This is a link to Anastasia Suen's blog "5 great books" posted each Wednesday with 5 books on a theme and suggested ways to share them with students...
Here she is talking about Non-fiction
http://5greatbooks.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/sharing-nonfiction-with-new-readers/
Go here for a list of all her blogs http://www.asuen.com/blog/
I've mentioned before her "Picture book of the day" blog with suggestions on ways to use the books as mentor texts for students' own writing using the Six Traits structure for effective writing.
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Author / illustrator studies
The wonderful Reading Rockets website, mentioned before in this blog, has a great new Author study toolkit which you can browse online or download as a PDF.
http://www.readingrockets.org/books/authorstudy
The toolkit contains :
How about focussing on a particular author or illustrator - maybe one a week, or a few a term, selected by the teacher, librarian or students, and spending time reading their books closely, visiting their website if there is one, sharing favourites amongst the titles, identifying common themes or styles... It would mean that over the course of a year students would be exposed to a wide range of literature in more depth than reading a single title as well as taking part in regular book discussions about literature and becoming part of the wider children’s literature community...
http://www.readingrockets.org/books/authorstudy
The toolkit contains :
- 10 reasons to do an author study
- How to do an author study
- Set a purpose and goals
- Choose an author
- Read and respond to the books
- Research the authors
- Culminating projects
- Author study resources
How about focussing on a particular author or illustrator - maybe one a week, or a few a term, selected by the teacher, librarian or students, and spending time reading their books closely, visiting their website if there is one, sharing favourites amongst the titles, identifying common themes or styles... It would mean that over the course of a year students would be exposed to a wide range of literature in more depth than reading a single title as well as taking part in regular book discussions about literature and becoming part of the wider children’s literature community...
“It may be that children’s books will always be only a modest province in the Republic of Letters… but remember that it controls the port of entry.” Jill Paton Walsh, author
Friday, April 2, 2010
Reading enriches learning website
A colleague, Gail, shared with me this Reading enriches learning website which has activities based on Australian books, in categories such as humour, history, values, sustainability etc targeted at both younger (years 2–4) and older (years 5–8) readers.
http://www.curriculumpress.edu.au/rel/
The Reading Enriches Learning website aims to stimulate and motivate all students to become confident readers. Each themed collection highlights a topical issue (i.e. Values, History, Sustainability) that is critical to Australian schooling today. These themes act as a springboard for learning as students actively make connections between literature and the world in which they live. The array of books featured in Reading Enriches Learning has been carefully selected and written by well-known Australian authors.
http://www.curriculumpress.edu.au/rel/
The Reading Enriches Learning website aims to stimulate and motivate all students to become confident readers. Each themed collection highlights a topical issue (i.e. Values, History, Sustainability) that is critical to Australian schooling today. These themes act as a springboard for learning as students actively make connections between literature and the world in which they live. The array of books featured in Reading Enriches Learning has been carefully selected and written by well-known Australian authors.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Elizabeth Bird's blog & top 100 books lists...
Oh, I've come across a wonderful blog which I can't wait to share with you - please check it out if you haven't seen it already !
Elizabeth Bird writes a blog at School Library Journal called Fuse # 8 - so many great reviews, news, links and wonderful insightful comments... It is a bountiful blog which I am really enjoying exploring...
Elizabeth is a children's librarian at the Children's Center at 42nd Street of the New York Public Library system.
Here is a link to her blog : http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379.html
At the beginning of this year, Elizabeth Bird asked her readers to tell her, in order of importance, the children's books that "changed their lives"... their top ten children's novels of all time...
What she has collated isn't just a list of titles though - along with the title, author and date of publication are some of the passionate and personal nominations by readers, a synopsis of the story, it's reception and reviews, context and controversy, links to author interviews, teacher's guides where available, websites, various covers and editions chronologically and internationally, awards, movie and tv trailers, and links to websites, youtube videos and blogs where relevant. I think it is a FANTASTIC resource and am loving the countdown - so many of my own favourites but also others I want to get on and read...
Here is the link to the first post - Top 100 Children's Novels : Books 100 - 91, working backwards towards number 1.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/1190052519.html
The year before, 2009, Elizabeth did a poll on the Top 100 Picture Books - here is the link http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/500042850.html and you can see the whole list at once as well as exploring each title... How many have you read ?
A poll like this could be something you do in your school, and if you have a school library blog, picking a book title and building a rich resource around it with all the background and links et would be a good way to promote resources...
As well as these lists, Elizabeth's blog has heaps of reviews, links to "kidlit bloggers" she likes and author / illustrator blogs, and even the comments are usually good value too, from fellow children's literature enthusiasts.
Elizabeth Bird writes a blog at School Library Journal called Fuse # 8 - so many great reviews, news, links and wonderful insightful comments... It is a bountiful blog which I am really enjoying exploring...
Elizabeth is a children's librarian at the Children's Center at 42nd Street of the New York Public Library system.
Here is a link to her blog : http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379.html
At the beginning of this year, Elizabeth Bird asked her readers to tell her, in order of importance, the children's books that "changed their lives"... their top ten children's novels of all time...
What she has collated isn't just a list of titles though - along with the title, author and date of publication are some of the passionate and personal nominations by readers, a synopsis of the story, it's reception and reviews, context and controversy, links to author interviews, teacher's guides where available, websites, various covers and editions chronologically and internationally, awards, movie and tv trailers, and links to websites, youtube videos and blogs where relevant. I think it is a FANTASTIC resource and am loving the countdown - so many of my own favourites but also others I want to get on and read...
Here is the link to the first post - Top 100 Children's Novels : Books 100 - 91, working backwards towards number 1.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/1190052519.html
The year before, 2009, Elizabeth did a poll on the Top 100 Picture Books - here is the link http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/500042850.html and you can see the whole list at once as well as exploring each title... How many have you read ?
A poll like this could be something you do in your school, and if you have a school library blog, picking a book title and building a rich resource around it with all the background and links et would be a good way to promote resources...
As well as these lists, Elizabeth's blog has heaps of reviews, links to "kidlit bloggers" she likes and author / illustrator blogs, and even the comments are usually good value too, from fellow children's literature enthusiasts.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Teachers as Readers (UK research)
The UKLA UK Literacy Association has undertaken research which I find interesting, about teachers as readers and about the relationship between reading instruction and reading for pleasure. There is such a role for the school library to play here...
The first phase of the Teachers as Readers research (2006-7) looked at patterns in primary teachers' reading, both personally and professionally - looking at their own personal reading habits and preferences, their knowledge of children's literature, their own childhood favourites and books significant to them, their use of texts in the classroom, and use of libraries... Download the full report
The goal of the second phase of the research is Building Communities of Readers (2007-8) to improve teachers’ knowledge and experience of literature in order to help them increase children’s motivation and enthusiasm for reading, especially those less successful in literacy, to build new relationships with parents and families and to explore the concept of a reading teacher: a teacher who reads and a reader who teaches (Commeyras et al., 2004).
The Executive Summary provides an overview of the research and the key findings as well as recommendations. It argues that teachers need support in order to develop children’s reading for pleasure, which can influence both attainment and achievement and increase young learners’ engagement as self- motivated and socially engaged readers.
Download Teachers as Readers :Building Communities of Readers: Phase II (2007-8) Executive Summary
Click on the picture to enlarge a summary of key findings :
Reading instruction - oriented towards learning to read, Reading for Pleasure oriented towards choosing to read...
The first phase of the Teachers as Readers research (2006-7) looked at patterns in primary teachers' reading, both personally and professionally - looking at their own personal reading habits and preferences, their knowledge of children's literature, their own childhood favourites and books significant to them, their use of texts in the classroom, and use of libraries... Download the full report
The goal of the second phase of the research is Building Communities of Readers (2007-8) to improve teachers’ knowledge and experience of literature in order to help them increase children’s motivation and enthusiasm for reading, especially those less successful in literacy, to build new relationships with parents and families and to explore the concept of a reading teacher: a teacher who reads and a reader who teaches (Commeyras et al., 2004).
The Executive Summary provides an overview of the research and the key findings as well as recommendations. It argues that teachers need support in order to develop children’s reading for pleasure, which can influence both attainment and achievement and increase young learners’ engagement as self- motivated and socially engaged readers.
Download Teachers as Readers :Building Communities of Readers: Phase II (2007-8) Executive Summary
Click on the picture to enlarge a summary of key findings :Reading instruction - oriented towards learning to read, Reading for Pleasure oriented towards choosing to read...
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Charlotte Huck
"We don't achieve literacy and then give children literature; we achieve literacy through literature."
Charlotte Huck, author and children’s literature expert.
Charlotte Huck, author and children’s literature expert.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Michael Rosen
Farewell to the outgoing UK Children's Laureate poet Michael Rosen... (new Laureate 2009 - 2011 Anthony Browne).
Some comments on what he has seen visiting UK schools :
"There is a huge push on to create an environment (in junior classes) where books are secondary to the process of reading. This seems oxymoronic to me. We must, must have at the heart of learning to read the pleasure that is reading. Otherwise why bother?... You need a reason to read..."
"The core idea of literature is that we can re-present our lives and imaginations and that is much more important than the business of getting letters right. The stuff going on in schools (worksheets) is denying the basis of what literature is for - the shared conversation about who we are or might be, what we think, what we imagine, what we feel..."
"If we believe in the value and power of books, stories, poems and plays, we also have to remember that it will never be enough simply to publish good stuff. We have to be committed, ingenious, flexible and experimental in coming up with ways of making all that literature come alive for every single child - no exceptions allowed."
Some comments on what he has seen visiting UK schools :
"There is a huge push on to create an environment (in junior classes) where books are secondary to the process of reading. This seems oxymoronic to me. We must, must have at the heart of learning to read the pleasure that is reading. Otherwise why bother?... You need a reason to read..."
"The core idea of literature is that we can re-present our lives and imaginations and that is much more important than the business of getting letters right. The stuff going on in schools (worksheets) is denying the basis of what literature is for - the shared conversation about who we are or might be, what we think, what we imagine, what we feel..."
"If we believe in the value and power of books, stories, poems and plays, we also have to remember that it will never be enough simply to publish good stuff. We have to be committed, ingenious, flexible and experimental in coming up with ways of making all that literature come alive for every single child - no exceptions allowed."
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