Reflect On your Small Group Discussion of The Book Thief by 1/29/08

So, today I asked you to get in small groups and discuss The Book Thief. That was pretty much it; I gave you no further instruction. How did it go? Was it an effective activity for all members? Did everyone share equally? Was it aggravating to be given so little structure? How did the conversation develop, or did it?

Be candid, and post your reply by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

Claim Your Weblink Now!! (or by 1/25/08)/Post Your Review by 2.6.08

You will soon be required to write a 1-page review of a YA weblink of your choice. Here is a list of links I’d like to see reviewed, though I’m open to others.

1. Alan Review: http://www.alan-ya.org/
2. Web English Teacher: http://www.webenglishteacher.com/
3. The Comic Book Project: http://www.comicbookproject.org/
4. New York City Comic Book Museum: http://www.nyccomicbookmuseum.org/education/education.htm
5. Deaf Characters in Ya Lit: http://www.pajka.blogspot.com/
6. ReadWriteThink: http://www.readwritethink.org
7. Grouchy: Favorite Teen Angst books: http://www.grouchy.com/angst/index.html
8. Teen Reads: http://www.teenreads.com
9. YA Authors Café: http://mysite.verizon.net/selimsa803/default.html
10. YALSA: http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/yalsa.cfm
11. Voice of Youth Advocates: http://www.voya.com
12. Comic books for Young Adults: http://ublib.buffalo.edu/lml/comics/pages/index.html
13. Multicultural Review: http://www.mcreview.com
14. School Library Journal: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com
15. Hornbook: http://www.hbook.com/index.shtml
16. Vandergrift’s Page: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/YoungAdult/
17. The Literary Link: http://theliterarylink.com/
18. Literacy Matters: http://www.literacymatters.org/adlit/intro.htm
19. Miami University’s Picture Book database: http://www.lib.muohio.edu/pictbks/
20. Guys Read: http://www.guysread.com/
21. Book Awards Information: http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/awards.html
22. Reader’s Theatre: http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE.html
23. American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/
24. Folklore and Mythology Texts: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html

By Friday, January 25, please post a reply telling the class which link you will take. There are more links than there are students, so do not double up (if you review a link that someone else has already reviewed, you will not get credit for the assignment).

So, by Friday, simply post something like. "Hi! I'll take #12!"

I'll post the actual due date for the weblink reviews later.

Podcasting Info!

Hopefully I'll have someone from Itech talk with us soon about podcasting, etc. In the meantime, check out these two tutorials from http://www.TeacherTube.com, the YouTube for teachers!







and....

Welcome to YA Lit, ENG 418 for Spring Semester 2008!

Hi! I'm sorry I can't see you on the first day of class, but we'll meet one another soon.

To prepare for our second week of classes, here is what I need you to do:

1. Create a blogger account for yourself. You will be required to use this blog to post assignments, reflections, etc., as I request them. So, go to http://www.blogger.com/ and hit "Create Your Own Blog" to set up your account. You can set up your own blog if you like, but we'll be using this one here, not any individual sites you may set up. I suggest that you do not use your full name. If you use something very far removed from your real name, send me an e-mail at james.b.carter@usm.edu to let me know what username coincides with your actual identity.

2. Read chapters 1-3 of the Donelson and Nilsen book. That's our main textbook, but certainly not our only one. Write a minimum 1-page reflection on these chapters.

3. If I send you a copy of the syllabus, be sure to read it over for any questions you may have once I get back in town. Yes, this course is a lot of work. Yes, you are expected to write reflections or journals on all of your readings; yes, you do have to read 12 YA books in addition to our text books readings. Yes, you do have to get 6 of them on your own. Reading through the Nilsen and Donelson can help you get an early start on building your individual booklists. If you don't get the syllabus via an e-mail, though, don't worry. We'll get to it upon my return.

4. Read The Book Thief and write a 1-page journal entry on it in which you A. set the scene of the novel (think "movie man preview voice" here), B. provide a summary, C. offer commentary on the novel. It's a long book for our first selection, so don't tarry.

5. Create a discussion plan for The Book Thief. The DP can be anything you want it to be, so long as you feel it will help you discuss the book with your students. That's all the info I'll give you on the DP for right now.

6. Reply to this blog post by:
A. Telling me what your initial ideas are on the concept of YA literature.
B. Telling me what you hope to get out of this course.
C. By letting me know if you have any knowledge on how to post video to the web via YouTube or other outlets or software. That will be important later. :)

Here's how I've responded to Part A of item # 6 in the past:

"I admit, I used to be an elitist. If it wasn't canonical, I didn't really see why I needed it in my classroom. Back then, of course, I was still figuring out that the teaching focus wasn't on all my preferences but on the needs and interests of my students. I used to really turn up my nose at anything YA, but, I did so because I was stubborn in terms of my notions of 'worthy literature' and ignorant to the complexity, variety, and quality of YA lit available.How do you view YA lit?"

Feel free to use that as a jumping off point for your own responses.

Have your blog response posted by 5:00 p.m. the Tuesday before our next class. Be prepared to discuss The Book Thief, share your DP's, ask questions about the course, and discuss everyone's blog replies. You've got a solid week, so get to work, do a great job, and I look forward to talking with you IN PERSON next week. :)


Sincerely,
Bucky