Tuck Everlasting

Tonight in class we made videos on a website called animoto which allows you to create videos out of images. 
We read a fantastical book called Tuck Everlasting and then broke into groups to make videos. My group chose to make a video all about themes that are in Tuck Everlasting. 

One of the themes in Tuck Everlasting is time. Would time seem different if we had more of it? Tuck is unable to treasure the smaller moments in life because he knows they are infinite. For Winnie every second counts. 

Another theme in Tuck Everlasting is greed. This theme is shown through the character of the man in the yellow suit. He exhibits his greed by wanting the fountain of youth. 

Lastly a theme in Tuck Everlasting is moral judgment. Characters are faced with decisions the may seem like they are choosing between right and wrong. 

My Video 

Poetry

Just the word poetry scares me. It always has, ever since the first time I started learning about it. I think that it is because they are so hard for me to understand. If given the choice between poetry and any other genre I would choose any other one. That being said I did write a poem for class this week. The only thing I could think of to write was a couplet which is a poem that has rhyming stanzas, each made up of two lines. Rhyming was the only thing I could think of to do.

I found this video about a sixth grader whose poetry is wowing the world.

0:01 / 9:33

 KIONI MARSHALL: I feel sorrow / Now a deep
 breath from my lungs / That sees all the pain 

Ruth E. Harper

       Ruth E. Harper is an illustrator of children's books. Two children's books that she illustrated are The Kissing Hand and Sassafras. 
         The Kissing Hand is a beautiful story for young children heading off to school. It is a great idea to set children's minds at ease when they are going to be away from their parents for the first time. 
       At my school the PTA buys one book for each entering kindergartner. The kindergarten teachers read this story to their students and it helps them to not miss their parents. It is a great lesson that we hold those close to us even when they are not physically with us. 
    A second book that Ruth E. Harper illustrates is called Sassafras. 
    In class we talked about artistic quality and looked at authors craft. Ruth's work has many curves and circular lines that suggest warmth and                                                             security. 


Ruth uses watercolor paintings to illustrate her stories. This is a video of how watercolors are transformed into books. 
Here is Ruth's website for all her information!

Mother Goose

Mother Goose: A Scholarly Exploration

When first looking over the resources on this study I found it interesting that I never noticed that Mother Goose was portrayed partaking in human activities. I always just thought of it as normal that she was wearing a bonnet and cooking!

I found the research about Mother Goose rhymes being used as a political protest and criticism shocking! I hate to admit that I had no idea about these nursery rhymes being used to create unrest or mockery of government but I did not! 

One of the stories is Jack and Jill at the Toxic Dump. It amazed me that there was a story that involves Jack and Jill and they die. I also am surprised that authors use this method to convey their ideas about what is going on in the world today. 

When Books Leave the Page (specifically picturebooks)

If a book is on a tablet, ipad,computer, nook, or kindle is it still a book? Can you still turn the pages? Smell the book? 

I think that the answer is yes. Some of the reasons why are outlined in the article Liftoff: When Books Leave the Page. 

Children that are struggling with reading are already resistant to books. Most children are not resistant to technology. 

A digital book is just as it sounds. It is not a video where the words are spoken out loud to the reader. The pictures and words are on the page and the reader can turn the page after they have read it. I think it is important to note that the reader can still interact with the book. They decide when to turn the page, they decide if they want to flip to the end of the book and see what happens before they have read the whole thing. 

Biographies and Memoirs

Biographies and memoirs are two important genres in literature. When we had the pleasure of having Lesa Cline-Ransome come and give an author's talk, she said some interesting things about biographies. She said that when she decides to write a person's biography the first place that she starts is with research. She also wants to create a balanced perspective of the account of the person's life. She also stated that another feature of biographies is they don't always have to start at the beginning of that person's life. I know if I was reading something I would be more interested if it started with something to grab my attention. Another feature that Lesa likes to include in her biographies is making it real for her audience, which is young readers, in order to make it real for them. 

We also had a great discussion in class about what biographies or memoirs our students would be interested in reading about modern day figures in society. One person I think is Derek Jeter. He is an icon in baseball of out children's time. 

Another person that I think our children would be interested in reading about her life so far is Malala Yousafzai. American children do not realize what it is like to not be guaranteed an education. 

Malala's Right to Education

Lesa Cline-Ransome Visits Mount Saint Mary

We had the pleasure of having author Lesa Cline- Ransome come to speak at the Villa Library. 

 

 Here is her website Lesa's Website. She has written many books and collaborates with her husband James Ransome, who is a well known illustrator. Her style of writing is picture book biographies. What child does not want pictures to go along with the story of the person's life they are reading about? 

I found many of the points Lesa spoke about interesting. The first was that she tries to find a balance when she writes her biographies. She tries to share successes as well as weaknesses. I think this is important for children to read because it helps them to realize that even famous people who have done great things have stumbling points in their life. She also spoke about a struggle that she has when researching, and that is how much do you reveal to the young reader? I find this interesting because I struggle with this in my 5th grade classroom. Children are exposed to ideas and concepts that are way to old for them, in my opinion. So where is the line drawn? 

Lesa Cline Ransome visits Mount Saint Mary