Missed the workshop or want another way to connect with Plugged-in educators? Join the Plugged-in Educators Ning! We’ll be posting things from the workshop and announcing lots of webinar opportunities that will recap the most popular workshop sessions.

Now, with Plugged-in to Nonfiction, you can intervene before your 4th- and 5th-grade students get left behind. This program contains lessons that teach effective strategies students can use to comprehend textbooks and other nonfiction across all content areas.

The program features:

• Authentic, high-interest nonfiction texts like Hana’s Suitcase and Rescues.
• Lessons that teach strategies such as monitoring understanding, activating background knowledge, and using specialized vocabulary.
• Audiobooks as a scaffold for fluency and pronunciation.
• The gradual release of responsibility model that takes students from whole-class instruction, to peer-supported learning, to independent learning.

For more information, please contact your local sales representative, browse the website, or check out our FAQ.

Download an audio sample of one of the Grade 4/5 Core Novels, Rescues!
Rescues! by Sandra Markle – Saving Elvis 3:31

NOTE: Audio files are hosted at and downloaded from the Recorded Books website. Right Click and choose “Save As” to download file.

NOTE: Audio files are hosted at and downloaded from the Recorded Books website.

Level 1—Independent Reading Text
Horrible Science: Blood, Bones, and Body Bits by Nick Arnold
Have you ever wondered why we have hair and fingernails? What happens when a boil bursts—and what is a boil, anyway? What’s the point of all the wacky, bloody, gruesome bits that make up the human body? Blood, Bones, and Body Bits puts the human body under the microscope to show you just how everything fits together
Lesson: Section 2: Anticipation—I Think My Heart Is Near My Lungs
Audio Excerpt: Chapter 1, Bits of Body

Level 2—Independent Reading Text
Extreme Pets! by Jane Harrington
Jane Harrington’s excellent guide to responsible ownership of an exotic pet—presented in kid-friendly language—is filled with everything you will need to know about proper care and feeding. Not all animals make good pets—and all animals deserve to be treated with respect and not neglect.
Lesson: Section 5: Writing—Letter to Your Parents
Audio Excerpt: Chapter 1, Cold Blooded!

We’re also giving away one copy of both the print book and CD audiobook for A Negro League Scrapbook! In this acclaimed book, New York Times best-selling author Carole Boston Weatherford compiles an enthralling summary of Negro league history that includes fascinating tidbits about prominent pitchers, hitters, utility players, teams, and traditions. Booklist says, “A lively presentation—give it credit for at least a triple” and Kirkus Reviews calls it “a thorough picture of the Negro leagues in all their sadness, pain, and glory. One doesn’t need to be a baseball fan to be fascinated.” NEW! As of February 24, we are also adding Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive in CD audio and print to the giveaway! The winner will receive both CD audiobooks and both print audiobooks.

To win, leave a comment below telling us your favorite classroom activity for Black History Month. See the end of the post for complete contest rules.

To download mp3 excerpts, right click and “save as.”

Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Narrated by Kevin R. Free

A Negro League Scrapbook
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Narrated by Ezra Knight

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
by Michael Martin, Narrated by Susan Spain

The contest is now closed. Congratulations to Deborah Davila!

COMPLETE CONTEST RULES:

• Leave a comment below (be sure to enter a valid email address, or we won’t be able to contact you if you win!) sharing one of the above ideas and you’ll be entered to win.
• Contest only open to U.S. residents.
• Tweet (we’re @pluggedintoread) or blog about the contest and you can leave a second comment linking to your tweet or post—you’ll get another contest entry. Spread the word!
• Again, be sure you leave a valid email address with your comment so we can contact you. If you’re picked as a winner and we can’t contact you, the prize will got to the next winner.
• Comments will be assigned a number (first commenter is #1, second is #2, etc). Winners will be picked by random.org according to comment number.
• Drawing will be held on March 22, 2010 at 12:00PM Eastern time. Winners will be contacted by email to get mailing information.
• Winners will receive: one copy of A Negro League Scrapbook on CD audio and one copy of the hardcover print book, one copy of Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive on CD audio and one copy of the hardcover print book

Let us know if you use the activities in your classroom or share your favorite Plugged-in activities using these titles.

VIEW the newsletter to download excerpts and view lesson ideas!

Finn by Matthew Olshan, Dating Hamlet by Lisa Fiedler, and Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper are all great examples of the classic connections built into PITR Level 3. These modern retellings and reimaginings of Huckleberry Finn, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet will introduce students to the classics in a way that is relevant to them and accessible to all students.

We will give one copy of all three titles to one commenter on this post. Leave a comment sharing one of the following to be entered (see below for complete contest rules):

• What is your favorite way to connect students to the classics?
• What classic work have you found to be most engaging and relevant to your students?
• What classic do you wish was covered in more classrooms today?

COMPLETE CONTEST RULES:

• Leave a comment below (be sure to enter a valid email address, or we won’t be able to contact you if you win!) sharing one of the above ideas and you’ll be entered to win.
• Tweet (we’re @pluggedintoread) or blog about the contest and you can leave a second comment linking to your tweet or post—you’ll get another contest entry. Spread the word!
• Again, be sure you leave a valid email address with your comment so we can contact you. If you’re picked as a winner and we can’t contact you, the prize will got to the next winner.
• Comments will be assigned a number (first commenter is #1, second is #2, etc). Winners will be picked by random.org according to comment number.
• Drawing will be held on November 2, 2009 at 12:00PM Eastern time. Winners will be contacted by email to get mailing information.

The ALA has comprehensive lists of banned and challenged books since 1990, even noting the most frequently challenged books of 1990-1999, but even their lists don’t catch all the challenges.

Though it’s a sensitive topic, it’s one that is especially important to address in some way with today’s kids. Has censorship or book challenging touched your classroom? We’d love to hear your story and learn how you dealt with the situation. Do you bring up the topic with your students? How do you deal with controversial topics in books? If you know of a book being challenged in your area, encourage your students to get involved and share stories of how a banned or challenged book changed their lives.

The following Plugged-in books have been banned or challenged in the past:
• Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher (ALSC Notable Recording, ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults, ALA Best Book for YA, ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, SLJ Best Book, SLJ Best of the Best Book, 1992 Michigan Library Association Best Young Adult Book, Nominee 1992-1993 Maine Student Book Award, Nominee 1995 Garden State Teen Book Award, Nominee 2004 Isinglass Teen Read Awards)
Plugged-in to Reading Level 3
Reasons for Ban or Challenge: homosexuality, offensive language

• Go Ask Alice by Anonymous/Beatrice Sparks (YALSA 100 Best Books (1950-2000), YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults)
Plugged-in to Nonfiction Level 3
Reasons for Ban or Challenge: drug use, offensive language, sexually explicit

• The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (ALSC Notable Recording, AudioFile Earphones Award, National Book Award Winner (Young People’s Literature), Newbery Honor Book)
Plugged-in to Reading Level 1
Reasons for Ban or Challenge: blasphemy, offensive language, not suitable for age level

• The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney (Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, Pacific Northwest Young Reader’s Choice Award, Tennessee Volunteer State Award, Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award, Iowa Children’s Choice Award, Iowa Teen Book Award, Washington Evergreen Young Adult Book Award, Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award)
Plugged-in to Reading Level 2
Reasons for Ban or Challenge: offensive language, sexual situations

For some additional (and very clever!) inspiration, check out this video from ALA: “I’d like to find *BLEEP*.” (Hat tip to @cathyjo for reminding me about it!) Bonus points if anyone can figure out the books he’s mouthing that get bleeped out or (a bit easier) the covers that are blurred!

Sound familiar? It sounds a lot like Plugged-in to us! As we know, choice can greatly increase student motivation. And motivation can greatly increase comprehension and, therefore, test scores. Plugged-in works with a philosophy outlined in the article, that “most experts say that teachers do not have to choose between one approach or the other and that they can incorporate the best of both methods: reading some novels as a group while also giving students opportunities to select their own books.”

Plugged-in’s three-step instructional model offers a built-in structure for a classroom like Ms. McNeill’s. The program starts students off with teacher-directed discussion, then allows them to move to small groups with more autonomy and title choice. From there, students independently read books they’ve chosen from the high-interest Plugged-in classroom library. And in both PITR and PITNF, students read independently throughout the program, not only after completing the teacher-directed and peer-supported sections. All the texts in the program, including those in the teacher-directed portion, have been chosen by Dr. Janet Allen because they are high-interest, relevant to today’s students, and cover the standards. In Level 3 and Level 4, titles also feature classic connections.

Comic-Con 2009 wrapped up this weekend, and got us thinking about comics in the classroom. Comics aren’t just about superheroes and supervillains these days (though there’s certainly nothing wrong with a superhero!). Plugged-in to Nonfiction actually features many comic books, graphic novels, and art-centered books that will get reluctant readers excited about books without sacrificing quality. Students who turn to comic books at home may not think of it as reading, but it counts! These students are reading and don’t even know it, and by having graphic novels in the classroom, you can help connect their current reading habits and experiences to different kinds of books. Some of these graphic novels, such as Malcolm X: A Graphic BIography, even have an accompanying audiobook (noted with a *) to provide extra support to those students that may need it. Others, such as Art Spiegelman’s Maus, are award-winners that are studied even in college classrooms.

Comics, Graphic Novels, and Graphic-Based Books in Plugged-in to Nonfiction:
How to Draw Pokémon – Grades 4-5
Sign Language for Kids – Grades 4-5
The Egyptian News* – Level 2
A Photobiography of Dian Fossey* – Level 2
Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter* – Level 3
Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation – Level 3
How to Draw Hip Hop – Level 3
Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography* – Level 3
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale – Level 3
Onward: A Photobiography of African-American Polar Explorer Matthew Henson* – Level 3
Periodic Table: Elements with Style – Level 3

Do you use graphic novels in your classroom? If so, share your stories and tips! Here are some great resources:

• comicsintheclassroom.net
• 100 Tips and Teaching Tools for Using Comics in the Classroom
• ToonDoo can help kids create their own comics for projects