Hello dear readers!
For my YA lit class, one section of material we covered was science fiction. The selection I picked was Feed by M.T. Anderson, a novel in which everyone in a future society has tech systems embedded in their heads that are constantly marketing to each individual. When the main character meets a girl named Violet who wants to break the system and break free of the "feed", he thinks she's nuts initially. But as the story progresses, he begins to understand why she's doing what she does.
(M.T. Anderson is a really interesting writer. If you go to his website, it's very much "steampunk" which I think speaks for his writing. I recommend checking out his books.)
In our group, we had an interesting discussion about the role of technology in the lives of kids today. Many kids can't be seen without their smartphones in hands, checking Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. The premise of Feed is that these streams would be pushed directly into the minds of everyone who had a "feed". The interesting thing is that Anderson wrote this novel in 2001, which was before the Facebook boom.
Another interesting thing about Feed is that the language is very dumbed down. The reason for this is to make a point that too much technology can reverse the learning process. We felt this was a very deliberate choice on Anderson's part; while it does make the novel hard to read in some places, it gets the feeling of this society all about consumption across well.
Overall, I enjoyed Feed. I think it could be a really good launch point for discussion with teens and adults alike.
~Meaghan
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Young Adult Non Fiction: How They Croaked Plus Group Discussion
Hello again, my lovely readers!
A key component to education and to the reading curriculum of young adults is non fiction. Non fiction material can range from the funny and gross (which is what I read for this post) to the serious and grim. There are a few challenges in non fiction, especially for teens. It needs to be both engaging and factual, and somehow it has to hold the attention of someone who may or may not have the focus of a goldfish. The key with young adults is to get them reading what they are interested in, be it space, dinosaurs, fashion, etc. and use it as a launch point into other non fiction material.
(If you are looking for some ideas for non fiction for YA readers, Goodreads has a pretty great list here. A lot of these look really interesting, and can be a great way to get YA readers involved.)
For the non fiction selection, I chose to read How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg and Kevin O'Malley. The book is filled with bios of famous people ranging from Mozart to Washington with facts about the time periods, practices, and other random bits and pieces. The book also has a lot of really funny drawings throughout as well.
I loved it. This is exactly the kind of book I was reading when I was in like 5th grade - the weird, gross out fact book was my preference of choice. I love how How They Croaked was humorous throughout, especially with some of the more gory deaths. I think by keeping the tone light it kept it from getting too dark. The facts were really neat, too; I had no idea Mozart died from strep throat. Overall, I think anyone in upper elementary through middle school will probably enjoy it.
In our group, we came up with a list of things we learned from How They Croaked, and if this list doesn't entice you into reading it, I don't know what else will:
1. Doctors could be just as lethal as the illnesses they were treating.
2. Thank God for antibiotics.
3. Always let someone know that you've died.
4. One of the leading causes of death is science.
5. Always do what you love, even if it kills you.
Again, a really great book.
~Meaghan
A key component to education and to the reading curriculum of young adults is non fiction. Non fiction material can range from the funny and gross (which is what I read for this post) to the serious and grim. There are a few challenges in non fiction, especially for teens. It needs to be both engaging and factual, and somehow it has to hold the attention of someone who may or may not have the focus of a goldfish. The key with young adults is to get them reading what they are interested in, be it space, dinosaurs, fashion, etc. and use it as a launch point into other non fiction material.
(If you are looking for some ideas for non fiction for YA readers, Goodreads has a pretty great list here. A lot of these look really interesting, and can be a great way to get YA readers involved.)
For the non fiction selection, I chose to read How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg and Kevin O'Malley. The book is filled with bios of famous people ranging from Mozart to Washington with facts about the time periods, practices, and other random bits and pieces. The book also has a lot of really funny drawings throughout as well.
I loved it. This is exactly the kind of book I was reading when I was in like 5th grade - the weird, gross out fact book was my preference of choice. I love how How They Croaked was humorous throughout, especially with some of the more gory deaths. I think by keeping the tone light it kept it from getting too dark. The facts were really neat, too; I had no idea Mozart died from strep throat. Overall, I think anyone in upper elementary through middle school will probably enjoy it.
In our group, we came up with a list of things we learned from How They Croaked, and if this list doesn't entice you into reading it, I don't know what else will:
1. Doctors could be just as lethal as the illnesses they were treating.
2. Thank God for antibiotics.
3. Always let someone know that you've died.
4. One of the leading causes of death is science.
5. Always do what you love, even if it kills you.
Again, a really great book.
~Meaghan
Monday, April 13, 2015
Historical Fiction Novel: Between Shades of Gray Plus Group Discussion
Hello my readers!
I hope you are all having a lovely April so far. So in our YA lit class, we had to read a historical fiction selection. Historical fiction is a really important genre. Typically, a historical fiction novel will try to inform the reader about some time period or event, with the intention of making a connection between the reader and the characters so that the reader has a reason to be involved or to care. A lot of the time, a piece of historical fiction will act as a launch point to spark an interest in the reader. Once that spark is lit, the reader can then go find more information on whatever topic the novel was on.
For my historical fiction novel, I chose Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Between Shades of Gray is about a 15 year old girl named Lina who lives in Lithuania during WWII. The Soviets come in the middle of the night and take her, her parents, and her younger brother away to a work camp in Siberia. They face separation, hard labor, brutal winters, poor living and travel conditions, and starvation. There is a lot of death and a lot of pain. Lina is a talented artist and uses her drawing skills to make it through.
(Between Shades of Gray has a really great website as well. There are videos of the author talking about her book, group discussion guides, and reviews from critics. You can find it here.)
In class, our group talked about how we felt about the book. The general consensus was that it was a difficult read because there wasn't a lot of hope from the get go. As one of my classmates said, it was pretty much emotionally "shitty the whole way through", which made it difficult to stick with. But we also decided it was a really important read, as many of us had no idea about the Siberian work camps in WWII.
One activity we were asked to do was to come up with a list of everything important we took away from Between Shades of Gray. It was a really fun activity, so I'm going to post the list here for your enjoyment.
"Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from Between Shades of Gray"
1. Blankets should never be taken for granted.
2. A parent's love is greater than you know.
3. Be kind to everyone, even your "enemies."
4. Not all people are bad, they just act bad under certain circumstances.
5. Time heals all.
6. Humans have the power to overcome anything.
7. Always find a hole to poop through.
I hope you will go read Between Shades of Gray. It really is an important piece of historical fiction.
~Meaghan
I hope you are all having a lovely April so far. So in our YA lit class, we had to read a historical fiction selection. Historical fiction is a really important genre. Typically, a historical fiction novel will try to inform the reader about some time period or event, with the intention of making a connection between the reader and the characters so that the reader has a reason to be involved or to care. A lot of the time, a piece of historical fiction will act as a launch point to spark an interest in the reader. Once that spark is lit, the reader can then go find more information on whatever topic the novel was on.
For my historical fiction novel, I chose Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Between Shades of Gray is about a 15 year old girl named Lina who lives in Lithuania during WWII. The Soviets come in the middle of the night and take her, her parents, and her younger brother away to a work camp in Siberia. They face separation, hard labor, brutal winters, poor living and travel conditions, and starvation. There is a lot of death and a lot of pain. Lina is a talented artist and uses her drawing skills to make it through.
(Between Shades of Gray has a really great website as well. There are videos of the author talking about her book, group discussion guides, and reviews from critics. You can find it here.)
In class, our group talked about how we felt about the book. The general consensus was that it was a difficult read because there wasn't a lot of hope from the get go. As one of my classmates said, it was pretty much emotionally "shitty the whole way through", which made it difficult to stick with. But we also decided it was a really important read, as many of us had no idea about the Siberian work camps in WWII.
One activity we were asked to do was to come up with a list of everything important we took away from Between Shades of Gray. It was a really fun activity, so I'm going to post the list here for your enjoyment.
"Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from Between Shades of Gray"
1. Blankets should never be taken for granted.
2. A parent's love is greater than you know.
3. Be kind to everyone, even your "enemies."
4. Not all people are bad, they just act bad under certain circumstances.
5. Time heals all.
6. Humans have the power to overcome anything.
7. Always find a hole to poop through.
I hope you will go read Between Shades of Gray. It really is an important piece of historical fiction.
~Meaghan
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Identity Novel: Esperanza Rising Plus Group Discussion
Hello readers!
The identity novel is a really important part of YA literature, as it explores growth and issues that many teens are dealing with in some form or another. For my selection, I chose Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. Her website is found here and is full of all kinds of interesting things, including resources and discussion guides for her books.
The basis of Esperanza Rising is starting over from the ground up. Esperanza starts the story as a wealthy girl in Mexico during the 1920s. Her father is killed and she and her mother make an escape to California, where they work as laborers in the fields. At first, Esperanza is upset. The life in California is different than anything she's ever known and she hates it. But as the story continues, she starts to grow and come into her own, proving that even if you lose everything, you can still find yourself.
In our group discussion, we all latched onto the themes found in the story. There is smoke and fire (from Esperanza's home being burned), crochet and family (her grandmother teaches her to crochet and it becomes a lifeline while Esperanza is in California), and the fact that you can always recreate yourself. The biggest key we found to the story is the idea of cycles and circles. The book is structured after the agricultural growing season, and by the end, it has come a full season, much like Esperanza's life.
Esperanza Rising is a great book for upper elementary and middle school students, although I think everyone can gain something from it. I highly recommend it.
~Meaghan
The identity novel is a really important part of YA literature, as it explores growth and issues that many teens are dealing with in some form or another. For my selection, I chose Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. Her website is found here and is full of all kinds of interesting things, including resources and discussion guides for her books.
The basis of Esperanza Rising is starting over from the ground up. Esperanza starts the story as a wealthy girl in Mexico during the 1920s. Her father is killed and she and her mother make an escape to California, where they work as laborers in the fields. At first, Esperanza is upset. The life in California is different than anything she's ever known and she hates it. But as the story continues, she starts to grow and come into her own, proving that even if you lose everything, you can still find yourself.
In our group discussion, we all latched onto the themes found in the story. There is smoke and fire (from Esperanza's home being burned), crochet and family (her grandmother teaches her to crochet and it becomes a lifeline while Esperanza is in California), and the fact that you can always recreate yourself. The biggest key we found to the story is the idea of cycles and circles. The book is structured after the agricultural growing season, and by the end, it has come a full season, much like Esperanza's life.
Esperanza Rising is a great book for upper elementary and middle school students, although I think everyone can gain something from it. I highly recommend it.
~Meaghan
Non-Fiction Development: Writing Great Books for Young Adults Plus Group Discussion Notes
Hello readers!
For one section of our YA lit class, we needed to read a non-fiction book about development. The one I chose was Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. It's a guide from an editor on what publishers are looking for and on ways to structure a young adult novel.
The book was pretty much how I expected it to be. There are sections that describe plot, characters, and climax. The key points of the book are that you need to gear the novel towards your audience and that you should really decide on a theme when you write.
There are some really good ideas in the book, and there are prompts to get you writing throughout, which is a feature I really liked. Brooks also brings up some good things to think about, such as remembering your audience and what it was like when you were a young adult.
When we talked about it in our group, most of us kind of laughed at the idea of coming up with a theme. For us, we write to just write. There isn't a goal in mind of a theme like harmony or friendship. I don't know if that will change when we get older, but for now that's how it is. We also discussed how the book reads like most other "how to write" books. Overall, there wasn't much in the book to differentiate it from others in the fields.
However, if you are interested in writing for a young adult market, I would still recommend you at least look at Writing Great Books for Young Adults, even if only for the writing prompts.
~Meaghan
P.S. - Here is a really neat article we read in class if you are interested in writing. It has some really cool ideas to get you started.
For one section of our YA lit class, we needed to read a non-fiction book about development. The one I chose was Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. It's a guide from an editor on what publishers are looking for and on ways to structure a young adult novel.
The book was pretty much how I expected it to be. There are sections that describe plot, characters, and climax. The key points of the book are that you need to gear the novel towards your audience and that you should really decide on a theme when you write.
There are some really good ideas in the book, and there are prompts to get you writing throughout, which is a feature I really liked. Brooks also brings up some good things to think about, such as remembering your audience and what it was like when you were a young adult.
When we talked about it in our group, most of us kind of laughed at the idea of coming up with a theme. For us, we write to just write. There isn't a goal in mind of a theme like harmony or friendship. I don't know if that will change when we get older, but for now that's how it is. We also discussed how the book reads like most other "how to write" books. Overall, there wasn't much in the book to differentiate it from others in the fields.
However, if you are interested in writing for a young adult market, I would still recommend you at least look at Writing Great Books for Young Adults, even if only for the writing prompts.
~Meaghan
P.S. - Here is a really neat article we read in class if you are interested in writing. It has some really cool ideas to get you started.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Reflection: Socratic Seminars
Hello readers!
Throughout the semester, our class has been doing a number of discussions called Socratic seminars. I had never heard of them until this class and I think they are awesome, actually. You're probably asking, "What is that?"
A Socratic seminar is a way of holding a polite, thoughtful discussion of a topic. Our topics have ranged from whether or not YA literature is too dark to articles we read about the field of YA literature. The class is divided into two groups. Group 1 forms an inside circle around a few table, facing one another for discussion. Group 2 forms a circle around Group 1 and observes quietly while the inside group discusses the topic of choice. Every member of the inside circle gets a chance to speak, offering text references, questions, and counter points. Then, after the allotted period of time has passed, the outside group offers feedback on the discussion and switches places to become the inside group.
What I like about this form of discussion is that everyone's opinion is heard. There is no dominant speaker, but a multitude of speakers. The conversations stay polite and no one gets trampled. The other nice thing is that because you are only facing the people you're talking to (instead of facing the outside circle), it creates a safe space to voice ideas.
Each seminar so far has gotten better, I think. As a class, we're learning each other's thought processes as well as our own. I like this as a teaching tool for my own classroom because I think I can use it to build community and safe space in my classes.
If this sounds interesting to anyone reading this, I found a really helpful website that explains not only what the seminar is but how it functions and how to utilize it. You can find the site here. :)
~Meaghan
Throughout the semester, our class has been doing a number of discussions called Socratic seminars. I had never heard of them until this class and I think they are awesome, actually. You're probably asking, "What is that?"
A Socratic seminar is a way of holding a polite, thoughtful discussion of a topic. Our topics have ranged from whether or not YA literature is too dark to articles we read about the field of YA literature. The class is divided into two groups. Group 1 forms an inside circle around a few table, facing one another for discussion. Group 2 forms a circle around Group 1 and observes quietly while the inside group discusses the topic of choice. Every member of the inside circle gets a chance to speak, offering text references, questions, and counter points. Then, after the allotted period of time has passed, the outside group offers feedback on the discussion and switches places to become the inside group.
What I like about this form of discussion is that everyone's opinion is heard. There is no dominant speaker, but a multitude of speakers. The conversations stay polite and no one gets trampled. The other nice thing is that because you are only facing the people you're talking to (instead of facing the outside circle), it creates a safe space to voice ideas.
Each seminar so far has gotten better, I think. As a class, we're learning each other's thought processes as well as our own. I like this as a teaching tool for my own classroom because I think I can use it to build community and safe space in my classes.
If this sounds interesting to anyone reading this, I found a really helpful website that explains not only what the seminar is but how it functions and how to utilize it. You can find the site here. :)
~Meaghan
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Reflection: Young Adult Reading Survey
Hey readers!
One of the projects we did this semester was to create a survey for young adults about their reading habits. We had to decide on what we wanted to find from the young adults we were surveying. For me, I wanted to know how young adults find their reading materials.
So I created a survey consisting of ten multiple choice answered questions and five short sentence questions. These questions ranged from how frequently the youth visited a library or bookstore to whether or not their friends read. I then distributed it among a group of 10 young adults at my local youth group. These teens ranged from 7th grade all the way to 12th, and were pretty evenly a mixture of guys and girls.
I then compiled their responses and wrote a paper, exploring what I learned from their responses. Here are some of the most important things I took away from this experience:
~ Always be prepared for teens to give you answers that don't relate to the questions. I had quite a few answers that were off the wall from what I asked.
~ Teens like it when books are suggested to them in a very specific manner. This came up quite a few times as well. A lot of the youth told me that when I'm suggesting books, I should gear it towards the teen. So for example, one told me to tell them "You would like this book" instead of "I really liked this book".
~ Many teenagers use the internet to find books. Popular sites include Google, Amazon, and through friends on social media.
~That being said, not one of the teens I surveyed uses Goodreads. (You guys remember this site?) I found that surprising.
I plan on using the results from this survey to help in my future classroom. I want to get my students involved with Goodreads so they can see that I'm reading and to also help them find new books. I'm going to keep my bookshelves open to my students, and when I make recommendations, I will always gear them towards my students. I also think that in the future, I may word my survey differently so that I can get more detailed responses.
Overall, I found that this experience was great.
~Meaghan
One of the projects we did this semester was to create a survey for young adults about their reading habits. We had to decide on what we wanted to find from the young adults we were surveying. For me, I wanted to know how young adults find their reading materials.
So I created a survey consisting of ten multiple choice answered questions and five short sentence questions. These questions ranged from how frequently the youth visited a library or bookstore to whether or not their friends read. I then distributed it among a group of 10 young adults at my local youth group. These teens ranged from 7th grade all the way to 12th, and were pretty evenly a mixture of guys and girls.
I then compiled their responses and wrote a paper, exploring what I learned from their responses. Here are some of the most important things I took away from this experience:
~ Always be prepared for teens to give you answers that don't relate to the questions. I had quite a few answers that were off the wall from what I asked.
~ Teens like it when books are suggested to them in a very specific manner. This came up quite a few times as well. A lot of the youth told me that when I'm suggesting books, I should gear it towards the teen. So for example, one told me to tell them "You would like this book" instead of "I really liked this book".
~ Many teenagers use the internet to find books. Popular sites include Google, Amazon, and through friends on social media.
~That being said, not one of the teens I surveyed uses Goodreads. (You guys remember this site?) I found that surprising.
I plan on using the results from this survey to help in my future classroom. I want to get my students involved with Goodreads so they can see that I'm reading and to also help them find new books. I'm going to keep my bookshelves open to my students, and when I make recommendations, I will always gear them towards my students. I also think that in the future, I may word my survey differently so that I can get more detailed responses.
Overall, I found that this experience was great.
~Meaghan
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