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ASK: Author,
Specialist, Knowledge
ASK,
Authors Specialist and Knowledge, provides students
with the opportunity to interview an author or a subject specialist
in the topic they are reading about in a novel. The program
uses excellent children's literature, journal writing and
interviewing to promote reading for understanding.
Berrien RESA is implementing
this project in our distance learning program with the assistance
of Macomb
ISD's distance learning staff. These programs are open
to our local teachers first. If any openings are still available
after they sign up, we may advertise to other classes. Registration form for outside classes. ($50/session)
Elementary
Books
ASK
Specialist: Ice
Bear and Little Fox by Jonathan London
Grade Level: 2-3
Topic: Polar Bears
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy
of REMC XI
Date: October 7, 2009 and March 19, 2010
3 classes at a time: 9:30-10:15; 10:30-11:15; 1:15-2:00
This picture book will help your students learn about Polar
Bears and animal life in the Arctic. Through this story students
will be introduced to the concepts of habitat, predator-prey,
range and more. Your students will enjoy this delightful book.
Students will interview a Buffalo Zoo
education specialist.
Web Resources
ASK
Specialist: Harvesting
Hope by Kathleen Krull
Grade Level: 3-8
Topic: Hispanic Civil Rights
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy
of REMC XI
Date: October 26 and May 10: 10:00-11:00 am
Cesar Chavez is known as one of America's greatest civil rights
leaders. When he led a 340-mile peaceful protest march through
California, he ignited a cause and improved the lives of thousands
of migrant farmworkers. But Cesar wasn't always a leader.
As a boy, he was shy and teased at school. His family slaved
in the fields for barely enough money to survive. Cesar knew
things had to change, and he thought that--maybe--he could
help change them. So he took charge. He spoke up. And an entire
country listened.
Students will interview a panel of former
migrant farm workers in TX or a cousin of Cesar Chavez.
ASK
Author: Searching the Noonday Trail
by Johnny Tuitel
Grade Level: 3-4
Topic: Cerebral Palsy
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy
of REMC XI
Date: We get this program from Macomb ISD. Sign up if you're interested and we'll let you know available dates.
In
Searching The Noonday Trail, it's the first day at a
new school for Johnnie Jacobson. It's going to be challenging,
but will it be as adventuresome as the summer was? He's not
too sure, but a secret football play and a field trip to where
Chief Noonday and the Ottawa tribe used to live put Johnnie
and his Gun Lake Friends on the trail of another great and
exciting adventure! The fourth in Cedar Tree Publications'
outstanding "Gun Lake Adventure" series, Searching
Noonday Trail is another great novel by Johnnie Tuitel and
Sharon Lamson for young readers which is wonderfully written
and totally entertaining from first page to last.
Students will interview a Johnny Tuitel, author of
the book.
ASK
Author: When Donkeys Fly by Ginger Hodge
Grade Level: 3 preferred (could be 1-4)
Topic: motivation and inspiration
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy
of REMC XI
Date: We get this program from Macomb ISD. Sign up if you're interested and we'll let you know available dates.
A book for all ages that teaches children, and the adults in their
lives, that no matter who they are or what others may say, anyone can
go anywhere and do anything as long as he or she believes.
Students will interview a Ginger Hodge, author of
the book.
ASK
Specialist: Stellaluna
by Janell Cannon
Grade Level: 2-3
Topic: Bats
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy
of REMC XI
Date: November 2&3, 2009: 9:15-10:00
a.m.; 10:15-11:00 a.m.; 11:15-12:00, 1:00-1:45 p.m.
Baby bat Stellaluna's life is flitting along right on schedule--until
an owl attacks her mother one night, knocking the bewildered
batlet out of her mother's loving grasp. The tiny bat is lucky
enough to land in a nest of baby birds, but her whole world
has just turned upside down. Literally. Stellaluna's adoptive
bird mom accepts her into her nest, but only on the condition
that Stellaluna will act like a bird, not a bat. Soon Stellaluna
has learned to behave like a good bird should--she quits hanging
by her feet and starts eating bugs. But when she finally has
an opportunity to show her bird siblings what life as a bat
is like, all of them are confounded.
Students will interview bat experts from
Cranbrook Science Center.
Resources: Websites
and more web resources.
Middle/High
School Books
ASK
Author: Trapped
in Ice by Eric Walters
Grade Level: 6
Topic: Canada studies
Date: March 1&2 2010; 9:30-10:30; 10:45-11:45;
12:45-1:45 and 2:00-3:00
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy
of REMC XI
Thirteen-year-old Helen is not entirely sure she is looking
forward to spending the next six months on board the Karluk,
a ship headed on an Arctic expedition. But with the recent
death of her father, it is the only work her seamstress mother
can find. Helen's nine year-old brother, Michael, is delighted
to be off on a real adventure but neither he nor Helen could
have realized just how extraordinary this trip would be. The
ship's hard-bitten captain, Robert Bartlett, must use all
his seafaring skill when the Arctic Ocean begins an early
freeze-over and the ship becomes trapped in ice. But will
Bartlett's knowledge of the unpredictable and treacherous
Arctic be enough to save his passengers? Based on true events
surrounding the ill-fated Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913,
Trapped in Ice is a riveting, fast-paced adventure set in
a marvelous but brutal world of ice and snow.
ASK
Specialist: Cracker
Jackson by Betsy Cromer Byars
Grade Level: 5 and up
Topic: Domestic Violence
Date: April 21, 2010. 9:15-10:15, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy of
REMC XI
Cracker is a young man with a big secret. He knows
that his babysitter is being abused by her husband and is
not sure what to do. Students who participated in this ASK
program in the past loved this book. It is a moving tale that
will make students think and will foster discussion about
domestic abuse.
Students will interview a local domestic
violence specialist.
Web Resources
ASK
Specialist: Daniel's
Story by Carol Matas
Grade Level: 6+
Topic: Holocaust
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy
of REMC XI
Dates: This ASK program can be scheduled by request for all your sections.
This is a fictional tale of a young boy and his struggle to
survive the Holocaust. Although Daniel is not a real person,
his story is based on the real experiences of children who
died in the Holocaust. Your students will learn about life
in Germany before the Nazi regime and how life for Jews changed
in the 1930's. They will follow Daniel and his family as they
travel to the Lodz ghetto and then to Auschwitz.
Resources: Holocaust
lessons & website and more Web
Resources
Presenter Bio: Charles
M. Sacavage has spent most of his professional career studying
and teaching the Holocaust and Tolerance Education. A former
Social Studies Department Chairman at Pottsville Area High
School, he is currently an adjunct Professor of History at
Alvernia College in Reading, PA. He is beginning his fifth
year bringing his message to students at all levels through
interactive television programs sponsored by Schuylkill Intermediate
Unit 29 and Partners in Distance Learning. Using a combination
of technical formats Mr. Sacavage will bring to your classroom
his many years of study in these areas. He has visited the
Death Camps at Auschwitz, Majdonek, and Treblinka; studied
at Yad Veshem in Israel; and presented school programs and
teacher workshops on these topics. He has worked with the
ADL and attended numerous seminars on both Holocaust and Tolerance.
He is a member of the Pennsylvania Holocaust Education Task
Force, and also teaches a course for Alvernia College on Diversity
in the Classroom.
ASK
Specialist: The
Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
Grade Level: 6 and up
Topic: Afghanistan - treatment of women
Date: We get this program from Macomb ISD. Sign up if you're interested and we'll let you know available dates.
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy
of REMC XI
Parvana is a young woman growing up in Afghanistan under the
Taliban regime. Her father has been thrown out of the University
and is earning money by writing and reading letters for people
at the bazaar. When her father becomes ill, Parvana dresses
up like a boy to help her family survive. This is a compelling
story that will help your students understand what happened
to women and girls who were not allowed to leave the house
without being in the company of a man.
Students will interview a woman from Macomb
County who lived with her family in Afghanistan under the
Taliban Regime.
Web Resources
ASK
Specialist: Monkey
Island by Paula Fox
Grade Level: 6-8
Topic: Homeless Awareness Week
Date: TBD 2010; 9:30-10:30
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy
of REMC XI
This award-winning book tells the story of Clay, an eleven-year-old
boy whose father and mother have left him alone in New York
City. Clay becomes homeless and lives in the park with two
other homeless men, Buddy and Calvin, who become his friends
and help him survive the harsh winter. It is a moving story
that will help students understand the plight of the homeless.
Students will interview Pam Gabriel, from
Family Independence Agency, Jim Kehrer, Michigan Works, and
Susan Struwin, Child & Family Services.
Web Resources
ASK
Specialist: The
Wall by Eve Bunting
Grade Level: 5-8
Topic: Memorial Day, the Vietnam Memorial and War
Date: May 18, 2010; 9:30-10:30 EST; 10:45-11:45 EST; 12:30-1:30 EST; 1:45-2:45 EST
Cost: Free for SouthwestNet schools, courtesy
of REMC XI
This simple picture book will introduce your students to the
Vietnam Memorial and will help you teach them about Memorial
Day and Vietnam. Materials about "The Wall" and
the Vietnam War will be included in the kit.
Students will interview a Vietnam Veteran.
Web Resources
Books Currently Not Used
For
one reason or another, these ASK kits are not scheduled for an ASK
program this year. If you would like to borrow one or more of these
kits, please email janine.lim@berrienresa.org.
- Donuthead
- Harry Sue
- Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
- A Sudden Silence
- Gleam and Glow
- Let's Go Home
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