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: