Schooled
Gordon Korman (2007)
The novel Schooled is about a home-schooled hippie, who only has ever lived with his grandmother, in a now isolated community, and how is thrown into the public school scene! The story of Capricorn Anderson's survival in the real world is told through the eyes of five different characters periodically through out the story. The main theme I got from this book is about the effects and dangers of bullying. This book actually made me pretty upset, with the depictions of how cruel some students can be in the 6-8 grade classrooms, if students have different interests, looks, personalities, abilities, etc. This reminded me a lot of The Misfits, in the sense that someone took notice that people were being treated unfairly and how they could/should turn it around before it became too late. This book is pretty accurate in describing how different cliques in schools act toward one another, and how it is often overlooked by teachers. It also goes on to describe how people can change attitudes if they are treated fairly or taken notice of. I would use this in a 6-8 grade classroom to talk about the differences that everyone has, based on their personal experiences and education in life. We would discuss the issues of how to stop bullying and why it is important that we do that in the school. We could expand on this issue by writing personal narratives of what makes them unique or how they felt if they had ever been picked on. We could also do a reader's theater with this book. I know I got angry and upset a couple of times while reading this book, and I think it would be strong thing to see in action in the classroom about the feelings that bullying can inflict on others. That would be something they would take with them through life.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jeff Kinney (2007)
I was first introduced to this series of books in my third grade practicum classroom. Every week at library, students would once again race to the shelves in hot pursuit of this particular series, so, once again, I decided to check out what all the fuss is about, and once again, I have to agree that this book is something to fuss over! This book is about a seventh grader named Greg who writes diary--excuse me, journal entries on the trials and tribulations of his daily life. This book is hilarious! I would definitely get this series and keep it in my classroom for independent reading. If it keeps students and engaged and interested, then they should be able to read this, with no lessons or strings attached! Besides being a published book series, there is also a set of journal entries online that the author, Jeff Kinney, writes up! I recommend this book for 3-6 grade classroom teacher's books shelves!
Here's the online blog!:
http://www.funbrain.com/journal/Journal.html?ThisMonth=12&ThisDay=15&ThisJournalDay=1&ThisPage=2&PageCount=1
The Misfits
James Howe (2001)
The story of The Misfits is about the trials and tribulations of trying to stand up for what is right and for change! This book tells the story of four 12 year old students who try to bring about change in their school via political parties. They want to change name calling and bullying and try to stop it forever! There are obstacles of course, such as teachers discriminating against students and more, that these persistent individuals face while trying to make a change. One major theme in this story is homosexuality, I think it is very important to bring up/help students become aware of, as it is a real-life phenomenon. This book also helps to showcase what it is to be a bully and how students feel about it. This book would be appropriate in a 6-8 grade classroom. It is considered a controversial book, but I really feel that students can be responsible and mature enough to handle this book. We would read it and discuss it together. It is important to bring this type of literature into the classroom, because events that happen in that book, happen in real life too. It does no good to not thwart and stop the bullying of people who are different because of their looks, sexual orientation, interests, etc. As classroom teachers, we are responsible to help teach children how to be peaceful citizens and well-rounded people, so we need to address the issues of violence, homosexuality, bullying, etc in the classroom. One powerful way to do that is though literature, and I think this book is on that I would use in my classroom.
The Giver
Louis Lowry (1993)
Newberry Honor Award
The story of the giver is very complicated and so interesting! The story of how one boy, who is living in a world of sameness, breaks free from the rules in order to help create a better future for everyone! I really enjoyed reading this book, and so, so, so many lessons can be taught using this book! Like I said, this book is very complicated, and I think it would be best to be read in a 5-8 classroom. The themes of ethics, sameness, symbolism, bravery, and more is a lot to deal with when reading this book. This book would work best to be broken up and discussed periodically, compared to have been being read in a time span of 2 or 3 days. This book can spark many great discussions and lessons, too. I really liked what we did in class when we were broken up into groups and had to share certain aspects of the book, like symbolism, characters, settings, etc to our class. The author is a well known author as well, and I recommend her other book Number the Stars.
Esperanza Rising
Pam Munoz Ryan (2002)
Pura Belpre Award
In this inspiring book the reader experiences growing up with the main character, Esperanza. This story is a tale about how a little girl's, who is growing up in Mexico, life changes dramatically after her prominent father is murdered. Esperanza and her mother go from riches to rags in a matter of days. Esperanza and her mother move to the United States in order to get away from her corrupt uncles. Once in a very privileged condition, Esperanza now finds herself as working girl, just like how her servants used to be for her. Throughout the book, Esperanza struggles with what is/what used to be in terms of living, status, etc. She really starts to grow up, once it becomes her responsibility to work hard shifts in order to raise enough money to bring her Abuelita to the US, after her mother falls ill. This book is very emotional and touches on very important themes such as: grief, determination, history, love, coming of age, etc. I really enjoyed reading this book, and as a first-time-reader of this book, I felt a personal connection to Esperanza, as I too have had a similar experience in losing my father and now having to work extra hard to accomplish my goals and set good examples for brothers, while still taking care of my mother and brothers. I think this book should be used in 5-8 classroom as it has many complex things such as symbolism, history, etc. One great thing about this book is that it also includes spanish words which could tie nicely into a diversity lesson. This book would be a great tool for a history lesson about U.S/Mexico relations, Mexican cultures, the Depression, and more. Overall, I would highly recommend this book and would use it in my classroom.
Rules
Cynthia Lord (2006)
Newberry Honor Award
In the book Rules, the reader gets an interesting perspective of what it means to grow up with an autistic sibling. In the book the main character, Catherine, is a twelve year old girl who thinks she is plagued with having to teach her eight year old brother, David, how to act like a normal person. David has autism, and Catherine has a devised a way to teach her little brother how normal people should act. David does not do well with remembering why/when/how to act in certain situations, so Catherine has made a set of rules that remind him how to behave such as: No toys in the fish tank, or Say thank you when someone gives you a gift (even if you don't like it). Catherine is very self conscious about how others will perceive her and her brother and does not like the idea of people judging and making fun of them. While dealing with that, she also meets a boy in a wheel chair who cannot speak, so she makes his communication word cards. She ends up having feelings for him, but is also embarrassed about what other people would think if people knew she liked him. This book chronicles the struggles of growing up and how to deal with self-image. Overall, I think this book was very powerful, as it covered such topics about disabilities, how to treat others, and self-image. This book should be used in a 4-6 classroom. Such lessons that cold stem from this book include: lessons about disabilities, character counts education, and more. I would also recommend this book as well.
