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A Collaborative Read Aloud: Magic Windows/Ventanas Mágicas

By Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán, Teachers College, New York

Reading Time: Magic Windows/Ventanas Mágicas (1999) by Carmen Lomas Garza

In this entry I share a vignette of a bilingual pre-service teacher’s and a second-grade bilingual student’s engagement with Garza’s book Magic Windows/Ventanas Mágicas during a read aloud in an after-school program. During reading time, some teacher candidates, such as Diana, observed that when the books they had chosen for the children seemed too long, it helped facilitate the discussion of the book and the entire reading event, in general, when the teacher candidate and the child took turns reading, thus distributing the role of reading between the two. Continue reading →

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Hurricane Dancers: The Power of the Read Aloud

By Prof. Carmen M. Martínez-Roldán & Elizabeth Morphis, Teachers College, New York.

In this week’s blog, Elizabeth Morphis, a university student taking my Latino literature course, conducted a read aloud of the book Hurricane Dancers by Margarita Engle with six fifth grade students at a New York City public school. Here she shares some highlights of her experience. We hope that other teachers or readers will feel inspired to offer their thoughts regarding the use of historical fiction and of verse to reflect on the complexities of historical events.
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Banned Books: Some Explanations

By T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., University of Arizona

I began this month’s blog during Banned Books Week discussing one of my early encounters with using challenged and banned books. As October comes to a close, I thought it was fitting to visit some recent banned or challenged books and why they have come under fire.

banned books, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Harris and Me Continue reading →

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Banned Books Week: Old Favorites

by T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., The University of Arizona

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There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing. (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451).

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I started reminiscing about books I’ve read featuring book burnings, book challenges, and book bannings. Two immediately came to mind: Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Le Guin’s Voices.

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Banned Books Week: Beverly Naidoo

by T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., The University of Arizona

As we wind up Banned Books Week (September 30-October 6, 2012), I found myself wondering about children’s books banned and/or challenged in other countries, and thus began searching for titles. I knew Journey to Jo’burg had been banned in South Africa, so I decide Beverly Naidoo and her first novel would be my first step in investigating banned/challenged children’s literature world-wide.

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What’s Your Banned Books Story?

By T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D., University of Arizona

banned books story, Daddy's RoommateGiven that it is Banned Books Week (September 30-October 6, 2012), I decided that in this first blog of October I would revisit a very public encounter I had with banned books, my “banned books story.” As an assistant professor at a small state college in western Kansas, I happily taught undergraduate and graduate children’s literature courses and various methods courses. I began my children’s literature courses with “Wandering and Wondering”: I would have about fifty books spread across the tables and students would spend about 30 minutes browsing through these books, knowing they would be sharing their discoveries. Continue reading →

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An Ode to Children’s Literature: The Power of Reading for Fun

by Monique Storie, University of Guam, Latte Heights, GU


Colorful covers,
Worlds of words yet unseen brings
the chance for new friends

On a small island, the prospect for finding new books is limited to the local small bookstore chain (about the size of the average Circle K), online, and sometimes the local Kmart. This summer, we had the luxury of going to the mainland. Going stateside brings the excitement of visiting family, playing tourist, and shopping. In our family, shopping means looking for clothes, technological gadgets, gizmos, AND BOOKS! Continue reading →

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Pollyanna? Encyclopedia Brown? Which Reader Are You?

Monique Storie, University of Guam, Latte Heights, GU

 

. . . I am beginning to understand what our teachers were trying to get us to appreciate when we doing literary analyses in high school. . . Why did their efforts make it seem like a reader could only enjoy the story by examining its literary elements?

This summer, I had the luxury of engaging in literature explorations with others who are enthusiastic about children’s literature. One of the novels we shared, Between Shades of Gray (Sepetys, 2012), shocked me Continue reading →

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Intense Books, Dystopia, and the Guy Reader

Monique Storie, University of Guam, Latte Heights, GU

 

. . . I unconsciously considered them the literary equivalent of going to an action-packed movie, e.g. lots of action but not much story.

 

At the same time that Ethan was immersing himself in all things Hunger Games, my husband, who was half a world away, saw firsthand how these same books were creating a whirlwind of excitement among his non-reader friends. Not being able to read the book himself (the libraries and bookstores were all out and we have not progressed to e-readers yet), he watched with fascination as one book created such fervor and caused so many guys to drop their computer games and read. He described it like a wildfire that jumped from one location to another and could not be contained.
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