My name is Mrs. Levey and I am currently teaching 6th grade Language Arts at Wakefield Middle School in Raleigh, NC.
At home, I am the wife to a man always on the go and two growing girls who keep me very busy. When we are not running to orchestra or dance class, we are off to a picnic a the park or some other adventure, including our favorite vacation spot - Disney World.
This blog follows my thoughts on my reading, mostly the ones for Middle Readers, and the adventures of finding that right job...
On Friday I had the chance to teach my students how to choose a book for Independent Reading. As a group we created the following list:
§Front
Cover/Inside Jacket
§Back
Cover Information
§Characters
we’ve read about in other books
§Another
book in the series
§Interesting
Title
§Great
Illustrations
§Authors
we know and like
§Book
recommendations from teachers, friends, and critics
§Books
that are movies
§Genres
we like to read
§Try
the beginning
§Read some
of the middle
§“Must-read”
rack in our room
§New/popular
books
§Sequel
to a book we’ve read
§Heard
it read aloud
§Read
it Before and enjoyed it
The students also had a chance to choose their first book for Independent Reading. I'm excited to report that many of them chose books off the Truman Nominee list and I haven't even had my book talk on those books yet. That comes this Thursday.
So I have spent the last week putting together my mini unit plan. Adding details here and there. Writing detailed lesson plans and creating a screen cast. Even planning to hijack Allison Kauffman's how to create a podcast youtube video. :) I hear as a teacher I'm allowed to do that because we borrow from those around us. Anyway, I spent this morning writing my reflection. It actually took me longer than most, maybe because I kept stopping to do other things like enroll my daughter in her new school. Yes, that may have been a priority. But stopping to clean a wall because I saw a handprint - now that was just procrastination. So here they are, and yes I call the unit plan a draft, because no matter what form something is (even a polished piece) it is still a draft that can be changed.
So even the teacher has homework...Mine is that I am working on a mini unit plan to prepare for teaching my students how to setup their own blog. Both written and spoken. The calendar draft is done at this point, it still needs to be flushed out and have standards added to it, and oh, there is that pesky digital piece that I need to create. Anyway, this is what I have so far...
I can't believe it is Friday already. We have done so much in my class this week and later today we are going to learn about Screen Casting. This should be interesting - it takes us in the direction of the flipped classroom. Which really at this point is just a dream. Will I be able to do it with my students? It really depends on what kinds of technology I have access to. Maybe we can do something simple in my student teaching. Who wants to be my guine pig? :) What stories can we create? Oooh, there is an idea. What if we created a story in a screen cast that other students could read? Then again, I need to remember that we only have so much time to work on things in class. 50 minutes really isn't enough time. I know that you my students have a different opinion on that at this point. Hopefully I can change your mind.
I've managed to upload all my assignments so far to every possible place that I think Dr. Franklin is going to check. I'm sure there are more places. Now that I think about it, I'm sure I should probably upload to Google Plus as well. Sigh! So many spots on the web, so little time.
I sit here with my group and wonder what next week will bring. Ashley is off to a Softball tournament. Rob is getting ready to go talk to the newest English Grad students. Safia is having a terrible time with her projects as they keep disappearing and I know everyone is trying to figure out how to fix this. And Audra has uploaded this really cool video on who she is.
This afternoon's question: What kind of feedback do I want on my digital story?
Oh where to start? Do I really truly like feedback? I do and I don't. So what do I want? I guess ideas. What questions do they have? This leads up to what I may have missed when I was writing it. It isn't long so there are a lot of details that I have taken out. Which as a teacher I guess isn't the best thing, because I will expect details.
It's day four of class and I am unbelievably tired. I know I fell asleep before 11 last night and didn't wake up until 6:15 this morning. So that is what, 7 hours of sleep. A miracle in my book. But I think yesterday's early morning adventures with the dog have caught up. Plus the constant requests for my signature on documents. Documents that I am now starting to suspect I am the only reading prior to signing. Yesterday I caught a hugh number of mistakes on the declaration of things that are being either taken from the new house or left. You see I want a new refrigerator for our new house, not that bad, I could live with the current one for at least a year or two (or probably forever - but lets not tell my husband that), and on the declaration its says that it is staying. Which by the way, is not what the purchasing report or anyone else has said. Then they said the oven is going - huh? Ok, now that thing seriously needs to be replaced at some point, but no one takes an oven with them when they move. Especially one that has seen better days. Then there is a the question of the window air conditioning unit in the Florida room. Really? How did everyone miss all these things that I caught on a quick glance. My husband is so much better at catching things than I am. His response - "Oh, I was looking for that page, where is it?" Page 5 dear, in plan black and white. Please call the realtor and have her get us the actual information before she submits this.
Joy! Then we are having some guy walk through our house this morning assessing it. Oh double joy!! I'm going to walk through your house and tell you what it is worth. Me and only me. Guess what buddy - I left that overly friendly dog in the house to keep you company (oh and to keep her from over heating). Ok, so I am being a little cruel this morning - blame it on being tired. It has been a rough two weeks. I honestly can't wait to be back in the class room in about three weeks with my Middle schoolers. Yes, I can truly say they are mine now. They may drive me crazy, I may get little sleep, they may not want to see me, but like my own kids, they are mine. Oh, and my CT's too.
Oh, I guess I am supposed to be writing about something specific this morning too. The process of creating a digital story. Ok, so here it goes. It is a jumbled mess, that is what it is. You start with this really big picture, many ideas, pictures, music, and you keep whittling away at it until suddenly something starts to come into focus. That is how the process has been so far. I started with this big idea of working for Sportservice for 7 years and as I started to go in one direction, I did a complete 180 and went in a completely different direction. Now I am just working on the first year and really the idea of running away from home to only return home and find what I was looking for. You know the typical growing up story. Sometimes you have to look far and wide to really appreciate what you have waiting for you. That is my digital story. And it took working on this project to really understand what that year was about, because up until yesterday I really hadn't thought of it that way. I thought about it as work and getting away, but not really the implications and results of or even what the whole year ended up being about overall. So anyway, this morning I need to step away and record the audio for my digital story. I think I am going to record it in pieces instead of one big piece. It will be easier to set the pictures and words together. Or maybe I will record it all in one line. Hmmm....decisions, decisions.
Wow, where did this first hour go...I guess I will go back to reading my classmates blogs. It is always good to see what other people are experiencing. Pieces of puzzles to store in my brain for a later date.
Questions created by group 1:
Find their own voice
Writing is relevant to them
Writing enhancing their knowledge of learning of English as a second language
Use technology to learn and generate their ideas in understanding English - writing to learn; feel confident that they can do this themselves - student centered instead of teacher center (collaboration is good)
The act of talking and how important it is to learning
Writing is a dynamic process - it is not just static pen and paper
Writing should become fun - the students are used to using the tools for things outside of class, lets bring those tools into class and use them
Eleven Elements of Effective Adolescent Writing Instruction
This report identifies 11 elements of current writing instruction found to be effective for helping
adolescent students learn to write well and to use writing as a tool for learning. It is important to note
that all of the elements are supported by rigorous research, but that even when used together, they do
not constitute a full writing curriculum.
1. Writing Strategies, which involves teaching students strategies for planning, revising, and
editing their compositions
2. Summarization, which involves explicitly and systematically teaching students how to
summarize texts
3. Collaborative Writing, which uses instructional arrangements in which adolescents work
together to plan, draft, revise, and edit their compositions
4. Specific Product Goals, which assigns students specific, reachable goals for the writing they
are to complete
5. Word Processing, which uses computers and word processors as instructional supports for
writing assignments
6. Sentence Combining, which involves teaching students to construct more complex,
sophisticated sentences
7. Prewriting, which engages students in activities designed to help them generate or organize
ideas for their composition
8. Inquiry Activities, which engages students in analyzing immediate, concrete data to help
them develop ideas and content for a particular writing task
9. Process Writing Approach, which interweaves a number of writing instructional activities in
a workshop environment that stresses extended writing opportunities, writing for authentic
audiences, personalized instruction, and cycles of writing
10. Study of Models, which provides students with opportunities to read, analyze, and emulate
models of good writing
11. Writing for Content Learning, which uses writing as a tool for learning content material
What does this mean for our group:
I like how this shows ideas on lower achieving students improving their writing because of technology
Things beyond grammar - they need to be confident in their writing
How we weight grading, what they write should be weighted higher than the grammar itself
Thoughts on video - we are watching a video in class today that prior student created on being Cherokee in the 19th century. The video moves between voices. Which means that we get to hear different people's perspective during this time. Sometimes I get lost in the story and other times it makes sense.
Well here is my video - rough draft as it is. Audio probably needs to be re-recorded. I wish I could be as good at recording as Ashley is, but I guess with more practice it will come.
What subjects do I want to write about this year...
My kids
Vacation
Student Teaching (I know I am going to do a lot of that)
Technology
Digital Journaling
Students
Podcasting
Websites
Effects of technology in the classroom (studying teaching in a classroom with a ready supply of technology versus a classroom without a ready supply of technology)
Using facebook, twitter, and smartphones in the classroom
What is my story...
I grew up in small town Dayton, Oh. On occasion we traveled outside of the state and country, but mostly I was in Dayton. After going to college for a few years I found a job working for a food service company in the Sports Industry. This took me all over the U.S. and Canada. Eventually in my travels I met my husband and after a few years we decided to get married and have kids. Now our jobs didn't really make room for kids so one of us would have to sacrifice our job for the family. Naturally, he made more money so I jumped ship to be a stay at home mom for 6 years. During that time I volunteered and joined social groups to keep active, but then a couple of years ago I decided that my kids wouldn't be little forever and it was time for a career change. At that point, I went back to school and started on my Teaching Degree. This fall I will be starting the new challenge of Student Teaching, while my husband and kids live in St. Louis.
I could actually write a lot about my time working for Sportservice. I had a lot of interesting adventures that I know are unique to my situation. How many people get to work at Football, Baseball, and Hockey Facilities? Go to Rodeos and work with tv crews. How about almost run over Mayor Rudy Giulani with a golf cart? Here I was a young woman in a man's world, trying to break through the so called "glass ceiling" of being more than just a human resources or paper person, but actually being on the floor and making decisions.
One of the things to focus on was being a woman in a world that is predominately men. I don't know if I was a trail blazer, but I think there was a lot of changes that did take place after I put my foot down and showed them that I was more than just what they thought.
As I was listening, I heard about how difficult 1st year of teaching was, but not because of the teaching aspect, but everything else. You can't help but sympthese with the situation. How would I react?
Changing topics - Ira Glass and Digital Storytelling
Building Block One: The anticdote - series of events, no matter how boring it is, it creates momentum. Want to start with the action
Raise questions from the beginning (implied that any question that you raise is going to be answered)
Building Block Two: Moment of reflection (why am I doing this)
Do you have a series of events? Why does it matter? Every piece should have a so what - what makes it meaningful for the audience?
Meaningful - why we don't give up even when we have been placed in a specific spot or is it that we can go away and meet so many people and its what happens at home that effects us the most
Series of Events
Hired on as a Manager Trainee
Moved to Cleveland - worked with favorite football team, worked with Warner Brothers, trained in Human Resources and Financials
Smarter than they think?
Don't dress like a young woman
San Antonio - pigeoned holed into Financials - youthful mistake of saying this isn't what I want to be (lesson of keeping mouth shut)
Canada - teaching what I know to a new culture, losing VISA after three months
Buffalo - short two weeks before being told I was going back to Dayton to work at a facility
Dayton - returned home and met hubby
Memory -
What I see:
Memory - a deportee daughter's memory
brick road or sidewalk that seems to go on and on
Train track with the sound of a train, but no train
Today we are working with images and how to create a story with images. For my story I decided to take some of the pictures from the Christian County Fair and tell about the journey of a cherry pie.
For my second attempt, I went with a suggestion from my friend Marcella and focused on a little princess and her special day.
The music that I used for this story is "Everyday Princess" sung by Anika NoniRose. (Fairy Tale Songs. Walt Disney Records, 2011. CD.) I hope Maddie likes her little video. If you have ever met her, you know that her older sister dominates the spotlight and even though her sister planned out most of this party, this was her chance to be the center of attention.
On our first day of class, Dr. Franklin asked us to create a podcast. No direction on what to use, just use what you want to create this. The focus - to create an interview about our thoughts on digital writing. Ashley (my partner in this endever) and I turned my computer to Garage Band, something I have never used before. After going out to a desk, we just started talking. Normal talking, nothing too fancy. I asked Ashley a question, she answered, we recorded our conversation. Then we turned it around and did the same thing in our different roles. This really was the easy part of creating our podcast. See, for some reason, my little blogging site doesn't like audio files. So after lots of fidgeting with iTunes, iMovie, and YouTube, I was finally able to create a video that I could link to my blog. Ashley is using edublog, which made it easy to link in her podcast because it had a media button. So we were able to see two ways to do something. I am hoping to find a quicker way to do this, because creating a podcast and then turning it into a video file is not going to be the solution for creating podcasts. It is too time consuming. And if it is time consuming for me, my students won't be able to get their work done at all.
Rob's Interview
My Interview
My professor has mentioned a site called Voice Thread. I am going to have to learn more about it.
Ideas for using podcasts:
Vocal Journal
Additional tools for students
Teaching listening, summarizing
Teaching the nuts and bolts of a project
Create a podcast on directions for an assignment
Teaching lessons on getting things done quickly as in the future we don't have weeks to work on a project
Have the students create a podcast piece as a piece of the process so that we can hear how it sounds and see if it sounds right
My second attempt at a podcast -it needs some work, maybe rerecorded but here it is.
So I haven't been able to write on my blog since June. July has been incredibly busy at my house. Today, I start my digital writing class at MSU.
Digital writing has become second nature to me over the past few months. I actually like it better than I like writing on paper because it is something that is open to not only myself but to others around me. You see, because of my student teaching this fall, I had to read most of the books on Truman list. (Not all, but I read them all anyway) While I was reading the first book I decided I wanted to find a way to keep track of all these books and the first thing that came to mind was to blog about each book. That way, if I forgot about a book I had something that I could look back to and jog my memory. As I wrote it changed from just my thoughts about a book to anything that might involve the book to things that might compliment the book. There were no restrictions to what I had to write about. Now of course once my students see this I may think differently about my ever changing approach to writing about these books, but isn't that what this experiment was about in the first place.
I wrote for me, I wrote for them, and I wrote for others I may never know. Writing on a piece of paper would not have done the same thing. Not that I don't like writing in my little notebooks. Sometimes I have to be forced to do so. Say for a class or something like that. But I think that gives me insite to what my students will be going through this fall in my 6th grade reading class. They are not going to want to write, I will be lucky if they want to read. Hopefully I can get them interested in blogging so that I can see their thoughts about the stories they are reading and not just depend on what they are saying (or not saying) out loud and the answers on their quizzes.
In February, I was lucky enough to go to the OWP conference and sign up for a four hour seminar on digital writing with Troy Hicks and Penny Kittle. I really didn't know what to expect. I was looking for a project to present in my Middle School Seminar class and something that I could relate back to my e-MINTS training. Little did I know that Dr. Franklin was going to teach the class this summer. I also had no idea when I started my blog that it would be not only used in my 6th grade reading class, but also in my OWP class. What luck!! Anyway, the seminar that I took with Mr. Hicks ended up being more than just making a video (and convincing me to give up my PC), it actually put in my head the idea of blogging about things and not just using it to get students to answer questions. Which is basically what they teach us to do in IMT 365, but to get them to think about things for themselves. And to write. To write in a way that they are more comfortable with. Using computers and other equipment. Is this good for every student? In today's society I would like to say yes, but I know differently. I have been exposed to Title I schools and standard schools where the students are lucky if they have access to a computer. I have also been exposed to my e-MINTS classrooms where just about every student has daily access to a computer. There is a wide gap that we are dealing with there. But back to my seminar. I was able to take a piece of writing from the initial stage all the way to a video with pictures and voice over in four hours. Think about what I could do with a classroom of students in a week with a project like that. How we could get them to open up about the ideas in their heads and express themselves through pictures, music, and words.
Where are you with all of this:
I am getting more comfortable everyday with this process. I wish I had more time this summer to work on it, but like I said, this month has been just a little hectic.
What are your goals for the next two weeks?
I want to be able to create some lesson plans for my Reading class, since it is an e-MINTs class that utilizes digital writing.
What are your questions about digital writing? For your class? For you personally? Professionally?
Questions I have:
How do we work around the issue where our students don't have access to technology on a daily basis? Some don't even have computers at home.
Besides blogging and podcasting, what are some other ways to incorporate digital writing?
After talking with my partner on this subject I ended up thinking about the different levels of digital writing. We all do some form. If not a blog, maybe a discussion post on blackboard. Middle School doesn't have blackboard, but I think with them it is about twitting and posting of Facebook. These are different types of digital writing. Some way to express themselves in the world through writing. Hmm - I wonder if we can use Facebook and Twitter in my classroom. Probably not, I will have to research something a little different, but similar.
What am I thinking right now - I think we are at a precipice. We are at the point where both work. We are lucky to be able to move back and forth between the tangible and the intangible. I can pickup a book and enjoy it as much as I can read a book on my iPad. Now, I can't read that paper book when I am working out, but I can read the book on my iPad. The technology enables me to do so. I like the ability to choose which one I want to read from or write on. What will happen when that is no longer an option. I think it will be a great loss for everyone.
Wow! I made my goal - 12 books in one month. I know, I really need to get a life. I guess I will spend July trying to do that...
I'm going to go a little backwards here, as I normally go with a topic and then lead into the book. But in this case, it seems that introducing the book works a little better. So first, I have found a interview with author Kathy Reichs.
As Ms. Reichs mentioned, she is the author of the Bones series. Before Bones was a series on Fox, it was a book series, that is still in publication. In fact, she has another Bones book coming out in August. As much as I enjoy the television series (when I can actually watch normal adult programming), I haven't had a chance to read any of the books. Maybe I will have to add them to my list.
Ok, Virals, is based on Temperance Brennan's great niece Tory Brennan. The book does explain that she doesn't get the name Brennan from her father's side, but from her mother's side, even though she is related to Dr. Brennan through her father. Talk about family issues. Tori lives with her father, who she has only recently met, after her mother is killed by a drunk driver. Her father is a Marine Biologist studying marine life on a remote island on the outskirts of Charleston, South Carolina. When Tori and her friends decide to track down some information at her father's lab, they find a lost wolfdog cub and decide to take the wolfdog cub with them. From there, their lives change forever.
Why was the wolfdog cub at the lab? The story tends to revolve around the Canine Parvovirus. A flu-like virus that attacks wild and domesticated (the type you may have at home) and causes high fever, vomiting, diarrea, chills, loss of energy, loss of appetite, and a few other things. Not very pleasant and can lead to death. There is a vaccine for this virus and as long as the animal has been vaccinated, they usually should escape the virus. Or so my vet tells me when I have to get my dog vaccinated for different things each year.
Those of my students who enjoy some aspect of science will really get into this book, as many different scientific ideas come up throughout the book. It also makes for a nice crime investigation book. So a little science, a little crime fighting, oh and some mean girls (can't have a teen book without those). This makes for a well rounded story.
And a good place for my little green post-it note to get retired...
As always, let me know what you think and hopefully you have read enough of the Truman Nominees to be able to vote this coming Spring. Who will you vote for? Well, that is up to you...
Works Cited
"Follow Us On Twitter @ExploreCHS." Charleston, SC. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 June 2012. <http://www.charlestoncvb.com/>.
"Kathy Reichs | Welcome To Kathy Reichs." Kathy Reichs | Welcome To Kathy Reichs. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 June 2012. <http://kathyreichs.com/>.
A couple of summers ago I decided to spend two months studying Classic Mythology. What's Classic Mythology? Well in a nut shell it is the study of the morals and ethics during the Greek (and later Roman) times. Actually, many of our beliefs go back to Greek and Roman times.
Last year, I was required to read a book about the journey of a young man transitioning to be a great soccer player. The story itself was based on the ancient Greek story idea of the Hero's Journey. So what is the idea of a Hero's Journey? I could copy and paste, but I think it would be easier to let you see for yourself at The Hero's Journey Reference. But the following diagram also gives you a bit of look at the Hero's Journey as well.
So back to that report that I was talking about, while I was researching it, I learned about a very popular movie from 1977 that was actually written based on the ancient idea of the Hero's Journey. The movie Star Wars, created by George Lucas, was written using the Hero's Journey as a blueprint or road map. When I gave my presentation, I actually found a video that discussed a little bit of how the two came together that was created by the History Channel, but unfortunately I can't find it. Anyway, if you want to know a little more about what I learned, we can look it up in class or just discuss it.
So how does this relate to book number 11 on the Truman Nominee List? Book number 11 is entitled The Heros of Olympus: The Lost Hero and in itself follows the same Hero's Journey blueprint. We meet our heros, something supernaturally happens to them, they must make the choice to go on the journey, they meet face many trials, there is a female figure (in this case Hera, Queen of the Gods), their is a great battle, and so on. Basic premise.
The storyline itself is much like the other Percy Jackson stories, just without Percy, although his presence is felt throughout the story. Lots of action, with something in it for both my female and male readers.
Here is the author, Rick Riordan, introducing the book.
If you get a chance, take a look at the Hero's Journey site and try to compare it to the story as you read along and let me know what you think - is it a Hero's Journey or just another mythological story?
Works Cited
"The Heroes of Olympus, The Lost Hero." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 June 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsquP0gehj4>.
"Heros Journey : Summary of Steps." Heros Journey : Summary of Steps. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 June 2012. <http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/smc/journey/ref/summary.html>.
"The Heroâ s Journey «." The Heroâ s Journey «. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 June 2012. <http://newvillager.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/the-heros-journey/>.
"The Lost Hero - Heroes of Olympus: The Online World of Rick Riordan." The Lost Hero - Heroes of Olympus: The Online World of Rick Riordan. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 June 2012. <http://www.rickriordan.com/my-books/percy-jackson/heroes-of-olympus/the-lost-hero.aspx>.
"Thedeadone.net." Olympian Gods Family Tree for Lost Heroes. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 June 2012. <http://thedeadone.net/blog/olympian-gods-family-tree-for-lost-heroes/>.
"Truman 2012-2013 Final Nominees - Missouri Association of School Librarians." Truman 2012-2013 Final Nominees - Missouri Association of School Librarians. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 June 2012. <http://www.maslonline.org/?page=1213TRUFinNom>.
U.S. Soccer Director of Women's Development Jill Ellis
http://www.ussoccer.com/~/media/210F445109CA4E558FB54ED2CECA1E96.ashx?w=400&h=300
To the right you will see the picture of Jill Ellis. This year, approximately 100 14 year old girls will be working at one of three camps across the country attempting to get her attention. Why? She is the United States Soccer Director of Women's Development. That means that she is a part of a team that decides which girls have what it takes to make the United States National Team and which will be playing soccer on the local level until they find something else to do. Harsh, right? Well, when thousands of girls are dreaming of being the next Mia Hamm or Brandi Chastain, and only eleven positions (+substitutions) to be filled on a team, only so many can make it and to make it you can't just be good, you have to be unbelievable good.
So why am I focusing on what Ms. Ellis does? Why, because our next selection, Soccerland, is based on what Ms. Ellis does for a living, finding the next U.S. U-15 Women's Soccer Team.
I could write about the author Beth Choat, but I think that the following video, from the author really lets you why she wrote this book and what it is about, so make sure to click on the video and take a look.
Ladies, if you love sports - playing it or watching it, I really think you will enjoy this book. Me, I had a hard time putting it down. It follows the typical story and pretty much ends up about how you expect it to, but it is a detailed story about what it takes to make it to the national level. Something we really don't ever get to hear about. And its about the girls, whereas most sports stories are about boys.
Guys, there are a lot of hits and soccer terms, and just a little bit of romance - not too much. These girls put sports first. So, you may actually like it.
On my goodreads.com site I gave it 5 stars, let me know what you think.
Works Cited "About the Author." Welcome to the ISA. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://theinternationalsportsacademy.com/author.html>. "Brandi Chastain." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 June 2012. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandi_Chastain>. Choat, Beth. Soccerland. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish, 2010. Print. Choat, Greg. "Soccerland." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQr5-BX7So4>. "Colorado Springs." Team USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.teamusa.org/About-the-USOC/Training-Centers-and-Sites/Colorado-Springs.aspx>. "Jillian Ellis." - U.S. Soccer. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.ussoccer.com/teams/team-staff/jillian-ellis.aspx>. "Mia Hamm." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 June 2012. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mia_Hamm>. "U.S. U-14 GNT to Hold First Training Camp of 2012 at The Home Depot Center." - U.S. Soccer. N.p., 7 May 2012. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.ussoccer.com/news/u-14-national-development-program/2012/05/u14-gnt-to-hold-first-training-camp-of-2012.aspx>. "U.S. Under-14 NDP." - U.S. Soccer. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/Youth/US-Under-14-NDP.aspx>. "Welcome to the ISA." Welcome to the ISA. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://theinternationalsportsacademy.com/index.html>.
The modern idea of a fairy tale always seems to end with "and they lived happily ever after." They give hope and sometimes false ideas of what we should expect when we grow up. Don't get me wrong, I love fairy tales. I grew up watching every story that the big giant company run by a mouse has ever produced in animated format (and live format). As much as I loved those, I enjoyed when some other company would take the story in a different direction. Make it more dark. At the time I though that they were playing with the real story for dramatic effect. But as I grew older I learned about something called The Brothers Grimm.
Who are these brothers? Their once was two brothers (ok, I am stealing this from National Geographic to give you a synopsis) named Will and Jake Grimm, who set out to find and share folktales from Germany during the early 1800s. They shared their findings with their audiences who found them entertaining. These stories became the stories of The Brothers Grimm. Many of these stories have been changed over the years to take out some or most of the Grimm aspects of the story. Translation: make them happy stories.
So, since these stories are part of a collection of fairy tales found all over Europe, I'm sure someone would say that there must be some kind of basis in the truth for some of these stories. So with that idea, our author, Polly Shulman brings the Grimm Stories to modern day times.
So what if these stories all had some basis in truth? What if the magical items all really existed? Would they be safe in the world or would they be safer locked up in a museum of some sort? In The Grimm Legacy the magically items found in the different Grimm stories have all been brought together for safe keeping. People can check these items out, for a price. But something is happening to the items, they seem to be losing their magic powers. So it is up to a few fearless pages from the New York Circulating Material Repository to track down who is stealing the magic before it is too late.
Nice book, takes a little to get into it, so don't give up because once the story gets going, it can be quite a ride. Just a notice for my boys, there is a little bit of romance in the storyline, but I don't think enough to be distracting. So one of you is going to have to give me your input on this issue. Otherwise, share your thoughts on the story. As always, I am looking forward to what you think.
By the way, for my next book I will be giving my little green post-it a break. I was able to secure a digital copy of Soccerland on sale so I will be able to talk about that next time.
"Brothers Grimm: Fairy Tales, History, Facts, and More." Brothers Grimm: Fairy Tales, History, Facts, and More. National Geographic Society, 1999. Web. 19 June 2012. <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/index2.html>.
PenguinYoungReaders. "The Grimm Legacy Book Trailer Video." YouTube. YouTube, 24 May 2010. Web. 19 June 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XIepgXWeE0>.
And I actually did. Problem was, it wasn't a book on the list, it was something that I had been reading at the gym while working out on the elliptical. Yes, I read while I am working out. No there is nothing wrong with me (at least I think not). I actually read because it makes the workout go a lot faster. Forty minutes go by really fast when you are reading. Anyway, the book, while was only slated for keeping me coming back to workout grabbed my attention and I just couldn't put it down. So I finished it last night and got back to work on my little list of books. To which my husband commented that "haven't you been reading that book for days?" Nope, just today...
Anyway, so this morning I picked up The Gardener (with my little green post it) and got to work reading. At first, it was work. This seemed like a very strange book to me. A lot of scientific stuff going on and then there was this football player who had a huge scar on his face. How in the world did these two things go together?
The story drawls you in, so many questions? Who is the girl? Why isn't she eating? What is Mason's mom hiding from Mason and why? Who is the Gardener? Those are just some of the questions that I had. I'm sure there are more that you will have as you read.
Then there is the Star Trek aspect. I'm not sure how many of you have ever heard of the Borg. They are these genetically altered humans (think part human/part computer) who went around assimilating species to add to their "collective" (something like a beehive). Anyway, these were probably one of the most evil things in the new Star Trek Universe. And they didn't just add to their numbers by force, they also grew babies cyborgs into adult cyborgs. All this I know because I must have watched every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation at least ten times.
So how does this fit into the story (other than being mentioned at least twice in the book)? The front cover of the book says it all - This Greenhouse...Grows Humans. I don't know about you, but that is just a bit disturbing. The book is about a company that is growing humans. For what? I can't tell you that. It is for you to find out, if you choose to read the book. I for one, would like to hear your thoughts.
Anyway, here is a little video someone made about the book. It's about two minutes long, but it is a nice setup.
So, what did I find out about the author, S. A. Bodeen? Well, first it seems that she like to write books that are a little disturbing. She also has a book called The Compound (2008) and another book coming out shortly called The Raft (2012). But while she writes these books, she also write sweet little children's books. Interesting combination. Anyway, you can learn more about her at her website: http://www.rockforadoll.com/.
Time to move that little green post-it.
Bodeen, S. A. The Gardener. New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2010. Print.
Naomibates. "The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen." YouTube. YouTube, 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 16 June 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLFYdCeEyPU>.
"Children's Author Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen Is Available for School, Author Visits -- Books, Reviews, Honors, Awards." Children's Author Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen Is Available for School, Author Visits -- Books, Reviews, Honors, Awards. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 June 2012. <http://www.rockforadoll.com/index.html>.
"Star Trek." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 June 2012. Web. 16 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek>.
"The Compound [Hardcover]." Amazon.com: The Compound (9780312370152): S. A. Bodeen: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 June 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/The-Compound-S-A-Bodeen/dp/0312370156>.
