Kaitlyn's PRP Week 7

This week I have read 2 novels.

Title: The Red Wind

Author: Isobelle Carmody

The Red Wind is a story about two brothers. They live off the land by foraging and growing what they can. The conflict of the story is the red wind which slowly descends on their home and destroys their way of life. The two brothers are not human, they are furry, have tails, and hatched from an egg. Their origin isn’t explained and the question of where they came from is an underlying question to the whole story. This would lend itself well to exploring inferred information. This story also has obvious links to the issues around the environment, which could be explored. The novel also includes illustrations. Students could explore how these affect the reader’s feelings and interpretations of the story, and why the author has included them.

Title: The Fall

Author: Garth Nix

The Fall is the first book in a series of 6. It has a very definite Quest plot. In the novel Tal needs to find a new sunstone, a source of magic and power, for his family. This will keep them in the elite society. Complications of this quest result in Tal being rescued by an unknown society. He is then forced to agree to gain a sunstone for them as well. There are many different this in the book that could be analysed. For example; how the author builds the story while also including points to continue with in further books, or, the issues of class, cultures, and merit as explored in the book.

Kaitlyn's PRP Week 8

This week I have read 2 picture books:

Title: The Two Bullies

Author: Junko Morimoto

The story in this picture book has been translated from Japanese. It is about 2 men. Ni-ou claims to be the strongest man in Japan. When he hears about a strongman in china he decides to challenge him. However they never fight. Both men become intimidated before they meet and are so sure that the other is stronger that they are glad they didn’t fight. This book has a lot of inferred information, especially in regards to the men’s actions. It is also well illustrated in a Japanese style and shows some Asian culture.

Title: The Wizard the Ugly and the Book of Shame

Author: Pablo Bernasconi

This is a story about a wizard’s assistant who wants to be handsome. He tries to use the wizard’s spell book while the wizard is away which results in the book becoming damaged. This causes the wizard to cast spells with uncertain outcomes until the assistant confesses. The solution to the problem is for the assistant to become handsome without the use of magic. This book has a large amount of text. The book has clear ideals, and it would be easy to explore the moral of the story with students. It focuses on the ideas of beauty, self esteem, and admitting mistakes.

Michael's final post PRP 7

The Last Alchemist by Colin Thompson

The Last Alchemist is a picture book that is written and illustrated by Colin Thompson.  Colin Thompson uses a range of brilliant descriptions accompanied with some very interesting and detailed illustrations.  In the story the king seeks to make gold and asks his alchemist ‘Spinifex’ to do so.  The alchemist then stole everyone’s gold and brought it back to try and create more.  No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t do so.  This story shows that gold or money can’t buy happiness and is not the most important thing in the world.  The resolution to this story occurs when the king realises that what is most important to him is his kingdom and the people close to him and not his wealth.

Michael's PRP 6

The Lorax by Dr Seuss (1971)

The Lorax is a fantastic story that is extremely suitable for kids of all ages.  It is not only written with Dr Seuss’ characteristics rhymes but with an underlying moral message.  This could be a great way to introduce environmental awareness with children.  The story begins with The Lorax’s favourite Truffalo Trees being cut down.  The Lorax then tries to fight against those who are destroying them but his fight is all in vain.   The area becomes baron as the Lorax sends all the environment away and the factory that was processing the trees shuts down.  The story is written in an extremely interesting manner and it is brilliant at drawing emotions when explaining the destruction that is occurring to the environment.  Could not only be an interesting read for students but could be used to begin a unit on environmental awareness.

Cat and Fish (2003) by Joan Grant and illustrated by Neil Curtis

This is a picture book with some very impressive black and white illustrations.  The text is very simple and due to this would b suitable for very young readers.  The book has a really nice story of friendship and about being mindful of differences.  Cat and Fish meet right at the beginning where they immediately become friends.  They then walk around on land doing all of the things that cat loved before going to the sea to do what fish loved.  In the end they decide to live on the beach so that they can remain friends but still do the things they love.  This is a good story in teaching kids about differences and explaining that differences are not bad.   The illustrations used throughout are very detailed and allow the reader to create a really nice visual image of the story.

Bianca's Last Post

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is a classic story of a horse’s life from his own perspective, and the wonderful and terrible things that he witnesses and endures at the hands of various people. Not a particularly long story, this novel would be perfect for a student in early Middle Years or used for shared reading to a younger audience.

Willy the Wimp by Anthony Browne is a favourite picture book of mine. Browne’s character illustrations portray, like many of his picture books, chimpanzees and gorillas living, acting and talking as humans. The text is simplistic but the context-related humour in the story is best suited to students aged 7 to 10 years.

Great Ocean Walk

Written and illustrated by Jiri Tibor Novak.

The illustrations in this picture book are made up of a mixture of drawings and photographs. The plot follows a boy and his father as they walk along the beach, picking up treasures they find along the way. The elements of fantasy and adventure, linked with the reality of walking along the beach make this picture book interesting to explore.

Goggle-Eyes

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Written by Anne Fine.

This novel is a sweet story of two young girls having difficulty accepting their mothers’ new boyfriends. I like the way this novel is written because it is told from the perspective of one girl who has already been through what the other girl is upset about. The technique of being told as a reflection but in the present tense is an interesting combination.

Young Santa

Written by Dan Greenburg.

Illustrated by Warren Miller.

This children’s novel provides a fantasy about what Santa Clause was like when he was a young boy. I find this fascinating because Santa is often only thought of as an old man. Whether the reader believes in Santa or not, this is a funny beginners novel with large text and the occasional illustration throughout the chapters.

Goodnight, Mice!

Written by Frances Watts.

Illustrated by Judy Watson.

This picture book is written completely in rhyming couplets. When reading stories to young children, they often enjoy the short rhyming sentences. It also repeats the idea of doing things once and then twice throughout the story adding repetition to the rhyme. While the story is for younger children, it is fun to read, even as an adult.

Sunday Chutney

Written and illustrated by Aaron Blabey

The picture book Sunday Chutney uses quite simple text accompanied by pictures illustrating the ideas the author has written about. Dedicated to the new kids, Sunday Chutney is about making new friends and emphasises the fact that being different is ok! I like this book because it reminds me of myself.

Baby Wombat's Week

 Written by Jackie French.

Illustrated by Bruce Whatley

This picture book describes the week of a baby wombat. His adventures range from sleeping, making friends and trying to dig a bigger hole for him and his Mum to live in. The story is fun and illustrates to the reader some of the things a wombat does every week by relating them to things the child he made friends with does.

Bianca's Week 8 Post

This week I focused on three picture books that each identified a very important issue that society often finds difficult to communicate with children.

The Great Katie Kate Tackles Questions About Cancer by M Maitland DeLand, M.D. and illustrated by Jennifer Zivion is an information-rich picture book which aims to help children and their families understand many of the difficult and confusing medical procedures associated with leukaemia through the use of the fictional character ‘Katie Kate’ who acts as a superhero. I found this story to be very poignant because of the book’s context. This would be a very good picture book for children aged 7 to 10 due to the language and vocabulary used. It would also be a great aid for teachers wishing to explore difficult issues associated with children suffering from cancer.

Time To Pray by Maha Addasi (translated by Nuha Albitar) and illustrated by Ned Gannon is a picture book written in both English and Arabic that explores the story of a young girl visiting her grandmother in the Middle East. During her stay, she learns about the Islamic practice of the daily five prayers, and the rituals that are associated with these prayers. I find this book to be particularly refreshing because it gives us, as Australians, an opportunity to look into the ordinary life of someone who is Islamic and witness the positive spirituality that is evident throughout their day. The last page of the book is my favourite, with detailed information on each of the five daily prayers and when they should be undertaken.

Eli the Bipolar Bear by Sharon Bracken and illustrated by Joshua Nask is a picture book that focuses on bipolar disorder in children, and how this can affect them in all aspects of their lives as well as tat of their family and friends. The main character is a polar bear called Eli, who appears to suffer from some strange and confusing behavioural problems despite having a normal, healthy family. We later learn that he has bipolar disorder, and that medication and cognitive behavioural therapy is used to help treat and alleviate his symptoms. This book is an excellent read, not only for children but for professionals and teachers as well, as it helps to create a fictional and light-hearted scenario in which a very difficult behavioural issue is raised.

PRP Post 5

Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks (2000)

Fox is a picture book written by Margaret Wild and Illustrated by Ron Brooks (2010).  This books tells an emotional story that retells the story of European settlers from the point of view of animals.  Two of the main characters within this novel are the feral ‘Fox’ who has migrated to Australia and also ‘Magpie’.  The story is presented in a very interesting manner with some brilliant visuals of the outback desert.   These visuals encapsulate the beautiful red sandy landscapes and the scrub that accompanies it.  Although this is a picture book it would definitely be better read to older readers above the age of 7 as it deals with some quite complicated and emotion provoking concepts in regards to the settlers treatment of indigenous people.  This would be a great book to read children to get them thinking and hence begin a topic on indigenous Australians.

The Slobberers by Paul Jennings and Morris Gleitzman (1997)

‘The slobberers’  is the first novel in the ‘Wicked’ series written by Paul Jennings and Morris Gleitzman.  This novel is a great story of adventure with lots of wacky twists throughout the story.  It has a very deep message about getting along as both Rory and Dawn are forced to work together to survive despite their differences.  This novel also deals with the very sensitive topic of divorce for teenagers and shows the point of view of two children dealing with this.  It is overall a very wacky and entertaining tale and could be a very valuable and enjoyable read for young adolescents.

Week 7 Summary

This weeks reading talked about effective teaching of reading. This was done by discussing teaching strategies like shared (or modelled) reading, guided reading and independent reading.

I initially found the ideas of shared reading and guided reading to be confusing after reading about them in chapter 8. The examples given in chapter 10 made it much clearer that shared reading is a strategy that can be used to teach the whole class about a particular reading technique. Shared reading is lead by the teacher. Guided reading is the part that confused me a first because I thought it was the same as shared reading, but involved a smaller group. I now realise the smaller group allows the teacher to work closer with the students. The idea that the teacher guides students through the reading of a challenging book by helping them know what reading skills they should use makes more sense.

Shared and guided reading sessions are good ways to teach students the knowledge and skills they will need to be successful and independent readers.

Kaitlyn's PRP Week 6

This week I have read 2 novels

 

Title: Once

Author: Morris Gleitzman

 This book is about WW2. It is told from the perspective of a young boy. Each chapter starts with the word once. This starting sentence gives each chapter a dramatic sentence about what the boy will do in that chapter. Throughout the book the boy tells stories, this is a key part of the book. This would easily lend itself to getting students to write their own stories. With the story using a real past event there is also the opportunity for fact checking and research.

Title: Mahtab’s Story

Author: Libby Gleeson

This book is the story of a family of refugees. Libby Gleeson has used experiences taken from interviews to create this story. Reading this novel could help students build empathy by giving refugees a face and showing the refugee experience. Students could then make connections. Reading this book could also facilitate class discussions about refugee issues. Students could also discuss the reasons Gleeson had for writing the story.

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.

Uglies

Written by Scott Westerfeld

In a world of extreme beauty, anyone normal is ugly. What adolescent wouldn't want to be made 'pretty' on their 16th birthday? Set in the future, the characters in this novel are constantly preoccupied with becoming pretty and only doing 'pretty making' things. The main character is forced to decide whether to stay herself and 'ugly' (normal) or to receive an operation that will brainwash her, but make her 'pretty'. This novel deals with real issues in a different way. The main character is appealing to me because she doesn't just do what she's supposed to; she makes her own decisions.

Peka-boo, the smallest bird in all the world

Written and illustrated by Eliza Feely

The illustrations in this picture book are built from line drawings and scribbles, starting off mostly grey and becoming more colourful throughout the book. The freeness of the drawings matches the craziness of the story. The author uses a lot of terms and sayings which the reader would need some understanding of Australia for them to make sense. I really liked the illustrations, but the storyline seemed a bit too crazy to me.