Martin Erickson Sect. 002- Jane Addams Book Award to be presented

"Since 1953 the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award annually acknowledges books published in the United States during the previous year that address themes or topics that engage children in thinking about peace, justice, world community, and/or equality of the sexes and all races. This year's winner in the Younger Children category is The Escape of Oney Judge: Martha Washington's Slave Finds Freedom by Emily Arnold McCully (Farrar Straus Giroux). The winner in the Older Children category is We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin by Larry Dane Brimmer (Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills).

The award winners were named earlier this year, and the awards will be presented in October. For further information, including a list of honor books, visit the Jane Addams"

http://blog.reading.org/archives/cat_childrens_literature.html

Bedtime stories now available on children's iPods

A company called audible.com is now making children's books available for iPods. While this may seem like an attractive concept, I believe it keeps children from actually learning to read and gives them a more convenient way of "reading" the book. While the company argues this will help reluctant readers to begin enjoying reading, the American Library Association believes it is important to correlate the reading of words to the text. While the idea coincides with our technology today, I would not encourage books on iPod to take the place of reading.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVJ_FvIE3fhZEL9RqUEbAKmWw41AD90B3KV00

Valerie Hemingway Book Signing/Talk

As I was driving in my car yesterday back up to East Lansing from my hometown I heard an ad on the radio about a book signing and talk by the author Valerie Hemingway as part of The Great Michigan Read statewide reading program. She spoke tonight at the Library of Michigan; I'm sorry I am just posting this now in case any of you wished to have heard her speak tonight. I immediately thought of this class when I heard this announcement on 99.1, and it sparked curiosity that made me want to research a little bit more about her to see what she is all about. Valerie Hemingway is the author of Running with the Bulls, which is a memoir of her years as Ernest Hemingway's secretary. There is also going to be an exhibit at the Library of Michigan in Lansing that goes until May 5 that focuses on the influence of northern Michigan and the Nick Adams stories. It is open to the public 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. I hope some of you check this out if this interests any of you.

I thought it was interesting that on this random drive I heard an announcement that related so well to this class.

End of the Semester:(

Well Class,

This semester has been fun, I have had the privilege of learning a plethora of information as well as meeting new people. Valorie thank you for your hard work, help and concern for us as students. I wish you well and hope your contract and the strikes work in your favorite. Bye class, have a great summer!

Shane

Some housekeeping

Here are a couple of housekeeping reminders:

• Don't forget to bring your record of blogging to class. If you do, you need to email me the information ASAP.
• For those who had facilitator and artistic response roles for group choice, don't forget to submit your second papers!
  
• Rather than using the SASE method of returning finals, I'll email within a week to let you know your grade on the final and any comments that will help clarify the grade.
• By your final session (today for section 001 and Thursday for section 003), you should have received all assignments back with feedback. If you haven't, there's been a glitch. (Although I sent them, it seems like a number of people didn't get their Uglies responses back.) Please email me and I'll resend whatever you are missing. (Be specific about which paper you are missing.)
  

After grades are in I'll go through your feedback forms and post at least one more time to let you know how I'll use your feedback in my teaching next semester! (And I'm very happy to continue our discussions on this blog. I keep my "subscriptions" even after the class ends!)

TE348= Best Class!

I just wanted to take a second to reflect on this past semester. I really enjoyed this class a lot. Going into this semester I was very hesitant about this class. Growing up I was not much of a reader. The first couple of weeks I didn't have a lot to contribute to the class because I was unfamiliar with children's books. I didn't want to become the teacher who doesn't incorporate reading into the classroom, only because I am hesitant about literature. I was hoping that this class would broaden my horizons to learn and engaged in children's literature and it did just that! 

After the first group discussion I just fell in love with this class. I really liked how the class was set up and I enjoyed how much of an input we had in the course. The discussion were very insightful and interesting. 

I really liked this class is how all TE classes should be. Being engaged and involved in the learning process throughout really helped me connect to each and every book we discussed at a personal level. I have a whole new attitude towards reading. I loved the books that were covered, and I loved analyzing them on a deeper level. This class was amazing, I loved every bit of it! :) I'm sure many of you feel the same way!

Favorite Fantasy and Science Fiction Books

Hey everyone! I meant to post this back when we were talking about fantasy and science fiction but I forgot about it until now. Fantasy and science fiction are particular favorite genres of mine in children's and young adult literature. I thought I'd share some of my favorites from these genres that might be more unknown for you to check out.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles- Patricia C. Wrede
Dealing with Dragons; Searching for Dragons; Calling on Dragons; Talking to Dragons
The Secret of Platform 13- Eva Ibbotson
Which Witch- Eva Ibbotson
Island of the Aunts- Eva Ibbotson
Eragon- Christopher Paolini
Eldest- Christopher Paolini
The Seventh Tower series- Garth Nix
The Fall; Castle; Aenir; Above the Veil; Into Battle; The Violet Keystone
The Wish- Gail Carson Levine
The Two Princesses of Bamarre- Gail Carson Levine
Gathering Blue- Lois Lowry
Messenger- Lois Lowry
The Cure- Sonia Levitin
A Wind in the Door- Madeleine L'Engle
A Swiftly Tilting Planet- Madeleine L'Engle
Many Waters- Madeleine L'Engle
An Acceptable Time- Madeleine L'Engle