Wednesday, July 24, 2013

What I'm Reading Now - Pseudonymous Bosch

I just finished Write This Book, by Pseudonymous Bosch, author of the Secret Series.  While this was a fun book to read and write with my own kids, I don't know if it would be as much fun it you hadn't already read the Secret Series.   As I was reading it though, I kept thinking it would also make a great classroom tool.  So great in fact, that I am going to use excerpts of it to teach my students about literary elements in the fall.  Because the point of this interactive book is to involve young readers in the writing process, the author clearly and succinctly explains the elements of a good story.  Of course, he does this with his signature wit.  (If you haven't read the Secret Series yet, buy it today.  You'll see what I mean.)

Happy reading and writing,
Christine
Literacy Connections blog

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Books for Boys: Keep Boys Reading - Part 2

Yesterday, I posted this about a publisher launching an imprint aimed at boys ages 9-14.  I also shared this info on an  educational website, School Leadership 2.0, where I received an interesting comment and follow-up email.  Both of which got me thinking about the kinds of books I recommend to reluctant readers who are boys, or to my girlfriends for their sons to read.

Starting with the most obvious series, for boys who think they hate reading but love sports, I recommend Mike Lupica books, as long as the child is reading at about a 5th or 6th grade level.  If the little sports fan is reading at a lower level, I recommend Matt Christopher books.

Got a future legal eagle on your hands?  I recommend the Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer books, by John Grisham.

Books and series that may be less obvious to parents, but usually enjoyed by my male students include:

Shredderman series, by Wendelin VanDraanen.
With a low readability, and an anti-bullying theme, this will make your reader feel like a hero.

Nate the Great,  by Marjorie W. Sharmat
Noir mysteries for very young readers.

The Time Warp Trio, by Jon Sciezka
Combine history and the sci-fi element of time travel to grab your boy's attention.

Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally), by Lisa Yee
What do you do when your former best bud, a girl who liked to do all the same things you like, suddenly befriends a girly-girl and starts doing crazy things like shopping, and worrying about hair?  This middle grade book looks at friendship, boys, girls and families.

For pure fun and easy reading with very little text and hysterical illustrations, I of course recommend the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, by Jeff Kinney.  I know some sticklers out there are thinking that isn't "real reading," to which I say, any reading is good reading, especially if it hooks young readers.  When students finish this series, I often recommend the Big Nate series, by Lincoln Peirce, but in my opinion, it is not as enjoyable as the Diary books.  Sorry.

Does your boy get wry humor and enjoy suspense?  I'd recommend A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket, or The Secret Series, by Pseudonymous Bosch.

For the fantasy fan, I'd recommend the Percy Jackson series, by Rick Riordan.  If you've read my blog before, you know that fantasy usually isn't my thing, but all the action in this series keeps me turning pages.

Finally, for some foreign intrigue, action and adventure, I'd recommend the 39 Clues series, by various authors. 

If your boy is still not sure what to read, why not start with Guys Write for Guys Read, a collection of short stories, essays and cartoons written by today's most popular male authors?

Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog








Sunday, July 21, 2013

Keep Boys Reading

September 1, Enslow Publishing will launch a new imprint aimed at boys ages 9-14.  Read all about it here.

Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Happy Moon Day!

July 20th is Moon Day in honor of the Apollo 11 mission that landed man on the moon.  Nearly everyone has some connection to that story.  Perhaps you have a relative  who worked on the lunar landing module, or perhaps you or a relative know exactly where you were at the time of the landing.
A few summers ago, my kids and I were visiting a friend's summer rental on Fire Island, and a neighbor told us that when he was a kid he watched the landing in the very house my friend was renting.  My friend joked that she believed him because it looked like the house hadn't been touched  since 1969.  Wood paneling and linoleum floors aside, the achievement of landing a man on the moon is a classic, feel-good story that most Americans know. 
What you may not know, is that in 1961, 13 women were tested to see if they had what it takes to become astronauts.  Read their stories in Almost Astronauts, by Tanya Lee Stone.

Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Be in My Next Article

Do you read aloud to your own children or students?  If so, I'd love to hear from you.  I'm currently researching read alouds for an upcoming article and your story could appear in a national magazine.  I'm especially interested in teachers or parents who continue the read aloud into upper elementary and middle school grades.  If you have a story you'd like to share, leave a comment here, or email me at
bookgirlblogger(at)gmail(dot)com.

Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog

Monday, July 15, 2013

What I'm Reading Now: Rick Riordan

In preparation for teaching the new 6th grade module next year, I am reading The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan.  Fantasy usually isn't my thing, but this book is great, and ties in perfectly with the sixth-grade social studies curriculum here in New York. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series, and I can't wait to see the movie Sea of Monsters, sequel to The Lightning Thief, when it comes out in August.
Yesterday's New York Times Book Review contained this piece on Rick Riordan's newest work, the short story, The Son of Sobek.  Available as an e-book, this story unites the characters from the Percy Jackson series and the Kane Chronicles series.  Greek mythology together with Egyptian mythology ... sounds perfect for sixth grade!
More on this module as I attempt to implement it in the fall...

Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Bastille Day, Book and Boeuf Borguignon!

Ooh la la.  Today is Bastille Day, or the French National Day.  If you're looking for a quick summer read that will evoke the city of light, why not try French Lessons, by Ellen Sussman?  Ms. Sussman lived in Paris for five years, and her novel about three tutors and their American students in a French language immersion program will put you in the mood for all things French.  For a little French Chef nostalgia, enjoy the video of Julia Child's famous Boeuf Bourguignon recipe below:




Happy reading and "Bon Appetit!"
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Second- Sight Saturday: Nook vs. Book Round 4



I originally posted this on January 6, 2012

January 6, 2012
 
Yesterday, the New York Times parenting blog posted an article called, Why Books Are Better than e-Books for Children  It was very interesting, and makes the current count in this Nook vs. Book series: Nook -  1    Book  - 3.  To be continued...
To see the earlier rounds, click on round 1, round 2, round 3.
 
Happy book reading or e-reading,
Christine

Friday, July 12, 2013

Friday Film Clip

Happy Summer!  This weekend a great summer series returns to HBO.  Enjoy the preview of the new season of   The Newsroom below:



Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Coliseum Lesson

Yesterday's Newsday contained this article on the two finalists for the redevelopment of the Nassau Coliseum.  If I were teaching summer school in Nassau County, I would use this informational text as a multi-day lesson for my students.  After a close read of the text, we would complete a compare/contrast activity, and culminate with a written argument in which students defend their choice of the better option for the county.  To launch debate, I might ask students if it is right to allow MSG to have such a vice grip on New York sports.  When it is so expensive for families to go see professional sports, should MSG be allowed to control this arena too?  What about the fact that the Ratner group brought the Islanders from Nassau to the Barclays Center?  When families want to see any New York sports, they will continue to have to do so at the terms (prices) set forth by very powerful companies.

Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog   

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Help a Writer and Improve Education

I saw this on  an education writing blog:

NEED YOUR HELP ON AN ARTICLE

Hi all...this is a bit off topic, but whom better to reach out to than a group of educators?

I am working on an article for Teaching Tolerance.
The article will look at how to effectively and appropriately  introduce and teach about slavery in K-5 classrooms. This topic emerges in  light of the February 2013 incident of a teacher having students re-enact a slave auction in the classroom. The article will look at how teachers might  be generally unprepared to address the topic and also how the common core  standards provide a narrow view of what the teaching of slavery should be.

This story looks at the particular challenges faced by early-grade teachers (e.g., misordered standards, adapting a difficult topic to be age-appropriate) and then offers implementable solutions to those challenges.



I am interested in learning from elementary school teachers how they deal with this topic in a sensitive, appropriate fashion, and would like to be able to chat with curriculum directors or state education department reps in places like Mississippi or Alabama, to learn more about strategy, approach...and also, if there are any model programs out there, great.


You can contact me at mi@micheleisrael.com.


Thanks ahead of time.


Michele
 
I hope you can help this writer.  Her contact info is above.
 
Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Writing an "As Told To..." Piece

Here is a link to an article that I wrote for the March 2013 issue of Parenting: School Years.  The hardest part of writing an "as told to.." piece is not finding an interesting subject to interview.  It is writing someone else's story in the first person and maintaining their voice. 

Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Second - Sight Saturday: Nook vs. Book

I originally posted this on November 30, 2011:

November 30, 2011
 
On Monday I posted this on e-readers for children.  Now let me clarify, I have a Nook and I love it.  However, before I got it, I wasn’t sure if the Nook and I would hit it off.  The Nook is cool, sleek and modern.  I am old-fashioned.  I like homemade comfort foods like soup, sauce and gravy.  I like opening my gifts on Christmas morning, not Christmas Eve, and I like reading real books.  I like the feel of a book in my hands, the smell of a book, (especially the smell of a library book which can bring me back to childhood) and I like the tactile sensation of turning pages.  How then, could the Nook and I make it work?
 
And, if I were going over to the dark side of digital reading, what should I wear?  Would I have to give up my sweaters and pearls and wear something edgier, perhaps head to toe black like Darth Vader, cat burglars and intellectuals from SoHo?
 
And of course there was the bigger dilemma, if I were going leave my tried and true traditional books, what should be the first title I read on the Nook? Should I go with a classic like Pride and Prejudice?  Would a beloved favorite like The Great Gatsby be a digital disappointment?  Finally, since I felt like I was doing something seedy anyway, I settled on an easy beach read called Trouble in Mudbug, in which the protagonist’s manipulative, materialistic mother-in-law finally dies only to come back and haunt her.  And you know what, I kind of liked it.
 
The Nook and I didn’t really bond though, until a trip to Montauk.  There we spent time on the beach, on the balcony, and curled up on the couch together.  I discovered that the Nook is more than just cool; it is also the perfect travel accessory.  It provides a world of reading in one compact case that easily fits into an overnight bag.  So now I’m asking, why would anyone leave their tried and true traditional Nook for Nook Color?
 
Happy e-reading or book reading,
Christine

Friday, July 5, 2013

Revenge Wears Prada

Earlier this week I read Revenge Wears Prada, sequel to the bestselling The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger.  Many speculate that the first novel is a roman a clef about Anna Wintour, long-time editor-in-chief of Vogue.  While I couldn't relate to some of the characters' over-the-top obsessions with fashion, glitz, and glam, I found the author's descriptions of the first days of motherhood to be spot on.  All of the feelings of sleep deprivation, of not getting my "morning shower" until 4:00 in the afternoon, of every article of clothing that still fit having breast milk or spit-up on it, came flooding back to me, but so did the feelings of a warm newborn nuzzled up in the crook of my neck.  For those descriptions, and some entertaining plot twists, I think you should give this book a try.  You may not fall head over your Jimmy Choos, but it is a quick, easy read perfect for a summer distraction. 

Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights!

Happy (almost) Independence Day!

Yesterday, a friend and I took our children to the New York Public Library to see an exhibit of one of two known surviving copies of The Declaration of Independence, written in Thomas Jefferson's own handwriting.  According to the exhibit, before the Declaration of Independence was ratified on July 4th, a number of revisions were made to Jefferson's original text.  Concerned about the revisions, Jefferson made several copies of the text he originally submitted to the Continental Congress.  He underlined the passages which had been revised.  One of those notable revisions, was Jefferson's lengthy commentary on slavery:

     "of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people, who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the  Christian king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable  commerce and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another"

This section, which was omitted to appease Georgia and South Carolina, could launch several class discussions and debates, but there are several other revisions worthy of analysis and debate as well.

Most surprising to me, was how small this 4-page copy of the Declaration of Independence was.  I imagined a large parchment, but each of these sheets seemed no larger than an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.  The Bill of Rights, on display for the first time with the Declaration of Independence, was much larger, but due to age and low lighting in the exhibit area, it was much harder to read. 

Today is the last of this three-day exhibit, so I urge anyone near New York to try to see it.  It was amazing to see these founding documents of our democracy on display in a free public library, which, like a free public education, is a bedrock of democracy.

Happy reading,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog

Monday, July 1, 2013

Keep Kids Creating and Writing Over the Summer Break

My book review in the July 2013 issue of Parenting: School Years is all about keeping kids reading during the long summer break, but what about writing?  How can you keep your kids from losing the  important literacy skills of writing?  Create summer journals!
Take ordinary composition notebooks ($1.00 or less on sale) and any craft materials you already have at home; construction paper, scrapbook paper, stickers, duct tape, seashells, etc., and let loose.  The kids can start by decorating a journal to reflect their personalities, or at least their interests this summer. (1D, anyone?) Then each day they can write about their activities.  Kids not crazy about writing?  They can write for half a page, and illustrate the other half.  Movie ticket stubs,  beach sand, photos can all be adornments to daily entries.  Don't worry about grammar or spelling.  The point of this is to keep the creative juices flowing and keep them writing.   And don't forget to have them date each entry, including the year.  Someday this will make an adorable momento of a gone by summer.



Happy reading and writing,
Christine
Literacy Connections Blog