Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Chapter 9-Non Fiction

Nonfiction literature encompasses nonfiction or informational books as well as biographies. These types of books get us wondering about certain things. I found the elements of nonfiction interesting. I didn't know that the format of the book is how it works as a whole. Some of the elements are format (size, shape, book covers, endpapers, typeface, and distinctive markings, Visual information, Access Features, Accuracy, Style, and Organization.
I also didn't know like fiction that there were som many different types. The different types include: concpet books, informational picture storybooksp, photographic essays, survey books, specialized books, journals, diaries, sketchbooks and documents, life-cycle books, Activity/craft, experiment and how to books, identification books/field guides, reference books and biographies.
I also find in interesting and helpful that each chapter provides a guideline for choosing literature. This guideline can be found on page 237.
I also liked the use of graphic organizers. children can use them to document the information that they have gathered reading nonfiction books. I have observed the use of the KWL Chart, the comparison charts, and the semantic mapping in my wife's kindergarten classroom. She is a strong believer in graphic organizers.
Great and informative Chapter.

Non-Fiction Books

If You Lived in Colonial Times by Ann Mcgovern.
This book takes a look at the various customs and dress of the Colonial age. This is a good book to use during Thanksgiving to compare the life, customs and dress of the Pilgrims to how we live, our customs, and how we dress today.
Click on link to view book: http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-9780590451604-4

The Diary of a Young Girl by Ann Frank.
Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary is a reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
Click on the link to view the book:
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=17-9780553296983-13

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Lon Po Po- a Chinese Version of Little Red Riding Hood

COMPARING FAIRY TALES
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND LON PO PO

Question Lon Po Po Little Red Riding Hood
By Charles Perrault
How many children
are main characters? 3 1



Where we meet
the wolf? Beginning of the Story:
Wolf comes to the house. In the woods.

What the characters
call the Grandmother? Po Po Grandmother




Where the mother is during
the wolf’s visit with the children? Visiting Grandmother At home


Who saves the children? The children save themselves No one


What happens to the wolf? He dies. He eats the girl

How the story ends? The mother returns Wolf eats Little Red
with baskets of food from Riding Hood
the real Po Po and the three
sisters tell their mother about
the Po Po who had visited them.


I would use these stories to teach:
· comparing similarities and differences
· Story Elements
· Sequence of events
· Making Predictions
· Using Illustrations
· Making Inferences
· Rewrite the end of the story
· Pretend you are one of the girls, how would you tell your mother what happened?
Here are a couple of good websites I found that have some neat lessons.
“Little Red Riding Hood”- http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0333.html
Creative Connections: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/folk-tales/resource/7940.htmlLesson on Comparing and Contrasting: http://www.vickiblackwell.com/lit/lonpopo.html
Lon Po Po: A Chinese Fairytale Lesson Plan
By Elizabeth Mazzurco website: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplan.jsp?id=658&print=1


Other versions:
Little Red Riding Hood (Charles Perrault). Little Red Riding Hood gets eaten up by the wolf in the end.
Little Red Cap (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm). In this story although the grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood get eaten up by the wolf, a huntsman was passing by and heard the wolf snoring and said that couldn’t possibly be a woman snoring. He cut the wolf’s belly and out came Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother.
Little Red Hood (Germany/Poland). Same ending as Little Red Cap. The girl and her grandmother get eaten by the wolf, a huntsman comes by and cuts the wolf’s belly open and out skips Little Red Riding Hood and later out comes her grandmother barely alive.
Little Red Hat (Italy/Austria). In this story it is not a wolf but an ogre who gobbles Little Red Riding Hood up at the end of the story.
The Grandmother (France). The girl meets a werewolf. Just as she is about to get in bed with the werewolf she realizes that it isn’t her grandmother. She tells the werewolf she has to go to the bathroom. The werewolf ties a string to her foot and gives her enough string to go outside to do her business. As soon as the girl gets outside she cuts the string and runs away. The werewolf jumps out of bed to follow her but gets to her house right when she walks inside.
The True History of Little Golden-Hood (Charles Marelles). In this story the girl is called Little Golden Hood. In the end when the wolf tries to eat the girl (Blanchette or Little Golden Hood) she puts her head down and begins to cry for her MaMa. As she lowers her head the wolf gets a snip of her red hood and it begins to burn his throat.

I didn't know there were that many different versions. All were about the same with slight variations. I only knew about Lon Po Po as my wife had the book and told me it was good for comparing and contrasting and teaching of Chinese Culture. I hope you enjoy the information.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Historical Fiction

My favorite fiction is Historical Fiction. here are a few books and websites.
Prehistoric and Ancient Time

Julius Lester
"Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt"
Egyptian princess, Batya, rescues a Hebrew infant who becomes a prophet to his people, while his sister finds her true self as a priestess to the Egyptian gods. Lester (To Be a Slave) creates a captivating story and a compelling portrait of a Moses torn between two cultures, from the time of his discovery in the bulrushes to his solo flight to Midian.
Short cut to view book: http://www.librarything.com/work/546439

Another book, one of my favorite books is:
"East of Eden" by John Steinbeck.
The story is primarily set in the Salinas Valley, California, between the beginning of the 20th century and the end of the Great War (World War I), though some chapters are in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and the story goes as far back as the American Civil War.
I had to read this book in my American Literature class last Spring. I am not fond of reading lengthy books but this book was good. The book explores themes of depravity, beneficence, love, and the struggle for acceptance, greatness, and the capacity for self-destruction and especially of guilt and freedom. It ties these themes together with references to and many parallels with the biblical Book of Genesis (especially Genesis Chapter 4, the story of Cain and Abel). East of Eden is a novel by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, published in September 1952. East of Eden brings to life the intricate details of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and their interwoven stories. Steinbeck wrote this story for his two sons and wanted to describe the Salinas Valley for them in detail: the sights, sounds, smells, and colors.
Short cut to view the book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EastOfEden.jpg

Early Twentieth Century (1900-1939)
Curtis
"Bud, Not Buddy"
Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father. The story is written in the first person so the reader comes to know Bud's thoughts and feelings right away: the longing for a father and a permanent home. I particularly like his "Rules for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself" that guides his actions and his fear of vampires. This is a really good book.
This website gives you a web-base unit to do with this book and it has a picture of the book: http://eduscapes.com/reading/bud/

There are many other historical eras that I like but I would be here all night. Anyway these are just a few. Enjoy!!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Fariy Tale: The Gingerbread Man

Original Fairy Tale: The Gingerbread Man

This original fairy tale was about an elderly couple who wanted a child. The old woman decides to bake a gingerbread man. When the gingerbread man is done the old man and woman want to eat it but the gingerbread man jumps up. The old woman tells him to stop but he replys, “Don’t eat me!” Stop, Stop says the old woman. The gingerbread man says, “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.” The old woman and man chase after him. The story continues with the gingerbread meeting other characters and escaping his fate of being eaten. He has all the characters chasing him. In the end he is outwitted by a fox.

Some of the versions include a Musubi Gingerbread Man from Hawaii: A freshly baked musubi man escapes from the old woman's kitchen and eludes his pursuers in this Hawaiian version of the Gingerbread boy.

The use of different versions is good for comparing the stories to see how similar and different they are to the original.
This website shows something like a power point of the story with pictures it was cute.
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/stories/gingerbread.htm
This website has a Five Day Gingerbread Man Theme Unit. It has some good activities to integrate all the subject areas. http://www.kidzone.ws/thematic/gingerbread/index.htm

List of other versions: The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett, The Musubi Man: Hawaii’s Gingerbread Man by Sandi Takayama, The Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratum, The Cajun Gingerbread Boy by Berthe Amoss, and The Runaway Rice Cake by Ying Chang Comperstine.

Some suggestions for a lesson would be:

Shared Reading:

Before Reading:
Check for prior knowledge - ask if children have ever made gingerbread houses or cookies.

During Reading:
Discuss Jan Brett's use of borders and predictable pictures (pictures along the border give clues about characters and events that will happen on the next page).

After Reading:
Do a story comparison using a Venn diagram..

Rereading:
Dramatize the story using character masks from Jan Brett.
Give the children parts to chant during the story (ex. "Run, run, as fast as you can...")

Story Comparisons
1. The classic tale of "The Gingerbread Man" served as the inspiration for more modern versions of the story. Choose one of the modern versions, such as "The Cajun Gingerbread Boy" or "Gingerbread Baby." Read both the original version and the updated version to the class. Compare the stories, identifying both similarities and differences. A Venn diagram offers a simple way to document the comparison.

Story Sequencing
2. Story sequence focuses on logic and allows the students to retell the story. Create a set of picture cards that highlight the major events from "The Gingerbread Man." Mix up the order of the cards. After reading the story once, have the kids help place the picture cards in the correct sequence. Ask the kids to describe the action in each picture to ensure it makes sense. Reread the story if necessary so the kids can arrange the pictures in the correct order. A similar option is to create felt board pieces that relate to the story. Cut the main characters out of felt. Let the kids use the felt pieces to retell the story, moving them on the felt board as they talk.

Gingerbread Cookies
3. Decorate gingerbread cookies as a culminating activity for "The Gingerbread Man." If you have baking facilities at the school, let the kids help mix the gingerbread dough and cut out the cookies. Working in small groups with adult assistants allows the kids a greater degree of participation. After the cookies are baked and cooled, let the kids decorate them. Provide icing and candies for accents. Hold a gingerbread cookie parade before eating them so each child can show off his gingerbread creation. If you do not have baking facilities provide the kids with already made gingerbread cookies and have them decorate them.

Gingerbread Puppets
4. A simple gingerbread man puppet provides the students with a tool for dramatic play activities. Create a template for the students on a piece of card stock. The students practice fine motor skills by cutting out the gingerbread men. Encourage the kids to color the puppets, adding accents with markers or pieces of construction paper. Glue a craft stick to the back of the puppet. These paper gingerbread men work well for retelling the story or creating new stories.

Math Activities
5. Ask the students to estimate how many boys and girls are in the class. Pass out the gingerbread Man Graph to the children. Have the students visit the bulletin board to fill in their graphs. Review the graphs in front of the class to check their estimations. After reviewing the results ask the children if they know how many boys and how many girls are in the class based on the results of the graphing exercise.

The internet search was loaded with information. This was fun. I was able to find some neat activities for my wife to use in her kindergarten classroom.

Author #2- Jan Brett

Author #2- Jan Brett- official website http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&source=hp&q=The+Tiny+Seed+by+Eric+Carle&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=Lv3YSreBN4PitgPuyYSYBg&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=image&resnum=10&ved=0CCsQzAMwCQ
Armadillo Rodeo
Most armadillos are happy scratching sand and eating, but Bo longs for adventure. And adventure Bo gets, the day Harmony Jean breaks in her brand-new chili- pepper-red cowboy boots by the banks of Can Creek. Peering out across the creek bed, Bo is sure he's spotted a rip-roarin', rootin'-tootin', shiny red armadillo! Bo's off and running after his new friend--right down to the Curly H Rodeo. There Bo gets to do all the things he's dreamed of doing: he rides a bronc, eats red- hot chili peppers, and even tries the two-step. Bo is ready to follow his pal off into the sunset, but he is about to discover his new friend is no ordinary armadillo. Jan Brett turns her considerable storytelling talents toward the Texas countryside in this warm and funny story of an armadillo on his own. Luckily, Ma Armadillo and her boys are searching for Bo in the borders to bring him back home.

The Easter Egg
It’s Spring Time for rabbits to decorate eggs for the Easter Rabbit. This year Hoppi is old enough to join in, and if he can just make the winning egg, he will be the one to help the Easter Rabbit on Easter. But Hoppi hasn't decided what kind of egg to make. And as he hops along and sees one fantastic egg after another, he begins to wonder how he can compete. Hoppi goes into the woods to think about his egg, and just when he figures out that he only has to make the best egg he can, his plans take a most unexpected turn. Jan Brett's lovable bunny hero and her remarkable Easter Rabbit will enchant readers as the pore over exquisite illustrations filled with dazzling eggs and their gifted makers - Flora Bunny, Aunt Sassyfrass, Hans Vanderabbit and others. An unforgettable Easter story for all ages!
Go to the home website listed above to view all of her books. She also illustrates her books and does a great job. Her books are unique in how she does the edges of the pages to give you a clue of what is coming up.

Author #1-Eric Carle

Author #1- Eric Carle-official website http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html
Eric Carle is one of my wife’s favorite authors. She uses his books for integrating Language Arts, math, science, and social studies. The themes of his stories are usually drawn from his extensive knowledge and love of nature—an interest shared by most small children. Besides being beautiful and entertaining, his books always offer the child the opportunity to learn something about the world around them. It is his concern for children, for their feelings and their inquisitiveness, for their creativity and their intellectual growth that, in addition to his beautiful artwork, makes the reading of his books such a stimulating and lasting experience.
Carle says: “With many of my books I attempt to bridge the gap between the home and school. To me home represents, or should represent; warmth, security, toys, holding hands, being held. School is a strange and new place for a child. Will it be a happy place? There are new people, a teacher, classmates—will they be friendly?

From Head to Toe, 1997“I can do it!” is the confidence-building message of this book. As young children copy the antics of Eric Carle’s animals, they’ll learn such important skills as careful listening, focusing attention, and following instructions. Just as alphabet books introduce letters and simple words, From Head to Toe introduces the basic body parts and simple body movements - the ABC’s of dancing, gymnastics, and other sports activities.

The Tiny Seed, 1970Poetic but simple text and lovely collage pictures dramatize the life cycle of all plants, as one tiny seed grows into an enormous sunflower, which then produces more seeds in its turn. Carried from its flower home by the autumn wind, a tiny seed travels around the world. Its journey is perilous, and the reader learns the fate of fellow seeds: they can fall into the ocean, be burned by the sun, or be eaten by birds. Even those seeds that land and begin to grow are in danger of being stepped on or picked. Against the odds, however, this tiny seed survives to grow into a grand, beautiful flower, ready, in turn, to send its seeds out into the world on the wind.
Sorry I still haven't figured out how to put the pictures of the books on the blog. If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Chapter 7: Picture Books

I found the whole chapter very interesting. I particularly liked the visual elements section that talks about line, color, shape, texture, design or composition. The reason I relate to this section is because I like to draw and I can relate to these terms. The section of forms of picture books was also interesting because I was not aware of the different forms such as alphabet, concept, pop-up, interactive, wordless, and predictable patterened language books. The Guidelines for Choosing Literature: Evaluating Picture Books was another interesting section that will help me see books from a different view point. There was not anything that I disagreed with or didn't like in this chapter. I found all the information helpful in learning how to select literature and what types are out there.

Response to "The Path of Needles or Pins: Little Red Riding Hood"

I did not care much about this version of the story. I thought the part where the wolf eats the grandmother and saves some of her flesh and blood a little to gory for students. I did notice that a lot of the information in the story relates to life at that time particularly for the women. For example: The women/laundresses who helped the little girl cross the water but sank or drowned the wolf is representative of women's labor at that time. I also did not care for the sexual conotation implied by the little girl stripping her clothes and throwing them away just to climb in with the wolf. This seemed more of a story intended for older students maybe high school age. Just my opinion.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Second Author: Mercer Myer

Mercer Mayer (born December 30, 1943 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American children's book writer and illustrator. He has published over 300 books using a wide range of illustrative styles (see his bibliography for a list). Mayer is probably best known for his "Little Critter" and "Little Monster" series of books.
This website also lists more of Mercer Mayer’s books.http://www.littlecritter.com/

There’s A Nightmare in my Closet. This book is about a nightmare in a little boy's closet. He knew it was there and finally got tired of being scared. He waited until the nightmare crept out of the closet and told him to go away. The nightmare began to cry. The boy felt sorry for him and let him sleep with him in his bed. This would be a great book to read about confronting your fears.
This website http://www.librarything.com/author/mayermercer lists more of Mercer Myer’s books.
Click here to see a picture of the book. http://www.librarything.com/work/4841598
My wife has at least half of Mayer's books in her class. Littler critter is one of her favorite characters.

First Author: Judith Viorst

Judith Viorst, born February 2, 1931), is an American author, newspaper journalist, and psychoanalysis researcher. She is perhaps best known for her children's literature, such as The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (about the death of a pet) and the Alexander series of short books.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, published in 1972, is an ALA Notable Children's Book written by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz. It has also won a George G. Stone Center Recognition of Merit, a Georgia Children's Book Award, and is a Reading Rainbow book. Viorst followed this book up with a sequel, Alexander and the Wonderful, Marvelous, Excellent, Terrific Ninety Days.
From the moment he wakes up with gum in his hair, things just do not go Alexander's way. Getting out of bed, he trips on a skateboard and drops his sweater into a sink full of water. At breakfast, Alexander's brothers Nick and Anthony reach into their cereal boxes and pull out amazing prizes, while all Alexander ends up with is cereal.
On the way to school, he doesn't get the window seat in the carpool. At school his teacher doesn't like his drawing of an invisible castle (which is actually just a blank sheet of paper) and criticizes him for singing too loud and leaving out 16. His friend Paul reduces Alexander to third best friend and there is no dessert in his lunch.
At the dentist's, the dentist tells Alexander he has a cavity, the elevator door hurts his foot, Anthony pushes him into the mud, Nick calls him a crybaby for crying, and Mom catches him in the act of punching Nick. It goes on to tell more terrible horrible things that have happened to Alexander.
At bedtime, Alexander's nightlight burns out, he bites his tongue, Nick takes back a pillow, and the family cat chooses to sleep with Anthony. No wonder Alexander wants to move to Australia. The book ends with his mother's assurance that everyone has bad days, even people who live in Australia.
Here is a short cut to view the book. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ALEXANDER_TERRIBLE_HORRIBLE.jpg

Chpater 6

What I do agree with in Chapter 6 is that stories are a rich oral tradition that have been passed down from generation to generation. I can think of many stories my grandfather use to tell my sister and I as we were growing up. He would tell us stories that are pertinenet to our Hispanic culture. I agree with the text that some stories should not be written down because they might not be written down correctly or the meaning is changed. As a teacher it is important for us to chose our stories carefully. We need to make sure our students are aware of the different cultures and understand and have an appreciation of the different cultures.
The guidelines for choosing literature have changed my way of looking for stories. The guidelines are excellent source of how to chose appropriate traditional literature taking into account their culture and literary considerations.
There was not really anything in this chapter that I did not agree with or did not like. I found this chapter very interesting. We just need to be careful what stories we select and for what purposes and make sure we do not offend our students culture in the process. We need to be sensitive to their culture.
I could relate to the use of story maps and venn diagrams because when I have observed my wife, who is a kindergarten teacher, during her guided reading she uses venn diagrams to point out what is the title of the story? Who is the author and illustrator? Who are the characters in the story? Where did it take place, the setting? etc. The children seem to remember the informatio better through the use of visuals.