When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me

Stead, R. (2009). When you reach me. NY:  Random House.

Miranda is in sixth grade and she has to make new friends after Sal decides he doesn't want to be her friend anymore.  She gets anonymous notes about saving someone's life.  The setting of this story is important.  Miranda and her mom frequently talk about staying safe in New York and by their apartment building.  There is some violence, a naked man, and the laughing man.  Miranda's mom makes some major changes in the story.  At first, she practices to be on the 25,000 Pyramid and complains about work.  Then, at the end of the story, she is happier because she is going to marry her boyfriend and she is going to go to law school.  Miranda's character changes because she learns about friendship.  The time travel makes the story appealing to many readers. 

Reading Guide:

http://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/images/9780982350690/StudyguideTeacher/WhenYouReachMe_TE_JLGGuide.pdf

I Am The Messenger

I Am The Messenger

Zusak, M. (2002).  I am the messenger. NY:  Random House.

Ed Kennedy is a 19 year old taxi driver who becomes a hero when he stops a bank robber.  Then, he gets a playing card with addresses.  Each one leads him to a person that needs his help.  Ed's character changes from a teenager with no ambition to a special person who has changed the lives of many with his messages.  He shows such kindness to an old lady who needs somebody to love.  He demonstrates humor when he tries to get more people to attend church service by advertising "Free Beer!"  He exemplifies bravery when he saves a wife from her abusive husband.  Readers may connect with his dysfunctional relationship with his mother.  The theme is stated at the end of the story when we find out who gave Ed the cards, "If a guy like you can stand up and do what you did, then maybe everyone can.  Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of all."   This is a Printz Honor book and written by the author of Book Thief, one of my favorite books of all time.

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/196151/i-am-the-messenger-by-markus-zusak/9780375836671/teachers-guide/

Infographics

What is an infographic?

I listened to Albert Cairo's podcast to get the explanation of an infographic.  An infographic is a visual representation of evidence or information.  You take raw information and transform it into visual information that a person can understand. It has a storytelling component so there is a depth of a topic.  Albert Cairo is good at creating infographics because he is very knowledgeable about numbers and visuals.

Infographics is new to me so I explored three webapps before creating my own infographic.

1.  Easel.ly-  I liked that it was easy to sign in and it is

for free.  It used some of the same features as Microsoft Office.  I followed the tutorials to make a Venn Diagram.  I think this is a good one for teachers to use because many topics lend themselves to comparisons.  This was straightforward and easy to use.  The topic in the video physical changes vs. chemical changes is a topic that many science students could use.  The user can spend time making the background and texts a different color so it would be personalized.

2.  Piktochart-  I found this the easiest to use for my topic.  I was able to easily change the text samples to what I wanted to write.  It had graphics for my subject or I could have uploaded my own pictures.  I enjoyed using this format.  It had a tutorial when you sign up.  I didn't know how to make my project public and I could search the question to get an immediate answer.

3.  Infogr.am-  I liked this program, when I watched the tutorial.  I thought that I was going to use this to make a graph.  I had trouble knowing what graph to use.  I think that maybe if I was a better data collector, that I would have been better at making a selection.  This is a great program to make bar graphs, line graphs, and pie charts.

I did my research on "Writing, Technology, and Teens." This is my infographic:
https://magic.piktochart.com/output/20556118-shannon-caesar-infographics?presentation=true

The Darkest Part Of The Forest

Black, H. (2015).  The darkest part of the forest.  NY:  Little, Brown, and Company.  Hazel lives in a unique town named Fairfold with her brother Ben.  The horned prince breaks out of his glass coffin after many years.  It is up to Hazel to save her town from the monsters.  Hazel's character drastically changes throughout the book.  When we meet Hazel, she is drunk, kissing boys at a party and seems like she is lost.  Then, we see that she is a caretaker of her brother.  Finally, we learn that Hazel has been dividing her waking and sleeping hours.  At night, she has been a knight.  Hazel saves her prince, brother, and town. Readers will enjoy the setting of the story.  Fairfold is a place of faeries, changlings, and elves. I though the beginning of the story was slow, but as soon as it got past the teen dating, I was hooked. I loved the strong character that Hazel became.

http://blackholly.com/books/darkest-part-forest/

Blogs and Blog Readers

Blogs and Blog Readers

I chose the Blog Reader "My Feedly."  I liked it because it was easy to use and free.  I searched "library" as my topic and I had many choices.  I quickly was able to locate "The Daring Librarian", Gwyneth Jones, who I follow on Twitter.  She is a wonderful resource with 3,000 followers.  She has articles about Flocabulary, MLK, and a must read titled "Do NOT read this Blog Post."

Next, I'll highlight 5 blogs that I chose to follow:

1. http://librarybulletinboards.blogspot.com- This blog has great bulletin board ideas for a library. The "Hats Off To Reading" could be used in March for Read Across America Day when we celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday!

2. http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/This is a book review blog.  I love the way she has it set up:  book talk, my thoughts, and read alikes.  I am a big proponent of giving readers "read alikes" so they always have a book to read next.

3.http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/This blog contains what is happening at Tiffany's school.  She has been a librarian for eight years. Tiffany Whitehead's blog inspired me because she feels that being a librarian is a calling and I love her inspirational quotes.

4.http://blbooks.blogspot.com/- Becky's blog contains book reviews.  I chose this because I found her 2017 War Bingo Card very interesting.  I think a game format like this can encourage readers to read more and to choose books that they might not necessarily read if it wasn't for the game.  This is a great idea that could be changed to another topic!

5. http://www.nikkidrobertson.com/- Nikki is a high school librarian who has a blog containing thoughts on politics to how she remodeled her library over winter break.  I chose this blog because the first post was about finding books for ESL students and that is my passion.  Also, I liked that she interested in how girls and different ethnic groups are represented in books.

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/caesarlibrarian

My Tumblr account

Looking For Alaska

Looking For Alaska

Green, J. (2005).  Looking for alaska.  NY:  Penguin.  Away at boarding school, Miles meets a girl named Alaska.  She is the leader of some crazy school pranks.  Alaska gets drunk and dies in a car crash.  Miles and his friends try to find out if it was a suicide or an accident.    Readers will like living vicariously through Miles and his friends as they are living in a boarding school, doing crazy pranks, sneaking cigarettes and booze, and still trying to pass their classes. The book goes from funny, when they get a stripper to pose as their annual speaker, to sad when you learn how Alaska's mother died.  In this Printz Honor book, John Green, the author of The Fault In Our Stars, captures the relationships in young adulthood. Miles and his friends have a great friendship because it is them against the "rich" kids. Miles and his roommate are a "nerdy" cool because Miles knows famous last words and Colonel knows capitals and populations. 

FAQ

http://www.johngreenbooks.com/looking-for-alaska/

Discussion Questions:

http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/292717/looking-for-alaska-by-john-green/9780142402511/readers-guide/

An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines

Green, J. (2006).  An abundance of katherines. NY: Penguin.  In this Michael J. Printz Honor Award book, Colin Singleton is a child prodigy, recent high school graduate, who just got dumped by his girlfriend Katherine. Colin, a child prodigy, and his best friend go on a road trip and end up in Gunshot.  

Colin's character is one who lacks confidence and always wants someone to love him.  He is an only child who has never had many friends or good social skills. Readers can see his character changing as the story progresses. At first he is so busy making a theorem about dumpee/dumper relationships, he could miss the possible new friendship right in front of him.  Luckily, he learns to start taking risks like learning to shoot a gun so he can go hog hunting.  Lindsey teaches him to tell a story so that it is not only about him.  The author does a great job, showing the importance of being selfless.  We see Colin, who is so smart, but is struggling with how he can become "known." In contrast, Lindsey's mother is doing everything humanly possible to save her town and the workers from losing their jobs.  This trip teaches Colin to readjust his priorities.  

I chose this book because I am a huge fan of John Green.  I think many young adults will want to read all of John Green books.  I know I started with Fault With Our Stars and kept on reading!

Author's Website:
http://www.johngreenbooks.com/

Discussion Questions:
http://www.shmoop.com/an-abundance-of-katherines/quotes-quiz.html