Just One More Book!!

Comment by Just One More Book!!

October 1, 2008 @ 2:43 pm

Put the question out to Twitter. Here is a taste of the response:

@terriebittner: Children need to see the book in hand to help them love books. Anything else is just tv in disguise. The book needs to be part of the whole emotional experience. I’m old fashioned–I like my books to be real.

@kaymathews: The teacher-librarian I was says: book in hand. You’re creating a common experience, you want to pull the kids into your circle, create a sense of intimacy and close connection with the book/with you as story teller. It’s also part of storytelling — you can use the book to pace yourself, to create tension, in a way you can’t otherwise. But it’s still putting another layer between teacher/storyteller and students/listeners. I’m sure it has a place…I’m thinking, too, of a recent experience with the book “Sailor Girl” (adult book) — it’s printed on beautiful paper it’s a pleasure to hold, it’s lovely to turn the pages — I’d have a much different relationship with the book..if I were reading it on one of those electronic book gizmos.

@ldpodcast: tough one. They can read along on screen, but would depend on book- Expressiveness wins every time, though

@1styear: book in hand is my fav, but I can see the value of students being able to read along if it’s on doc cam. Wish I had one!

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October 2, 2008 @ 7:00 am

[...] the help of a document camera and projector, but we did put the question out to Twitter and the few responses we received were highly in favour of book-in-hand group reading and the tactile pleasures of the [...]

Comment by Mark

October 2, 2008 @ 1:40 pm

Is it okay for me to weigh in?

Technology becomes a “middle-man” and interrupts the flow and experience. I’d say to get down in the middle of all of the children, walk around with the book or pass it around. The reading activity is about the connection between the listener, the reader and the book, not about focusing on a televised version of the book.

Comment by Lee Wind

October 3, 2008 @ 2:47 pm

I recently saw a class where every kid had a copy of the book (a small class of 15 kids, and they were paperback copies) but that was ideal – every kid got to follow along. Maybe the idea is that you read the same book a couple of ways to the same kids – they actually LIKE the repetition. So maybe read it first the old fashioned way, book in hand, casting that magic spell over reader and listener. Then, another time, read the book again, and do it on the big screen. Kids get to read along now, and see it HUGE. That might be worth a try…
Lee

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October 10, 2008 @ 1:08 am

[...] The Donkey of Gallipoli (A True Story of Courage in World War I) [...]

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October 11, 2008 @ 12:01 am

[...] (When Will There Be Good News?)71. Literarily (Immortal)72. Prairie Progressive (Dumbocracy)73. JustOneMoreBook! Podcast (The Donkey of Gallipoli: A Story of Courage in WWI)74. JustOneMoreBook! Podcast (Darkness Slipped In)75. Barbara H. (The Longing by Beverly Lewis)76. [...]

Comment by Liddy

October 31, 2008 @ 12:05 am

Of course, reading the book is great. As many have said, it is a rich experience on many levels. I can imagine, though, there is really a place for the doc cam. You would just use it with different goals. You could use it to teach about the text features, in a way that everyone could really see. You could use it to help the kids, in a different way, learn to read. Reading a Big Book is not necessarily a warm fuzzy experience, but it serves a different purpose. The document projector is just another tool. I would never stop reading real books to kids, and I think this new technology could be a great additional tool in the classroom.

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August 10, 2009 @ 1:01 am

[...] The Donkey of Gallipoli [...]

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April 3, 2010 @ 4:05 pm

[...] The Donkey of Gallipoli (A True Story of Courage in World War I) written by Mark Greenwood, illustrated by Frane Lessac. Deceptively simple looking folk art illustrations, uncluttered narration and sparse, intimate utterings deliver some of the dark, disturbing details of war in this eye-opening, true tale of courage, carnage and camaraderie. (Candlewick Press, 2008) [...]