PRP Post 4

The Arrival by Sean Tann
This is yet another extremely interesting picture book written by Sean Tann.  This is a story told in third person purely through illustrations.  The lack of text allows the reader to interpret the story in their own way.  Due to this it has a great impact on the reader and provides them with a powerful insight into the treatment of migrants and refugees.  The use of pictures allow readers to interpret the story and relate it to their own lives.  This could be very useful to show young students as it tackles a very sensitive topic that students need to be aware of.

Tales Fom Outer Suburbia by Sean Tann
Again I chose another book written by Sean Tann. Since being introduced to his stories at the beginning of this course I have become fascinated by his works.  This book is made up of 15 short stories each appear very twisted to normal life.  The book uses a range of narrative techniques and is written in a range of formats.  These stories are very emotive and could provide students with numerous opportunities.

Week 6 Group Discussion Summary

During this week’s discussion we were asked to express our thoughts on the reading (Winch chapter 2 and chapter 6) and in particular discuss which ideas were new and the most thought provoking. There was a general consensus throughout the group that a lot of the ideas if not all of them were new to us.  One of the key ideas that were most interesting and relevant was in regards to the context of a text and how this can differ.  We spoke about how the context of a text and hence the meaning of a text changes for a reader depending on their background as well as how it differs from the author to the reader.  We also spoke about how the purpose of a text for the author is very different to the purpose of a text for the reader.  Examples of reading context include, acquiring information, for leisure and the sharing of experiences.

    

The group discussion then shifted to looking at the glossaries of words that we had created.  We were amazed at some of the different definitions we had derived and discussed the difficulties that we had in finding some of the meanings.  A talking point for the group was the difference between grammatical information and phonological information.  We highlighted that grammatical information relates to the text while phonological relates to the sounds.  The final area of discussion was to do with the reading program and selecting text graph.  We thought it was interesting to read and was could be a basic guide to begin with when picking texts for students.  We thought that this could be interesting to push students to read books at their level or help out the students that were struggling.  We did however identify that telling students a book is too hard or recommending an easier book may create problems in itself.  We also thought that it would be necessary to have a greater understanding of books that could be suitable for students so that a book of the right level that interests the student can be found.  The readings were therefore very useful both in the explanation of terms and as a basic guide for picking children’s literature.

Bianca's Week 7 Post

The Oxford Book of Children’s Verse edited by Iona and Peter Opie is a beautiful and diverse collection of poetry and verse spanning from the medieval and sixteenth century to the twentieth century. Containing hundreds of works, this book has poetry to suit every age group and covers topics that are both historical and fantastical. I would recommend this book in particular to children between 5 and 9 because it will expand both their vocabulary and their ideas of poetry themes and techniques.

Holes by Louis Sachar is one of my favourite novels! With little twists and turns throughout the novel, this book is a great read. The story centres around an unfortunate boy called Stanley Yelnats who is wrongly accused of stealing and taken to Camp Green Lake – a barren prison camp for boys in the desert. Whilst forced to dig a large hole in the ground everyday as ‘punishment’, he discovers what happened to the lake, what the Warden is really looking for and meets a boy called Zero with an interesting past. This story is perfect as a middle school class text because the language and tenor matches that which students between the ages of 10 to 15 years would be familiar with. There are a number of themes within the novel, including friendship, luck and historical racial tension, that could be discussed. Numerous activites could be used with students including role-plays, alternative endings and identifcation of the characters' traits and roles. There is also a well made movie release to match that could be used for text comparison.

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman is a novel written in journal format from the perspective of a strong-minded 14 year old girl called Catherine living in 13th century England. This novel is both historical and hilarious, detailing Catherine's determination to avoid marriage by almost any means possible. Catherine's character development over the course of the novel is remarkable and reflects the challenges she faces. Karen Cushman's high level of research is evident throughout the novel, as shown in the amazing detail she provides to reveal how Catherine and the people around her live their everyday lives, and their perspectives, beliefs and ideas about the world in which they lived. This novel would be excellent for a middle school class study, and also integrated into History classes.