Last Two Santman Chapters

Hello, all! It is our last week. It was a short six weeks, wasn't it? I will miss all of you, but I know you will do a wonderful job as student teachers. (And we'll still have to do that "night out" at some point before you graduate.)

In Chapter 9 of Santman, she refers to a YA novel by Nikki Grimes called _Bronx Masquerade_. In this novel, the kids in an inner-city class write poetry to express their feelings, hopes, fears, and thoughts. Santman refers to the response of one student, Tyrone, to a classmate's poem. Tyrone writes:

"You never think other folks got feelings. Like Janelle. I must've cracked wise a hundred times about her weight. Never even thought about it. It was just something I did for a laugh. Listening to her now, it don't seem all that funny."

Santman goes on in the chapter to talk about how literature can help students become more empathetic and more open to discussing (and understanding) social and emotional issues. I was wondering what you all thought about this, perhaps in relationship to the Raising Cain documentary. Do you think Santman's use of literature for social change in middle school is desirable--or even possible?

Janet

bibliographic info for Weaver book

Here is the bib info for the Constance Weaver grammar book. I handed out an excerpt from it in class. I'm sending this in case you want to cite it/quote from it in your grammar plan.

Weaver, C. (1996). Teaching Grammar in Context. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Janet

questions about Santman

I found Chapters 4 and 7 in Santman (our reading for Thursday, 2/2) very interesting. Here are a few questions you might discuss about it:

1. What do you think about Santman's strategies for teaching students to have interesting and useful literary discussions? Do you think they would work? Do you think they are necessary?

2. What do you think the significance is of making a personal connection to a text you are reading?

3. Do you think its true that sometimes kids will "miscue" when they are emotionally or ideologically "resisting" a text and its ideas?

4. What do you think of Santman's belief that teaching and learning literature is about helping kids to think about "big issues" and how texts both explore these issues and "position" readers?

Holes

I read the novel Holes. It was a great book that would interest readers at many levels. I believe most of the class is at least familiar with the book, so I won't give big long summary. Just know that the book deals with injustice and character. I don't know what exactly about the book would be so enticing to young readers, I think the friendships and the atmosphere at the camp create a unique story for readers. Holes is a story of overcoming and success, like so much YA lit is. Another plus about the book is the fact that it is very simple. The chapters are very short which allows makes the book read very quickly. I know there is a movie of this book and I don't know exactly how the two correspond. I do think though that we shouldn't be too quick to judge the movie as abad influence in the classroom, as we all know, I think, a movie could be a very beneficial tool if used correctly.

Hello, Week 4

Hello, class! It's week 4. How about you post about the YA book you have recently read? What was it about? What were its strengths and weaknesses? What kind of pedagogical uses can you see for it? Just do a little "book talk" in writing. . .
Janet

Newbery and Coretta Scott King Winners Announced

Hello, all! The 2006 Newbery, Caldecott, and King winners have been announced--see the link--

2006 Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, King Winners Announced  (The Book Standard, January 23)
Lynne Rae Perkins, Kevin Henkes, and Jacqueline Woodson were among the authors and illustrators with reason to celebrate as the American Library Association announced the winners of the year's major children's and young adult book awards, including the Caldecott, King, Printz, and Newbery awards.
http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/
article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001883284

boys and reading/literacy

Here's a paragraph from the NCTE "Inbox" (an email update of literacy-related news stories which you receive if you're a member of NCTE) related to Larry's post about boys and reading. You should be able to go to the link and find a newspaper article about this topic.
Janet

Making Learning a Guy Thing  (The Salt Lake Tribune, January 17)
Across the nation, more than 80 percent of school disciplinary actions are aimed at boys and they take more medication for attention disorders, according to Kathy Stevens, co-author of the book The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in Life and School. She believes problems boys face often can be traced to the fact that they learn to read later and often never develop a love of reading.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3409374

Week Three

Hello, class! I see that Keira posted some questions for tomorrow's discussion about reading workshop. Please try to answer at least some of them on the blog prior to tomorrow.

Also, once you get out "into the field" to do your miscue, use this forum to share how it's going--what are you seeing, thinking, and learning from your miscue? Are they teaching you anything about middle school reading and readers?

Also, I see there are a lot of questions about "reading" classes. If any of you are working in real reading classes, you might ask your mentor teacher about their purpose and the curriculum.

Janet