Posts Tagged teachers

STEM Tuesday — Pair Up! Comparing Nonfiction Titles — In the Classroom

By STEM Tuesday on September 11, 2018 / Cross-Curricular, Curriculum Tie-in, For Librarians, For Teachers, Nonfiction Titles, STEM Tuesday

Today is the 11th–a 1-1 pair-up. It’s an especially apt day for continuing with our Nonfiction Pair-up theme. One thing seems sure: You’ll double your impact if you pair nonfiction reading and writing with STEM lessons!

Ideas Worth Spreading

Fatal Fever and Terrible Typhoid Mary highlight the social, personal, and epidemiological stories around Mary Mallon, AKA Typhoid Mary. Exemplifying how science and society intersect and examining the difficulties of clashing social and individual interests, this pair offers high drama and nearly endless entry points for curriculum learning.

Does the government have the right to imprison someone to keep that person from infecting others?
Do students think Mary was “terrible?
- Students can develop charts with reasons for answering yes and no–then take a stand with mock op-ed pieces.
- Form student committees to answer “What to do about Mary?” Make sure they consider how any decisions impact Mary and the community.
- Expand into current day concerns: “What to do when one of us gets sick?” Students might research the school’s policy regarding teachers and students with the flu or other infectious diseases. What options are available to keep everyone safe and able to work and learn?

Looking for infectious enthusiasm? Try these science learning ideas.

DragonFly TV’s five-minute GloGerm video offers information, an experiment, and visuals including a powder that glows under UV light and spreads throughout a kids’ bowling party.
- Show the video to accompany their reading.
- As an alternative, if you have the resources to purchase GloGerm and a UV light, use the video as an inspiration for a lesson plan. Demonstrate the spread of disease. Then challenge students to design their own experiments.
In this lesson using water, baking soda and a simple acid/base indicator, one student unwittingly becomes the source of an “infectious disease”, which then spreads to classmates. The indicator ultimately reveals “infected” students. As an extension, track down the source student–your classroom’s counterpart to Mary Mallon in 1906, someone who unknowingly spreads disease.
- What does the student feel like?
- How would the class feel if all of the infected students now had to stay quarantined despite feeling well, or could no longer do whatever job they would like?
Students become disease detectives with an engaging interactive from PBS’s NOVA resource, which allows them to “interview” subjects, collect and review data, and explore possible sources of the new Dizzy Disease. Students might also compare and contrast their methods to those used by the typhoid tracker who found Mary Mallon, George Soper.

And Now, Some Rotten Ideas

Students can become decomposers as they break down Rotten and Death Eaters, into their essential content and structure. For example, Elementary Nest’s lesson provides suggestions on conducting a compare/contrast of the facts in paired nonfiction titles.

Of course, this topic screams for a scavenger hunt! Send students searching for nonfiction text features. Check out these scavenger hunts and, presto! You’ll gather your own list of features in no time. Follow up with a look at how these features help or detract from the reading experience.

How do various features help engage and explain information to readers?
Are there places in either book where the reader’s experience would have been enhanced by the addition or omission of a given feature?

After students digest the books in these lessons, they can recycle the morsels of information and insight into new, lively texts, composing short pieces based on the facts that they collected and incorporating the nonfiction text features to help readers engage with or grasp content.

Hands-on science experiences can add to the detail of student writing. Start with this worm bin building activity and related resources from National Agriculture in the Classroom.

This Trash Talk’s OK

Heighten student awareness of different styles and purposes of informational text with this trio. This Book Stinks is full of small bits of text and splashy graphics. Contrast it with Tracking Trash and Plastic Ahoy!, which combine storytelling, exposition, and characters into a cohesive whole. Challenge students to take passages from each book and turn them into the style and format of the other.

For science experiences, tie these books in with the decomposition books above (pair the pairs!). Or:

Explore the decomposition of different fruits.
Conduct a longer-term investigation to explore what does and does not decompose.
5 Gyres Institute’s Plastic Pollution Curriculum and Activity Guide will help you focus more deeply on marine plastic pollution, with numerous lessons for different grade levels.

There’s so much you could do with this month’s theme, maybe you, too, should pair up; find a teaching partner to develop some of these ideas into great experiences for your students, or create your own.

What other book pairings can you suggest?
Which activities work for you?

Drop a comment to let us know!

****** BREAKING NEWS!!****

STEM Tuesday is now a monthly PODCAST! Tune into Jed Dougherty’s Reading With Your Kids Podcast on iTunes to listen to your favorite STEM Tuesday posts! The first airing is right here: STEM Tuesday Podcast #1

Be sure to join us the second Tuesday of every month for a podcast update!

Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano pairs writing nonfiction STEM books for kids with STEM educational consulting work. Running on Sunshine: How Does Solar Energy Work? celebrates the innovative spirit and challenges behind engineering solar technologies, and received a starred review from Kirkus.

Hero, Mentor, Trickster: Thinking about Archetypal Character Roles in MG

By Jenn Brisendine on September 7, 2018 / For Writers

Despite having been an English major in college, I don’t recall learning about archetypal story roles before my graduate writing program. When I finally read Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey for a grad class, it was like seeing through a suddenly-acquired magic spyglass that gave all stories a layer of extra interest and added meaning. Vogler establishes that his thoughts on character and plot archetypes stem from those put forth in the psychological and mythic studies of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. Vogler is able to take the archetypal theories of The Hero’s Journey (described in detail in Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces) and relate them to the craft of writing with popular story examples (from Star Wars to James Bond to Odysseus, and many others).

The general theory is that our story-brains are somewhat hardwired to recognize the ways in which characters fulfill certain roles, because the duties of these archetypal roles remain common over time, genre, length, style, and intended audience of stories. For example, a Mentor character in one story will have something in common with a Mentor character in another story, because their duty as a Mentor will be similar (to help some other character do something/go somewhere for some reason).

These character archetypes can be helpful to us as writers, as teachers, as librarians, and as parents of MG readers. For example:

An understanding of archetypal roles can promote discussion of character traits among students in the lit classroom.
Family read-aloud time (or movie night) gets a brain boost when we recognize an archetypal character role and make comparisons to characters in other films and stories we’ve shared together.
Archetypal role descriptions and examples can help writers to analyze their own characters in works in progress.

Below, I’ve listed some common character archetypes and given some examples from all sorts of MG fiction—recently published to modern classics, realistic to fantasy. Keep in mind that archetypal roles are not static, and that they are rarely “cast” by a writer in a simple, one-to-one list like parts in a play. Good writers and storytellers at all levels allow for an ebb and flow of character growth, change, and development; consequently, a character fulfilling the role of a Shadow in the beginning of the book might be recognized as a Mentor by the end.

This dynamic movement of archetypal roles might be especially notable and important in MG, where readers start grasping the complexities of human interaction perhaps for the first time.

Some common archetypal character roles in stories:

A Hero is usually our protagonist, though other characters can certainly step in and out of the Hero role. The Hero often experiences some kind of journey (physical, spiritual, emotional) and may or may not (but usually does) experience some kind of change as a result. Two key Hero elements are learning or practicing self-sacrifice in helping others, and learning or practicing the ability to take action. Hero and main character Chantel in Sage Blackwood’s Miss Ellicott’s School for the Magically Minded demonstrates this element of self-sacrifice as she puts herself in danger and works to secure safety for the younger girls at the school and all the people of Lightning Pass.

A Mentor is a character who serves to help, teach, train, or lead the Hero in some way as he or she makes the journey. A Mentor might “step in” and be the voice of the Hero’s true conscience when the Hero is conflicted and cannot “hear” his or her own heart. Mrs. Whatsit in A Wrinkle in Time serves many Mentor-duties for Hero Meg.

A Herald is a character who brings some kind of news to the Hero. Usually the news raises the stakes for the Hero—makes things more challenging, or changes the conflict in some unexpected way. Sometimes the Herald helps a character make a connection or see a clue, like when Lola texts Valencia in Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly. The message from Lola triggers Valencia’s deduction on the missing Virgil’s whereabouts, and launches a rescue mission.

A Threshold Guardian is a literal or figurative guard at a doorway or transition point, whom the Hero must get past in order to progress from one place in his or her journey to the next. Usually the Threshold Guardian serves as an obstacle, and might hold some truth or bit of info the hero needs. Stew Mitchum in Lemony Snicket’s Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? is a Threshold Guardian as he impedes young investigator Snicket’s progress in solving the case and in moving about the train.

A Shapeshifter is a character who isn’t necessarily the person he or she seems to be, or a character whom the Hero (or the reader) may not be able to trust. A Shapeshifter can surprise the Hero with unexpected actions, reveals, or switches of loyalty. Characters (and readers) of the Harry Potter series may not realize that Moaning Myrtle holds clues Harry needs several times in the series. Her sudden changes of emotion and her switch of interest in Harry to interest in Draco are Shapeshifter behaviors as well.

A Shadow is the antagonist, the villain, the “bad guy.” This character or group stands in the way of the Hero, works to defeat him or her, and often utilizes the Hero’s own flaws. In Natalie Babbitt’s Tuck Everlasting, the Man in the Yellow Suit is a Shadow force as he pursues the Tucks and plans to use Winnie for his own immoral gains.

A Trickster is often a funny sidekick character or a comedic relief character; sometimes this character’s sarcasm or verbal irony reveals truth, like a witty jester or a class clown. Examples of mythological tricksters can be seen in many cultures and backgrounds, such as Loki (Norse), Coyote (Native American), and Maui (Polynesian).

There are many other archetypes, and many, many variations on those listed here (for example, according to Vogler, there are anti-heroes, loner heroes, trickster heroes, willing and unwilling heroes, the hero group…). Mentors may not be good teachers, may be on their own journey, or may learn from other characters even as they teach. Shadows often have redeeming qualities and brilliant moments. And a character can fulfill two or more roles in a story; for example, a Threshold Guardian is often also a Herald of information.

Consequently, archetypal roles are not meant to serve as simple labels for the characterizations we see in stories, but instead, provide us with some vocabulary and ideas for use in thinking about and discussing the stories we read.

Thanks for reading and considering these theories on characterization! I’m interested in your thoughts on archetypes, and characters from MG who might fulfill these roles—please share in the comments!

Back to School Giveaway: Building a Classroom Library

By Patricia Bailey on September 5, 2018 / Articles, For Teachers, Giveaways, Teacher Tips

“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”

–Maya Angelou

“A child sitting in a quiet room with a good book isn’t a flashy or marketable teaching method. It just happens to be the only way one became a reader.”

–Nancie Atwell

I’ve yet to meet a teacher who isn’t passionate about instilling a love of reading in their students. I’ve also yet to meet a teacher who has a budget for buying independent reading materials for their classroom. Yet, my social media feed is full of smart, caring teachers who are using all of their resources and their own money to bring fun and diverse books into their classroom.

So, how are they doing it?

They are raiding their personal bookshelves, their friend’s bookshelves, yard sales, used bookstores – pretty much any where they can get their hands on a book for cheap or for free.
They are leveraging book clubs (like Scholastic’s) and book fairs, making the most of bonus points and freebies.
They are seeking book donations from students, parents, and from the public through crowd-funding sources like Donors Choose and organizations like First Book and the Book Love Foundation.
They are visiting their library book sales and taking advantage of the Library of Congress’s Surplus Books Program.
They are following authors on social media. Authors – especially debut authors and authors who have a new book coming out – are giving away books all the time on social media. Follow them. Chat with them. And enter their giveaways. Authors love to see their books in classrooms. They also love to connect with teachers and students.

In an effort to help with your classroom library building efforts, I put out a call to some middle grade author friends who have generously agreed to donate the following books to the cause. Five lucky teachers will win 5 books each to help jump-start their classroom libraries. All you have to do to enter is comment below and tell us how you plan to grow and use a classroom library this school year. Then get ready for some pretty amazing book mail!

STANLEY WILL PROBABLY BE FINE by Sally J Pla.

This funny and moving second novel from the author of The Someday Birds features comic trivia, a safety superhero, and a super-cool scavenger hunt all over downtown San Diego, as our young hero Stanley Fortinbras grapples with his anxiety—and learns what, exactly, it means to be brave.

A DASH OF DRAGON by Heidi Lang and Katie Bartkowski

A thirteen-year-old chef has a lot to prove as she tries to run a five-star restaurant, repay a greedy loan shark, and outsmart the Elven mafia in this entertaining novel that combines all the best ingredients—fantasy, humor, adventure, action, cute boys, and a feisty heroine!

THE UNLIKELY STORY OF A PIG IN THE CITY by Jodi Kendall

This delightful middle grade novel is a modern-day homage to Charlotte’s Web, perfect for fans of Katherine Applegate and Cammie McGovern.

A little pig in a big city leads to lots of trouble!

THE TRAGICALLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF KIT DONOVAN by Patricia Bailey

Life in a Nevada mining town in 1905 is not easy for 13-year-old Kit Donovan, who is trying to do right by her deceased mother and become a proper lady. When Kit discovers Papa’s boss at the gold mine is profiting from unsafe working conditions, she realizes being a lady is tougher than it looks.

HOLLY FARB AND THE PRINCESS OF THE GALAXY by Gareth Wronski

Guardians of the Galaxy meets Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in this laugh-out-loud funny journey into space and beyond. Holly Farb is not the Princess of the Galaxy. She may be top of the class in every subject, but she can’t even win a school election, never mind rule the Milky Way.

ENGINERDS by Jarett Lerner

The battle between boys and bots is on in this funny, fast-paced novel. Ken is an EngiNerd: one of a super-smart group of friends—all nerds—who have been close since kindergarten.

KAT GREENE COMES CLEAN by Melissa Roske

Kat Greene lives in New York City and attends fifth grade in the very progressive Village Humanity School. At the moment she has three major problems—dealing with her boy-crazy best friend, partnering with the overzealous Sam in the class production of Harriet the Spy, and coping with her mother’s preoccupation with cleanliness, a symptom of her worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder.

COOKIE CUTTERS AND SLED RUNNERS by Natalie Rompella

Most kids would dread the start of middle school and the year-long Explorations project that comes with it, but Ana knows that her + her best friend Lily + their plan to write and sell their own cookbook is a recipe for success.

ODDITY by Sarah Cannon

Join a tough eleven-year-old as she faces down zombie rabbits, alien mobs, and Puppet Cartels while trying to find her missing twin in Sarah Cannon’s imaginative middle-grade debut, Oddity.

ONE BRAVE SUMMER by Kiersi Burkhart and Amber J. Keyser

Paley Dixon is not excited about six weeks on a horse ranch without access to the virtual world of Dragonfyre. In-game, she’s the Blue Elf, strong and powerful. In the real world, she’s coming off a bad year after moving from Los Angeles to Denver. At least Prince, the majestic horse she’s paired with at Quartz Creek Ranch, makes her feel like royalty.

THE LONG TRAIL HOME by Kiersi Burkhart and Amber J. Keyser

Rivka can’t wait to get away from her family for the summer. Since that terrible day last year, she wants no part in their Jewish community. At least at Quartz Creek Ranch, she feels worlds away from home among the Colorado scenery, goofy ranch owners, and baby animals.

AT TOP SPEED by Kiersi Burkhart and Amber J. Keyser

For Ella, winning has always been the goal, and at Quartz Creek Ranch, she’s pretty sure she’ll ace horseback riding too. There’s just one hitch in her plan: Figure Eight, the beautiful quarter horse she’s paired with, won’t listen to a word she says.

SHY GIRL AND SHY GUY by Kiersi Burkhart and Amber J. Keyser

For every kid, there’s a horse that can help. At least, that’s the idea at Quartz Creek Ranch. But Hanna doubts it will be true for her. Going to Quartz Creek was her mother’s idea; Hanna’s too terrified of horses to even go near them.

UNDER LOCKER AND KEY by Allison K. Hymas

Eleven-year-old Jeremy Wilderson teams up with his rival crime fighter to stop the stealing spree that’s wreaking havoc on Scottsville Middle School in this action-packed MAX novel.

THE DOLLMAKER OF KRAKOW by R.M. Romero

In the vein of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Number the Stars, this fusion of fairy tales, folklore, and World War II history eloquently illustrates the power of love and the inherent will to survive even in the darkest of times.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING CUDDLE BUNNIES by Jonathan Rosen

Twelve-year-old Devin Dexter has a problem. Well, actually, many of them. His cousin, Tommy, sees conspiracies behind every corner. And Tommy thinks Devin’s new neighbor, Herb, is a warlock . . . but nobody believes him. Even Devin’s skeptical. But soon strange things start happening. Things like the hot new Christmas toy, the Cuddle Bunny, coming to life.

SKELETON TREE by Kim Ventrella

Twelve-year-old Stanly knows the bone growing in his yard is a little weird, but that’s okay, because now he’ll have the perfect photo to submit to the Young Discoverer’s Competition. With such a unique find, he’s sure to win the grand prize.

VILONIA BEEBE TAKES CHARGE by Kristin Gray

Being responsible is NOT easy. Fourth grader Vilonia hasn’t lost her rain coat in the three weeks she’s had it and she’s brushed her teeth every night and she’s volunteered to be the Friday Library Helper. But all that hard work is worth it if it means she can get a dog.

THE FIRST RULE OF PUNK by Celia C. Perez (donated by Kristin Gray)

The First Rule of Punk is a wry and heartfelt exploration of friendship, finding your place, and learning to rock out like no one’s watching.

Black and white illustrations and collage art throughout make The First Rule of Punk a perfect pick for fans of books like Roller Girl and online magazines like Rookie.

THE FRAME-UP by Wendy McLeod MacKnight

When Sargent Singer discovers that the paintings in his father’s gallery are alive, he is pulled into a captivating world behind the frame that he never knew existed. Filled with shady characters, devious plots, and a grand art heist, this inventive mystery-adventure celebrates art and artists and is perfect for fans of Night at the Museum and Blue Balliett’s Chasing Vermeer.

LOST BOYS by Darcey Rosenblatt

Based on historical events, this unforgettable and inspiring tale for middle-grade readers is about a young boy torn from the only life he’s ever known and held captive as a prisoner of war.

THE STAR THIEF by Lindsey Becker

Honorine’s life as a maid at the Vidalia mansion is rather dull, dusting treasures from faraway places and daydreaming in front of maps of the world. But everything changes when she catches two brutish sailors ransacking Lord Vidalia’s study, and then follows a mysterious girl with wings out into the night….

P.S. I MISS YOU by Jen Petro-Roy

Evie is heartbroken when her strict Catholic parents send her pregnant sister, Cilla, away to stay with a distant great-aunt. All Evie wants is for her older sister to come back. Forbidden from speaking to Cilla, Evie secretly sends her letters.

Thanks so much to all of the authors who donated these amazing books!

Teachers, enter to win by commenting below and telling us how you plan to grow and use a classroom library this school year.

Winners will be chosen randomly on September 14th. (US entries only, please.)
Watch this blog post for the announcement.

Posts Tagged teachers

STEM Tuesday — Pair Up! Comparing Nonfiction Titles — In the Classroom

Like this:

Hero, Mentor, Trickster: Thinking about Archetypal Character Roles in MG

Like this:

Back to School Giveaway: Building a Classroom Library

“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”

–Maya Angelou

“A child sitting in a quiet room with a good book isn’t a flashy or marketable teaching method. It just happens to be the only way one became a reader.”

–Nancie Atwell

Like this:

Giveaways!

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Posts Tagged teachers

STEM Tuesday — Pair Up! Comparing Nonfiction Titles — In the Classroom

Share this:

Like this:

Hero, Mentor, Trickster: Thinking about Archetypal Character Roles in MG

Share this:

Like this:

Back to School Giveaway: Building a Classroom Library

“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”

–Maya Angelou

“A child sitting in a quiet room with a good book isn’t a flashy or marketable teaching method. It just happens to be the only way one became a reader.”

–Nancie Atwell

Share this:

Like this:

Giveaways!

Login

Mission Statement