Speak

 

I read Speak before in middle school, but I don't think I fully understood the content until we discussed it in class and I reread it.
I had to make a lesson plan for my ELA Methods course. My book of focus was Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements. This book ties very nicely with Speak. In Things Not Seen, the main character Bobby actually becomes invisible in contrast with how the main character, Melinda, feels invisible in Speak. Speak is a realistic portrayal of highschool alienation; nothing in this book is sugarcoated. The subject matter of this book is dark, however it is not graphic at all. The second time reading it, even though I knew the outcome, I was so scared that the book would end in a suicide because of how much emotion Melinda's voice possessed throughout the book. I think this is a very influentual book to have in your classroom for students to read. It is a great way to show students healthly outlets when they are dealing with issues. Melinda turned to art, but students could use writing, music, etc to voice their opinions and feelings. I remember when I read it in middle school, I spent the next couple of weeks drawing my own trees just like Melinda (: In conclusion, the  book Speak, tackled a very heavy subject in a way that was relateable and readable.

 

Kirstin Stewert plays in another book I read! She also played in Crank's movie! Unbelievable. However, I think she fits this character very well....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skeleton Creek

The suspense mystery, Skeleton Creek is the first novel of a series by Patrick Carmen. I read on Scholastic's website that it is for children ages 10 to 18 years. The age range reflects readability and not necessarily content appropriateness. The book follows two teenagers, Ryan McCray and Sarah Fincher in their small mountain town of Skeleton Creek. They become bored and curious about the town's name and mining history. The become interested in the dredge, a monstrous mining machine in the forest, because they heard it was haunted by the ghost of Joe Bush, a miner who had died at that time. Ryan has an obsession of composing spooky stories in his journal and Sarah has an obsession of investigating while videotaping. These obsessions cause Ryan to injure his leg one night when they sneak into the dredge. The injury is the last straw for both sets of parents; they forbid the two teenagers to see each other. However, the two teenagers continue communicating secretly online while Ryan is laid up at home in a cast and Sarah makes several trips to the dredge by herself, recording everything. She sends these videos of her findings to Ryan with encrypted passwords. Readers of the book can go online to her website and watch Sarah's videos along with Ryan. This allows the reader to see Sarah's side of the story in video alongside of Ryan's side of the story in writing. The teenagers eventually piece together connections between the dredge, Joe Bush's ghost haunting it, and a secret alchemistic society called the Crossbones, of which Ryan's dad may be a part of. They theorize that Joe Bush's death was murder and that he has returned to guard his gold at the dredge. The end of the book leaves the reader hanging when he or she views Sarah's video online. The kids are trapped by Joe Bush's ghost in a secret room in the dredge hidden below the gears. As the camera's battery dies the readers hear the kids plead for help.

 Sarah Fincher

 

 

Pausing during Ryan's jounral to watch a video by Sarah was such an engaging way to read this book! I am not going to lie though, I wasn't scared when I was reading Ryan's journal, but when I watched Sarah's videos, I was legit freaked out! They definently had my friend and I jumping. This lead me to the conclusion of how would parents feel having their children watch this somewhat frightening videos? Permission slips would most likely have to be given out to explain the content of them. In addition, what do you do with the students who do not have computers at home? I came to the conclusion, that I would assign the reading for home and have us watch the videos in class together. This way I could also see their reactions to them! I am a big fan of mysteries, so I would definently enjoy teaching this. Also, I think it would be a great way to engage reluctant readers.

 



 

The first video (House of Usher)

 

 

 

 

American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese is a graphic novel written in 2006 by Gene Luen Yang.

The novel is comprised of three tales:
1. The first tale is about the Monkey King. This story is one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables. The monkey kind doesn't want to be a monkey, he wants to be hailed as a god even though he is already adored by his subjects, the most powerful monkey on earth and master of the arts of kung-fu. 
2. The second is about a Chinese American boy, Jin Wang. His family moves from a new neighborhood and all he wants is to fit in. He is constantly picked on by jocks and bullies and hardly has any friends. But then, to makes things worse, he falls in love with an all-American girl.
3. The third tale is about Chin-Kee; the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype. He comes to visit his American cousin, Danny. Danny is a popular kid at school, but every year when Chin-Kee visits Danny has to transfer to a new school to escape the shame. 

So, I tried using chogger to create a comic of this novel seeing as it would fit. However, after I posted my comic, I could not find it again. Luckily for me, I took a picture of it before posting. So, this is a blurb saying that I tried to use other ways of technology to present this novel, however, technology hates me! (:

I think this book would be great to use for reluctant, struggling readers. It even would be a great resource for students with social-cognitive disorders to help them find the motivation to learn, to relate a piece of text to their lives, and to use the graphics to help them understand/relate to the text. 

Below is a video with the author of the book:

Life As We Knew It

QUOTES:

"Do people ever realize how precious life is? I know I never did before. There was always time. There was always a future."

"Maybe because I don’t know anymore if there is a future, I’m grateful for the good things that have happened to me this year. I never knew I could love as deeply as I do. I never knew I could be so willing to sacrifice things for other people."

"I never knew how wonderful a taste of pineapple juice could be, or the warmth of a woodstove, or the sound of Horton purring, or the feel of clean clothes against freshly scrubbed skin. It wouldn't be New Year’s without a resolution. I've resolved to take a moment every day for the rest of my life to appreciate what I have."

Summary:

In this science fiction novel, the main character, Miranda,finds her world thrown into chaos when an asteroid hits the moon and shifts it out of orbit, closer to Earth. This shift causes massive tidal waves and tsunamis that destroy parts of the Earth. In the beginning, Miranda is skeptical of her mothers efforts when she goes into "survival mode." But then, volcanoes erupt around the world, things go from bad to worse. Electricity is nonexistent, crops die and insect-born diseases spread. A flu epidemic hits and Miranda is the only one unaffected in the family. Miranda writes in her journal that she’s figured out why she’s been documenting everything that has happened. She says it is so she can always remember life as it used to be, and life as it is now, hoping that there will be a time when life will be better.

Controversial Topics:

• The book discusses other belief systems. For example; Miranda wonders about all the people in the past who used the stars to tell the future, as she waits for the meteor to hit the moon. Miranda and her family talk about how the dinosaurs evolved into birds and that even if humans die, other animals and insects will probably survive. In addition to this, the books discusses God and Christianity alot. 
• The book also uses profanity and graphic violence. Objectionable words used throughout the book are "damn," hell," "sucks," and "pissed." Although Miranda and her family hear about violent things occurring as people become desperate for food, it is not graphically portrayed in the book. At one point in the book, Miranda is warned not to be in town alone because she witnesses several young men with guns shooting at windows and looting.  Another objectionable event is when Megan’s mother hangs herself after her daughter dies. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people die in the initial tidal waves and tsunamis after the moon’s orbit shifts. Many people die from starvation including Mrs. Nesbitt. The radio provides daily lists of people who have died throughout the country. All of things may be hard for a middle school reader to handle. 
• The book discusses the idea of having sex. Also, her parents try to convince Miranda to leave town with a 40 year-old man when supplies start to dwindle. In addition, a crude joke is made about Miranda's friend and how boys are "in her."

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

 

 

Why must we hide our feelings?

Why must we please the people around us?

Why must we fake and smile and pretend to be someone we are not?

Why can we not stand up for ourselves?

Why do we bottle our feelings up inside?

Why do we fear the things we cannot understand?

Why do we let society push roles upon us?

Why can we not be ourselves?

Why is life so hard?

Why.

 

These are the secrets of the universe.

 

 

Growing up will never be easy, but growing up with secrets is even harder.

Secrets that are kept from you and secrets that you keep from others.

I have fallen in love with this book. I love it's message. I was sincerely lost in this book. I could not put it down. I was attached to all of the characters. I felt all of their emotions. I cried. I laughed. I was angry and heartbroken. Ari and Dante were very relatable characters. I enjoyed that with every flip of the page a new twist to the story occurred. I didn't expect Dante to get hit with a car, Aunt Ophelia to be an outcast from the family because she lived with a woman, Bernardo to be in jail because he killed someone with his fists or Ari to admit he was in love with Dante.

 

 

 Quotes:

 

 "I didn't understand how you could live in a mean world and not have any of that meanness rub off on you. How could a guy live without some meanness?" (p.19).

 

"Another secret of the universe: Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer morning could end in a downpour. Could end in lightening and thunder." (p.261).

 

"Storms always made me feel small. Even though summers were mostly made of sun and heat, summers for me were about the storms that came and went. And left me feeling alone...Boys like me belonged in the rain." (p.294).

 

"And somehow it seemed that the dog helped us be a better family. Maybe dogs were one of the secrets of the universe." (p. 305).

 

"I knew a part of him would never be the same. They cracked more than his ribs." (p.325).

 

"Maybe that's the way it worked. High school was just a prologue to the real novel. Everybody got to write you - but when you graduated, you got to write yourself. At graduation you got to collect your teacher's pens and your parents' pens and you got your own pen. And you could do all the writing." (p. 335).

 

"This is what was wrong with me. All this time I had been trying t figure out the secrets of the universe, the secrets of my own body, of my own heart. All of the answers had always been so close and yet I had always fought them without even knowing it. From the minute I'd met Dante, I had fallen in love with him. I just didn't let myself know it, think it, feel it. My father was right. And it was true what my mother said. We all fight our private wars." (p. 358).

 



 

 

Teaching:  

 

As teachers we have the responsibility to teach the truth/facts. Therefore, we owe it to our students not to sugar coat topics. Our classrooms should be their safe haven allowing them to express their feelings freely without judgment. A judgment free zone. Students are entitled to their own opinions, feeling, and thoughts. Sexism and homophobia in schools should be addressed in a prompt manner. I think it is within the classroom where you can control a constructive conversation about such topics. Ari asks his mom if she likes teaching even when her students don't care. Her response was: "I'll tell you a secret. I'm not responsible for whether my students care or don't care. That care has to come from them - not me." She goes on to say that it is her job to care even when they don't. I agree. As teachers it is our job to care about our students and respect their opinions.