Margin Notes

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake

Jul
30

Mara and her twin brother Owen are extremely close.  When Mara, who is bisexual, broke up with her girlfriend and childhood best friend, Charlie, it was Owen’s girlfriend, Hannah, who supported Mara.  Hannah is one of Mara’s closest friends, and when she accuses Owen of rape, Mara finds herself torn between believing that Owen could never do something like this and believing that Hannah would never make a false accusation.

The school community is largely taking Owen’s side and the Empower feminist group Mara founded has asked her to step down as leader.  Mara finds herself turning to Charlie, trying to make sense of Hannah’s accusation against Owen, which also means navigating their friendship post-breakup. (more…)

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Escape from Aleppo by NH Senzai

Jul
26

Nadia is awoken in the early hours of October 9, 2013. As the sound of bombing approaches and helicopters appear, the family has decided it is time to escape their home in Aleppo, Syria for safety in Turkey.  They have a well-practiced escape plan, but Nadia is reluctant to leave, despite the imminent danger.  One year earlier, she was injured in a bomb strike and has hardly left her apartment since.

As they are leaving, a bomb destroys their apartment building and Nadia is buried in the rubble.  Fearing that a second bomb is about to strike, and not knowing whether Nadia is alive or not, everyone is forced to run, leaving her behind.  Injured and alone, Nadia must overcome her anxieties and keep moving if she hopes to be reunited with her family at their designated meeting place, Dr. Asbahi’s dental clinic.

Nadia finds shelter for the night in an abandoned pharmacy.  There she meets an elderly man named Ammo Mazen who agrees to take her to the clinic to find her family before they leave for Turkey.  When they finally reach the clinic, Nadia is heartbroken to discover a letter from her mother telling her that they had no choice but to leave without her.  There are instructions for meeting her father in Turkey and Ammo Mazen tells Nadia he will take her there.

As they travel, Ammo Mazen becomes increasingly mysterious to Nadia as he makes many unexplained stops along the way.  Ammo Mazen’s health is deteriorating and as more facts are revealed, Nadia begins to wonder about his true identity.

Each chapter is time-stamped and the story flashes back and forth to reveal events leading up to what became known as the Arab Spring and give context to the progression of the war in Syria.  We see how, over the course of a few years, life has changed drastically for Nadia and her family.

I was captivated not just by Nadia’s quest to find her family but also by how much this story taught me about the history and culture of Syria and the insight it gave me into the life of a child in a war-torn country.  Escape from Aleppo is a definite must-have for any middle-grade classroom library, but I believe older readers will also connect with Nadia’s story of bravery and determination.  This book has much to teach readers of all ages.

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Guest Writer Gabi Sant’Anna Recommends A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck

Jul
24

Told from the perspective of Matt Wainwright, an endearing 15-year-old basketball fanatic, this novel is both lighthearted and heartbreaking. Through a series of funny, relatable stories, Matt recounts the shift in his relationship with his next-door neighbour Tabby, from childhood best friend to a hopeful love interest.

He tells stories of playing with Tabby as young kids, sorting their Halloween candy into specific categories, riding the school bus together since elementary school, starting high school, and many other moments that made him realize he had fallen in love with her. For Matt, no memory is more devastating than the one when he saw a black car parked in front of Tabby’s house belonging to the school’s “it” guy, telling him someone else had figured out how amazing she was, too.

For a large part of the book, Matt’s narration captivates the reader and has them rooting for him to reveal his true feelings and hoping for the couple to live happily ever after. But that’s not always how life works. Just when you think you know what will happen, a shocking tragedy strikes that leaves Matt on a downward spiral, and the reader in a fit of rage.

This novel is a beautiful depiction of a likeable character doing his best to deal with the hardships life throws at him. There is no correct way to grieve but Matt’s journey is a great example for students to reflect upon, and potentially relate to. I believe anyone who picks up this book will be able to take something from it.

Guest Bio:

My name is Gabi Sant’Anna and I’m a first year English teacher at McAdam High School. I’ve always considered myself a reader but teaching English this year has taken my love of reading to the next level! My students know I’m always up for talking about a good book. 

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Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Jul
19

Scythe is set in a futuristic post-mortal age in which death and disease have been eliminated, along with crime, war, and government.  Instead, society is ruled by a virtual cloud called The Thunderhead.  Because, theoretically, everyone is immortal, the population is controlled by an elite group known as Scythes who are each responsible for “gleaning” a specific quota based on statistics from the “Age of Mortality.”

Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch, both sixteen, are chosen to be apprenticed to Scythe Faraday.  They will live and train with him for a year, after which Scythe Faraday will select one of them to become a junior Scythe.  Ironically, they are competing for a role neither of them wants. In a shocking turn of events, it is decided by the Scythedom that, because Scythe Faraday has taken the unusual step of selecting two apprentices, they will increase the level of competition between Citra and Rowan. The apprentice selected to wear the ring of a Scythe will have to glean the unsuccessful candidate immediately. (more…)

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Guest Writer Melissa Wilson-Smith Recommends Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Jul
17

Do you find yourself trying to find a book that could speak to all of your students in a general way, yet want something that speaks to each student, individually?  If so, Ghost by Jason Reynolds may be a great option for you.  Reynolds has a way of speaking to his audience that is strategically aimed at every individual’s personal struggle.  Ghost is the first book in the Track series and is a National Book Award Finalist.

Ghost is about Castle Cranshaw, a teenage African American boy who has witnessed and survived some of life’s worst situations.   Castle is the underdog, the kid that should amount to nothing.   He is a sunflower seed loving, Guinness World book obsessed boy that proves that it takes a village to raise a child.  His mother is trying her best as a single, working mother, his father is in jail for an unthinkable act, and Castle, finally, finds himself in the right place at the right time.

Trying to stay out of altercations and prove himself academically so that he can make the track team, Reynolds allows the reader to feel each decision that Castle has to make as he tries to stand up for himself, his family, and his beliefs all while staying out of trouble.  This novel truly proves that anyone can accomplish anything.

Castle’s story has the ability to speak to so many.  Students that struggle with finding and sticking with a book, who are going through a difficult life circumstance, or enjoy reading a series, Ghost may be the right novel for them.    If you are a 37-year-old mother of three that needs evidence that it takes a village to raise a child, Ghost may also be right for you.  I would encourage you to add this YA novel to your classroom library, use it as a read aloud, and ensure that it finds its way into as many hands as possible.

Melissa Wilson-Smith is a guest blogger for Margin Notes and teaches grade 8 Language Arts at Bliss Carman Middle School, in Fredericton, NB.   She is married to her high school sweetheart and is the mother of three children, Lochlan (8), Anderson (6), and Airdrie (3).   She tries to balance her school life with her home life, while on the crazy roller coaster of being a mother to an autistic child.  

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Being the Change Week 3

Jul
16

This is the third week of #CyberPD and the focus is on Chapters 5 and 6 of Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed.  You can read my previous #CyberPD reflections here and here.

Chapter 5 is about Finding Humanity in Ourselves and Others.  We are reminded that it is critical to recognize that “the social constructs under which we live can lead us to classify, label with symbols, and eventually dehumanize individuals and groups (p. 101).”  Sara suggests two important steps to counteract the resultant othering:

  • We fight these destructive forces by finding and examining our humanity first.
  • While we are working to build kids’ capacity for empathy, we can honor how they see the world.

(more…)

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After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay

Jul
13

Told from alternating perspectives, After the Shot Drops introduces us to Bunny Thompson and Nasir Blake.  The boys have grown up together as best friends and teammates.  All that changed, however, when Bunny accepted a scholarship to play basketball at the prestigious prep school, St. Sebastian.

Bunny is driven to be the best player he can, motivated by the hopes that a successful career in basketball will help him support his family financially.  He is trying to navigate through his new existence as an outsider wherever he goes—he doesn’t feel like he fits in with the wealthy students at his new school and his old friends from his neighborhood treat him like he abandoned his team.  He questions whether he should have taken, or even deserves, the exceptional opportunity he has been given. (more…)

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Student Self-Assessment, Mentor Texts, and Single Point Rubrics

Jul
11

After meeting with Michelle Wuest and Shelley Hanson yesterday to continue our conversation regarding making learning visible, we have an idea that comes from Michelle’s classroom that we want to share with you.

Writing teachers are always looking for ways to foster students’ motivation and capacity to self-assess. As Sandra Herbst explains, “Self-assessment teaches students how to self-monitor, especially when it is informed by clear criteria and samples or models. Students who self-monitor are developing and practicing the skills needed to be life-long, independent learners.” (more…)

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Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Jul
10

When I started listening to the audiobook version of Dread Nation, I found myself wanting to talk about it with others, but I had no idea how to describe this unique book.  Historical fiction with zombie twist and post-Civil War post-Apocalypse were the best I could come up with, but I have since discovered the category of alternative history, which does much more justice to this title.

Jane McKeene is in her final year at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore where she was sent at the age of 12 as required by the Native and Negro Reeducation Act, established after the undead rose up and began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and requiring that Black and Indigenous children be removed from their homes and trained as zombie killers.  Because she is biracial, Jane was enrolled in the school despite being the daughter of the wealthy white woman who owns the Rose Hill Plantation.  Jane is being trained as an attendant who will serve an affluent woman and use her skills in slaying the undead, the shamblers, as necessary.  Her hope, however, is to return to her previous life at Rose Hill.

Jane’s exceptional skill in slaying shamblers draws the attention of the Mayor who invites her to serve at a formal dinner at his home.  Jane and her friend Jackson are hoping to take the opportunity to uncover some information about the mysterious disappearance of several local families.  Unfortunately, they are caught searching the Mayor’s files and are sent, along with Jane’s classmate Katherine, to Summerland, a walled community run by a racist preacher and his sheriff son.  There they must do whatever it takes to survive if they have any hope at all of escaping.

Dread Nation is fast-paced and fascinating, gripping and gruesome.  This unique blend of history, social commentary, and the undead raises themes of racism, religion, power, corruption, and gender inequality. Once I started it, I didn’t want to stop listening, and I am anxiously awaiting the sequel.

 

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Being the Change Week 2

Jul
09

This is Week 2 of #CyberPD and we are reading and sharing our thinking about Chapters 3 and 4 of Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed.  You can read last week’s post here.

Chapter 3 focuses on Being Candid and we are reminded that “candor requires a self-awareness and sincerity that isn’t always easy and doesn’t always feel good in the moment (p. 42).”  As in the previous chapters, the lessons, Seeing Our Own Bias, Understanding Microaggressions, and Refusing to Let Others’ Biases Define Us, set the stage for honest dialogue and reflection.  Because this can be emotional and challenging work, Sara offers strategies from her own experiences:

  • Share personal stories.
  • Pause and be present.
  • Honor each student’s identity.
  • Unpack terms in context.
  • Try this work yourself first.

I’ve been reflecting on the inquiry-based nature of this work.  When we start with the lived experiences of participants, both teacher and students, we are able to identify, name, and understand our experiences as a community of learners.  When Sara begins a lesson by asking, “Has anyone heard or seen this word before?” she is sending the message that the audience has important ideas to share and that she values their contributions to the learning.  This is a small but powerful shift away from centering the voice of an “expert” in the dialogue by defining the term for the group. (more…)

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