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You have accessed the blog site for Choosing and Using Books for Children. Throughout the term we'll use our blog to record the books we read and the ideas we have for using them when we're teachers. By the end of March, our class will have read at least 280 books. Happy reading!

Two important protocol actions for EVERY post:
1. Underline or italicize all book titles (choose one formatting style and stick with it--underline OR italicize for all book titles)
2. Add your name in the "label" box before you post each documentation.

One important recommendation:
Create your documentations in a separate Word document, then cut and paste in a blog post.

Basic Documentation

Book Title:

Author(s):

Illustrator/Photographer/Artist:

Publisher:

Copyright Date:

Genre:

Brief Annotation:

Your Rating (1-5) and why:

Readers who will like this book:

Teaching Strategy from Tompkins or Yopp & Yopp (you'll link a strategy to at least 10 of your 40 books) :

Question to ask about this book before a read aloud:

Optional, but noted as extra effort:

1. Interest Level (age):

2. Grade Level Equivalent (grade):
Use book wizard to help with the previous 2 areas


3. List awards

4. Does this book have a book trailer? If so, cut and paste the web address here.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Pedro's Journal: A Voyage with Christopher Columbus

Book Title: Pedro’s Journal: A Voyage with Christopher Columbus

Author(s): Pam Conrad

Illustrator/Photographer/Artist: Peter Koeppen

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press

Copyright Date: 1991

Genre: Historical fiction novel

Brief Annotation: Pedro’s Journal tells the story of Christopher Columbus from a unique perspective—through the journal entries and sketches of a young ship’s boy, who was invited on the journey because of his ability to read and write. Pedro writes of Columbus’ fiery temper, his insatiable greed, and his mistreatment of the natives in this account of the famous voyage across the Atlantic.

Your Rating (1-5) and why: 4—I liked Pedro’s Journal because I believe it will interest children in learning more about Columbus’ journeys. It also gives a more realistic perspective about Columbus and some of his exploits and cruelty towards the people he encounters in the new lands and towards sailors on his own ships, as well. I think this book will open up a lot of discussion and questions about ethics and exploration, especially during that era.

Readers who will like this book: Readers who like adventure stories; children who enjoy historical fiction; teachers who want to offer another perspective when teaching about Christopher Columbus and his “discovery of America”

Question to ask about this book before a read aloud: Who discovered America? Why do you think Columbus is said to have discovered America when people were already living here?

Teaching strategy: Word wall. This book contains many new vocabulary words, including many nautical terms (e.g. rigging, caulkers, leagues, dugout, rudder, hull). During a read aloud, students could keep track of the new and unfamiliar words that they hear. After reading the book, the class could go back to the words they recorded and find the specific passage they were found in. They would try to decipher what the word could mean based on context, and those they were not able to figure out would be looked up in a dictionary. This strategy, where "students and the teacher write on the word wall interesting, confusing, or other important words from book they're reading" (Tompkins, p.139), will help enrich student vocabulary and understanding and is especially helpful for ELL students.

Optional, but noted as extra effort:

1. Interest Level (age): Grades 3—5

2. Grade Level Equivalent (grade): 5.5

3. List awards: None

4. Book trailer: None

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1 comment:

  1. Suzy Kaback & FamilyMarch 31, 2012 at 7:03 AM

    Another book in keeping with your interest in multicultural, multiperspective books for kids. Have you read Encounter by Jane Yolen? If you haven't you should--you'd love it (text and illustrations complement each other beautifully), and you'd see a textset forming right before your eyes that focuses on seeing history from a more balanced and just perspective.

    Your pre-reading questions will help kids get their heads around the important message in this book--just talking about what the word "discover" means is provocative. And be sure to include this word as the centerpiece of your word wall. That strategy is a great fit for this book, even for a whole unit on looking at history by reading stories of people whose stories aren't in mainstream textbooks. Another title I can recommend is York's Adventures with Lewis and Clark--we'll likely read this next fall in 7490, but you don't have to wait if you're intrigued ;-)

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