scholarly journals The Funeral by M. James

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yina Liu
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
Picture Books ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
First Year ◽  
Early Childhood Educator ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Church

James, Matt. The Funeral. Groundwood Books-House of Anansi Press, 2018. The Funeral, written by Matt James, focuses on a day that Norma goes to her Uncle Frank’s funeral. While this book will appeal to children, it is also good for adults to look at something heavy in life, such as a funeral, through a child’s eye. In a relaxed tone and cozy painting style, the story starts with Norma finding out that she won’t have to go to school on the day of her uncle’s funeral. She is excited about the day off and the “plan” of the day, playing with her cousin. Throughout the funeral, the story is developed through Norma’s eyes, showing how she experiences the time with her cousin. Before Norma leaves the funeral, she thinks Uncle Frank would have loved his funeral, since she noticed he was smiling right at her in his photo. Instead of a heavy, didactic teaching of the meaning of death, Matt explores a delicate way to describe a funeral from a child’s perspective. For example:  There was a little flag [which said FUNERAL] on the car that drove them to the church. Norma tried to sound out the word printed on it.“F-U-N,” she said.And then she said it again.   Matt James, a Canadian artist, is an illustrator of many picture books. With this picture book, James debuts as a writer and illustrator. The illustrations of the book are mostly acrylic and ink on masonite. Also, this book is the first time he combined a few digital pieces on the background illustrations. This book would tie in perfectly to a classroom talk about funerals and similar occasions and illustrates what a funeral is like from a child’s perspective.  Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Yina Liu Yina Liu is a first year PhD student in Language and Literacy, in the department of Elementary Education. Her research interests are digital literacies and children's literature, especially digital picture books. She finished her Master's degree at the University of Saskatchewan and worked in a preschool classroom as an early childhood educator for a year in Saskatchewan.   

scholarly journals Snail & Worm: Three Stories about Two Friends by T. Kügler

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Jin
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Education ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Kindergarten Children ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Children's Picture Books ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Master's Thesis ◽  
Inner Child ◽  
The University

Kügler, Tina. Snail & Worm: Three Stories about Two Friends. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.Author, illustrator, and perhaps the friend of snails and worms in her backyard, Tina Kügler introduces readers to this hilarious book with three little stories of two best friends—a lovely Snail with a droll sense of humor and imagination, and a friendly Worm with a generous heart. In the first story, when Snail joyously plays with the rock, Bob, and the stick, Ann, we can see our lovely and naïve toddlers, and even our inner child. In the next story, when Worm warmly encourages Snail to climb to the top of a tall flower, we can recall how our families, teachers, and friends firmly support us even when we do silly things. And finally, when Snail and Worm have the interesting conversation about their pets, no one can refuse but smile sentimentally. They are not invertebrates anymore, but are as lively as our children, our friends, and ourselves.The dialogic text as well as the storyboard-style illustration adds a flavour of children’s comic-strip to this picture book. The fresh yet soft colour of the drawings creates a snug feeling like spring for readers. Its funny plot, vivid illustrations, and simple vocabulary will definitely be loved by pre-school and kindergarten children. The text and the illustrations are perfectly married with each other. The hilarious dialogues can be easily memorized by young students and even pre-readers, but would also fit well for a drama performance in the classroom.This book will make you giggle with your toddlers or even with your adult family and friends; I can’t wait to read more Snail & Worm adventures!Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Jing JinJing Jin is a doctoral student at University of Alberta, studying and working in the fields of language and literacy in elementary education. She received her M.A. degree in children’s literature from Ocean University of China, and her M.Ed. degree from the University of Saskatchewan. Her master’s thesis is a comparative study of selected award-winning Canadian and Chinese children’s picture books.

scholarly journals Black Cat Bone: the Life of Blues Legend Robert Johnson by J. P. Lewis

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Sivak
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Education ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The United States ◽  
Older Children ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Poetic Text ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University

Lewis, J. P. Black Cat Bone: the Life of Blues Legend Robert Johnson. Illus. Gary Kelley. Mankato: Creative Editions, 2006. Print.Although this book is designed as a large-format picture book, Black Cat Bone is more likely to appeal to older children (middle school and adolescents) as a poetic text, with its rich illustrations and unusual narrative flow. The foreword of the book addresses a reader who knows some about blues musicians, as well as has some hint of the history of blues music in the United States. The language of the text is not trying to tell a linear story, but to be more evocative of a time, and of some of the historical context. The book actually has several texts: the address of the historical context that bookends the work, the bluesy poems which make up the majority of the text, excerpts from Johnson's own lyrics, and a footer running throughout the book, which provides aphoristic summaries of Johnson's story: “He was destined for legend not a field hand's work.” Each text tells a part of the interpretation of Johnson's story. With the images, it adds up to a faceted narrative of the man and his musical legacy. The illustrations alternate between impressionistic pastels in deep dark colours, reinforcing the air of mystery around Johnson's life as understood by popular culture. Kelley's other illustrative style is reminiscent of Indonesian shadow-puppets, dramatic and exaggerated in their execution. A particularly lovely example is show in full on the cover, a depiction of Johnson and the devil facing each other, each with a hand on the guitar. This image is reproduced in the text, split by the page turn in a clever design turn. Recommended: 3 stars out of 4Reviewer: Allison SivakAllison Sivak is the Assessment Librarian at the University of Alberta Libraries. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Library and Information Studies and Elementary Education, focusing on how the aesthetics of information design influence young people’s trust in the credibility of information content.

3 Questions for an Online Learning Leader

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Drake
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Problem Posing ◽  
School Students ◽  
Bachelor Of Science ◽  
Rehabilitative Services ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The University

Dr. Jill Drake is both Professor in the College of Education and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of West Georgia. In the latter role, she currently oversees academic programming and assessment, transfer agreements, and internal curriculum approval processes. Jill has experience teaching face-to-face and online courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels in educational foundations, early childhood, and elementary education. Her research focuses on assessment in K-5 mathematics education, problem posing, and teaching mathematics to diverse populations. Internationally recognized for her research on problem posing, Dr. Drake has published two mathematics activity books for high school and middle school students. Prior to her appointment at the University of West Georgia, Jill was an educator at the early childhood, elementary, and middle school levels. She completed a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, a Master of Education in K-12 School Counseling, and a Specialist in Health and Rehabilitative Services at Florida State University. She holds a Doctorate of Education in Curriculum and Supervision from the University of Georgia and completed a postdoctoral program in math education at the University of West Georgia.

How do teachers use picture books to draw on the cultural and linguistic diversity in their classrooms?

2013 ◽  
pp. 44-50
Author(s):  
Marilyn Blakeney-Williams ◽  
Nicola Daly
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Group Work ◽  
Picture Books ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Culturally And Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Book Selection ◽  
Cultural And Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Diverse Classroom

Picture books are ubiquitous in Western early childhood and primary settings. This article explores how picture books are being used in culturally and linguistically diverse settings, by describing and exploring the practice of two New Zealand teachers who use picture books extensively in their classrooms. Findings from interviews, observations, reflections, and collaborative workshops indicate the power of picture books within a diverse classroom population and the importance of several factors: the personal resonance of picture book selection, exploration of language structures and vocabulary, and the importance of using group work in activities across the curriculum in response to picture books.

Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by B. Sayers

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Feisst
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Good Night ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Heavy Equipment ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

Sayres, Brianna K. Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? Illus. Christian Slade.  New York: Random House, 2012. Print.If the title Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? seems a tad familiar, well, it probably is.  In the same vein as the ultra-popular Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site, Diggers presents the sweet nighttime rituals of diggers, trucks and other heavy machinery.  At first I thought this was a simple effort to take advantage of a similar, bestselling title however Sayres’ work does indeed hold its own.In this picture book aimed at ages 3-6, first time picture book author Sayres gives young heavy equipment aficionados a delightful take on the bedtime story.  In rhyming couplets and often in a humorous manner, all sorts of trucks, cranes and tractors get ready for rest under the watchful headlamps of their caregivers: “Where do garbage trucks sleep / when they’re done collecting trash? / Do their dads sniff their load and say, / ‘Pee-yew—time to take a bath’?”  Sure to get the young ones giggling.The sleepy-eyed dozers and tow trucks eventually give way to an equally sleepy young boy in his cozy bed, with a reminder that the trucks will be waiting for him when he wakes.  Save for one naughty truck, winking, under the bed (my five-year-old happily pointed this out).Though the illustrations by former Disney animator Christian Slade are rather cartoon-like and not realistic, they match the text well, are in soothing nighttime colours and allow for the trucks to have droopy eyes and smiling faces. Read in a lyrical fashion, or even as a song, this would be a nice end to any wee truck lover’s day.  This would make a nice addition to any public library or as a gift.Reviewer: Debbie Feisst Recommended: 3 stars out of 4Debbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.

scholarly journals Sense of belonging and first-year academic literacy

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 116-142
Author(s):  
Steve Marshall ◽  
Mingming Zhou ◽  
Ted Gervan ◽  
Sunita Wiebe
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Academic Literacy ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
First Year ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Literacy Course ◽  
The University

In this article, we analyze a broad range of factors that affect the sense of belonging of undergraduate students taking a first-year academic literacy course (ALC) at a multicultural, multilingual university in Vancouver, Canada. Students who fail to meet the university’s language and literacy requirements are required to pass ALC before they can enrol in writing courses across the disciplines. Consequently, many of those students feel that they have yet to be accepted as fully legitimate members of the university community. We present data from a two-year, mixed-method study, which involved asking students in surveys and interviews about their sense of belonging, as well as analyzing their reflective writing samples for issues related to their sense of belonging. We found that the participants’ perceptions of sense of belonging are multilayered and context-dependent, relating to changes in time and space, classroom pedagogy, and other social, cultural, and linguistic factors. Implications for higher education are discussed.  

scholarly journals INTRODUCTING A NEW ENGINEERING COURSE: A LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS AND FACULTY

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Dare ◽  
Brian Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Design Element ◽  
Design Project ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Second Year ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

A Task Force was created by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of New Brunswick in September 2004 charged with creating a new course for all first year engineering students to be delivered for the first time in September 2005. The course, to be taken by approximately 270 students, was to integrate material from other first year courses, introduce the students to working in teams, contain a substantial design element through a design project, and introduce communication skills. Nine professors from throughout engineering “volunteered” to help develop and deliver the course. In this paper we own up to what we did wrong during the first two years of delivery of this course, and (naturally!) counter this by celebrating our successes. Students are assessed based on a combination of individual and team submissions, with some submissions being oral and others written. This paper will outline the complex assessment scheme we initially used, and how we later simplified it. Rubrics were used to evaluate many of the course assignments. For most of the instructors, this was the first time they had used rubrics and so it was a learning experience to both develop and apply them. We show how we adapted their use in the second year of delivery after the experiences of the first year. We were pleased with the way that the assessments were mostly built around the design project – this helped the students grasp why clear communication is vital and enabled them to obtain continual feedback on the project. We were also delighted that an element of social responsibility was introduced into the course by making the project an international “Engineers Without Borders” project based in Africa. We believe this added an additional dimension to the course and especially the project. The professor-delivered skits were especially popular! Delivered by two wannabe actors, they introduced the students in a humorous manner to the different types of engineering that are taught at UNB. Engineering students at UNB have to commit to their specific engineering field from their first day at UNB, so these skits were included to ensure the students were exposed to all the UNB engineering disciplines. We conclude the paper with our plans for delivery of the course in September 2007 and beyond.

scholarly journals A Day at School / Une Journée à L’école by S. Cordier & C. Lacroix

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Picture Book ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Target Audience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Grade One ◽  
The University ◽  
Selection Of

Cordier, Séverine and Cynthia Lacroix.  A Day at School / Une Journée à L’école.  Trans. Sarah Quinn. Toronto: Owlkids Books, 2013. Print. The format co-creators Cordier and Lacroix use in Picture My Day, Picture My World, and A Day at the Farm succeeds very nicely in this picture book as well.  Their success has much to do with both their sensitivity to the target audience (pre-school to grade one), and their anticipation of the book’s use. They provide abundant illustration, keeping the text very brief.  Short sentences or mere labeling hint at, but do not force, the storyline.  The latter is created, in large part, by the reader.This book would work very well in a one-on-one situation: one adult, one child.  The adult might prompt,“Where do you think they went on their holidays? What are they buying for school? How are they getting ready for their day?  I wonder where Mummy and the baby are going?  Let’s see where Daddy and the children are going.” and so forth.Inspired by an array of color filled drawings, even a non-reading child could flesh out the story, making it the same every time—for comfort’s sake—or different every time—for variety’s sake.   The key factor is the child’s involvement.The vocabulary used in the text is well within the range of the intended audience.  Most five-year-olds would begin to memorize the text after a few readings; most grade ones would actually recognize and read the words by the end of their first year at school.  In sum, A Day at School is an invitation to imagine, to create, to read and to learn.Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections.  She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-92
Author(s):  
Frank Cranmer
Keyword(s):  
General Assembly ◽  
Special Session ◽  
Church Of Scotland ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Church Law ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Church

The 2010 General Assembly was perhaps most notable for two events: on Sunday 23 May a special session was held to mark the 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation and on 26 May, for the first time in its history, it was addressed by a Muslim, Dr Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic Studies in the University of Glasgow. Otherwise, the Assembly devoted much of its time to detailed issues of church law, governance and the more general needs of Scotland's wider society.2

scholarly journals We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by R.T. Higgins

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haley Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Education ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Read Aloud ◽  
Education Student ◽  
Main Character ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
New Students ◽  
Making Friends ◽  
Fitting In ◽  
The University

Higgins, Ryan T. We Don’t Eat Our Classmates. Disney-Hyperion, 2018. Ryan T. Higgins writes highly rated children’s books dealing with common elementary school conflicts. The picture book, We Don’t Eat Our Classmates, will capture all readers, no matter the age. The main character, Penelope, is an adorable T-rex who wears pink coveralls. She was designed by the illustrator and a group of children so it has features that will appeal to all and capture your heart immediately. Penelope is a having a rough first day of school because she keeps eating all her classmates; she struggles with fitting in but learns that it is not fun when you get bit. The story uses humorous hyperboles and the element of surprise that will keep the reader engaged until the end of the story. The humour is exemplified through the beautifully illustrated representations of the story. The illustrations capture the situations through simple images that show the character’s expressions and intentionally incorporate colours to emphasize the characters or the problem at hand. This picture book would make a fantastic addition to any early elementary classroom and would make a great read aloud because it uses humour to address the themes of new students, making friends, and learning to treat others the way you want to be treated. Its huge font will allow younger readers to follow along. The humour and overemphasis in the story is what makes it a truly engaging and fun read while hitting on the feelings of being different and excluded that many students face. Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Haley Oliver Haley Oliver is a fourth year Bachelor of Elementary Education student at the University of Alberta. She is interested in encouraging young child to love reading through entertaining and meaningful literature.

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