Challenged Book Blog- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Part One
Book Information: Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York, Little, Brown And Company
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Grade Level: 7th-11th grade

Part Two
Thoughts About Issues Raised in the Book: This book has been deemed a controversial or challenged book for young adult readers due to some of the content it contains. I feel that the book discusses issues that young adult readers go through. YA readers have to deal with a lot, and having books that they can relate to is important for their development as readers and as young adults. The issues that have made this book "challengeable" are issues that teens deal with on a daily basis, so why not let them read about it and connect with a character who is dealing with the same issues?

Part Three
Critique: I think that this is a great YA book. The writing/language is not too difficult and it is easy to understand. I really liked that the author chose to include some illustrations. These illustrations really added to the novel, giving more description when needed. They are almost like doodles in a diary, which goes with the title. The book's themes are ones that students can connect with. Because the novel is based on the authors real-life, this makes the story all that more engaging and relatable.

Part Four
Lesson Sketch:
Grade: 9th
Lesson Objective: 
        Students will be able to:
               - analyze the main character of the story by completing an character study
               - journal about the characters actions/motivations/conflicts that occur in the story
               - share their own thoughts/feelings about the character
 Lesson Outline:
1. Teacher will assign chapter readings as homework for students to complete
2. After a chapter assignment, students will complete a journal entry based on the reading about the main character
3. The teacher will hold full-class discussions at random points in the book with students
4. Once students have completed the novel, they will complete the journal and the character study
5. The character study will by a 3-4 response to the character. This will include their response to the character, what they thought the character learned, and any other important information about the character

Question:
These could be used as journal prompts for the students to respond to in their character journals
1.Do you think that people label you with a stereotype? What is unfair about the stereotype?
2.Is this book just about Native-Americans or about American society as a whole?
3. Name some of the struggles Junior has had to deal with. Do you think he handled them well?
 4. Have you read other books with similar issues/topics?
5.Find a quote in the chapter/book that really spoke/stood out to you

Links to Outside Resources:
1. This is a good resource for teachers to use when teaching this novel. http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/absolutely-true-diary-part-time-indian-storia-teaching-guide
2. Here is a short article about why the book is on the banned list http://bannedbooks.world.edu/2011/06/26/banned-books-awareness-absolutely-true-diary-parttime-indian/
3. Here is Sherman Alexie's personal webpage. http://fallsapart.com/

Information Text- What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

Part One
Book Information: Jenkins, S. & Page, R. (2003). What do you do with a tail like this? Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company
Genre: information text
Grade level: Kindergarten - 2nd grade

Part Two 

Thoughts About Craft: I found that this book's illustrations were very interesting. The book discusses animals, and the pictures are pretty simple. Although simple, the illustrations are very textured. The animals look like they are put together by pieces of paper, ripped, cut and  recycled. The fur on the animals look like real material or rip the paper in a way that make it look like fur. It would have been easy to just use a solid picture of an animal, but this was a fun and interesting way to show the animals.

Part Three

Critique: Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The information is simple, but it gives the reader a little important information about each animal. The book discusses different animals and what the different animals use their noses,ears, tails,eyes,mouths, and feet. What I really liked about the book is the informational index in the back of the book. There is a paragraph on each animal that was discussed in the book with more in depth detail about each animal. This gives students a larger amount of information about the animals.

Part Four
Lesson Sketch:
Grade: Kindergarten
Lesson Objective:
           Students will be able to:
                        - Discuss what animals use their body parts for
                        - Practice listening and behavior while group reading
                        * Based on Common Core standard CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.10
Lesson Outline: 
1. Teacher is to read the story out loud with the class
2.Teacher will discuss and engage students in a discussion about each animal 
3. Students will draw an animal from the book, including what body part they learned about 

Question: 
1. Depending on the page, ask if students know the animal that is being discussed. If not, describe the animal further to students
2. What are some of your favorite animals?
3. Have you ever seen any of these animals? At the zoo? in your backyard? in the wild?
4. Do any of these animals seem scary?
5. Depending on animals, ask if humans can do some of these things

Outside Sources:  
 1. Here is a good source for teachers who are teaching/reading this book to students. http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=7251&a=1
2. Here is the authors wbepage. http://www.stevejenkinsbooks.com/
3. This is a video of a different Steve Jenkins book, but it is also about animals and it discusses his process of writing and the illustration process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhJ1wtHSPc4
 

Graphic Novel- The Adventures of Polo

Part One

Book Information: Faller, R. (2006). The adventures of Polo. Roaring Brook Press 
Genre: Graphic novel /picture book 
Grade level: Kindergarten - 2nd

Part Two

Thoughts About Craft: This particular Graphic Novel has not written words. The entire story is told through pictures. Consequently, the pictures need to be good and show detail. This books pictures defiantly lives up to the challenge. Bright, vivid colors make up the illustrations. I also found it interesting that there is a variety of full page pictures and several small squares of pictures. On some of the small pictures there are very subtle changes, but this keeps the reader engaged and looking for the changes. 

Part Three

Critique: Overall, I thought this book was adorable. I had a smile on my face while I was reading it because the story is so cute. Polo, a little dog, goes on an adventure from the depths of the ocean to the volcanic and tropical islands to ice caps to a different planet and then he makes his way home. He meets several different animals on his adventures and they all become friends. This book would resonate well with young children because it has some childhood fantasy about going to different places. When I searched the book online, I found out this this book is part of a series. There are five other books about Polo. Despite having no words, this graphic novel tells a cute story about a little dogs big adventure. 

Part Four

Lesson Sketch: 
Grade: 1st
Lesson Objectives:
         Students will be able to: 
                   - Compare and contrast the adventures of Polo in two different books 
                   - Distinguish between different pictures shown as to what book they belong to  
                * Based on Common Core standard CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.9
Lesson Outline: 
1. Teacher reads students The Adventures of Polo and then reads Polo: The Runaway Book 
2.  Teacher will discuss with students the different adventures that occur in each book, making a list on the board
3. The list will then be taken off and a series of pictures will be shown on the board from both books
4. Students will look at the pictures and decide wheter that adventure took place in the first or second book
5. Students will then write a 1 for the first book or a 2 for the second book depending on which they think the image is from
6.  After all images are shown, teacher will then go over the answers and discuss with students

Questions:  
1. What was your favorite adventure that Polo took in The Adventures of Polo?
2. Your favorite adventure Polo took in Polo: The Runaway Book?  
3. How was Polo's adventures different in the two books?
4. Do Polo's adventures have any similarities?  

Links to Outside Resources:  

•  This is the authors webpage, but it is in French. So unless you speak French it would be difficult to use, but I wanted to include it because his illustrations are really great on this page. http://www.regisfaller.com/index.php?a=categorie&id=3
• Here is the translated version of the webpage that is at the back of the book. It has some fun pictures and interactive activities and projects. There are directions on how to make is boat out of paper that would be fun to integrate into the lesson. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.chezpolo.com/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwww.chezpolo.com%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Dsb%26biw%3D1043%26bih%3D458
•  Here is a good website about graphic novels. http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/graphicnovels.asp