Friday, June 29, 2012

An Open Letter to My Children's Lit Students

I am excited to devour children's literature with you over the next eight weeks. It is a subject that we will never be able to fully explore. The list of books written for children is staggering. Not only are there the classics, but new titles are printed every single day. (We'll talk later about how to get these into the hands of children!)

Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer, builds up her "book muscle" by reading at least one book each day during the summer. (In this post she shares some great strategies for helping you remain current about great children's books.)

If we were to join Donalyn and the Book a Day Challenge community, we would read about 56 books during our eight weeks together.

However, I'm only assigning 40 children's books! What a breeze, huh?

Of course, I hope you will choose to read even more than 40 books, for only when you dig in and read voluminously will you yourself become a more

Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, and Critical Reader


as Nancie Atwell persuades in The Reading Zone.

I am sorry that we will not be together face-to-face more often, but we will have a chance to practice our 21st century learning skills. We can communicate as often as you wish -- Skyping, GoodReads, ANGEL, Twitter, email or here on this blog.

Children's literature is central to the development of children's literacy. I don't believe there is a more important subject to study. I can't wait to get started!

Denise

Image by mrsdkrebs

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20 comments:

  1. Nancy CJuly 2, 2012 at 6:07 PM

    Hi Denise,
    Love the word cloud as I just love when children are reading in this pose...so focused!

    You have given your students a tall order - but an enjoyable one. To be assigned children's literature to read will not be a chore but a joy. There are so many wonderful stories waiting for all of us to explore.

    You have inspired me and I'm heading out to Barnes and Noble to purchase some Children's lit books: Specifically: Wonder, Benjamin Pratt & the Keeper of the School: We the Children, and the Lemonade Wars.

    Looking forward to seeing what books I need to be reading! Hoping all goes well for your class this semester.

    Wishing you the Best,
    Nancy

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    1. Denise KrebsJuly 2, 2012 at 6:11 PM

      Nancy,
      Thank you so much for the comment. I will definitely be checking out the books on your to-read list, as I am not familiar with all of them. Thanks for sharing.

      Denise

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    2. Nancy CJuly 2, 2012 at 9:57 PM

      Of course, I did go to Barnes and Noble and decided on "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate. I decided I would order Wonder on the Kindle. I couldn't find the Benjamin Pratt Books - but I was distracted by so many wonderful titles. Can't wait to share!

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    3. Tracy WatanabeJuly 3, 2012 at 2:12 AM

      When I was in the classroom, I loved previewing books and reading them (especially historical fiction) to create lit sets for my students. Some of my favorites were The Bread Winner, a book about a an 11-year old Afghan girl doing what she needed to do to help her family survive the Taliban. It was an amazing book, but previewing it first was an absolute must.

      I don't read many books now, except for professional development (mainly my own, but also sometimes to share with others).

      My son will hand me books and ask me to read it first to decide if it's appropriate for him or not, but I'm such a slow reader and he's such an avid reader... so I tend to Google it to read reviews.

      I recently heard of an app that would help find teen books, called Yalsa. I need to find an app with parent reviews. :)

      Kind regards,
      Tracy

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    4. Denise KrebsJuly 3, 2012 at 8:09 AM

      Wow, great resources! Thanks for sharing, Nancy and Tracy.

      I like historical fiction too. Maybe it's because I teach history and geography. Those are usually the books I pick for read alouds.

      GoodReads has an app, and there are lots of good reviews with ratings by teachers (and perhaps some parents!)

      Thanks, again!

      Denise

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    5. Tracy WatanabeJuly 3, 2012 at 11:02 AM

      Thanks for the suggestion, Denise. I'll download it. :)

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    6. Denise KrebsJuly 5, 2012 at 2:39 PM

      Nancy,
      I checked out these three books today at my library. I already listened to Benjamin Pratt while I was baking this morning and now I just started Wonder. Did you know about the Twitter discussion to be held on July 17? More info here. It seems like a good one to discuss!

      Thanks for the recommendations,
      Denise

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    7. Nancy CJuly 5, 2012 at 4:28 PM

      I'm curious as to what you thought about Benjamin Pratt - I just LOVE Andrew Clements who writes realistic fiction for kids. My students just love him too.

      It didn't take long - I finished "The One and Only Ivan". It's a sad story but I couldn't put it down. Unusual and unique delivery.

      I'm ordering Wonder tonight as I want to start it over the weekend.

      Thank you for inspiring me to read Children's Literature. I know it's okay to do but it's even more fun to read knowing others are doing the same.

      Take care.
      Nancy

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    8. Denise KrebsJuly 5, 2012 at 5:57 PM

      Nancy,
      I just put a hold on Ivan. I missed that one. I wrote a review of Benjamin Pratt on Good Reads. I think I sent you a friend request on Good Reads--do you use it?

      Here's what I said about Benjamin:

      This was my first introduction to Benjamin Pratt. It was good, but I don't really like series books. I prefer for the resolution to occur within the two covers of one book, but these days publishers prefer to drag the story on.

      I think this series would be enjoyable for upper elementary kids. Benjamin and Jill seem to have a realistic friendship, marked with both warmth and sarcasm. They become amateur detectives to save the school from destruction, and the land from being sold to a developer who will make it into an amusement park. This book was just an introduction to an eventual six-book series.

      Thanks, Nancy, for sharing my reading summer with me!

      Denise

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    9. Nancy CJuly 5, 2012 at 7:37 PM

      Thanks for the review on Benjamin Pratt. I'm on the fence about the series thing. I did get caught up in the Hunger Games Trilogy. However, I like resolution to occur in the same book. Some of my students this year really loved reading a series. After building a little trust and respect I was able to suggest other genres or authors for them to try. But for some of my students finding an author who has a returning character holds fascination.

      Oh, the joy of books! It's been really nice reading everyone's responses to these posts. Looking forward to learning about some great new books.

      By the way - I do have aGood Reads account but haven't used it much - will hop on over now and take a look.

      Thanks Denise.

      Nancy

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  2. Joy KirrJuly 2, 2012 at 8:14 PM

    Denise, I loved my children's literature classes! I even taught one through Benedictine Univ. here in NW IL, and I didn't think of the reading as a chore, either. (If it's a chore, maybe we shouldn't be teaching reading...)

    Anyway, I wanted to give a tip to your students... Have some sort of record-keeping of what you read. For my first class in '92 or so, we had to type each book on an index card - title, author, pub date, summary, age level, theme, and extension activity. I STILL HAVE THESE! A bit archaic, and I'm hoping to transfer them some day! But now I keep track on my Shelfari, and that gets posted to my class blog so students know what I'm reading and can read my reviews if they forget what I said about them. (Next year, however, I think we'll have a class Shelfari so they can be the reviewers!!)

    Have fun teaching, and your eagerness and enthusiasm will transfer to everyone! Just be yourself by loving reading!

    Thanks for posting!
    - Joy (another "passionate, habitual, & critical reader"...!)

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    1. Denise KrebsJuly 3, 2012 at 8:13 AM

      Joy,
      I'm glad you shared about your book list record-keeping. That's more impressive than my story. My recording keeping from my children's lit class is on index cards too, and I still have them. I have kept paper records with my students over the years, but now I've switched to GoodReads for sure. (Like Shelfari, for those who don't know about it.)

      I, too, was thinking about having a class account next year! We are often on the same page, aren't we?

      Thanks so much for sharing your expertise here!
      Denise

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    2. AnonymousJuly 4, 2012 at 3:25 PM

      Joy and Denise -

      I also was required to type all of our Kids Lit books on an index card (that was about the same time)! That was my favorite class, too, and it built up my bookshelves for children, nieces and nephews, too!

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  3. Sheri EdwardsJuly 2, 2012 at 8:40 PM

    Oh, Denise! What an opportunity! An online course to share the best of children's literature! What an opportunity to develop a repertoire of information about books to help encourage kids to read.

    Forty children's books. Wow!

    Imagine that number times the number of students in your class, if you all read different books! And the ideas and lessons and encouragement for kids will be multiplied by your engagement. You will all discover oodles of book talks and book ideas and book plots to make excellent recommendations and lessons for the students in your future classrooms!

    Amazing.

    I asked my students to read forty books this year. No rewards. No strings, except to write a reading response based on our "teaching" lesson at least three time a week. Nothing big, just "big questions" which are required and that help kids read better. The most important part, though, was student choice in what to read, fiction or nonfiction, short or long. I wrote about it here:

    Let Them Read Please

    Because I've read so many books (and have a great librarian at school), I can recommend books to kids when they need a little nudge. Just the right book makes reading come alive.

    So enjoy your time reading— read like a kid. If you don't like a book, abandon it. Find the books that appeal to you; find books on the same topic in different genre. How exciting for the kid who loves football to know that on your bookshelves are:

    a fictional tale (1963!)

    Pro Quarterback by Y. A. Tittle

    and a biography:

    Drew Bledsoe: Make The Right Call

    I'll tell you how exciting it is: the student wrote his own football novel during NaNoWriMO, called Pro Running Back!

    Read for enjoyment first; the journey that follows will depend on your own goals, but the ideas from this class and the books you and your peers read and share may change someone's life — develop a writer, inspire a scientist, jumpstart a journalist.

    Now, I hope you will slip yourself right into that word cloud image and immerse yourself in a new world. Enjoy.

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  4. Denise KrebsJuly 3, 2012 at 8:16 AM

    Oh, Sheri, you are so inspiring! I love the story of your football guy. Reading does become our models for writing, mentor texts as folks are calling them now.

    I am so happy you left your sweet mark here to help future teachers! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

    Denise

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  5. AnonymousJuly 5, 2012 at 9:40 AM

    Oh how I love your "book muscle" reference! You could do an online class with that book alone!:)

    However, the goal of 40 books is a great one! I remember a children's lit class I took several years ago where we spent a week from 8:00 - 2:00 dealing with books. The first 60 - 90 minutes everyday was spent reading! I remember thinking "what is this", but it gave me the chance to just sit and read without distraction or intruption. We spent the remaining time discussing books and finding other we could us in our classroom.

    As I look back at that class, that was the moment in time where I started figuring out it's not about the series, it's about the time, the time to pick out what I wanted to read, and just do it, read. As time as gone on, I've moved more and more towards that, giving students that time to just find something they like and read. I love how you'll be reading tons, but yet, within that reading there will be sharing both in person and online. That hybrid model is so suited for something like this! I wish I were taking this class! :)

    After a couple more chores, I'm going to continue reading "A Passion Driven Classroom", thinking of how that relates back to here!

    Enjoy,

    Darin
    @AnIowaTeacher

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  6. Denise KrebsJuly 5, 2012 at 2:26 PM

    Darin,
    It's interesting how we get those moments where we understand learning, like you had in your children's lit class, and then we understand teaching too. When we have experienced that rich learning and how it feels--in this case, to read voluminously whatever you wanted, and sacred time to do it--then we can pass that on to our beloved students! Hooray!

    I have Angela's Passion Driven Classroom on my book list--I haven't read it yet but looking forward to it.

    Thanks for adding to the discussion here, friend!

    Denise

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  7. mrstgJuly 10, 2012 at 8:32 PM

    I'm late in reading your posts, Denise, but I think this is fabulous and I am EXTREMELY jealous! I remember my children's lit class as well and feeling so FREE to just walk into the children's section of the library and start reading for the first time in years! After all, I HAD to do it for class! Oooo! I absolutely LOVED that freedom! And you know what I discovered? In between the pages of those picture books, readers, beginner chapter books, and YA literature are stories for ADULTS cleverly disguised as "children's lit."

    So, my advice? Head over to your nearest library with your laptop, spiral notebook, and pencil behind your ear so people KNOW you are a teacher, find a spot at a table, gather yourself a nice big PILE, and then read to your heart's content!

    And as Debbie Miller says,
    "Happy reading!"

    -Michelle TG

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  8. mrstgJuly 18, 2012 at 8:25 PM

    I'm late in reading your posts, Denise, but I think this is fabulous and I am EXTREMELY jealous! I remember my children's lit class as well and feeling so FREE to just walk into the children's section of the library and start reading for the first time in years! After all, I HAD to do it for class! Oooo! I absolutely LOVED that freedom! And you know what I discovered? In between the pages of those picture books, readers, beginner chapter books, and YA literature are stories for ADULTS cleverly disguised as "children's lit."

    So, my advice? Head over to your nearest library with your laptop, spiral notebook, and pencil behind your ear so people KNOW you are a teacher, find a spot at a table, gather yourself a nice big PILE, and then read to your heart's content!

    And as Debbie Miller says,
    "Happy reading!"

    -Michelle TG

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  9. Denise KrebsJuly 18, 2012 at 8:26 PM

    Michelle,
    I hope my students do just that!

    Thanks,
    Denise

    ReplyDelete

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