Week 4 - More Reading and More Connections

   

More Reading and More Connections

Diane Stanley has written a book about peaceful resistance -- and its impact on the world.  The book was published September 2020.  Holiday House offered a preview in the form of a pdf (not sure how long it will be online).  It can be accessed here. - https://bit.ly/2Noa8BC

If you should order from Collected Works - a bookstore in Santa Fe - Diane will sign the copy for you. You can call them at (505) 988-4226. 

A perfect book for reading a page or two a day, regardless of how long your class period is (or isn't).

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Kevin Henkes - 2020 Children's Literacy Legacy Award

Kevin Henkes is a Wisconsin native and published his first book at the age 20.  Now almost 4 decades later he is being honored as the American Library Association's Children's Literacy Legacy Award; an award given for the body of an author's work.  While he is best know (it seems) for his picture books (Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Kitten's First Full Moon and dozens of others), he has authored middle grade/ya titles: The Year of Billy Miller and Olive's Ocean.  Check out his website at https://kevinhenkes.com/ and this article about the award and Henkes.  

Kittner, Gena. (2020, June 22). Madison's Kevin Henkes honored for his contributions to children's literature.  Wisconsin State Journal.  Retrieved from  https://bit.ly/2020CLLAward.

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Looking at Poetry

Singer, Marilyn. (2016) Echo Echo. Illustrated by Josée Masse. Dial.

This book could serve as an introduction to Pandora, King Midas, Icarus, and the rest of the bunch of fantastically flawed gods, monsters, and mortals Each pair of poems tells the story of two characters from Greek myths. The first poem tells the story from one character’s point of view. The second poem reflects, in mirror form, the story from the other character’s point of view. There’s Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection (“Leave me, foolish pursuer! I will forever be the only one that I desire”) and Echo, who loved him (“I desire that one only. I will forever be the foolish pursuer”)
Notice the reading forward and backwards represents a different viewpoint/perspective. Singer's innovative "reverso" poems are extremely interesting. Be sure to check those titles out.

Find out more about this author/poet, Marilyn Singer at http://marilynsinger.net/ --
Click on the poetry section of her website.

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Teen Reading Week & Teen Tech Week
NOW - TEENtober

YALSA once celebrated teen reading week - and resources are still accessible by visiting the remains of the official Teen Read Week website www.ala.org/teenread.
However 2019 marked the merging of two focused weeks into a new initiative --nationwide celebration hosted by libraries every October and aims to celebrate teens, promote year-round teen services and the innovative ways teen services helps teens learn new skills, and fuel their passions in and outside the library.

Right now the celebration is in its early stages but ReadWriteThink has one of the most useful hubs for information and ideas.
TeenTober?!? Learn about his month-long celebration.  Retrieved from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/teentober-learn-about-this-20121.html

Some of these ideas may provide beginnings for literacy activities.

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Best Practices in Reading Instruction
Accelerated Reading
Accelerated Reading (AR) is used more frequently in elementary than in secondary schools however, the question of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is an important topic to discuss at any level.
It is promotions such as Teen Reading Week that create readers -- motivates them and builds a community of readers. Some feel that testing programs such as Accelerated Reading (AR) is a great incentive. I tend to disagree. I am often asked regarding this ... and in 2015 was asked to write an article regarding this general topic.   The information is still pertinent.  Thought you might be interested.
The article can be accessed from this link at mcelmeel.com --
http://www.mcelmeel.com/author/otherwritings/

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To Reading Log or Not?

There has not been a class in the last 20 years that at least a student or two has asked about (and in some cases adamantly defended) the use of reading logs to "make students accountable" for what they have (or have not) read.  As a parent/grandparent I HATE reading logs.  They reduce the joy of reading to a "have-to" chore.  As a teacher I have a love/hate relationship but in reality I know reading logs really do not tell me anything at all.  But I have always been willing to listen if someone can present me with a real reason for using them.

But the current thinking is to recognize that it is much better to have the great discussion … 

Thrower, Allie. (2019, Nov. 6). Literacy: Ditching the reading logs.  Edutopia.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readinglogs101 — Tracing minutes wasn’t helping her students, so a teacher asked them to instead discuss their reading every day, making it a social activity.  

Ripp, Pernille.  (2018, Nov. 3). Let’s talk about reading logs again.  (Blog). Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readinglogs102.  

So what do you think?  Reading logs or not?

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Donalyn Miller - the "Book Whisperer" on Reading

Donalyn Miller's newsletter for School Library Journal - she is awesome in terms of reading strategies and motivation.  Check for the information here:
https://www.slj.com/?authorName=Donalyn_Miller
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Just for Fun - a 4-year-old's Perspective About Reading

For fun -- This four-year-old speaks brilliantly about the value of reading - it's a fun watch. https://youtu.be/TDuOsD79D9o 

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More About John Green & Turtles All the Way
John Green's Turtles All the Way
John Green's book Turtles All the Way Down in conjunction is often mentioned in conjunction with the focus on mental illness. I found this article about John Green and his book and thought it was quite interesting. The article gives a little more information about the background of the book and details his own struggles with mental illness.
Hill, Libby. (2 Jul 2017) Green to publish first book since "The Fault in Our Stars." Cedar Rapids Gazette. page D8 (see below). The article can also be accessed through the Los Angeles Times at http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-john-green-new-book-turtles-all-the-way-down-20170622-story.html
Green also appeared on CBS's Sixty Minutes in October of 2018 discussing his most recent title; during the interview he discusses his struggle with mental illness in more depth - a subject briefly touched on in the LA Times.

Wertheim, J. (Oct. 7, 2018). Author John Green: Reaching Young Adults and Dealing with Mental Illness. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-fault-in-our-stars-author-john-green-on-reaching-young-adults-and-dealing-with-mental-illness-60-minutes/ 

And Wertheim, J. (2019 Jul 14) Author John Green: Reaching young adults and dealing with mental illness. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-fault-in-our-stars-author-john-green-on-reaching-young-adults-and-dealing-with-mental-illness-60-minutes-2019-07-14/.