Why a good book is a secret door

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Blog 7

Blog 7

 

1.

  1. In this chapter, it was a lot about how each child reader has a “preference” when it comes to books. Each student will have a different idea of what kind of books they want to read (i.e graphic novel, short story, novel, young adult, etc).  In general, I loved that theme of the chapter, because it’s something most teachers wouldn’t really think about when they begin teaching. I know for me, at first, when I thought of my first days teaching, I was planning to know WHAT I would teach and just assume it was curriculum and that it was set in stone. But Miller helped show me that since each child is obviously different, they might be able to learn better if they see things a different way. I tend to be a visual learner, but not everyone is like that. Some kids really like just the cut and dry note taking and studying. While others prefer pictures, or even oral studying so it sticks in their brain. So Miller speaking out children having different book preferences also helped me think of other preferences my students my have in other areas in class.
  2. Like I stated before, I am a much better visual reader than just staring at words for hours on end. That’s why I enjoyed the graphic novel we read this semester more than any of the other book. When I read, my mind already makes a “mental movie” to help me follow along, so having pictures already laid out for me made it even easier.

 

2.

  • My YA novel was “We Are Ok” by Nina LaCour. I decided to focus on the main character, Marin. When reading, I found out that she is blond with “tiny freckles across [her] cheeks” (58). Her mother, Claire, passed due to a surfing accident when Marin was a child. She never really knew her father, she is told he was from Australia. Gramps is her grandfather and the person she lived for the majority of her life until she went to college in New York. It’s no surprise when you find out the plot of the book, you can guess Marin is a pretty sad young adult. Marin’s voice, to me, I would describe distinctive and strong. Marin is particularly nostalgic when she reflects on her past and you can tell she isn’t happy, and her reflections seem almost like a wanting to be back there. Then on the other end, when she describes the present, the sentences are spare and short, and reflect the winter cold and the isolation that she clearly feels.
  • Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It’s on the more sad side, but it’s a great book to help young adults relate to things they may be feeling. I wouldn’t exactly have a freshman in high school read it but definitely someone maybe going off to college for the first time could relate and it would help a lot of younger people see that what they may be feeling is more common than they might have thought.
Sarah Roberts blog 7

Sarah Roberts blog 7

One thing I really liked in chapter 5 was when she talked about name to reader on assignments. I think this is a good way to motivate kids who don’t particularly enjoy reading. This book made me realize how much I actually do enjoy reading even though I never find time for it. Reading is never something I look forward to but once I get a good book I can hardly put it down. I think I need to make reading a priority in my life especially as a future teacher.

I chose Eleanor she is someone who doesn’t fit in with the rest of the kids in high school. Her physical appearance sets her apart as different. Not only is she very curvy with distinctive, bright, curly red hair, Eleanor often dresses in men’s clothing with loud accessories. She tries to make herself stand out with her outfits as part of her defense mechanism. A quote that is significant for this character is “She hadn’t told him that he was prettier than any girl, and that his skin was like sunshine with a suntan. And that’s exactly why she hadn’t said it. Because all her feelings for him—hot and beautiful in her heart—turned to gobbledygook in her mouth.” This is a milestone in her life, and a big deal given that Eleanor has an especially difficult time admitting her feelings to both herself and to Park. Overall I really am enjoying my YA novel and am eager to finish the rest. I would definitely recommend it to others.

Blog 6 Sarah Roberts

Blog 6 Sarah Roberts

I clicked on the School Library Journal Link from the resource guide. On this website you can find many different books and they are all sorted into different categories such as age level, diversity, and reviews. I learned about many different books that would interest me to read in the future. This could be very useful to us when looking for books for our students to read in the future.

The graphic novel I chose to read was Smile. Smile is an graphic novel written by Raina Telegraima. It gives an account of the author’s life from sixth grade to high school. Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader, but one night she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly. The entire story goes from Raina’s sixth grade to tenth. The way that I read graphic novels is by panel to panel. I usually look at the pictures first and then go back and read the words. This is the same way my neighbor reads graphic novels by comparing but I do know many people that read the words before looking at the pictures.

Blog 6

Blog 6

Cyrill Somera

Blog 6

 

  1. The graphic novel I chose to read was Smile. This graphic novel explores the ups and downs of being a teenager through the life of the main character, Raina. It focuses on Raina’s struggle to fit in, her developing love life with new crushes, finding true friends, and dealing with parents. To simplify, this novel describes what it is like to be a teenager. Graphic novels are literature. This genre in particular can be used with students who do not enjoy reading. It can be like a segway into more complex novels later in their reading development. This novel was easier to read and very entertaining especially with the illustrations. Although it was easy to read, it can still be challenging since it is mainly dialogue. Some elements included in graphic novels are written narrative, illustration, and poetry. The written narrative includes dialogue to create the plot of the story. The illustration helps readers analyze characters better in their heads. They can see what the character is thinking or feeling through the facial expressions of the characters. Poetry can also be present in graphic novels as a style of writing. The article listed many activities and main things to use from graphic novels. A fun activity to do with students after they read a graphic novel is for them to do some creative writing. This will enable students to use some freedom and become writers themselves! After finishing a novel, they can come up with an alternate ending and create their own comic strip with dialogue and their own illustrations.
  2. H
    The novel takes place from the time Raina is about to start middle school until she finishes high school. Illustration plays such an important role in her character development. Her character starts off as a little girl who is about to get braces and her teeth are messed up. She goes through body changes through her physical appearance that show how she grows up as the novel progresses. I could probably be able to picture what she would look like as she went through middle school and high school, but the illustration in the novel really did help. The pace is really slow in terms of watching her teeth improve. It takes years of braces and dentist appointments, so for more than half of the book she was illustrated with braces on. A faster development that took place in the novel was when the writer showed how Raina had first broken her teeth. It all happened so fast, and the illustrations made it seem like it was a scene in the movie, Raina tripped and fell and just broke her two front teeth.