March 2014 – Page 2 – Booktalking #kidlit

Malala Yousafzai and the Girls of Pakistan

Malala Yousafzai and the Girls of Pakistan
by David Aretha (Author)

Booktalk: In 2012, a Taliban gunman shot a bullet into the head of Malala Yousafzai. The fifteen-year-old Pakistani girl needed to die, Taliban leaders reasoned, because she spoke out against the group’s policies, which included the suppression of girl’a education in Malal’s home region of Swat Valley.

Snippet: Finally, the shooter belived, the outspoken Pakistani teen had been silenced. The girl had delivered a speech entitled, “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education.” Now, she was surely dead.

The gunman was wrong. Malala survived.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Spring Cleaning

Hello! I wanted to let you know that I am moving Booktalking #kidlit from a self-hosted WordPress back to my original hosted WordPress.com blog. (Same name, same posts, different location.) Hosting a blog on my website had been a goal of mine for many years, so that is why I moved over in 2012, but like anything else there are plusses and minuses.

MINUS #1
You do your own tech support.

MINUS #2
You download, store, and back up everything yourself. (When you run out of space, you have to delete something else…again!)

On the other hand, when I move back to my original hosted WordPress.com blog, someone else does all of that techy stuff!

And there’s more!

PLUS #1
With this move I can get a new “responsive” theme that will automatically adapt to the size of the screen it is being viewed on–cellphone, tablet, computer. (Yes, I could download that myself, but that brings me back to MINUS #1 and #2 above.)

PLUS #2
WordPress’s blog post emails ALWAYS show the book covers. That is not the case with the Google Feedburner email delivery I have been using for the self-hosted blog (and for some of you on this hosted WordPress.com blog). In fact, it is just the opposite. The default setting for Google’s Feedburner email delivery is to REMOVE all images in the post.

(If your email message says Google at the bottom, please click here to sign up for WordPress email delivery. After this message comes through I am deleting the Google Feedburner email settings for both blogs. The last time I “remodeled” a blog, the Google Feedburner service sent out 3 months of posts in one day!)

The plan is to move the old posts over during spring break and to start booktalking again on St. Patrick’s Day. I’m not sure if I can “export” them all in one fell swoop, or if I have to copy them in one by one. We shall see what works! I just wanted to send out a message ahead of time in case the blog sent any old posts by mistake.

Enjoy your spring break! I’ll be back on Monday, March 17th…

Wired #lessonplans

Where does electricity come from? Help K-5 students answer this essential question (and meet the Common Core State Standards) with the Teaching STEM lesson plans for this mentor text: Wired by Anastasia Suen (ATOS 5.1 / 820L)

Unit Summary: Students will examine the essential question, “Where does electricity come from?” As you read the book, the students will identify and write the main idea for each spread. They will look up generators and read about them. Using the library resources and online materials, they will create a diagram of a generator and label it. Finally, students will design a flow chart leading from the generator diagram of where electricity goes when it leaves the generator and they’ll use their collected information to write about the entire process.

The Library Activity begins on page 111. The Collaborative Teacher Activity is on page 114.

Extension Activities (sample)

1. Explore other ways electricity is generated. Consider hydropower, solar power, tidal power, and wind power.

2. Bring in a guest speaker from the local power company.

3. After reading the book, have the students write a short description of the main idea of the book. Use the phrase, “I am a technology specialist. I know that _________.”

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

You can find more Teaching STEM lesson plans on the Teaching STEM blog.

Lost Girl Found

Lost Girl Found
by Leah Bassoff and Laura DeLuca (Authors)

Booktalk: Poni’s life in her small village in southern Sudan is simple and complicated at the same time. But then the war comes and there is only one thing for Poni to do. Run. Run for her life. Driven by the sheer will to survive and the hope that she can somehow make it to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, Poni sets out on a long, dusty trek across the east African countryside with thousands of refugees.

Snippet: I have accepted the fact the no one is coming to save me or offer me a ride. I keep walking on my tattered feet toward Kakuma. This place is no longer real. Only a word, a hope.

Dog Comes Too

Dog Comes Too
by Hazel Hutchins (Author) and Gosia Mosz (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Little dog is not about to stay behind when its owner goes off for a walk in the country. But it’s quite a job for little dog to keep up! (Board book)

Snippet:
Too wide

Big jump

Bad Boy, Good Boy

Bad Boy, Good Boy
by Kay Chorao (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Sam is always up to something in this oversized picture book comic with four short chapters.

Snippet:
GRANDMA: Bad boy!
SAM: Sorry, Grandma.

Sam could run like the wind.
Today the wind blew
swoooosssshhh.
Sam swooshed through
Grandma’s tulips.

Founding Mothers: Remembering the Ladies

Founding Mothers: Remembering the Ladies
by Cokie Roberts (Author) and Diane Goode (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Details gleaned from letters, private journals, lists, and ledgers tell the story of the female patriots of the American Revolution.

Snippet:
ELIZA LUCAS PINCKNEY
Eliza Lucas was only sixteen years old when her father went off to fight for England against Spain and left her in charge of three plantations in South Carolina.

March is Women’s History Month.
For more great titles, follow the KidLit Celebrates Women’s History Month blog.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!