trouble Begins by Linda Himelblau. A young Vietnamese boy immigrates to the USA with his grandmother to meet up with the rest of the family. He has a lot of catching up to do to adapt to a new life, a new language, and a new school. Book club choice.

Riding Freedom by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Charlotte, a young orphan in New Hampshire, wants to run away from the orphanage and ride horses. She is a very good rider, but since she is a girl, she is not allowed to in the 19th century. She disguises herself as a boy in order to be able to ride. Book club choice.

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan. Caleb and Anna are excited when their father gets a mail-order bride to come live with them. They really love her and hope she will stay, but she is not so sure about the prairie life. Book club choice.

 

 

Taking Risks to Help Others ~ 5th grade
Toby Steers teaches fifth grade across an open-concept “hallway” from Susie.  He wanted to help his fifth graders get ready for the challenges that lie ahead next year in middle school.

Toby explained the unit in a letter to families: “While reading books, students will learn about dangerous times and places where people showed great bravery to help other people.  Students will also learn that, when they stand up to a bully on the playground or apologize when they have hurt someone, they are taking important risks too. The goal of this unit is to learn about how to take important ideas from reading that help students make important decisions in their lives.”

Big Ideas
Taking risks to help others means accepting that bad things might happen to you;
We need courage and determination to take risks to help others; and
Taking risks means overcoming doubts.

Book List
An Apple for Harriet Tubman by Glennette Tilley Turner. A picture book exploring the early life of Harriet Tubman and connecting with her open heart and courage to help others as she became an adult.    From this book, students will learn that we need courage and determination to help others. I will read this aloud to get students thinking about risks at the beginning of the unit.

The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq by Jeanette Winter.  An amazing Iraqi librarian risks her life to save the cultural heritage of her country.  From this book, students will learn that taking risks to help others means that we accept that bad things might happen to us.  I will use this book in a literacy strategy lesson on identifying character traits that different risk-takers have in common

Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs.   A boy leaves his family in Mexico to try to cross the border into the United States to earn and send money back to his family.  Along the way, he takes many dangerous risks, always remembering the hunger and poverty of his family that he is trying to help.  From this book, students learn that we need courage and determination to help others.  I will use it as a longer read-aloud over the course of the unit.

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis.  Parvana lives in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and must dress as a boy to work in the market to support her family.  At this time, girls and women were not allowed to be in public by themselves and, since her father is under arrest, none of her family can safely leave the house.  From this book, students will learn that taking risks to help others means overcoming doubts.  Book club choice.

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez.  Tyler makes friends with a girl whose parents are undocumented farm workers on his father’s Vermont farm.  When Mari is threatened with deportation, how will their friendship survive?  From this book, students will learn that taking risks means accepting that bad things might happen to us. Book club choice.

 

Courage is Inside All of Us ~ 5th grade
Mo Newton’s fifth graders are also facing the big step from elementary into middle school.  Like Toby, she wanted to help them develop the inner strengths and skills we all need to face big challenges.  She chose to focus on the power of finding the courage that lies within each of us.

Big Ideas
We all can build the strength to be courageous;
Even though we are afraid, we can still show courage; and
We can show courage in big and small ways.

Book List
Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry. Mafutu is afraid of the sea and is taunted by his community for being a coward. When he can’t handle the teasing anymore he decides that he has to conquer his fear and show his community that he can be brave. This story shows Mafatu’s journey and how he was able to discover courage.  One choice for students to read and discuss in book clubs.

The Dandelion Seed by Joseph Anthony.  A beautifully illustrated picture book about a dandelion seed that is afraid to let go. The seed decides to find the courage to allow the wind to carry it on a remarkable journey.  I will use this book to teach several of the literacy skills in our unit.

Fire from the Rock by Sharon Draper. In 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Sylvia Patterson is asked to be one of the first African American students to enroll in Central High School. While she is trying to decide if she can summon the courage to do this, racial tension and violence explode throughout the city. The time has come for Sylvia to gather up the strength to walk through the doors of Central High School.  Book club choice.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. In 1943, ten-year-old Annemarie and her best friend, Ellen, live in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ellen is Jewish, and her religion makes her a target for the Nazi soldiers. For protection she moves in with Annemarie, pretending to be part of her family. Annemarie finds herself in a dangerous situation where she has to find the courage to help Ellen escape. Book club choice.

Something to Hold  by Katherine Schlick Noe. Kitty’s family has recently moved to an Indian Reservation in Warm Springs, Oregon, where she is one of the few white children. She struggles with feelings of loneliness, wanting desperately to be accepted, but feeling like she does not fit in anywhere. Throughout the year, Kitty faces many challenges that force her to discover that even she has courage inside.  This will be our class read aloud during the unit.

Research tells us that learning experiences that are personally meaningful and engaging also may be more memorable and long lasting.  Themed Literature Units can be one way to engage students with learning that stretches their hearts as well as feeds their minds.  You can learn more about teaching with thematic literature at the Literature Circles Resource Center (click on “Themed Literature Units”).  And please contact me if you would like more information about any of these particular units!

 

Katherine Schlick Noe teaches beginning and experienced teachers at Seattle University. Her debut novel, Something to Hold (Clarion, 2011) won the 2012 Washington State Book Award for the middle grade/young adult and has been named a 2012 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People.  Visit her at http://katherineschlicknoe.com.

 

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Sciency Fiction — and a Giveaway

By on October 22, 2012   /   Book Lists, Giveaways  

What’s that, Mr. Spell-Checker? You say I’ve misspelled science?

I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Mr. Spell-Checker. My letter choice was entirely intentional.

I’m on a crusade. A sciency fiction crusade.

Sciency fiction is not science fiction. Sciency fiction is not at all speculative. It is not set in the future. Sciency fiction depicts actual current (or current for the time if historical) science. Although the characters and situations can be fictional, the science is not.

I made up the term, I admit, and Google is on my spell-checker’s team, misdirecting my searches every time. I have an ally across the pond in Tom Webb, who independently proposed the term for grown-up books.

Who reads sciency fiction? Kurtis Scaletta does. Back in August of 2011, he wrote a post on this blog about science fiction.

“To me, science fiction is fiction infused with science. … I quite like fiction that conveys some understanding about the workings of the universe.”

Kurtis is a fiction lover to whom science is an added bonus. He gains an appreciation of science through novels.

Then there are those who start out loving science. You know the kids—obsessed with dinosaurs, or rocks, or rockets. They love nonfiction. They eat up books like Guinness World Records or Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Novels are not their thing, and they only read them when assigned in school–and then grudgingly.

One day, one of these kids—my son, actually–got a look at The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages. It’s a novel set at Los Alamos during the development of the atomic bomb. The book is populated by scientists. Dewey, the young protagonist is smart and inquisitive, with a definite sciency sensibility. My son gobbled up this book and its sequel, White Sands, Red Menace, in five days. But he told me it got boring near the end. Why? Because the science aspect was downplayed and the focus was on Dewey’s emotional journey.



That observation was a revelation for me. While the emotional journey of the protagonist was compelling, it wasn’t enough for him. He needed more than emotion to hold his interest.  I stocked our bookshelves with more sciency novels, and then steampunk and science fiction and fantasy. Now he asks me to get novels for him from the library.

My son is a science lover who learned to appreciate narrative fiction through sciency fiction.

Good sciency fiction combines a compelling story with interesting science, and it can serve is a bridge between science and fiction. Got a student who only reads nonfiction about science? Got a student who doesn’t care for science class, but loves a good story?

Give them both some sciency fiction.

Where to start? Here’s a list.

Kurtis included some great titles in his post, including

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

He also included some more speculative titles in his list and mentions Isaac Asimov several times.

“The paragon for me will always be Isaac Asimov, a knowledgeable science-minded author. Asimov made his work true to science the way a historical novelist would be true to history… Science was my worst subject in school, but authors like Asimov made science lucid and compelling while telling a good story.”

Some people like their science real, so I’m limiting my list to those titles where the science is not speculative at all.

101 Ways to Bug Your Teacher by Lee Wardlaw

Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It by Sundee T. Frazier

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman

Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo by Greg Leitich Smith

Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Erupts! By Frances O’Roark Dowell

Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head by Nancy Viau

Back in April, I wrote a post for this blog about sciency novels that address environmental sciences—Eco-fiction if you will. That list is here.

I like to call my debut novel, The Reinvention of Edison Thomas, sciency fiction. It just came out in paperback, and to celebrate, I’m giving away the remainder of my Advance Reader Copies in one big giveaway. If you would like your school or library to have a teaching set of up to 15 ARCs, leave the name of the library or school in the comments, along with the title of your favorite sciency novel (it can be one I’ve listed, or something else) and the number of copies you’ll need. Enter by 11:59 CDT Saturday October 27. Winner will be announced October 28.

 

Jacqueline Houtman spent 27 years in school so she could be a scientist. Now she’s a freelance science writer and middle-grade novelist–living proof that biology (or chemistry or physics) is not destiny. Find out more at www.jhoutman.com.

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The Great Library Giveaway Spotlight #1

By on September 22, 2012   /   Book Lists, Giveaways  

We do appreciate all those who donate books for our giveaways.  This library giveaway is no exception.  And as thanks, we wanted to bring a little more attention to the middle-grade titles offered in our Great Library Giveaway.

Throughout our nomination and voting periods, we will spotlight ten or so books that have been graciously donated by authors, publishers, our blog contributors, and you.  You can see the complete list of titles here. For more information on how you can make a donation, please visit our Great Library Giveaway Donations page.

And if you would like to nominate a library to win our middle-grade book collection, please go here.

The titles we are spotlighting this week are:

Beyond Lucky by Sarah Aronson

Description: Ari Fish believes in two things: his hero-Wayne Timcoe, the greatest soccer goalie to ever come out of Somerset Valley-and luck. So when Ari finds a rare and valuable Wayne Timcoe trading card, he’s sure his luck has changed for the better. Especially when he’s picked to be the starting goalie on his team. But when the card is stolen-and his best friend and the new girl on the team accuse each other of taking it-suddenly Ari can’t save a goal, everyone is fighting, and he doesn’t know who, or what, to believe in.

Before the team falls apart, Ari must learn how to make his own luck, and figure out what it truly means to be a hero.

Calli Be Gold by Michele Weber Hurwitz

Description: Eleven-year-old Calli Gold is the quiet third child in a family of loud overachievers. In fact, the family motto is Be Gold. Calli’s sister is on an ice-skating team, and her brother’s a basketball star. Her parents are sure she has a hidden gift for something. They just have to figure out what it is! But Calli has flopped at everything she’s tried. She sure doesn’t feel like a Gold.

Until a new person enters her life. Second grader Noah Zullo might seem strange to some people, but Calli can’t help liking him, and they become partners in their school’s Peer Helper Program. When they create a booth for the Friendship Fair, they fill it with secrets and surprises. And as Calli and Noah work and learn together, they even surprise themselves.

Circle of Secrets by Kimberley Griffiths Little

Description: Critically acclaimed author Kimberley Griffiths Little weaves a haunting story of friendship and family and the power of faith, once again set against the lush backdrop of the Lousiana bayou.

After her mother walked out on Shelby Jayne and her dad, Shelby thought she’d never speak to her mamma again. But with her dad leaving the country for work, it turns out she doesn’t have a choice: Shelby has to move back into her mamma’s house, deep in the heart of the Louisiana bayou.

Her new classmates tease and torment her, so Shelby’s relieved to finally find a friend in Gwen, a mysterious girl who lives alone on the bayou. But Shelby can’t help wondering if Gwen has something to do with the puzzling messages she finds hidden in the blue bottle tree behind her house. The only person who might be able to explain is her mamma — but Shelby’s not ready to ask. Not yet. It may take a brush with something from the beyond to help Shelby see that the power to put her own ghosts to rest is within her reach.

Mo Wren, Lost and Found by Tricia Springstubb

Description:  This is the story of what happened after Fox Street.

Mo Wren knew that eventually she, her dad, and her sister, Wild Child Dottie, would have to move from beloved Fox Street. She just never expected it to happen so soon.

At the Wrens’ new place, things are very different. The name of the street—East 213th—has absolutely zero magic. And there’s no Mrs. Petrone to cut her hair, no Pi Baggott to teach her how to skateboard, no Green Kingdom to explore. She’s having trouble fitting in at her new school and spending a lot of time using the corner bus shelter for her Thinking Spot. Worst of all, Mo discovers that the ramshackle restaurant Mr. Wren bought is cursed. Only Dottie, with her new friends and pet lizard, Handsome, is doing the dance of joy.

For the first time in her life, Mo feels lost and out of place. It’s going to take a boy who tells whoppers, a Laundromat with a mysterious owner, a freak blizzard, and some courage to help her find her way home for good.

Second Fiddle by Rosanne Parry

Description: When 13-year-old Jody and her friends save a badly beaten Russian soldier from drowning, they put into motion a chain of events that will take them from Berlin to Paris and straight into danger. Jody must quickly learn to trust herself, because in the time directly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the border between friend and enemy is not as clear as it once was. Award-winning author of Heart of a Shepherd, Rosanne Parry, offers a fast-paced, coming-of-age story filled with adventure, music, friendship, and intrigue.

Something to Hold by Katherine Schlick Noe

Description: Can a white girl feel at home on an Indian reservation?

Based on the author’s childhood experience in the early 1960s, this debut novel centers on Kitty, whose father is a government forester at Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon. Kitty is one of only two white kids in her class, and the Indian kids are keeping their distance. With time, Kitty becomes increasingly aware of the tensions and prejudices between Indians and whites, and of the past injustice and pain still very much alive on the reservation. Time also brings friendships and opportunities to make a difference. Map, author’s note, glossary, and pronunciation guide.

Front CoverThe Attractive Truth About Magnetism by Jennifer Swanson

Description from Google Books: A bat walked into a magnetic field and stuck. Get it? If you don’t get this joke, you need this book! It’ll teach you everything you need to know about what makes magnets work. The answers will attract your curiosity.

 

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Description: In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king’s long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner’s motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword’s point — he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage’s rivals have their own agendas as well.

As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner’s sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.

The Reinvention of Edison Thomas by Jacqueline Houtman

Description by www.appleblossombooks.com: Eddy’s a science geek and has problems communicating with others. The combination gives the class bully, who pretends to be Eddy’s friend, plenty of ammunition. Eddy Thomas can read a college physics book, but he can’t read the emotions on the faces of his classmates. He can spend hours tinkering with an invention, but he can’t stand more than a few minutes in a noisy crowd, like the crowd at the science fair, which Eddy fails to win.

When the local school crossing guard is laid off, Eddy is haunted by thoughts of the potentially disastrous consequences and invents a traffic-calming device, using parts he has scavenged from discarded machines. By trusting his real friends, Eddy uses his talents to help others and rethinks his purely mechanical definition of success.

You Will Call Me Drog by Sue Cowing

Description: Parker is a normal sixth grader or he was normal before the puppet. It’s just an old hand puppet, sticking out of a garbage can, and even though Parker’s best friend says leave it, Parker brings the puppet home and tries it on. Or maybe it tries him on. “You will call me Drog ” the puppet commands once they’re alone. And now, no matter how hard Parker tries, he can’t get Drog off his hand.

Maybe the only way to get rid of Drog is to truly listen to him.

 

If you are interested in purchasing these titles for your own library, simply click on the image or the title and you will be taken to Indiebound.  We hope you find many new titles to love with these Great Library Giveaway spotlights.  And thanks for your support!

*All descriptions by Indiebound unless otherwise noted.

 

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