Reading Review Board

Summer Reading

I'm looking for some great summer reading. What are you planning to read this summer? If you cheated and read it before summer arrived, I'd like to know that as well.

Please share your plans for summer reading with the rest of the review board.

Thanks,

Carol

Kite Runner discussion

Welcome to the ORC Reading Review Board book discussion of Kite Runner.  The dynamic themes of this compelling book revolve around the tensions between loyalty and betrayal, guilt and redemption. All this human drama plays out against the sociopolitical backdrop of a peaceful monarchy that falls prey to invasion, occupation and the rise of a totalitarian regime

If you haven’t already seen it, we suggest a visit to Khaled Hosseini’s official website. If you haven’t yet read the book, the short essay in which Hosseini draws parallels between his own return with that of his protagonist, Amir, will set the tone.  If you have read the book, the essay may bring to mind times when you have experienced a similar return to a former place. 

We offer these questions to begin our discussion. Please take them where you will!

A Book Discussion

Everyone is hard at work!!! Nancy Fordham's graduate students at Bowling Green discuss their responses to My Thirteenth Winter in the pictures below. In some photos, they are putting their comments into the ORC reading blog and reading the comments of others in the blog.

Choice Words by Peter H. Johnston

I just finished chapter 4 of this book yesterday, and already I'm filled with ideas about how to better confer with and teach my students!  The chapter that I read last night had to do with Agency and how students need to believe that they all have the capability to succeed in their work.  Page 35 was especially of interest to me.  When I'm working one-on-one with kids, I'll frequently say, "I like how you did _______, BUT..." I've always hated the big BUT, BUT I've never really thought about how to get around it.  The author fully discusses how BUT undermines what a student has worked so hard to achieve.  He suggests a better way that I plan on implementing tomorrow.  For example, "I like how you did _____, and if you, . . . then . . ."  Wow!  What a powerful way to help students while not using even the adult-dreaded BUT word.  I'm excited about using this remedy and seeing its results.  Thanks for inviting me to read this fun and thought-provoking text!  :-)

Terese Tye

(I copied Terese's discussion topic to the home page so you'll all see it. I was afraid it would be buried in the discussion about My 13th winter. -Carol)

My Thirteenth Winter

Welcome to a brand new feature --  an online book club/discussion for Ohio teachers made possible through ORC's Community Weblog!

Educators should find our first book, My Thirteenth Winter by Samantha Abeel, compelling. Samantha's memoir chronicles her lifelong struggles with Dyscalculia and, specifically, its profound effect on her as an adolescent.

Not familiar with Dyscalculia?

Before you begin reading, you might want to visit http://dyscalculia.org, where you can browse the links related to this learning disability. Some other things to ponder as you prepare to read:

• Have you ever dealt with students who are gifted yet have learning disabilities?
• What unique characteristics did they display?
• How do you think learning disabilities affect students' self-esteem and general emotional well-being? 
• Can teachers possibly know the full impact of these disabilities on students and their families?

During and after reading, you might want to consider, among other things: What keeps Samantha afloat? How and where does she find solace? How can classroom teachers help?

That's it! All you need to get started is a copy of the book and a comfortable spot for reading. We want to hear from you after you've finished. (Our targeted completion date is November 11.) Then, join the weblog by following the links and prompts, and share your candid responses with colleagues from across Ohio. Let's see where the conversation takes us. Click recent discussion on the left to go directly to the discussion topics.

Facilitators: Nancy Fordham, Bowling Green State University, Alexa Sandmann, Kent State University