Ms. Nichols Reads

Ch. 11 In chapter eleven of the LSSL 5385 textbook, titled ‘Realistic Fiction’, the discussion is all about what realistic fiction is and what stories qualifies as realistic fiction. According to the chapter, Realistic Fiction stories ,”are those set in contemporary or modern times.” Furthermore, they “are believable”, and “everything within the story is consistent with the real world.” As the chapter progresses, there is a list of 3 criteria that are required for a realistic fiction story. The criteria includes; everything consistent with the real world, the theme emerges naturally from the story, and the topic or subject matter of the book must relate to modern readers.  I have noticed that realistic fiction is one of the most popular sub-genres read in my classroom. I wonder if students choose to read these books over others because they can relate more with these types of stories? Do students choose to read realistic fiction because they can see themselves in t...

In chapter ten of the LSSL 5385 textbook, entitled “Historical Fiction”, it discusses what historical fiction is and the requirements that make a book historical fiction. The chapter begins by stating,”Simply, historical fiction is any story set in the past”. The criteria include the book must tell a good story that blends history in the story, the historical facts need to be accurate, the values of the time must be brought to life, there should be a consistent social milieu, and finally readers should be able to relate to the story.  Growing up, my favorite books were the ones that told stories of the past. I was a big fan of the Dear Diary series, the American Girl series, and any other books that told stories of people in the past. This fascination has carried over to the present day, where I still am interested in reading about the past. I even enjoy watching movies and t.v. shows about the past. There is just something about reading about others lives (...

In chapter nine of the LSSL 5385 textbook, it is all about Poetry. The chapter starts off by clearly stating that,”Poetry is not a genre. It is a form that literature can take.” This is important to remember when discussing or recommending poetry to others. There are several pieces of criteria that are discussed in the chapter that create a great poem for children such as narrative, rhyme, rhythm, sound devices, funny poems, poems with animals, poems that students can relate to, poems that create vision or imagery, and poems that readers can interact with. Other good elements of poetry for children are that they are good enough for repeated readings and good forms of poems for children are limericks and concrete poems.   Can I just start by saying I love Poetry! I love reading it, I love teaching it, I love writing it. I just think it is such a fun format of literature. I always look forward to the poetry unit every year, so I can share all my fun p...

Chapter eight of the LSSL 5385 textbook is entitled,”Awards”. It is all about the different literary awards given to books. A few examples of the awards listed are the Prinz award, YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction, Great Graphic Novel for Teens, Best Fiction for Young Adults, and the Margaret A. Edwards award. There are many more awards listed that award novels and authors alike in their excellence for literary creations.  First impressions from reading this chapter is that I had no idea there were this many literary awards out there. I mean sure, I have heard of a few of the big ones, but I haven’t heard of nearly this many. And there are still more awards out there that are not listed in this chapter. I think that awards lists are a great resource to go to when looking for a certain type of book. Librarians can refer to them to see new releases and they can also suggest a few of the books that won awards, such as the ones listed in the chapter, to students a...

In chapter seven, Literary Elements, it is referring to the different elements that belong to literary pieces. The different elements include antagonist, character, conflict, mood, tone, plot, protagonist, setting, and theme. The chapter continues by explaining the different literary devices found in literature. These devices include, allegory, allusion, archetype, deus ex machina, hyperbole, imagery, metaphor, motif, point of view, simile, and symbolism. Fun fact: I had to look up what deus ex machina is and it is,” an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel”.    I find it very interesting that this was a topic that I was set to read this week, because this is exactly what I am teaching in school right now. I am a freshman English teacher, and we are currently  reviewing all the different literary elements in fiction. Friday alone, we had a quiz over the plot diagram....

In chapter six of the LSSL 5385 textbook, titled ‘How Do Adolescents Develop?’, the chapter discusses the different stages that children learn and develop. Maslow’s hierarchy is discussed with the different elements including physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self actualization. Also, Dr. Lesesne discussed the importance of Piaget and the role his discovery of abstract development plays in adolescent development. Finally, Kohlberg’s theory is discussed dealing with the preconventional, conventional, and post conventional stages in an adolescent’s life.  I found this chapter extremely interesting, especially the part about Piaget’s theory about the abstract development of adolescents. Piaget says that students can not develop abstract thinking until they are about 14 years old. This can help me with my teaching because I am currently teaching fourteen year olds, but if they are struggling with an abstract concept, it could simply be that their ...

Chapter 5 of the LSSL 5385 textbook is discussing what young adult literature is. How can you define it? According to the list, there are 10 qualifications that tell us if a novel is young adult. I have a few concerns with the list, because if I were to go off of this list, nearly every story out there could be considered young adult. Take Star Wars for example. I would consider this a hard science fiction novel, but not a young adult novel. However, you can check yes to every box that qualifies it for being young adult. Now this goes back to my question from the last chapter review. What do you do when a novel qualifies for more than one category?