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From: Dean Schneider <schneiderd>
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 20:17:41 -0600
Some thoughts on nonfiction:
On Richard Feynman: Smart scientist, not a great writer. As William Zinsser said of Feynman in Writing to Learn, "I can't handle an A-plus mind expressing itself in C-minus sentences." That's a good caution in general: good history should be well written. There are too many books in which the history is fascinating, but the poor writing kills the story. Too me, a book can't succeed unless it works on both levels -- good history and good writing. It works for fiction, too; a good historical novel is well written and the history is solid.
In response to Megan's questions about nonfiction:
Though I currently teach English, my degrees are in history, and I have found I can do both in the classroom. I teach a lot of history through the novels and the nonfiction I choose. Though literature ought to be a staple of the history classroom, it often isn't, so I make a point to teach historical fiction and nonfiction in my 7th and 8th grade English classes. In my 8th grade class, we just finished a project that has become known as
"The Dust Bowl Project." We read Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust, and Elizabeth Partridge's Restless Spirit (an award-winning biography of Dorothea Lange). Students write a variety of expository pieces, poetry modeled on Hesse's poems, and the biography helps provide an historical context for our readings. A visit by the author capped off the project, and she helped students see the photographs in a new, deeper way. The project is described at Betsy Partridge's website: www.elizabethpartridge.com/ (and go to Restless Spirit/curriculum ideas/Dorothea and John Steinbeck.
Later in the year, in 7th grade, we read Katherine Paterson's Lyddie and Russell Freedman's Kids At Work. The nonfiction adds a visual and historical depth to the fiction, and is an excellent work in its own right, about an heroic real-life character. Susan Campbell Bartoletti's books -- Kids On Strike and Growing Up in Coal Country -- are excellent resources, too, among others.
As Megan said, there are many new, excellent Holocaust memoirs. Irene Gut Opdyke's In My Hands (written with Jennifer Armstrong) has been a popular read with my students, a book I may add to my program (described in this month's Book Links).
Recent biographies I have liked a lot:
Marc Aronson's Sir Walter Ralegh Dennis Brindell Fradin's Bound for the North Star:True Stories of
Fugitive Slaves Jim Murphy's Pick and Shovel Poet
Dean Schneider Ensworth School Nashville, TN schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Wed 01 Nov 2000 08:17:41 PM CST
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 20:17:41 -0600
Some thoughts on nonfiction:
On Richard Feynman: Smart scientist, not a great writer. As William Zinsser said of Feynman in Writing to Learn, "I can't handle an A-plus mind expressing itself in C-minus sentences." That's a good caution in general: good history should be well written. There are too many books in which the history is fascinating, but the poor writing kills the story. Too me, a book can't succeed unless it works on both levels -- good history and good writing. It works for fiction, too; a good historical novel is well written and the history is solid.
In response to Megan's questions about nonfiction:
Though I currently teach English, my degrees are in history, and I have found I can do both in the classroom. I teach a lot of history through the novels and the nonfiction I choose. Though literature ought to be a staple of the history classroom, it often isn't, so I make a point to teach historical fiction and nonfiction in my 7th and 8th grade English classes. In my 8th grade class, we just finished a project that has become known as
"The Dust Bowl Project." We read Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust, and Elizabeth Partridge's Restless Spirit (an award-winning biography of Dorothea Lange). Students write a variety of expository pieces, poetry modeled on Hesse's poems, and the biography helps provide an historical context for our readings. A visit by the author capped off the project, and she helped students see the photographs in a new, deeper way. The project is described at Betsy Partridge's website: www.elizabethpartridge.com/ (and go to Restless Spirit/curriculum ideas/Dorothea and John Steinbeck.
Later in the year, in 7th grade, we read Katherine Paterson's Lyddie and Russell Freedman's Kids At Work. The nonfiction adds a visual and historical depth to the fiction, and is an excellent work in its own right, about an heroic real-life character. Susan Campbell Bartoletti's books -- Kids On Strike and Growing Up in Coal Country -- are excellent resources, too, among others.
As Megan said, there are many new, excellent Holocaust memoirs. Irene Gut Opdyke's In My Hands (written with Jennifer Armstrong) has been a popular read with my students, a book I may add to my program (described in this month's Book Links).
Recent biographies I have liked a lot:
Marc Aronson's Sir Walter Ralegh Dennis Brindell Fradin's Bound for the North Star:True Stories of
Fugitive Slaves Jim Murphy's Pick and Shovel Poet
Dean Schneider Ensworth School Nashville, TN schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Wed 01 Nov 2000 08:17:41 PM CST
