An apology

Dear Former Student Who-is-Now-Teaching and stopped by the Doucette recently,

I’d like to offer you an apology for not having read the novel-in-verse, Crossover by Kwame Alexander sooner.

I just finished reading this year's Newbery winner two days after you came to the Doucette looking for poetry that would engage junior high boys and satisfy the conservative leanings of your school administration and community of parents.

Your idea for using hip-hop sounded very intriguing but I could understand your reluctance to bring it into the classroom because you were worried what the parents of your students would think.  I know you felt a little stymied by this, and had hoped that we at the Doucette Library would be able to come up with something else that might work instead.

I, too, felt a little hindered by this though I’m glad you liked my suggestions of two books of concrete poetry by John Grandits, BlueLipstick and Technically, It’s Not My Fault. I love these books and hope that they’ll work for you.

But I really, really wished I had read Crossover just a little sooner. Take a look at the very first page of this story.

Even I, who am totally disinterested in basketball, can feel the movement, passion and intensity this character brings to his game.  The formatting is brilliant as it captures the moves of the player when he’s in the zone. 

So, Dear Former-Student, I think this book would have fit-the-bill for you.  I think the story would engage your grade 9 boys and satisfy the powers-that-be at the same time. 

There wouldn't be anything too objectionable in the storyline which is about twin brothers who are slowly coming into their own identities causing rifts between them.  Basketball, a passion for the whole family because the dad had been a former basketball star, always drew the boys together. But once one of the brothers starts dating and basketball becomes less of a priority, friction develops.  There is a lot of growth on the part of both boys and this family as a whole

. 

Not all the poems are written as dynamically as the one above but a few are interspersed throughout the book and each carries that strong urban, contemporary vibe without becoming too edgy.

Again, in closing, please accept my apologies for not having read this book just a wee bit sooner.

Sincerely,

Tammy

A champion read

Muhammad Ali: the King of the Ring ,written by Lewis Helfand and illustrated by Lalit Kumar Sharma, is a graphic novel biography about, you guessed it, Muhammad Ali.

I was fairly surprised that I stuck with this one.  I’m not into sports in a big way, let alone boxing.  Just don’t see the appeal.  But I did grow up when Ali was looking to make his comeback during the 70s’ and his name was everywhere.

This comic book is a succinctly well-told narrative that covers Ali’s life as a young boy from a tight-knit family living in race-segregated Kentucky in the 40s’ and 50s’, to the present day. 

Learning to box was a fluke chance, but he immediately took to it and stuck with it, though apparently without much skill initially.  Ali’s tremendous drive to succeed takes us through his early fights, the 1960s Olympics in Rome, each comeback match he had in the 70s and his retirement in the 80s,

Interlaced with Ali’s personal history, the reader is given glimpses into the political climate and social fabric of American life. 

First, there’s Ali’s discovery and growing interest in the controversial group, Nation of Islam. While advocating racial pride for Black Americans, it also promoted hatred for all whites. Ali does become a follower, drawn to the peaceful aspects of Islam and its emphasis on Black pride, eventually taking a new name. Cassius Clay becomes Muhammad Ali.

The Vietnam War also had personal ramifications for Ali when he refused to be drafted into the army.  He was a pacifist who wanted no part of it.  This resulted in legal actions that prevented him from boxing for three years when he was at his peak.

The illustrations are a great way for us to follow his boxing career.  A lot of action is conveyed in the fight scenes with it often spilling over several panels.  The dialogue and description helps build the tension for each fight.  Will he win or lose this time?  Will his arrogance play against him?  Reading about the course of his career is fascinating.

Ali is conveyed as a determined, principled man who knew what he wanted and worked hard to get it. He is depicted as a humanitarian, generously helping others less fortunate, a family-man who looked after his parents and children and a dedicated boxer.  He respected his opponents despite his trash talk.

The book takes us to present day summing up the many aspects of Muhammad Ali’s greatness.

I would recommend this for grades 8 and up.  

Today's Nonfiction Monday event is being hosted at Booktalking.  Check up this round up of nonfiction children's literature from a variety of blogs.

Good sport

I don’t ‘do’ sports books – in general. Just not my thing. But, never say never.

I just read two of the books in the RecordBooks series published by Lorimer & Company. This is a series developed to appeal to kids 11 years and up, with reading levels between grades 3-5. All the books focus on Canadian athletes who have had to overcome some kind of barrier (gender, race, economic hardships, etc.) to succeed in their sport. Athletes from many sports include boxers, rowers, skiers, lacrosse, basketball, football, and baseball players.

The first book I read was a biography, Jordin Tootoo by Melanie Florence, the first Inuit to play in the NHL. I learned what it was like growing up in Rankin Inlet in the high Arctic, leaving home as a teen to pursue a dream to play hockey, dealing with racism, the death of Jordin’s brother and about his hockey career with the Nashville Predators. Includes some photos, an index and a glossary of hockey terms.

Though the intent of the book is high interest-low vocabulary, I didn’t find the book talked down to the reader; it was easy to get caught up in the narrative, and overall, enjoyable.

I decided to try another from the series and stuck to hockey. Tough Guys by Eric Zweig (796.962 ZwT 2009) is a look at hockey in the early days, introducing some of the players, in addition to providing the social/political context of the early 1900s. I found this one fascinating.

The impact of World War I and the Spanish flu epidemic on the sport of hockey was immense. Players joined, or were conscripted into, the army, leaving teams shorthanded. This resulted in some teams being disbanded, so players could be reallocated amongst the remaining teams to increase their size and enable the hockey association to keep playing. This created interesting situations such as when Joe Hall and Newsy Lalonde, two bitter rivals, end up playing on the same team. Many crucial Stanley Cup games during this time are described in enough detail to build a bit of suspense, but not with too much minutiae to lose a reader, namely me. This was good. Great way to tie history into a topic like sports.

Each book in the series is written by a different author so the quality may vary between books. But based on the strength of the two books I read, I feel comfortable enough to recommend the series. Struggling readers (kids to adults) and ESL students with an interest in sports would do well with this series.

Today is Nonfiction Monday, a roundup of blogs focused on nonfiction children's literature.  Stop by Wendie's Wanderings to see today's offerings.

Playing with science (and math) - The Olympics

I’ve just found out that the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) is promoting a series of short National Science Foundation videos that feature the science behind the sports of the Olympics.

http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/olympics/

What a find!  Out of the 16 short videos (all available online) the 5 I watched all had something of interest.  I learned in the Science of Snowboarding that young athletes use the properties of motion, balance and G-forces to allow them the speed and height to perform tricks in the half pipe.  In Olympic Motion and Slapshot Physics I learned about different properties of physics both inside and outside of an athlete’s body. Competition Suits makes some great connections between chemistry and physics, explaining the importance of aerodynamics for many Olympians.  And in Mathletes the importance of math is shown in so many aspects of the Olympic Games, from calculating speeds in many sports and angles in shooting hockey goals, to working out scores in events such as skating.

In addition, lesson plans (from Lessonopoly) have been developed based on each video’s focus. These are appropriate for grades 6 to 10.  The lesson plans look like a good place to start exploring, although some lessons look stronger than others; some are more inquiry-based while others seem to have demonstrations done for students rather than allowing students to explore for themselves.  The ones I looked at all included cross-curricular opportunities. http://lessonopoly.org/svef/?q=node/9086

Great opportunities for engaging students with current events and tying math and science into everyday life.  And maybe it makes for a good excuse to watch hockey or snowboarding during school hours!