The Joke (Books) in Nonfiction

They are also underrated in that realm.  They are part of the 800's and can be a great way to get younger students into the Dewey Decimal.  In fact, the one series I find to be popular with 1st-5th grade is Michael Dahl's Read-It! Joke Books.  I have my 5th graders reading me jokes out of that book every couple of checkout days.  It never seems to matter to my kids how easy a book looks if it is funny.  You can get a preview of the books here.

Joke books are also a good way to teach partner work, fluency, and giving students think time.  When I was teaching the 3rd grade about the 818 section, I modeled reading aloud jokes and asking for students to guess what the answer could be.  This provided them with a safe environment to not have the correct answer because almost the whole class wanted to guess.  I then asked them to read jokes aloud to each other and they would wait for their classmates to come up with an answer if no answer was guessed right away. 

Image from capstonepub.com 

Studying Jordan's Approach to Success Through Failure

I grew up watching Jordan hit the court and give his all.  I wore #23 jerseys and Jordans, read his books, collected newspaper articles and magazines featuring him, watched movies featuring him, was bedazzled by the "last shot," and cried the day he retired.  If the Bulls were playing, I was glued to the TV.  For a little 13-year-old girl, I could talk basketball like nobody's business.  To this day, I still admire Jordan greatly.

The following news hit earlier this summer and just made me realize how relevant Jordan stays and that I DEFINITELY need to make Jordan a more integral part of a character study.  There are many different ways to study Jordan--from his basketball skills to his perseverance as a young kid to his self-belief to his charitable givings to his business skills.  There are numerous books about him for kids that teach many of his positive character traits.  

One of my favorites is Salt in His Shoes by Deloris Jordan with Rosalyn M. Jordan (mother and sister of Jordan).  It shows that Jordan was afraid he'd never be tall enough to play basketball, he had to work to achieve his dream.  His family supported him and told him that it would take patience, determination, and hard work--character lessons that all students should be taught today.  Deloris Jordan has written several other books with Michael as the main character: Michael's Golden Rules and Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Excellence.

To me, Michael Jordan is the Greatest Of All Time.



Image: © User: Diegoestefano97/ Wikimediacommons /CC-BY-SA 3.0