Posts filed under ‘Uncategorized’
28. The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq by Jeanette Winter
Retell: This is the true story of Alia Muhammad Baker. During U.S. air raids in 2003, Baker managed to hide and save over 30,000 books from destruction.
Topics: libraries, Iraq, heroism, action, war, books, community
Units of Study: Nonfiction, Content-Area Reading and Writing, Journalism
Tribes: mutual respect, personal best
Reading Skills: prediction, questioning
Writing Skills: using dashes
My Thoughts: Stories like this one restores my faith in humanity. Alia Muhammad Baker’s story is a great one to share with kids, many whom don’t even know that the U.S. is involved in two wars at the moment. Her story was originally published back in 2003 in the The New York Times. Reading The Librarian of Basra in conjunction with the The New York Times article could be a great way to emphasize the role of a journalist to bring to light stories that would otherwise go unnoticed. I plan on reading this at the beginning of the year to reiterate the importance of reading.
Click her to read Shaila K. Dewan’s 2003 New York Times article about Alia Muhammad Baker
26. Emily’s Art by Peter Catalanotto
Retell: Emily loves to paint. She enters her painting of her dog Thor in the school art contest. After narrowly losing the contest, Emily vows never to paint again. With her help from her friend Emily realizes that she should continue doing what makes her happy.
Topics: art, contests, friendship, school, painting, self-esteem
Units of Study: Realistic Fiction, Talking and Writing About Texts, Social Issues
Tribes: attentive listening, appreciations, personal best
Reading Skills: inference, making connections, interpretation
My Thoughts: I feel like I’m coming across a lot of books about young artists lately (see post on Ish). I’m a big fan of books with illustrations that not only support the text but enhance it. At the beginning of the book the illustrations of Emily are vivid and opaque. However, as soon as she loses the contest, the illustrations of Emily are transparent, conveying the idea that she feels alone and invisible. Another cool feature about Emily’s Art is how the book begins. It reminds me of the Harry Potter films. The story begins with a scene that draws the reader into the story and then like the opening credits in a movie, the title page appears. I plan on using this book early in the year when we do a lot of community-building. It’s a great book for showing how far appreciations can go.
14. There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar
Retell: It is easy to dislike Bradley Chalkers. He beats up other students, lies about everything, and refuses to do his homework. Bradley’s life begins to change when he meets Carla, the school counselor who inspires him to be a gold star student.
Topics: school, counseling, disagreeing, lying, making excuses, power, trust, friendship, homework, imaginary friends, partnerships, fights, confidence, putdowns, name-calling, safety, sibling issues, self-esteem, rewards, gold stars, asking for help, just right books, love of reading, affirmations, trust
Units of Study: Character, Literary Essay, Talking and Writing about Texts
Tribes: mutual respect, appreciations/no putdowns, right to pass, personal best
Reading Skills: inference, interpretation, empathy, making connections, synthesis
My Thoughts: My heart still aches after reading this book. It’s not a depressing book it’s just that I spent the book fearful that Bradley was going to keep digging himself into holes (not literal holes that’s Sachar’s other book). As you can see from this post’s tags, there are so many ways that one could use this book during interactive read aloud. The book lends itself very well to examining character relationships. Many of the secondary characters make significant changes that affect Bradley. I think many students will be able to make connections to Bradley’s complex relationship with his sister, Claudia. Sachar encourages his readers to try and understand the bully rather than demonize him/her. Bradley reminds me of one of my former students. I think I’m going to buy this book and send it to him.
Teachable Texts 