Part 1

Reading in the Wild is a great book with fantastic ideas to enhance reading for self and children. After reading this book and reading different chapter books for this class my entire perspective on reading has changed. I developed an interest for reading like never before. I find myself making time to read and setting goals of how much to read in a certain time period. I have books in line to read one after the other. I don’t consider reading as a task anymore I do it for my own pleasure and Reading in the Wild is the book which had me realize this. I have decided to keep this routine and increase my goal with time. For a classroom, I really like the idea of having children set their own goals and once they have accomplished it pushes them to increase their goal. This gives children the pleasure of accomplishment and keeps them on track. It may also have them taking part in a competition with friends and peers. Giving authority to children on reading goals can make a big difference in reading habits.

Part 2

Eleanor is a girl in high school who is known to be different from other kids. You can say she doesn’t “fit in”. The reason for this is her physical appearance. She dresses like men is chubby and has curly bright red hair. Although she is aware that she doesn’t fit in she doesn’t make the effort to not be prominent but rather stands out. Her stepfather is mean and violent and her mother doesn’t stand against him. This makes her home environment very horrible and negative. Eleanor doesn’t have a good experience with other kids, she is made fun of and is called names like “Big Red”.  Due to these reasons, she’s self-centered and doesn’t let anyone get to her. Her life changes when she meets Park who is an Asian kid at her school. Park loves comic books and music, he considers himself an outsider and wants to do his own thing. His interests set him apart from his father. Even though Park thinks Eleanor is weird an attraction towards her takes place. He shares his comics and music with her and on the bus rides to and from school, they become closer and closer. They both seem to develop a connection and with Parks love and help Eleanor builds confidence to face the difficulties in her life. While Park learns about himself and how to confront about it.  I think this is an amazing book it had me so caught up with each character and their relation. It is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.  I love this book and would definitely recommend it.

Part 1

I chose to read the article The Case for Graphic Novels in Education. I think this is a great article explaining the importance of graphic novels. Being not only an entertainment but how graphic novels have a vast range of themes and can create a great experience with art and words together. For a very long period, comics were considered as a medium for laugh and enjoyment having no link with education but graphic novels and their teachings have brought a new light to education. Graphic novels urge the reader to dive deep in the story giving a clear understanding of actions and emotions and how this art communicates. I found this article to be very useful due to the example novels and activities provided for discussion in different classroom settings. These activities help identify how graphic novels work and can be very useful. There are activities on depicting emotions and action, translating a scene, and telling a story without words.  This is a great resource and I would use its ideas to create activities with graphic novels in my classroom.

Part 2

Astrid has always done everything with her best friend Nicole all her life. When she visits a roller derby bout with her mother she sparks interest for it and signs up for roller derby camp. Her friend is interested in dance so she signs up for dance camp. This is where their paths go in different directions and Astrid’s journey begins with derby camp. She struggles to keep up with other participants at the camp, keeping her friendship with Nicole and making new friends. As the summer comes to an end and her derby bout comes closer she learns that she is capable of roller derby, and is strong enough to lose/make friendships.The words and pictures in this novel are mostly relatable giving the same information although the pictures give up better expressions, reactions, and emotions. They show to the extent the action is taken. I think this is a great graphic novel and I really enjoyed reading it as well as the art and expression in the pictures that are created to describe the text.

Part A)

For my verse book, I chose Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai. This story is about Ha` a ten year old who attends school, fights with her brothers and watches her papaya tree grow day by day. Her father who was in the Vietnamese navy has been missing. Due to the communists arriving and taking over she has to escape with her family leaving her Vietnam life behind. This is where the journey begins and Ha` escapes her homeland on a boat to a place filled with many hardships and new experiences. I really liked this book it reminds me of immigrants, and mothers who struggle and push their children to succeed and be thankful of things that are provided. I can relate to this book in a way because I moved to Pakistan when I was in 6^th grade and leaving my life behind was a struggle, my mother and older sibling were there to help me slowly overcome the differences and adapt to the place. The written form as a poem and the simple telling of such an experience pulls the reader into the survival story which makes it fluent and easy to read. I really enjoyed this form of text and would definitely recommend it. I would use this story as a read aloud in my classroom. This book is great to use to set an example of things we may have to go through even though they are against our will.

Part B)

So much depends

Upon

 

The rising sun

For me to wander

 

little fingers

in my hand

 

walking towards

the road of success

 

For my chapter book Flora and Ulysses, I thought it would be a good idea to have my children create their own comic book/page with their favorite superhero. Since this book was all about superpowers which a squirrel possessed and comic reading, I think it is a great activity to tie in having completed the book.  I would ask them to create a little story by using bubbles to put in words and actions. Once completed I would have them all share their creation along with the story that goes with it. I also searched online and found templates to create a comic book or page which I think is pretty convenient to provide the templates to children of a lower grade just to make it a little easier. It would be interesting to see the different types of stories created, children can be creative in many ways.

For this make I created an action page.