#4: Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry

Jeffrey D. Wilhelm's Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry was, well, engaging!  A professional read, I appreciated the reminders, the encouragement, the challenge to use more questioning within the classroom.

For an overview of the book, please visit here, where I arranged my notes for a book talk on this book for our English Department.

Wilhelm's book is full of various methods; some were great reminders; some I chose to utilize immediately, including Silent Discussion Thread and Radio-Show Dram Technique.  The first asked each member of a group to respond to a question with evidence and then continue to pass until it returned to the owner. (This, then becomes an excellent source of evidence for a paragraph.) The second required the students to adopt character personas, develop questions based on that character, and call them in to the "radio station."  Mine was named ABCD 123.4...:)

More of the questioning schemes I will use, especially reQuest, Questioning Circles, and Hillock's Questioning Hierarchy, all for which Wilhelm provided examples.

The epiphany for me?  As I shared with my department, I have become arrogant in my ways, thinking that after 23 years of teaching that I can just walk in and make up discussion starters "off the cuff," so to speak.  No.  No, I can't.  Good questions take time; they take thinking, yet, if used correctly, result in the students thinking deeper than ever before and in the teacher appearing to do little in the classroom, for at that point, she simply is a witness to the minds at work.  Now, that is a good thing.

This was a good experience for me...reading, implementing, presenting.  This, I encourage!  This, I will do again next month with an already selected book...this time to the faculty.

Happy reading!

#3: The Lost Symbol

Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol mesmerized me from the first chapter...and good luck, for I did not see that ending...at all!

Main character Robert Langdon's knowledge continues to be sought in this novel, as it was in the two previous ones, including The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons.  Known for his knowledge of symbols and languages, Langdon educates the readers on interesting topics, in this case Masons and their historical involvement in our nation's capital.  Very interesting.  I learned a lot...since I knew so little, I might need to research some as I am not sure where Brown mixed fiction with nonfiction.

A fast moving plot, the novel moves along quickly, with short chapters and much dialogue.  As a matter of fact this 700+ page novel, takes place in less than one day.

I have not read the previous two novels, but I plan to now since I am interested in learning more about the intense focus that Brown has on a subject matter.  I actually did pull The Da Vinci Code off the shelf, but as I have so many reading commitments this month, I decided that would just have to wait until later in the year.

His writing style reminds me somewhat of James Patterson's:  short chapters, quick-moving plots, much dialogue.  This, I like.  This style is also good to recommend to non-readers, for they can accomplish much in little time.

This novel, our first read for our high school faculty book club,  was chosen at the recommendation of our one male English teacher...good choice!

Happy reading!

#2: Miss Julia Takes Over

The second in the series...and just as fun...Ann B. Ross's Miss Julia Takes Over continues the adventures of this very likable woman from North Carolina whose family continues to grow...as does she.

Full of adventure, multiple plot lines, and budding romances, these characters continue the plot lines began in the novel one.  Miss Julia, sixty-plus widow, whose family recently grew to contain her former husband's lady and their son (she must be a Christian to invite them within her home), just cannot keep her physical self out of one adventure after another...and tells it just like it is along the way.

I find myself continually grinning, laughing, and shaking my head in agreement as the plot quickly continues.  Full of dialogue and told in first person make getting into Miss Julia's head just impossible...and what a place to be!

In this one, Ross takes her readers to the world of racing and teaches those of us whose knowledge is lacking about this very popular sport to where Hazel Marie has been abducted and to where private investigator J.D. Hodges also teaches Miss Julia much about this career.  (Hint...one of those romances buds between Hazel Marie and J.D.)

This novel is my first read for the Paper Chase Book Clue here in my hometown.  I attended the meeting this week (without having first completed the novel...had to complete novel one first, of course!) and met some lovely ladies, ladies I look forward to getting to know better this year while conversing about books.

I have already shared the first novel with my mother-in-law and look forward to discussing Miss Julia with her.  I would love discussing Miss Julia with you, also...stop back by and let me know what you think of her!

Happy reading!

#1 - Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind

I wrote this review as a model for my students...the highlighted texts are features that we have discussed in class.
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Ann B. Ross's Miss Julia series is a hoot!  The first novel Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind introduces the reader to a 60+ recent widow, a woman who soon learns of her deceased husband's secret past, which includes a very young son, all of which changes Miss Julia life...for the better.

Written in first person point of view, Ross takes the readers inside the mind of this Southern, genteel lady who lives up to the title of the novel.  Faced with one adversity after another, Miss Julia is presented with ample opportunity to speak:  from a money-hungry, not-so-supportive pastor to the significant other of who Miss Julia comes to the aid when Hazel knocks on her door needing her assistance to survive.

Characterization is this author's strength, painting pictures with words of every individual:  the housekeeper who is also Miss Julia's truest friend, the lawyers who assist Miss Julie, always supporting her.  We ride the roller coaster of emotions with Miss Julia as she confronts her emotions surrounding a cheating husband who then, in death, still continues to hurt her, threatening to leave her destitute.  The reader witnesses a reformation within this once docile woman who experiences an evolution to a steel-backed leader.

Many lessons may be taken from this novel:  women are stronger than they appear, peace of mind is to be valued above all else, remaining true to one's self should be every woman's goal.  All are themes easily supported, all lessons that females could attach.  Definitely a novel that favors the female role, this read reminds us, teaches us lessons that strengthen a woman, encouraging her to be just a bit more than she thought she could be.

As I read, I continually thought of Julia Sugarbaker from Designing Women, of the ladies from the book series The Women of Ladybug Farm, of women in the movie Steel Magnolias; all of which depict women who may appear soft of the exterior but, when challenged, grow backbones of steel, defending their own to the point of risking themselves.  I suppose what was most appealing, most constant, was the vein of humor that ran throughout the novel...as it did in all the above connections.  Humor:  healing, relieving, sustaining...just downright funny..flowing to all parts of the body of this novel.

If you enjoy series, especially one that focuses on females in the more dominant gender role, then please consider reading this novel...and the thirteen others that follow.


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The local bookstore chose the second novel in the series as this month's read...now to read that one!