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- Beginnings!
- Genre: What am I reading, anyway?
- Art and Science
- Learning to Read
- Books for Boys
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Beginnings!
It's back to school, and in grades 1-5 we talked about how our emotions about
the beginning of school are paralleled by our feelings about beginning a book.
Children talked about how they might be nervous about meeting new people
(meeting new book characters), excited about starting something new (starting
a new book), wondering what the day will bring (what will happen in the book)
and more!
The lesson drew on children's ability to infer meaning from a text, make
predictions, and ask questions--all from just reading the first page of a
book. After modeling the process with The Royal Bee by Linda Sue Park,
children worked in small groups with first pages of books. They had to read
closely to note what information the author gave them and what the author
chose to leave out. They were able to ask great questions and make intriguing
predictions. Many of them decided to check out the book they previewed to find
out just what the author had in store for them.
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Genre: What am I reading, anyway?
We have been working on identifying the characteristics of various literary
genres and examining individual books to determine their genres.
After discussing characteristics of genre as a class, students met in small
groups to cement their understanding of genre. Then, they searched for clues
in particular books.
Why look at genre? One reason is to begin a critical understanding of
literature. Another is to track what we read and learn more about our
preferences. Still another is to set goals for reading across genres to
broaden our experiences and understanding of books. Knowing different genres
also helps children find the books they want to read.
Some classes had an in-library "class trip" along the shelves as a help to
locating different genres. We will follow up with activities designed to help
children use the online library catalog.
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Art and Science
Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator and author Steve Jenkins was in town last
week to promote his new book, Living Color.
Jenkins is a wondrous artist whose vivid sense of color and his knack for
using just the right paper to create collages have you reaching out to touch
the creatures depicted in his art. His work is filled with fascinating facts,
that together with the stunning illustrations, will stick in your mind and
give you a greater appreciation for our natural world. Titles include Actual
Size, where you marvel at the gigantic and the tiny; Almost Gone, a look at
creatures nearly extinct and some which are already gone; Life on Earth: The
Story of Evolution; and the 2004 Caldecott Honor award-winning What Do You Do
With a Tail Like This? Jenkins sets the standard for information books.
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Learning to Read
It's fascinating to think about the kinds of things children have to learn
about a book--not just reading the words, but understanding how the book is
presented and making real world connections.
For example, yesterday I introduced the work of author-illustrator Ashley
Bryan to two K/1 classes. We read a tale, Beautiful Blackbird, in which
colorful African birds wish for the most beautiful color, black, to accentuate
their plumage. The generous blackbird agrees to decorate his friends with
black paint. After reading just the first page, children began to debate
whether the story could be true. They also deciphered the illustrations: in
the double-page scene where blackbird is stirring the paint, are the two
images of the blackbird depicting two birds, or one bird in two different poses?
Understanding a book is about so much more than reading the words. One of our
goals in library is to model how to read a book on one's own. We don't just
read the book, we look at all parts of it and discuss how it is put together.
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Books for Boys
The Parents' Choice website has a great list of books with boy (and girl)
appeal. The list was generated by librarians, youth directors and eleven-year
old boys and includes such gems as Tony Abbott's Secrets of Droon series,
survival stories by Gary Paulsen, Emily Rodda's fantasy books, and more. See
it at www.parents-choice.org. The website also has a terrific holiday gift guide.
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