Shh! We're Writing the Constitution

I ordered a dozen copies of Shh! We're Writing the Constitution for school.  Our seventh graders cover the Revolutionary War, and the teacher agreed we could work on something that was either collaborative or coincided with each other.  Well--it just coincided.  Nonetheless, the students found the exercise beneficial.

As for the book itself.  I did not love it.  It was definitely an adult writer, and the interesting facts in the book seemed forced and "throw in."  The students felt some of these random facts just seemed out of place.  They did not love this book, either.  It did, however, serve many purposes.  It was a nonfiction piece of work (check!).  It helped make connections with the students' prior knowledge of the Revolutionary War period taught by the history teacher and the current reading (check!).  It was also a springboard for a creative project in which students were asked to write a skit based on something talked about in this book (check!).  They enjoyed this aspect--but could not have done it if it were not the review this book provided.  We did have a VCR tape of this book, but I didn't want to take the time to hook up our dusty VCR recorder to play for the students.  I suspect their skits were better!

Jean Fritz (click here) has an extensive list of historical books in her repertoire.  I just don't love THIS one.

Farewell to Manzanar

I was given a generous gift of maybe two dozen sets of novels (numbering about a half dozen each) from a school that was just throwing them away.  One set I acquired was a non-fiction book by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston entitled Farwell to Manzanar.  I was giving my students the choice between two novels, but two of my stronger readers had read both of them.  I added this non-fiction work as a third choice--seven students took me up on this one.  

What I liked:  I was pretty ignorant about America's Japanese internment camps during WWII.  I did an extremely small amount of research after I finished the book.  See the following links for a couple of the many, MANY resources about this topic:  Farewell to Manzanar  or  Smithsonian Letters  or  Digital History.  I should have given my students a class period (or at least a partial class period) to do some background research.

What I did not like:  I could not make connections with the people in the novel.  It just felt flat.  My students who read it did not find interest in this novel, either.  Most ranked it their least favorite read of the year.

In defense of the book--this was a more independent novel study in small groups.  I did not do the novel preview any justice.  I did not lead discussions on this novel (the students read and discussed in small groups).  I found a "reading packet" on an on-line databank that I use.  (Given the last minute nature of adding this book, I finished it only one day before the students began.  Bad teacher!)

What good DID come out of this "experiment"?  I gave this group of students an option of taking a traditional test (short-answer, multiple choice, etc.) or writing a two page paper on the internment camps.  Two of the seven students chose the latter.  The one student used his research to springboard him into volunteering with his father for The Honor Flight--a non-profit group who flies WWII and Korean War veterans for free out to Washington, D.C. to view the monuments.

Bomb . . . the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

One of this year Newbery honor books was a non-fiction book entitled Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon.  Author Steve Sheinkin tells the complex tale about the first bomb.  Sheinkin does a great job "telling the story" (yes--this reads more like fiction than non-fiction--a real plus for this age group) or should I say STORIES surrounding the first atomic bomb.  Readers get to meet the key players int hese events.

I was not familiar with Sheinkin's other works, but I know having an avid reading son--I am sure I will pick up another one of his books.  His author's site can be accessed by clicking HERE.  This former textbook writer is a great story-teller, too!  A perfect combination!