Non-Fiction Meeting Notes

Attendees

Jamie Rogers
James Crussell: 1st timer, read No Way Down
Hap Reir: 1st timer, read Chuck Klosterman IV
Brianne Barber: read A Walk in the Woods
Alex: read How They Croaked (middle school) and Never Fall Down(high school)
Emma Rapp: read Coming Back Strong by Drew Brees
Jeramy Hauck: Pursuit of Happiness and Columbine
Grace Williams: 1st timer, read "The Latino Reformation"
Bree Zwarts: read The Socio-Path Next Door
Tarayn Svalberg: read Diary of Anne Frank: the Graphic Novel and 3 Cups of Tea
 Brad Oliva: A Long Way Gone


A Long Way Gone

Brad: Point of view from Ishmael born in Seirra Leon, 12 years old
gets picked up by a rebel army, clearly written, very enjoyable, 7th grade readers, especially boys and reluctant readers
Very personal novel because of the descriptions of the things he sees, ect.
Eventually leads him to New York and he attends college in America
Good example of memoir writing

Emma: Would you do a history lesson?
Brad: Yes, you could draw a map of his travels (And there is African history info in the back of the book.)
James: It's important that students see another country's genocide story.
Alex: How do you deal with violence?
Brad: The students he observed watched Hotel Rwanda before reading the novel. They had to get a permission slip.

3 Cups of Tea
Tarayn: A story about a man Greg Morrison who is stranded after rock climbing in the Middle East, he is rescued and vows to build schools for women
good for girls and boys, high school level, is available to teach in schools, visuals that will help alternative learners, it would be great with modern articles, helps promotes knowledge of the Middle East (other than the stereotypes)
Called 3 cups of tea, one to offer friendship, the other to say they respect you, and the last to say you are part of their family.
-Greg can be unreliable at times, according to the writer of the novel.
Alex: Is there a lawsuit on that novel?
Tarayn: The writer does talk about the writer being unreliable, could be said because of that.
Emma: You could teach a lesson on a reliable or unreliable narrator with the novel...

Anne Frank: A Graphic Novel:

Tarayn: The graphic novel gives a better perspective. You can teach middle school or high school.
Grace: The GN goes into more detail with the event of the holocaust.
Bree: There is a story of her parents too and some real life pictures in the back.
Tarayn: The pictures have the ability to hit home more.
Grace: Offering the choice between the actual diary and the GN gives students a better idea of Anne Frank's story.

The Socio-Path Next Door

Bree Zwarts: The first page says 1 and 25 Americans have no feeling and no notion of consequence. Beginning can be dry, the first senario is about a guy who is a bachelor and who forgets to feed his dog and misses a meeting to make sure it lives.
Is it conscience? Or is it to keep of appearances?
Reads like a narrative, students really had a lot to say and connected with it. boys and girls like it.
Jamie: Students would be very intrigued by it.
James: Could students relate?
Bree: Yes, we probably all know someone who can fit with the author's description.
Happ: And, like you said, they are really good at fitting in.
Grace: Would you teach it?
Bree: Yes, I would give it as a choice. If I was given the option, I would definitely teach it. Kids wouldn't realize they were teaching non-fiction.
Brad: What about concerned parents?
Bree: It's not for kids to start saying "You're a socio-path or you are," more to give reference to it.
Tarayn: My teacher dealt with this by giving a permission slip for parents to sign for students to access her classroom library.
Happ: Could you break it into pieces and teach certain parts?
Bree: Yeah, you could teach the first part on "what a sociopath is" or a certain character.

"The Mystery of Animal Grief," a Time article by Jeffrey Cluber

Grace: goes through the story of how animals grieve and the animal mindset. There are similar feelings to humans.
Alex: What is the reading level?
Grace: It should be accessible, juniors and seniors can read. You would have to fit it in with a unit.
Jamie: What unit?
Emma: Animal Farm
Happ: A Call of the Wild
Bri: It could be with a lesson on how to write a research article.
Happ: Or even how to read a research article. Have students pick out where the data is, ect.
Pursuit of Happiness

Jeramy: There is a movie based on a book, very different from the movie. The first half of the book is written on the main character's childhood and sets up for the movie. It is an enjoyable book, the next step after reading a novel like A Boy Called It.
It can be a lesson on how to strive and succeed, great life lesson. There are insights into items in the movie, such as the bathroom scene. Would help you to make a connection with your students, especially in a certain demographics where you have students that have faced struggle. Could really be taught in class.
Emma: What grade level?
Jeramy: It does deal with the Civil Rights movement and has some graphic nature and language. Could maybe teach it in 8th grade, but might recommend holding it off until the high school level. Would be a good book to recommend for non-fiction readers.

"The most dangerous place in the world is a public library."

Columbine by David Cullen

Jeramy: Cullen went through 5,000-6,000 pages that was collected on the actual case. The book was called into question on how authentic it is. Things I liked: there were a lot of myths around the 2 boys, such as Eric Harris was very popular at school. A quick page turner because there are facts from the evidence he found that help move the book along. Dillon, the second boy, was "the puppet that Eric played with."
Draw Back: given the age of the students now, the connection might not be as strong to want to read this book, but it would be a great story for students to read.
Happ: With that, it's good because the media can create this narrative that these kids were shy, bullied and that can make you more isolated if you are shy and bullied.
Jeramy: It might help to identify what the Columbine "thing" is.
Tarayn: Anytime something happens they always go back to Columbine and the story there.

Coming Back Stronger
Emma: This is a story about Drew Brees, he starts out with his childhood (slightly inflated). However, very motivating. It is all about resilience and how he came back after a couple of injuries and how a lot of people didn't think he would make it. Leaves to New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina and weaves his story in with that occurance. It would be great to recommend to boys and, especially, Christian students. The story is very religious. Could teach at a 6th grade level or at any age. The only draw back to recommending it is if the student is not religious.
James: Does it talk about Canadian football.
Happ: No, that's Kurt Warner, but he's good too.
Jeramy: How do approach recommending this book because of the religious aspect?
Emma: You could do a book talk on it and ask the student how they feel about Christianity and if they are okay with reading a novel that talk about it.
Emma: The teacher I am with this semester gives students a much larger freedom to choice their own novel, helps with reading for fun.
Grace: Are they reading their books outside of class?
Emma: They do have a lot of time to read in class and we go around and conference. We give task and objectives during conference. If students are reading the same novel, we can group them and give a mini-lesson on their book.

How They Croaked

Alex: It is on how famous people died. It is a great novel that is very interesting. The descriptions are graphic (example Henry VIII's body exploded in coffin because of obesity). I found myself wanting to know more about their lives after reading about their deaths. Low reading level, definitely middle school. It's individual stories so you don't need to read the whole thing. It's not a graphic novel, but it does have a lot of pictures. Would be good for ESL's because it isn't intimidating. Very different, couldn't go too deep. Great for recommending.
Jeramy: Independent reading?
Alex: Yes, it would never fail to interest a reader.
Jeramy: Could you use them as investigative reports?
Alex: It could totally be your start and then, now write a report on a persons life.
Happ: A lot of the deaths were descriptive, could it be a model text as descriptive language?
Alex: Absolutely, what makes this book appealing is this funny, dark story.

A Walk In the Woods

Bri:





Chuck Klosterman: writes for Spin Magazine and Grant Land, sort of dorky guy, there are a bunch a little essays. Don't have to recommend the whole novel for reluctant readers. This book is about real life situations, such as video games, KISS, and he is good about building an argument. It may be ridiculous in the novel, but he argues and explains it well. Very accessible pros that would be good to teach.
Jeramy: How long are his essays?
Happ: 2 or 3 pages
Jeramy: Could you use these as a hook?
Happ: Oh, definitely.
Jeramy: Is there offensive language that we will have to worry about?
Happ: Nothing compared to Catcher in the Rye, nothing too offensive. You could easily find one that doesn't curse and not worry about getting letters from parents.
Bri: So, recommend the whole book and teach pieces for argument purposes.
Happ: I was reading Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven and there is more offensive details in there than in this novel.

End Note
Bree: Would you ever teach the Onion
Tarayn: Yes, for how to teach Satire.
or...credible sources.