 Avi is an award winning author of books for children and young adults. Avi is his nickname given to him by his sisters; he has never revealed his real name in any of his books. Avi faced and overcame many difficulties in his effort to become a writer. He suffers from dysgraphia, a dysfunction in his writing abilities that causes him to reverse letters or misspell words. "In a school environment," Avi recalls, "I was perceived as being sloppy and erratic, and not paying attention." http://www.avi-writer.com Shel Silverstein is in a class by himself. His works are among some of the most memorable books from my childhood; one of my favorites is The Giving Tree. Another one of my favorites is his poetry book for children Where the Sidewalk Ends , my favorite poem in this book is the one about the boy losing his head. An interesting fact about Shel Silverstein is that he was also a song writer; he wrote the Grammy award winning song and lyrics for "A Boy Named Sue" which was recorded by Johnny Cash. www.shelsilverstein.com Elise Broach is a writer of young adult books. She wrote Shakepear's Secret and Desert Crossing ; I read both of these books this summer, and I really enjoyed them. I would recommend them to my students. I emailed Elise asking when to expect her next novel; she responded and told me that it is called Masterpiece and it will be coming out in September. I can't wait. http://www.elisebroach.com Carolyn Meyer is a wonderful novelist which both my daugther and I enjoy very much. She has a series of books based on young royalty through out history; her "young royals" series consists of books about Queen Elizabeth I, Beware, Princess Elizabeth, and her sister Mary Tudor, Mary, Bloody Mary. While the books about the royals are my favorites, she has books which are not related royalty. Inkheart, Inkspell, and , the highly anticipated, Inkdeath are ,in my opnion, some of the most adventerous novels in children literature today. All of the novels center around a father and daugther who are able to read characters into and out of books. The first book in the trilogy is being made into a movie scheduled to be released in 2009 staring Brendan Fraiser. I also read and really enjoyed Cornelia Funke's Thief Lord. This story is about two brothers who run away from thier aunt and uncle and join a group of runaways who are lead by the Thief Lord. www.corneliafunkefans.com HELPFUL STUDENT LINKS Vocabualry and Spelling WORDLY WISE 3000 Games and Study Tips www.teacher.scholastic.com/dictionary (find synonyms and antonyms, hear the pronunciation of a word)
www.merriam-webster.comCreative Writing Prompts Over 200 prompts to get you started. Study Tips www.novelgames.com/flashgames "Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." - W B Yeats "The objective of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives." Robert Maynard Hutchins One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child. Carl Jung We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten us and direct us; and God has provided for this, by appointing his angels to be our teachers and guides. Saint Thomas Aquinas The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. William Arthur Ward "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Forrest Gump |
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