Ricki – Page 82 – Unleashing Readers

Author Guest Post!: “Reaching Reluctant Readers with Action and Suspense” by Jake Bible, Author of Scarescapes

September 25, 2015July 19, 2015 by Ricki

Reaching Reluctant Readers with Action and Suspense

by Jake Bible

I really had no concept of what a reluctant reader was until my daughter started reading. My son is exactly like me and will devour books without blinking. My daughter? Not so much. Getting her to read past the first few pages in a book is like pulling teeth. As a writer, this has been more than frustrating.

Being a concerned father, I asked her questions about why she’d start a book, but never finish it. I asked lots of questions. Yet no matter the question I always received the same answer (or a version of the same answer).

“It’s boring.”

Huh. Boring? The characters? The plot? The story? The cover? What was boring?

“I don’t know. It just was.”

Double huh.

This troubled me. That bit of fear in the back of my head was that maybe she had a learning disability. Of course, the Voice of Reason spoke up and said, “She’s just a reluctant reader.”

That voice was my wife’s. I say she was the voice of reason not because of some ingrained, antiquated notion of gender roles within the household, but because my wife is an elementary school teacher with nearly two decades of experience, a master’s degree, several certifications in various subjects, and is a reluctant reader herself.

That’s a voice of reason, folks.

To grab a reluctant reader’s attention you need relatable characters, you need fast pacing with short chapters, you need the prose to be clear and interesting, you need to give them a reason to keep reading. This is basically what all good writers strive for anyway. But the big difference is you can’t slack. One misstep and that book is down and forgotten.

In my research on reluctant readers I found out that the make or break age is 8-12. Those are the ages where so many kids decide whether or not reading for fun and pleasure is their thing. It just so happened I was writing a series of scifi/horror books aimed at middle grade ages. That 8-12 year old danger spot. No pressure, right?

So, I decided to do what I do best: write six books that packed as much non-stop action and suspense into them as I could get away with while considering my target age group.

I went with the classic serial structure of one book ending on a cliff hanger and the next picking it up right from that exact same spot. I also wrote each book as told from a different character’s point of view. This made sure that no matter what gender or race my young readers turned out to be, there would be a character, and a specific book in the series, that they could personally relate to. I put the characters into an impossible situation of being alone on a space ship in deep, deep space without parents around, all of them having to band together and fend for their themselves.

Then I set things in motion.

Writing action isn’t hard. You just keep things moving. The trick is to keep things interesting. Constant running does not always make for great story. That’s where the suspense comes in. And you only have so much time for suspense before boredom kicks in. It’s a delicate dance.

I began each book with some explanation of the situation the children were in. For this series, a giant asteroid outfitted for deep space travel and human habitation so people could find a new home in the universe after Earth has been polluted beyond repair. Explanation done, I immediately moved to danger. Got to have danger to motivate the characters into action. Once danger was established, and the characters were active, I threw in roadblocks.

Roadblocks are key to good action. The reader, and especially a reluctant reader, will get bored if the action just goes from point A to point Z. You need to send them off into tangents. You have to destroy points B, C, and D so the characters are forced to figure out how to skip to point E directly. Give those characters roadblocks and the action becomes believable, no matter how fantastical. And believable is another key to keeping a reluctant reader’s attention.

Okay, so I had explanation, I had motivation, I had action, I had roadblocks. But where was the story?

That’s where I got to sneak in the suspense. My story revolved around a mystery. And not just a mystery of why all the danger and chaos was happening to these characters. I introduced a new character. One that should have been a danger sign immediately in any “normal” situation. Is that suspense?

You bet it is. Who is this new entity? Where did it come from? What is its motivation? If the characters trust it will they regret it later?

Suspense is the anticipation of the unknown; the fear of something beyond a character’s understanding, beyond the reader’s understanding. Suspense requires trusting that moving forward is the only option even though moving forward is the most dangerous option.

To complete my formula (and for middle grade I needed a formula) I twisted the action and the suspense together, intertwining them in a narrative that would continually keep the readers off balance, afraid, excited, interested, and engaged. I wove the suspense within the action so that the story was layered in a way to keep reluctant readers from drifting off. I did my job as a writer and made it impossible for them to stop reading without stopping in the middle of an action scene or a bug reveal in the plot.

Or that was my goal, at least.

Did I succeed?

Well, my reluctant reader of a daughter didn’t put the manuscripts down.

Whether the books are received well out in the world or not, I count that as a success. No question there.

About the Book: On the Earth Colony Asteroid Scorpio, something has gone terribly wrong. Millions of light years off course and 900 years late, the ship’s AIs wake up only seven kids, leaving the adults stuck in cryosleep! Damaged from the long journey, the AIs must repair the awakened seven with the only thing available–cybernetic robot parts.

Along with learning to function with new cyber parts, the all-kid crew must unravel the mystery of what went wrong with the Scorpio. As if the nightmare of deep space isn’t enough, the kids soon find themselves battling the ship’s maintenance robots while their cyber parts begin taking on a life of their own!

Scarescapes: Phantom Limbs! is the first book in the middle-grade YA series Scarescapes series by Bram Stoker Award nominated author Jake Bible. The ebooks are $2.99 and are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Google Play, and Kobo. Paperback copies will follow later this year.

About the Author: Jake Bible lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and two kids. Novelist, short story writer, independent screenwriter, podcaster, and inventor of the Drabble Novel, Jake is able to switch between or mash-up genres with ease to create new and exciting storyscapes that have captivated and built an audience of thousands. He is the author of the Young Adult horror novels Little Dead Man and Intentional Haunting, as well as the best selling adult horror series Z-Burbia and adult thriller/adventure series, Mega. Find him at jakebible.com. Join him on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you to Hannah at Permuted Press for connecting us with Jake!

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Engaging Classroom Discussion Strategies

November 15, 2024July 16, 2015 by Ricki

My favorite part about teaching is that teachers love to share resources. We are a community. The more I teach methods courses at the university level, the more frequently I find myself sharing some ways I’ve hosted classroom discussions. I did not create any of these ideas below, and sadly, I cannot even share the source of the methods. I credit my advisor, Wendy Glenn, for introducing me to many of them. After I graduated and started teaching, I found other great books along the way which taught me others. While some of these ideas may be old news for you, I hope you are able to learn at least one new, useful method below.

1. The good ol’ fashioned circle (with a twist)

I never get tired of the circle, but my students often get tired of it. In my last year of teaching, I vowed that I would never create the discussion questions because I was working toward a student-centered classroom. After each reading, I required students to generate quality conversation starters. They submitted their questions on slips of paper, and whenever the conversation slowed down, we grabbed a new question.

2. Fishbowl

Every time I use the fishbowl in my college courses, the students are blown away at how fun it is. I remember feeling the same way as an undergraduate. This is a bit tricky to explain. There is an inner and an outer circle. Three to five kids are in the inner circle, and they are the only students allowed to speak. We draw questions (usually student-submitted questions), and those students have a conversation as if they are the only people in the room. When someone in the outer circle wants to make a comment, s/he taps the shoulder of a person in the inner circle, and they swap seats. I remind my students that they all must enter the inner circle twice, and they shouldn’t tap someone’s should unless they have made two comments. When the conversation gets dry, we pull a new question. This method takes some getting used to, but the kids find it to be quite fun. If the outer circle isn’t paying attention, I require them to take notes on the discussion.

3. Socratic Seminar

This method is similar to the fishbowl. I always use an inner and outer circle. Instead, the inner circle is closely examining a text and asking a lot of questions about it: Where did the idea come from? What is the purpose of this line?

I have an even number of inner students as outer students. Each inner student is paired with an outer student as his/her coach. At several points, I take a break and give that pair time to talk about how the inner student is doing. They can offer ideas and support to help the inner circle person contribute to the discussion. I find this video to be particularly helpful, and the website offers rubrics and ideas about helping students set goals for this discussion.

4. Jigsaw

For this technique, we ask four groups of students to read four different articles or research four different topics that have a common theme. Usually, they do this for homework. If I have 24 students in my class, six students will be reading Article 1, six students will be reading Article 2, six students will be reading Article 3, and six students will be reading Article 4. When the students come to class, I group them by their article. This is their “home” group. They spend time discussing the article and outlining how they will present it to their peers. This gives them the confidence to share its content. Within each group, I assign each student a different letter. So for Article 1, if I have six students, I assign them A, B, C, D, E, and F. I go to each group and assign those same letters to each group. (I’ve also seen people line up students based on their articles, but both methods work fine). Then, all of the students regroup based on their letter. So out of the A students, I will now have four students in the group, one from each of the original four articles. The students’ job is to listen to each other and take notes (often in a graphic organizer I’ve created).

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this method, it might sound like a lot of work, but it really is quite easy to organize. The benefit is the students learn about four related articles without having to read them all. I used to do this when we talked about modern genocide as it related to the Holocaust text I was teaching. Instead of asking the students to research many countries, I assigned four countries to four groups. In the end, the students were responsible for sharing about the country they researched, and as a group, connecting that knowledge to the text.

5. Concentric Circles

We have an equal number of students in an inner circle and in an outer circle. The students in the inner circle face the students in the outer circle, and each student is paired with another student. I ask a discussion question (e.g. What did you think about the decision of the trial?) and only the inner circle person can speak. The outer circle person can only listen. Then, I ask the same question to the outer circle person, and his or her job is to listen. This teaches listening skills, and it also teaches the speaker to elaborate. After about thirty seconds, I ask the inner circle to rotate clockwise three people to swap partners (or however many times I feel like). I ask a different question (or sometimes, the same question!). The same process continues (either the inner or outer circle person is in charge of speaking and then it swaps). Then, I have the outer circle rotate counter-clockwise two people to swap partners. The students have fun discussing the questions with different people each time, and they find the turning of the circles to be wildly fun.

6. Give One, Get One

I ask the students to fold a piece of paper lengthwise so they have two columns. Then, I ask them to write everything they learned from the text in the right hand column. I tell them the more they write down, the better. When they are finished, I ask them to write numbers 1 through 10 in the right-hand column. Their job is to go around the room and to collect (from ten different peers) ten ideas that they don’t have on the left-hand side of their papers. This requires them to spend time with each peer, reviewing the information they learned and wrote down, and find something they missed or didn’t consider. They groan when you tell them what they have to do, but while they discuss the text, they are always laughing at the obscure or specific facts their peers come up with.

7. Post-It Walk

I post four to six major discussion questions in different areas of the room. I put small groups of students at each question and give them post-it notes. Their job is to discuss the question in front of them and write one idea/topic they discussed on the post-it note. Then, the entire class rotates clockwise. They read the question, read the post-it(s) from a previous group or groups. Their job is to discuss the question and come up with something different to put on their post-it note. After groups have rotated and put post-it notes on every discussion question, the groups stay at the last question on the wall. They are required to share out to the entire class one or two great ideas from the post-its on the question in front of them.

8. Pass the Butcher Paper

Students sit in groups. In front of each group is a different character (or topic). I ask them a question about that character (e.g. What do we know about him/her based on his/her actions in the book thus far?). They write notes on the butcher paper. Then, they pass the butcher papers clockwise, and they receive a new character. Their job is to read the notes of the previous group. Then I ask a different question (e.g. How do you predict the character will act in the rest of the novel?). They write notes, and we keep passing. This allows the students to see the ideas of many of their peers about different questions, and they feel like they are working as a whole class to create a complex understanding of each character. We post the butcher paper in the room.

9. Four Corners

This works best as a pre-reading activity for a book, but it could be modified for any subject area. I did it in my Methods class as an undergraduate student and loved it. My students enjoyed it, too. I provide a handout with major themes from a novel (e.g. Revenge is justifiable.), and ask students to circle “Strongly Agree,” “Agree,” “Disagree,” or “Strongly Disagree” for each statement. Then I read the questions aloud and ask students to walk to the corner of the room that has the sign (“Strongly Agree,” “Agree,” “Disagree,” “Strongly Disagree”) that matches their opinions. I ask a volunteer from each corner to share his/her opinion. This often leads to heated debates, and it gets the students thinking about the novel.

10. Facts of Five

Ask students to write down the five main ideas they got from a text. (This can be adjusted in a variety of ways, but it is good to require students to write five ______. For instance, they might write down five ways to connect the text to the real world.) Then, ask students to get into groups of three. Their job is to talk through each of their lists and pair the fifteen ideas down to five ideas. Then, their group of three joins another group of three. The six group members talk through their ideas and reach a consensus of the top five ideas. Then, all of the groups share out, and we have a class discussion to agree on the five, main points. This discussion technique requires groups to talk through ideas and determine essential, important concepts from a text. It also allows students to spend time considering how their ideas fit in with the ideas of their peers.

11. The Pinwheel

I just came across this neat technique by Sarah Brown Wessling. I recommend you watch the 7-minute video to see how it is organized. Students are arranged into a pinwheel shape. Three groups are each assigned to a different author, and a fourth group serves as “provocateurs” who ask probing questions. This would be a great way to synthesize multiple texts that you have read in class.

Please, please post a comment explaining any methods that I’ve missed, and I will incorporate your ideas into the post! Want more ideas? Check out this page more closely related to novels!

Top Ten Tuesday: Last Ten Books We Bought for Our Boys

August 4, 2016July 14, 2015 by Ricki

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

Today’s Topic: Last Ten Books We Bought for Our Boys

We read a lot of picture books, and in order to keep up with diapers, we can only buy the books that are truly special. Here are the last ten that we bought. For those of you who are new to the blog, Ricki’s son is 19 months old, and Kellee’s son is 16 months old.

Ricki

1. Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles

Readers of this blog know that I am head over heels for this book. I am going to read it to him very often when he is older.

2. Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine

I purchased this book because I saw many positive reviews. It is based on a true story. I read it to Henry, and he enjoyed listening, but I may wait a bit longer until he is at an appropriate age that I can begin to discuss the serious matters of the book. I look forward to reading it to him often.

3. Playtown: Airport by Roger Priddy

Playtown Airport

My son is madly in love with the Playtown series. He owns the first book of the series and a few more installments are coming out within the next year or two. There is a chance we have to take a six-hour plane ride next month, so I bought this and hid it. I can’t WAIT to show it to him. He is going to be so excited.

4. What Do You Do with an Idea? by Kobi Yamada

I read this book in the bookstore and was blown away. I immediately bought a copy for Henry and a copy for my sister (who is a dreamer and constantly thinking of inventions). It is a beautiful book.

5. That’s Not My Train by Fiona Watt

That's Not My Train

This book is quite short and nothing too exciting, but my son loves it. I wouldn’t call it literary, but he always asks me to read it at night.

Kellee

I actually was quite lucky to have worked the Scholastic Warehouse Sale not that long ago, and when you work the sale, you get paid in books! This is perfect timing to get picture books for Trent, and these 5 books are the ones I am most excited about reading with Trent (I haven’t debuted them with Trent yet; we are still reading primarily board books). One of the reasons I’m highlighting these particular books that I got (out of 19) is because of the illustrators. Young, Brown, Santat, and Reynolds are by far on my favorites list of illustrators.

1. Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DaCost, Illustrated by Ed Young

I read this book when it first came out, and I knew that I would need to get it to read it to my son. It is so funny!

2. Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, Illustrated by Peter Brown

I have wanted to read this book since it came out and even more once it received a Caldecott Honor. So excited to get my hands on it!

3. The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz, Illustrated by Dan Santat

This was one of the books that Scholastic put on the posters all around the sale, and it cracked me up every time I walked by. I knew I had to have it.

4. Going Places by Peter and Paul Reynolds

This is one of those books that promotes friendship, imagination, and creativity. I cannot wait to read it to Trent.

5. Sesame Street Bus

This is the only one not purchased at Scholastic, but it is the most recent book we bought. Trent is in love with Elmo right now. I am not sure how he learned who Elmo is, but now everything is about Elmo. He saw this book in Target when we were shopping for a birthday present, and I had to get it for him. He loves pressing the Elmo button.

Which books do you recommend for our toddlers?

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Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman

July 9, 2015 by Ricki

Heather Has Two Mommies
Author: Lesléa Newman
Illustrator: Laura Cornell
Published March 11, 2015 by Candlewick Press (First Published October 28, 1989)

Goodreads Summary: Candlewick relaunches a modern classic for this generation with an all-new, beautifully illustrated edition.

Heather’s favorite number is two. She has two arms, two legs, and two pets. And she also has two mommies. When Heather goes to school for the first time, someone asks her about her daddy, but Heather doesn’t have a daddy. Then something interesting happens. When Heather and her classmates all draw pictures of their families, not one drawing is the same. It doesn’t matter who makes up a family, the teacher says, because “the most important thing about a family is that all the people in it love one another.” This delightful edition for a new generation of young readers features fresh illustrations by Laura Cornell and an updated story by Lesléa Newman.

Ricki’s Review: This is a timeless classic, and I am so glad that Candlewick decided to republish it with new illustrations. I’ve always known what this book is about, but I’d never read it in its entirety. Heather’s story is one of many children growing up in the United States. She comes from a nontraditional family. I am sure that many parents have anxiety about sending their children to school because kids can be cruel. However, with some understanding and with books like these, children can understand that many of their peers come from different families, and this provides enrichment in the classroom. This book should be a staple in early elementary school classrooms. It teaches empathy.

Kellee’s Review: I love that this isn’t a book about LBGT families as much as it is a book about how there are so many different kinds of families. Although it seems a bit syrupy sweet at times, I think that tone was needed to be an introduction to a subject that may be new or different for readers. I think this book is an important one. I know that critics will say that the book is preachy, but if it is preachy about anything, it is about how everyone’s family is unique yet full of love.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: The activity that the teacher uses in this book is one that should begin every kindergarten curriculum. Children should understand that loving families come in so many different forms. We’d love to pair this book with books like And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. Students could read various books that deliver this message and talk about their similarities and differences. Kids might also write about a time that they felt different and how it made them feel. From an artistic side, teachers might show students the original 1989 publication of this book and ask them to compare the two versions of the text.

Discussion Questions: What kinds of nontraditional families can you think of? What do these families have in common?; What role does Heather’s favorite number play in this book? Did it enhance your reading of the story?; When have you felt different from other kids? How does this compare to Heather’s experience?

We Flagged: “‘What does your daddy do?’ David asks Heather.

‘I don’t have a daddy,’ Heather says. She looks around the circle and wonders, Am I the only one here who doesn’t have a daddy?“

Read This If You Loved: And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell; ABC A Family Alphabet Book by Bobbie Combs; Donovan’s Big Day by Lesléa Newman; Daddy, Papa, and Me by Lesléa Newman; The Family Book by Todd Parr; King and King by Linda de Haan; A Tale of Two Daddies and A Tale of Two Mommies by Vanita Oelschlager; October Mourning by Lesléa Newman

Recommended For:

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**Thank you to Candlewick Press for providing copies for review!**

Great Pairings of Young Adult Texts and Classic Texts

April 22, 2023June 25, 2015 by Ricki

As part of our blogiversary, Kellee and I decided to revisit some of our favorite posts and update/add to them. Our original post, on September 3, 2013, shared Our Favorite Pairings of YA Books and Classics. Many of these pairings are still favorites; I have read so many more books since then, so it was only fitting to share more ideas.

I could pair YA books all day long, and I find it oddly fun. If you have a classic text you are teaching, and you would like a YA pairing, please leave a comment. I am happy to help!

Classic Novel: The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Great YA Pairing: Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos

I always enjoyed The Catcher in the Rye and could teach it for many years to come. There is much to discuss, and Holden’s perspective is relatable to many adolescents. When I read Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets, I was stunned by the rawness of the text. It captures depression and anxiety in a way that is both authentic and heart-wrenching. This book employs humor without detracting from the very realness of James’ struggles with loneliness and isolation. Teens (and adults) will find themselves in James because he is depicted in a sympathetic way that is very human. This novel is brilliant.

This text would be excellently used in literature circles concerned with mental health topics. Students might read this book alongside Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King, 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I imagine that reading these titles would foster incredibly rich discussions about depression, anxiety, and suicide. In my opinion, we must have these conversations with our students.

Classic Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Great YA Pairing: How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

I am crazy about Kekla Magoon. She tackles the tough issues. This text discusses present day civil rights issues that can be tied to the events of To Kill a Mockingbird. When Tariq is gunned down, the community is in uproar, and all eyewitness accounts differ. The point-of-view of this text shifts every 2-3 pages, which was very thought-provoking. Readers will begin to question the truth from the very first pages. This book has grit. There is nothing comfortable about discussions regarding inequities, race, privilege, and justice in society. This is not a feel-good, fairy tale book; the conflict within the text will make readers think. And thinking…is a very good thing. Students who read these books together will be able to discuss past and present issues of civil rights.

Classic Novel: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Great YA Pairing: We Were Liars by e. lockhart

Simply put, We Were Liars begs to be paired with The Great Gatsby. I cannot tell much about this book without giving away plot details, but this beautifully messed up family with too much money for their own good is remniscent of Jay Gatsby. The psychological elements of Gatsby would also align beautifully with this text. I recommend this pairing because it would offer an enriching conversation for students.

Classic Text: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Great YA Pairing: Hidden Like Anne Frank: 14 True Stories of Survival by Marcel Prins and Peter Henk Steenhuis

This collection showed me the misconceptions I had about those who hid during the Holocaust. These fourteen brave, young people showed me the diversity of experiences that existed among the hidden. The Diary of a Young Girl (often called The Diary of Anne Frank) is a text that is taught in many middle schools, and while it teaches students about the Holocaust, it also shows the strength and resolve of a young girl. By adding some or all of the other 14 true stories to the classroom experience, students would understand a more complete view of the time period and the strength of the young people who were hidden during this time.

Not quite a YA pairing, but a classic text, indeed:

Classic Novel: The BFG by Roald Dahl

Great Recent Pairing: Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley

I don’t know if Roald Dahl is still taught in schools, but I needed an excuse to feature this incredible book (that does, in fact, pair excellently with most all Roald Dahl texts). You will fall in love with Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley. I imagine it as a read-aloud in a bright classroom, and the students clapping their hands with delight. Or—it could serve as a read-aloud in a dimly lit room of a child resting in bed and about to embark into dreamland. These are the kinds of books that make readers. It left me spellbound.

Please leave suggestions for pairings in the comments for others to see! Or if you’d like us to help you with a pairing, just ask!

Happy 5th Anniversary to the Top Ten Tuesday Meme!: Our Favorite TTT Posts

June 23, 2015 by Ricki

Today’s Topic: Our Favorite TTT Posts

We love Tuesdays! Happy anniversary to the Top Ten Tuesday meme! In honor of the anniversary, we are linking our favorite TTT posts.

Ricki

1. Our Favorite Pairings of YA Books and Classics

Our readers have responded really well to this one, and we are very proud of it because it represents who we are as teachers!

2. Top Ten Books for Readers Who Like Nonfiction

Nonfiction has a bad reputation, so I was excited to create this list.

3. Top Ten Professional Books

I try to read at least ten professional books per year, and I remember it was very difficult for me to pick books for this list because there are so many great ones!

4. Top Ten Books We’d Give to Readers Who Have Never Read Historical Fiction

I love historical fiction, so this was a very fun (but difficult) list to create. There were so many great choices!

5. Top Ten Books Ricki Read in 2013 and 2014

It is so hard to narrow this list down to 10 books per year, so I am very proud of these titles. I recommend them all very highly.

Kellee

1. Characters We Wish Had Their Own Books and Characters We’d Like to Check In With

We just really love these characters and need more!

2. Books the Feature Characters Who Show Resilience Despite Disabilities

I loved highlighting books that show that there is strength in all sorts of people.

3. Topics We’d Like to See More in Picture Books

These are important topics we’d like to see more of.

4. Book Characters Who Would Be Sitting At Our Lunch Table

I really love the more unique topics that make me push my thinking. This one was fun!

5. Characters We Would Want with us on a Deserted Island

Ricki’s choice of Snatchabook really made this post (though I am proud of mine as well!).

Share some of your favorite TTT lists from your blog! Let’s celebrate!

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Author Guest Post!: “The Joy of Sharing Literature in A Classroom” by Miriam Spitzer Franklin, Author of Extraordinary

September 25, 2015June 21, 2015 by Ricki

“The Joy of Sharing Literature in A Classroom”

by Miriam Spitzer Franklin

With the push for better standardized test scores, reading workshops have increasingly turned toward focusing on building stamina during independent reading so that students will be able to read multiple passages and answer questions during a test that lasts hours. Helping students build stamina so that they can read longer independently is a worthy goal. But for some students, like my third grade daughter, being expected to read on her own for 45 minutes means she’ll lose her focus after 15 minutes and will spend the rest of the time quietly floundering on her own.

A better strategy is to have shorter independent reading sessions and spend more of the workshop teaching literature in small groups or to the whole class. During the class reading of a high-quality literary work, those students who are unable to sustain focus will be redirected if the material is engaging. Teachers can set expectations for reading, help students make predictions, and check often for understanding. In a group with a wide range of learners, some of the students can read independently while the others have a more structured approach with a combination of read-alouds, short sections of silent reading, and teacher modeling of expressive oral reading.

Literature studies should focus on higher level thinking skills. Teachers should ask questions that lead to divergent answers and deeper discussions. Teachers should choose books that lead students to think about different themes, to help them make connections with the characters, and to encourage questions that lead to better understandings of themselves and how they fit into the world.

In my middle grade novel, Extraordinary, ten-year-old Pansy decides she’s going to become an extraordinary person after her best friend suffers a brain injury. She is sure that the upcoming surgery for seizures will fix her brain, and when that happens, Pansy is going to make up for all the times she’s let her friend down in the past. My novel explores themes of hope, perseverance, self-esteem, friendship, and acceptance. Students can work in partners and small groups to identify character traits, character growth, and interpretations of the themes. Because students are all reading the same book instead of reading independent choices, peer or teacher-led discussions will lead to deeper understanding and analysis of the novel.

If we want students to dig below the surface to find meaning in text, they need to be evaluated through creative projects, written responses, and class discussions, not through a multiple choice test. In this way, students will discover a different purpose for reading; instead of reading to get the right answer, they will read to discover the joy of literature and the way books can transport them to places and situations they have never experienced before.

About the author: Miriam Spitzer Franklin taught elementary and middle school for twenty years, in both public and private school. Currently she teaches homeschooled students, designs curriculum for an online site, and is a writer-in-residence with the Charlotte Arts & Science Council. Other jobs she has held include working as a frazzled and unorganized waitress at a number of restaurants, driving the Zamboni and working the skate counter at the ice skating rink, teaching ice skating lessons, and owning a toy and gift store with her husband, Scott. Miriam lives with her husband, two daughters, and two pampered cats in Charlotte, North Carolina.

www.miriamfranklin.com

About the book: Last spring, Pansy chickened out on going to spring break camp, even though she’d promised her best friend, Anna, she’d go. It was just like when they went to get their hair cut for Locks of Love; only one of them walked out with a new hairstyle, and it wasn’t Pansy. But Pansy never got the chance to make it up to Anna. While at camp, Anna contracted meningitis and a dangerously high fever, and she hasn’t been the same since. Now all Pansy wants is her best friend back—not the silent girl in the wheelchair who has to go to a special school and who can’t do all the things Pansy used to chicken out of doing. So when Pansy discovers that Anna is getting a surgery that might cure her, Pansy realizes this is her chance—she’ll become the friend she always should have been. She’ll become the best friend Anna’s ever had—even if it means taking risks, trying new things (like those scary roller skates), and running herself ragged in the process.

Pansy’s chasing extraordinary, hoping she reaches it in time for her friend’s triumphant return. But what lies at the end of Pansy’s journey might not be exactly what she had expected—or wanted.

Extraordinary is a heartfelt, occasionally funny, coming-of-age middle grade novel by debut author Miriam Spitzer Franklin. It’s sure to appeal to fans of Cynthia Lord’s Rules and will inspire young friends to cherish the times they spend together. Every day should be lived like it’s extraordinary.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: This moving novel is narrated by Pansy, whose best friend Anna has contracted a disease that has impaired her brain. “Losing” a best friend this way can be a tough challenge. North Carolina author Franklin firmly grasps the climate and struggles among kids today. Her crystal-clear writing is filled with rich detail and believable characters. The sensitive story will resonate with young girls wrestling with friendship pains. (Sky Pony Press, ages 8-12)

Thank you to Miriam for her wonderful guest post!

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