Marsha Rogers 2400 Interlachen Road #110A Spring Park, MN 55384 952-471-1127 msrogers@mchsi.com ©Computers are only a tool.

[ETC Home] [Biography] [Research] [Workshops] [Bloom's Taxonomy] [ETC Newsletter Archive] [MSRogers Home]

September, 2004

September 11

"Banned Books Week emphasizes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them." Copied from the ALA Website

Just to make my position clear, I am against banning books. Any book. Many books should be banned because of their quality, but the marketplace does that by itself. As educators we walk a fine line between adjusting our curriculum to the needs of our community and challenging our students with new and different ideas. But we should never be afraid to present an idea because it is unpopular. I have known some teachers who would not teach specific books because they might create controversy. 

In my years of teaching I have taught many of the books that appear on the "Banned Books" list. I have found that I could successfully teach these books by calmly handling any challenges. My most memorable challenge was teaching To Kill a Mockingbird. After a discussion with the parents challenging the book, we came to a consensus that the book needed to be taught so that the events depicted in the book never happen again. And if a parent absolutely refuses to allow his/her child to read a given book, you can have an alternative plan. And I suggest that you always have an alternative ready just in case challenges happen. And it should not be a "make work" plan. The same lessons taught in To Kill a Mockingbird can be learned in other ways.

Chris Crutcher is an author that is extremely popular with young adults. His books address their concerns, particularly those of young men. Not only is his website a great source, he has 10 tips in case a book you choose is challenged. His site also contains several lesson plans for his books.
http://www.aboutcrutcher.com/index.2ts?page=censorshiptips 

The American Library Association Banned Books Week begins September 25. If you want to order some of the materials they have, you need to order by September 16.
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm 

Bookseller recommendations for Banned Books Week. It's a pdf file and you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download the file. It's worth it.
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooks.pdf 

100 most challenged books 1990-2000. Many of the books I taught are on this list.
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm 

Banned Books Online: This is a list of books that have been suppressed throughout history and ones that are considered unfit for children. Unfortunately many of the links on this page are no longer valid, but the page itself is interesting.
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html 

September 25

Poetry across the curriculum

I received a message from Laura Hinsman, a 6th grade teacher, this week with a great idea using poetry. She found lessons on writing poetry about food. Her students were excited about the lesson and suggested that their poems be posted in the cafeteria.

Laura's idea is an excellent way to incorporate poetry into other areas of study. Her lesson on poetry about food would fit very well into a study of nutrition. You can also expand this to studies about weather or any field of study that you would have your students create visual representations.

At my site there is a link on how to do concrete poetry:
http://www.msrogers.com/English2/poetry/30_days_of_poetryday_1.htm 

Research papers

There is a good research paper form online by the Indiana Prairie School District
http://www.ipsd.org/Uploads/DEC_district_style_guide.pdf 
The download requires Adobe Acrobat Reader and is about 70 pages long. The download provides a quick reference for both the MLA and APA formats for research papers. It is designed for grades 6-12.

Unfortunately many students do not feel that if they download something from the Internet they need to give credit to the original author. The following link give some good advice about how to handle plagiarism.
http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm 
Included in the article are sites you can visit as the teacher to determine if something has been plagiarized. 

General Sites of Interest

How Stuff Works http://computer.howstuffworks.com/  is a good site to let your students browse. They have everything from technology, auto, health, science, health, finance. It's a good site for many areas of study.

National Geographic has a kids site http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/index.html  It has a magazine, games, features, interesting animals and cultures. There are also teacher links to many of the lessons.

Weekly Reader is a publication many of us have known for years. They are online.
http://www.weeklyreader.com/homepage.asp 

msrogers@mchsi.com

For other educational links, please visit my column at Backwash

The Oldest Cyber-Geek I Know