EDRG 3321 Wed Night - Chapter 9

Last Wenesday we learned about nonfiction. Reading this chapter and learning about nonfiction was pretty interesting.

Usually in school we are told that nonfition are books that are not made up but are true and not really told what nonfiction is. Well nonfiction are books that are used for answering questions, finding information about particular pesron of topic. I like how the text said that nonfiction literature encompasses nonfictionnor imformational books as well as biographies. Also I like that it said quality nonfiction books are those that spark wonder as well as joy in learning. This is something I really agree with and liked. I think it is important to have good quality nonfiction books in the classroom. They are more enjoyable for the students to read as compared to dull books that arent really written for children.

I never really knew all of the different elements that went into creating a nonfiction book.
Some of these elements are access features, format and style. Access features are what helps the readers acquire information about the content of the book that is to be read. It contains a table of contents, glossary and many other things. Format is also something that is important, and a books format is how it works as a whole. It includes shape, size, endpapers or endpages, and typeface. When the textbook discussed style as one of the features of nonfiction I had to go back and think about nonfiction books I have read. I had never really paid attention to it or thought that it was that important.

Something else that was cool was how some books are shaped to fit what they are presenting. This is something really fun to introduct to the students. I really liked the dinosaur book that was described. The large dimensions were desgined so that the dinosaurs would dominate everything else. When children see visual information in this way it may help them focus on the information the book contains.

EDRG 3344 - Expository/Persuasive

Hope everyone is having a good week. Well since my mgp is on literature mainly classic and comtempory literature, I decided to write my persuasive as a letter to a libraian requesting different types of books for the students and classroom. Im still having a little trouble figuring out what I want to do my expository on or how I want to do it. I was thinking that since it is for fifth grade I can do a poster on how to do readers theater, or since it is on the different types of literatures I was thinking about making a poster of a venn diagram to help students differentiate between classic and contemporary books.

EDRG 3321 - Author Study

Mick Harte Was Here

Author: Barbara Park

Ages: 8 - 12

I first discoved this book when my fifteen year old brother was in the fifth grade. He read it liked it and never stopped talking about it. He finally got me to read it and I could see why he liked it. This book actually deals with death as a theme. It follows young Pheobe as she deals with the death of here brother, and tell the story of his life to the readers. The readers goes on to learn that Mick died in a bike accident when he was twelve years old. The story takes place a year after his death. When I was reading this book I got into it and felt like I knew the characters. www.randomhouse.com/kids/junieb

Bridge to Terabithia

Author: Katherine Peterson

Ages: 9 - 12

This is another book I found and just wanted to menton a short thing about it. It is about a boy named Jess Aarons who becomes friends with Leslie Burke, a girl who is a new student at his school. Leslie soon opens Jess mind to imagination and soon they both create Terabithia. Terabitha is a land where Jess and Leslie reigh heigh and no one can ever defeat them. This place that Leslie helped to creat for Jess is what helps him when and unexpected tragedy occus.

This is also a book that deals with some aspects of death and how children cope with it.

www.Terabithia.com

Both of these are good books that I have seen in the classroom.

EDRG 3321 Wed. Night - Fiction

Fiction is definitely my favorite type of book to read, once I get into a book it is hard to get me out of it, sometimes Im at home and I'll start reading a book and before I know it I finished the whole thing. I had a hard time learning to read in school, but once I did learn it was hard for me to stop. I have way to many favorites to choose from but I'll try to pick some from one author, or narrow it down to a few authors for this blog.

Well first of all I love the book Little Women by Louis May Alcott. I was in love with the movie when I was younger and I always watched it with my mom. When I was in the seventh grade my mom brought me the complet unabriged book at a yardsale. I started reading in and fell completly in love with it. I loved the relationships all the characters had with each other. It is one of my all time favorite books, I have read it about two sometimes three times every year since I got the book.

Jane Austen! There is not much more I can say she is a great author and I love her books. She is one of my favorites and I have read all her books but Sense and Sensibility. My faveorites are Pride & Prejudice and Northanger Abbey. When I read her books I get so into the stories that I cant stop reading. I just love the way that she writes and the plot lines that she creates. Ive read Pride & Prejudice maybe four times and Northanger Abbey twice. Now Im gonna read Mansfield Park again.

Nicholas Sparks in another one of my favorite authors I have read all of his books. I love that her writes the romance story but he also write with many other aspects in his books. Though most of his books have a sad poin in the story none of his books are exactly the same. I cant really say that I have a favorite book of his because to me they are all great.

EDRG 3321 Wed. Night - Chapter 8

I really enjoyed reading this chapter and learning about fiction. I really liked how the textbook said that fiction provides a window into what makes human beings so Human. One of the things that I enjoyed reading about was the different types of fiction. These are contemporary realistic fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction. Of these my favorites are contemporary realistic fiction, which is stories of animals and people that could actually exsist along with events that could actually happen in todays world or the recent past. I also enjoy reading some historical fiction which are stories about people and events that could actually happen, but the stories usually take place in the past.

Something that caught my attention was the two types of conflicts, internal and exteranl. Internal being a struggle within one's self where a person must make some decision or overcome pain; and external being a struggle with a force outside one's self. I think that these things are what help draw readers and keep them interested in fiction reading. I know that this is what kept me interested in many of the books I have read. I also think that this is what keeps children interested in reading. I know when I was younger and I had to read books in school I was more interested in them if the conflicts in the stories where some that I could relate to.

EDRG 3321 Wed. Night - Author Study

Number the Stars

Author: Lois Lowry

Age Range: 12 and up

This book focuses on ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen. Its the year 1943 and the girls lives are filled with school and food shortages, and the Nazis have begun marching through their town of Copenhagen. When the German Nazis begin their campaign to "relocate" all of the Jews of Denmark the Johansens take in Ellen and pretend that she is part of their family. Late one night the Nazis arrive at the Johansens home and Annemarie and Ellen must think quicky when the Nazis question why she isnt blond like her sisters.

I think that this is a great book to use in the fifth grade and middle school grades. It is a way that you can teach them about the Holocaust that they may understand better and relate to because the main character is around their age. I also found some interesting websites that may be helpful when using this book.

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/reading23/number_the_stars.htm

http://earthrenewal.org/Number%20the%20stars%20by%20Lois%20Lowery.htm

http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/numberthestars.html

Also this is the authors website that has a list of some of her other books.

http://loislowry.com/

EDRG 3321 Wed. Night - Chapter 7

This chapter explained how the word illustration means light upon or illuminate. I think that is exactly what picture books do. They not only tell the story, but they show the story. I think that this is great for students who may have trouble understanding the story or those who have trouble understanding some details of the story. Many times the pictures help children understand what they are reading.

Its interesting to learn how many details go into creating a picture book, and how all those details help bring picture books to life. Some of those details are color, shape, texture, and line. Of these shape is how and why intersecting lines create and depict a certian trait or shape, and color reflects the plot and moods of the characters. Texture is when the reader wants to reach out an touch the illustration, and the artist used a combination of shape, line, and color. Line is used to define what illustrators draw or paint. It shows movement, shape and texture and is also used to suggest emotion or moods. Illustrators also use line to show action, movement and other things. To me line is interesting in the way that drawing, painting or sketching a picture in a certian format can bring change to the meaning of the story. I also enjoyed learning about the different media that are used in picture books. Its interesting to know that all the details that go into art that hangs in museums also goes into creating great picture books.