August « 2009 «

Archive for August, 2009

Georgia Book Award Nominee 2009-2010: Feathers

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

This year I plan to read all the GA Book Award Nominees and provide a “one stop” resource for teachers who would like to use these books in their classrooms. I will be posting links to author Web sites, teacher’s guides, and related Web links. I hope to make this an unbiased resource, so I will not be providing my own review of the books–other than recommending it as a read aloud (or not).

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Summary: When a new, white student nicknamed “The Jesus Boy” joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie’s growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.

Author Web Site: http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com

Teaching Resources:

Teacher’s Guide: Not Currently Available

Lesson Plan from National Council of Teachers of English on Similar Books (Does Not Include Feathers, But Could Be Used As Building Block/Includes The Other Side, a Picture Book by Woodson )

Reading Guide of Discussion Questions by Penguin Publishing

Review Suitable for Booktalk from Kidsread.com

Related Links: Civil Rights

Brown v. Board of Education: National Archive Documents and Lesson Plans

Learn NC: Race Relations (Includes Multimedia Resources)

Research Starters from Scholastic: Civil Rights

Related Links: Emily Dickinson

Biography of Emily Dickinson from the Academy of American Poets Web Site

Dickinson Electronic Archives

Teaching with Emily Dickinson: The Classroom Electric (Emily Dickinson Resources)

Text and Slideshow of Entire Poem (TextFlow) from the Academy of American Poets Web Site

Excerpt:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
-Emily Dickinson

Related Links: Hearing Impaired

Resources from the American Society for Deaf Children

Resources from Raising Deaf Kids

Related Links: Multimedia

Slideshow and Reading of Excerpt from Feathers on the Author’s Web Site

Mini Documentary of Woodson on Writing Realistic Fiction, Video of Author Reading from Feathers, & More

Related Links: Sign Language

First 100 Signs (with Illustrations, Descriptions, and Photos of Person Making Each Sign)

Handspeak.com (including American Sign Language Online Dictionary with Videos Showing Signing of Words)

Read Aloud Recommendation: This is a good book to open dialogue about social issues such as race relations. It will challenge students to question social injustices such as prejudice and stereotyping.

Tags: Booktalks, children's literature, Deaf, Emily Dickinson, Feathers, Georgia Book Awards, Jacqueline Woodson, Library Media Center Resources, literature, Newbery Honor Book, Online Literary Resources, Race relations-Integration, Sign Language, Teacher resources, Web Resources for Feathers
Posted in GA Book Awards 2010, Meet Authors/Illustrators, Online Literacy Resources, Reading Initiatives, Recommended Books, Sea Turtles, Themes, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Georgia Book Award Nominee 2009-2010: Uprising

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Uprising by: Margaret Peterson Haddix

Summary: In 1927, at the urging of twenty-one-year-old Harriet, Mrs. Livingston reluctantly recalls her experiences at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, including miserable working conditions that led to a strike, then the fire that took the lives of her two best friends, when Harriet, the boss’s daughter, was only five years old. Includes historical notes.

Author Web Site: http://www.haddixbooks.com

Teacher’s Guide (Indepth Lesson Plan):
http://urbandreams.ousd.k12.ca.us/lessonplans/triangle/index.html

Related Links: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Triangle Factory Fire Online Exhibit by Cornell University

Related Links: The Gilded Age

Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt (NPR Article with Photos)

Related Links: New York City History

Big Apple History from PBS Kids

Related Links: Shirtwaists

Photo of Shirtwaist

Related Links: Strikes and Labor Unions

AFL-CIO: The Uprising of 20,000 and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Related Links: Women’s Suffrage

Alva Vanderbilt Belmont: Suffragist

Votes for Women: Selections from the National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection, 1848-1921 (For Teachers with Great Images from the Library of Congress)

Related Links: Wright Brothers

Discovery Channel: The Wright Stuff

National Geographic: Short Video on History of Flight

Read Aloud Recommendation: This book would be a good choice when studying the Industrial Revolution, suffrage/women’s rights, immigration, the Gilded Age, or American immigration. It’s also an engaging example of historical fiction. Knowing that two characters perish in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, but not knowing which character survived keeps the reader intrigued.

Tags: Georgia Book Awards, Gilded Age, Immigration, Industrial Revolution, Lower East Side, Margaret Peterson Haddix, New York City, New York City 1898-1951, Suffrage, Teacher resources, Teaching Links, Teaching Resources, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, Uprising, Women's Rights
Posted in GA Book Awards 2010, Meet Authors/Illustrators, Online Literacy Resources, Recommended Books | No Comments »

Georgia Book Award Nominee 2009-2010: Saving the Griffin

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

Saving the Griffin by : Kristin Wolden Nitz

Summary: When eleven-year-old Kate and her younger brother Michael encounter a baby griffin in an Italian garden, they vow to help the creature find its way back home and to keep Griffo’s existence a secret.

Author Web Site: http://www.kwnitz.com

Teacher’s Guide: Not Currently Available

Behind the Scenes from the Author’s Blog: http://kristinwoldennitz.wordpress.com/category/saving-the-griffin

Definition of Griffin:

A griffin is a legendary creature, usually represented in literature and art as having the head, beak, and wings of an eagle, the body and legs of a lion, and occasionally a serpent’s tail. The griffin seems to have originated in the Middle East, as it is found in the paintings and sculptures of the ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. The Romans used the griffin merely for decorative purposes in friezes and on table legs, altars, and candelabra. The griffin motif appeared in early Christian times in the bestiaries, or beast allegories, of St. Basil and St. Ambrose. Stone replicas of griffins frequently served as gargoyles in the Gothic architecture of the late Middle Ages. The griffin is still a familiar device in heraldry and is thought to represent strength and vigilance.

Citation
Griffin. (2009). Retrieved August 16, 2009, from
Discovery Education: http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

Griffin Gargoyle Photos:

Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuntera/ / CC BY 2.0

Credit:

Photograph by Dona Acheson. Courtesy of Toronto Public Library

Related Links: Griffin (Mythical Creature)

KidzWorld: Griffin

Mythical Creatures Coloring Pages

Related Links: Florence, Italy

Guide to Italy (Photos and Video of Florence)

Related Links: Sienna, Italy

Guide to Italy (Photos of Siena)

Video of Siena, Italy from GeoBeats

Related Links: Basic Italian

Children’s Conversational Italian (Short Audio Files by Native Speakers)

Video of Top Local Italian Phrases from GeoBeats

Read Aloud Recommendation: Definitely! This story has fantasy, adventure, and a hint of danger.

Tags: award winning literature, children's literature, children's literature online, Fantasy, Florence, Georgia Book Award Nominee 2010, Georgia Book Awards, Griffins, Italy, Kristin Wolden Nitz, library media center, library media specialist, media specialist, Mythical Creatures, Online Resources, Saving the Griffin, Siena, Teaching Links, Teaching Resources, Web Resources for Literature, Web Resources for Saving the Griffin
Posted in GA Book Awards 2010, Literary Merit vs. Popular Appeal, Meet Authors/Illustrators, Online Literacy Resources, Reading Initiatives, Recommended Books, Sea Turtles, Themes, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

The Percy Jackson Series

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

I read Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief when it was nominated for the 2009 Georgia Book Award. I preceded to read the entire series as the books became available. The Percy Jackson books are fast paced and entertaining. The series centers around stories and characters from the Greek myths, in a modern day setting. It was no surprise to me that The Lightning Thief was selected as the 2009 Georgia Book Award Winner by students across Georgia (grades 4-8) .

Book 1: The Lightning Thief (Georgia Book Award Winner, 2009)

Summary: After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

Book 2: The Sea of Monsters

Summary: Seventh-grader Percy Jackson has recently discovered that he is the son of Poseidon, making him half human and half god, and along with his a demigod and a satyr friend, must save his beloved Camp Half-Blood from evil forces determined to destroy it.

Book 3: The Curse of the Titans

Summary: The disappearance of the goddess Artemis while out hunting a rare, ancient monster, prompts a group of her followers to join Percy and his friends in an attempt to find and rescue her before the winter solstice, when her influence is needed to sway the Olympian Council regarding the war with the Titans.

Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth

Summary: When demonic cheerleaders invade his high school, Percy Jackson hurries to Camp Half Blood, from whence he and his demigod friends set out on a quest through the Labyrinth, while the war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near.

Book 5: The Last Olympian

Summary: The long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy Jackson’s sixteenth birthday unfolds as he leads an army of young demigods to stop Kronos in his advance on New York City, while the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster, Typhon.

Teacher’s Guide to Percy Jackson Series (including Author Interviews, Discussion Questions, Reader’s Theatre Scripts, Literature Circle Activities, Units, and More!!)

Tags: children's literature, Georgia Book Awards, Greek myths, library media center, mythology, myths, Percy Jackson, Recommended Reading, Rick Riordan, The Battle of the Labyrinth, The Curse of the Titans, The Last Olympian, The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, Young Adult Literature
Posted in Meet Authors/Illustrators, Online Literacy Resources, Recommended Books | No Comments »

Georgia Book Award Nominee 2009-2010: Bearwalker

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Bearwalker by: Joseph Bruchac

Summary: Although he is the littlest student in his class, thirteen-year-old Baron Braun calls upon the strength and wisdom of his Mohawk ancestors to face both man and beast when he tries to get help for his classmates, who are being terrorized during a school field trip in the Adirondacks.

Author Web Site: http://www.josephbruchac.com

Teacher’s Guide: Not Currently Available

Related Links: Adirondack Mountains

Adirondacks.net: Official Guide to the Adirondacks

Encyclopedia Brittanica: Adirondack Mountains

Visit Adirondacks: Official Travel Information for the Adirondack Region of New York State

Related Links: Author Interviews

Scholastic Interview with Video

Related Links: Bears

Animal Bytes: Bear Information by Scientists of SeaWorld and Busch Gardens

Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan Museum of Zoology): Ursidae (Bear Family)

Bears.org (Species, Myths, Essays, and Media)