Mrs. Kirkpatrick's Bookshelf

Telgemeier, Raina. (2010). Smile. NY: Graphix. Smile is a heartwarming autobiographical story about a young girl's experience balancing drama and dental work. Raina tells her story in graphic novel format. After a girl scout's meeting, Raina's friends challenge her to a race as they drop her off. As she is racing them to her front door she trips and falls. Her front teeth get pushed up into her gums, causing extreme pain and a trip to the emergency dentist. Her dentist puts a sort of "cast" on her teeth, sparking many rumors at school and making Raina self-conscious. Her friends are less than supportive, teasing her about her teeth and other things- like how she wears her hair in pigtails. Her dental drama continues, with painful root canals, braces to correct a cross bite, and headgear at night. She makes several excruciating trips over the next couple of years while the dentists do their best to get her teeth back to normal. As middle school continues, she dev...

Chapter 11: Nonfiction Nonfiction is an umbrella term. Nonfiction encompasses narrative and expository texts, and biographies, memoirs, and autobiographies. There are five ways to evaluate nonfiction: 1. Author Qualifications Check the author's website for background information. What makes them qualified to write this book? What kind of books have they written in the past? Some authors are considered experts in one field, while others write on a variety of topics. Check the author's notes for where and how they completed their research, who they consulted, etc. Check the acknowledgement section- who did they turn to to help them research this topic? 2. Accurate Facts Don't rely on reviews- often they are left by other readers who are not experts on the topic Have kids help with the checking of accuracy: Divide students into groups, give them a couple of books on a topic. Let them cross reference the books for facts mentioned in both books, in one and not the...