[OPLINLIST] NOVELIST NOTES (Jan 05): Curricular Series in NoveList

[Lynne Rohweder]

NoveList Notes					January, 2005

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NOVELIST OFFERS CURRICULAR SERIES FOR ALL AGES

The next time a teacher, parent or home schooler asks you about books that
illustrate the concept of respect, turn to NoveList's articles on this and
other character education topics! NoveList has added several
curricular-related articles on themes such as the alphabet, colors,
character education, culture and our 50 states.  Each of these series is
written with classroom instruction in mind by contributors who know
children's literature.

SERIES FOR PRE-K AND KINDERGARTEN

Two series that public librarians can use to support "Every Child Ready to
Read @ your library" are available in NoveList. Heidi Estrin's "Read Me a
Rainbow" (series on color) and "Letter Perfect" (series on the alphabet)
offer a refreshingly different approach to providing instruction on colors
and the letters of the alphabet.  Instead of the traditionally didactic
presentation of these themes, where a book's sole purpose is to "teach" the
topic, the annotated book lists in these two series offer books that use the
featured color or letter in a repetitive but interesting way.  This allows
the teacher or parent to expose the child to the color or letter, to
discuss, demonstrate and use the color or letter in a contextual way. 

Letter Perfect provides a list of annotated titles that repeat the featured
letters throughout the story but because the purpose of the story is not to
teach the letters, children become engaged in the story while seeing and
hearing the featured letter.   Available so far in NoveList are ABC, DEFG,
HIJK, and LMNO.
 
Likewise, the annotated lists covered in the Read Me a Rainbow series offer
picture books that use the featured color rather than overtly teaching the
featured color.  Teachers and parents can teach the colors in the books
while becoming immersed in the story itself.  Available so far in NoveList
are Green and Brown, Orange and Yellow, and White, Black and Gray.  Purple
and Pink will be available in March with more colors appearing in subsequent
months.

How Do I Find These Series?

*	NoveList: These articles can be found at the Features for Teachers
button under Articles with Curricular Connections (Elementary).

*	NoveList K-8: Go to the Teacher Resources page and select the
"Teaching with Fiction" link. 

Please note that you can also retrieve these articles by using the Article
and List search and typing in the series title, author (Estrin) or theme
(e.g.,  "color" or "alphabet").

CHARACTER SERIES FOR ELEMENTARY GRADES

Susie Wilde is putting together a series of character education articles to
supplement your school's curriculum and to provide support for parents who
want to teach certain characteristics through a read-aloud at home. In her
launching article, "Picture Books: A Path to Teaching Character Education,"
Ms. Wilde provides an overview for the series, stating, "Picture books
provide an easy, meaningful way to approach difficult subjects. Some picture
books are written for the youngest child, others deal with topics that are
so sophisticated they require middle school consideration. Whatever the age,
or the trait, no matter if you are a teacher or a parent, it's certain that
children need opportunities to discuss, wonder and think about life's most
important questions."

At the end of this article, there are links to the annotated lists on
character education put together by Susie Wilde, beginning with "Caring and
Kindness Start at Home."  Most of these annotated bibliographies offer
titles that address the characteristic at home, in the community and in the
world at large.  In addition to the already available articles on caring,
respect, self-control and self-discipline, a new article will be added each
month and will cover topics such as responsibility, loyalty, equality,
courage and generosity.  

How Do I Find This Series?

*	NoveList: These articles can be found at the Features for Teachers
button under Articles with Curricular Connections (Elementary).

*	NoveList K-8: Go to the Teacher Resources page and select the
"Teaching with Fiction" link.  

Please note that you can also retrieve these articles by using the Article
and List search and typing in the series title, author's name (Wilde) or a
character trait (e.g., respect).

FICTION FROM THE 50 STATES - ALL LEVELS 

Helen Rosenberg, a children's librarian (in both public and school
libraries), has taken on the daunting task of constructing annotated
bibliographies that feature stories and authors from a specific state.  Her
lists provide titles at the easy, children's and young adult levels and she
pulls together fiction that will help the reader understand the rich
heritage and personality of a specific state. When applicable, she also
includes an author's connection to a state such as Gary Paulsen's connection
to Minnesota. 
 
So far, about 35 of the 50 states have been covered.  This series, while
current, is mentioned on and accessible from the homepages of both NoveList
and NoveList K-8.  In NoveList, installments in the series are grouped
together under Articles with Curricular Connections at the Features for
Teachers page. In NoveList K-8, they are the first link listed after you
select the "Teaching with Fiction" link at the Teacher Resources page.  You
can also access these articles by using the Article and List Search and
typing in "50 states."  

ADDITIONAL CURRICULAR SERIES IN NOVELIST - ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL 

NoveList is currently introducing two different cultural series: one for
high schools and one for elementary schools.  

At the high school level, students are frequently asked to read fiction by
non-American authors as part of World Literature.  Lisa Musial-Springle is
developing a series of annotated lists on young adult titles that include
books written by authors from another culture or who have lived in the other
culture.  The titles included in these lists portray life in other
countries.  Thus far, "Caught Between Two Worlds: Latino Literature for
Young Adults" and "Chinese Fiction for Young Adults" are available in
NoveList, with more planned in the near future.

At the elementary school level, Andrea Bittle is putting together a couple
of different annotated lists series; one is of multicultural titles and the
other is on animals.  The multicultural series features
elementary-appropriate titles that expose upper elementary children to some
of the experiences of our multicultural population.  The first of this
series, "Crossing Borders: Chinese-American Books for All Children" is
already available in NoveList and the second, "African- American Literature:
The Best of the Best" will be available as of February 1. Ms. Bittle is also
providing an annotated list series on animals.  Lists of popular dog and cat
fiction titles are currently available.  

You can find these lists by going to Articles with Curricular Connections
(in NoveList) or Teaching with Fiction (in NoveList K-8), but the easiest
way to find these articles is to use the Article and List Search and search
by the series' authors: Lisa Musial-Springle for the YA cultural lists and
Andrea Bittle for the elementary level multicultural and animal articles.

USING THE ARTICLE AND LIST SEARCH TO FIND ADDITIONAL MATERIAL  

Because NoveList has so much content that has been specifically written for
us to enhance the database, it is sometimes difficult to remember where you
saw an article. Also, if you don't check the Articles with Curricular
Connections (NoveList) or Teaching with Fiction (NoveList K-8) regularly,
you may not be aware of an annotated bibliography that is on a topic of
special interest to you.  

Don't forget to use the newest search in NoveList - the Article and List
Search.  By clicking on the link (just below the Boolean Search link on the
New Search pages of both NoveList and NoveList K-8), you can enter a theme
(African-American, letters and colors, animals, character education, a
specific state), a NoveList series author (Springle, Bittle, Rosenberg,
Wilde), or a specific article title (such as one of the articles listed in
this Note) and NoveList will search through all of its content using a full
text search and retrieve titles of articles that match your criteria.  The
results will be returned relevancy ranked (i.e., articles with the most
matches at the top of the list).

SUMMARY

At NoveList, we are constantly working to keep you informed about new books
and trends in fiction. We know that you will find these articles useful in
responding to requests about books on these topics, but you don't have to
wait until you get a question about the books contained in these articles.
You should consider using these articles as the basis for displays in your
library or media center. You can also use the product's email feature to
email an article to a teacher or parent who has asked about these types of
materials in the past.