Thursday, May 21, 2009

Listen to the Wind


Listen to the Wind, The story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea
  • Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth
  • Collages by Susan L. Roth
  • Dial Books for Young Readers

If you have read the book, Three Cups of Tea, you know the story of the extraordinary Greg Mortenson. After losing his way in the Himalayas he found himself in a small village in Pakistan. Upon seeing the outdoor school, he vowed he would help the village and build a school. Listen to the Wind tells the story for children in a picture book illustrated with magnificent collages by Susan L. Roth. Included in the book is a scrapbook of photographs, illustrating the actual process of bringing the school to reality. Because of the theme of the book, it is appropriate for students of any age as an introduction to other cultures and to the power one person can have to make changes in the world.

As a follow up to the book, students can create their own collages, perhaps illustrating a way they have, or could, help someone else. They may wish to raise money for Greg Mortenson's charity which helps build schools, Pennies for Peace. You can find a toolkit, should you want to launch a campaign. It includes a number of videos which can be downloaded and used in the classroom, many of which are useful even if you do not raise money for his project. There are good connections to the Broad Area of Learning: Citizenship and Community Life.

If you have not read Three Cups of Tea, I recommend it. Greg Mortenson is an inspiration for what he does, for his determination and for how he has bridged cultures and brought a message of friendship wherever he goes.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Welcome

As part of my dossier in English Language Arts for LEARN, I thought it would be great to have a space to share our love of and interest in books.

This space has been created to share our love of reading. Each week will feature a different book - for primary grade children, middle school children, young adult readers as well as professional books and books you may enjoy reading just because.... Let's try to make this space interactive. Maya Byers, from Babar books has agreed to make some recommendations of new books. However, there are many books that have been around for a while that deserve to be featured. Make those recommendations.

You can come to learn about books , but you can also share books that have been meaningful to you. We welcome comments - click on comment at the bottom of a post and add. You can comment anonymously, but it would be great if you would leave your name.

Do you feel you have a lot to share? We can have more than one contributor on this blog. Leave a comment on this post to offer your services.