Biography

"Biography is written in a narrative format, each biographer's unique style must come through in how he or she selects, organizes and designs the information."

• Authentic Biography: True nonfiction, uses letters, diary's, and interviews. Example; The Adventures of Marco Polo by Russell Freedman. 
• Fictionalized Biography/Biographical Fiction: Invented dialogue is present in fictionalized biographies. Invented dialogue, secondary characters, and actions are used in biographical fiction. Example; Maria's Comet by Deborah Hopkinson 
• Autobiographies and Memoirs: Autobiographies are when the author writes about his or her own life. A memoir is a story about a certain period in the author's life. Examples; Guts by Gary Paulsen, Buzz Aldrin: Reaching for the Moon by Buzz Aldrin and Wendy Minor. 

Tips for Using Drama in the Classroom

• Do one play at a time. 
• Have parents assist you and provide encouragement. 
• Bring in parent volunteers to assist with costumes, rehearsals, backdrops, and props. 
• Don't start planning with standards first
• Make sure the topics explored in the literature are meaningful and important to students 
• Allow students to take charge of their learning. 

These tips are from the text and very important to take into consideration when you are working with students. You want the students to get the most out of the experience and for it to be fun for the entire class. 

Books for Your Classroom

I was going through my old books that my parents have kept and I was picking out books I could use in the classroom. I realized that I was selecting only the books that I had enjoyed as a child and not the ones my sister had enjoyed. This made me realize that you have to be diverse in selecting books so that you have stories that would interest all the students. I don't want to leave out certain types of books just because I didn't enjoy them and risk not providing a book that will catch a students attention and get them into reading. I remember my grandmother sending me the book that hooked me. It was a Nancy Drew book and from the moment I started reading it I could not stop. I want to provide students with as many types of books possible so that they find that one book that gets them hooked.

Tips for selecting books for your classroom:

• Younger children enjoy books that use word repetition, rhymes, and predictable text. Look for books with colorful pictures and simple words.
• Choose stories that provide new experiences, such as folktales or books about different countries and cultures
• Choose books that match your students interests, from dinosaurs to dancing. (Most children like books that are funny.)
• Visit the Between the Lions web site (pbskids.org/lions) for more on children and reading.

http://www.nea.org/grants/13627.htm

From Sea to Shining Sea

Traditional Literature is also known as Folklore, it tells the stories of a particular group that has been passed down to each generation. There are many different categories of this genre such as fable, myth, legend, religious stories, tall tale, and folktale. Our text has more information on each of these categories. Growing up Traditional Literature was always my favorite. My parents would read books from many different cultures, two that I would suggest are From Sea to Shining Sea compiled by Amy L. Cohn, and Spider Woman Stories: Legends of the Hopi Indians by G.M. Mullett. 

Reading Aloud to Children

Sam and the Firefly

Some of my greatest memories for my sister and I are when my parents would read to us every night. This started back before I could remember and my parents would let us each chose a story to be read after we were tucked into bed. Now that we are both older my sister and I are avid readers and as a family when one of us finds a great book we share it with each other. Recently my mom, dad, sister and I all read the Hunger Games. I credit my parents effort to read to us each night to my love for reading. I have been able to see how important reading aloud is for a child. It allows for the child to create a special relationship with books. I was just home visiting and decided to go through our old children's books to see if there were any that I could use for this next semester and it was like looking through an old picture album. Each book had a special memory like the Bernstein Bears, and old Dr. Seuss books. Reading Aloud can make reading fun for students, the Public Library has different read aloud programs that children can attend and the read aloud website is full of helpful tips. 
http://www.readaloud.org/

Ocean Soup- Tide Pool Poems

"Poetry for children should convey the experiences and perceptions of the child in a way that is meaningful and not condescending, didactic, or simplified." - The Joy of Children's Literature. 

Mason and I with the Marine Science Kids

I was reading the book Ocean Soup for my annotated bibilography and my friend Mason from camp picked the book up from me and started reading. He put a personality and rhythm behind the words that I had been reading and it was HILARIOUS! We both agreed that this would be a wonderful book to share with our Marine Science campers. These are the campers that come to camp to learn about nature and all the animals that live in the salt marsh! They get to spend the night in the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores and go on a troller boat. This book would really appeal to these kids and convey a meaningful experience.

http://oceansoupbook.com/index.php

Follow the drinking gourd...

Chapter 8 Historical Fiction in our text talks about the benefits of using stories to teach history. It talks about reading stories allowed to students and using Drama to enhance students understanding of the events. This past spring in one of my classes a teacher introduced me to the song Follow the Drinking Gourd. While he sang it for us I recognized it from when I was in elementary school. It tells the story of the Underground Railroad. He used music and art to introduce us to this story that he told. He created a river and forest out of paper that we could walk through and together we sang the song.

Granny's Stories

Growing up my Grandmother would always tell my sister and I stories, about her childhood, my dad as a child, and her friends from the neighborhood. It was my favorite part of her visits. In chapter 5 of our text we read about traditional literature and how storytelling in a classroom is a great technique to use. I was also reminded of this yesterday while I was at camp. All the staff gathered around the bon fire and told some of our favorite stories, some scary, some not so scary. Matt made a really good point when he talked to us about how the more you practice a story the better it gets and that you can take any traditional stories and make them your own. 

How to Model Storytelling for Children 
1. Select stories with good plot structure. 
2. Be sure you know the story thoroughly so you can retell it in your own words. Include any rhythmical or receptive phrases. 
3. Be expressive, changing your voice to reflect dialogue, intonation, and inflection. 
4. Tell the story slowly and with animation of body, hand gestures and facial expressions. 
5. Use props and other creative storytelling techniques such as puppets, stuffed animals, cutout characters and settings, a felt-board, and dolls.