I am extremely excited about this project even though it didn't take the direction I originally intended. I still got to work with a couple of Neil Gaiman's books, though found little information that dealt with the one I was reading. I felt like I found a LOT of good information for Odd and the Frost Giants, but the other areas seemed a bit weak by the time I was finished. I ended up omitting Coraline from my final project because I just didn't have enough to write about.
I also think I tried to stretch myself too thin. I originally thought focusing purely on the mythology would narrow my search enough, but I since wanted to know about as many of Gaiman's books as I could, that resulted in my research for each being a bit weak. I wish I had focused on Odd in the first place and not worried about the other books, and if I were to repeat this project, I wouldn't have such a broad focus.
I also want to expand this project, and hope to eventually include the information related to American Gods and maybe some of the other books I've enjoyed, such as Sandman and Stardust.
I had a much wider variety of resources than children in my library would have. I was able to freely search the internet, and had easy access to the public library, but they are often restricted to the materials readily available in the school media center. In fact, some of the information on the Sleer ended up being on a blog that definitely would not pass the school's filter requirements. Also, I was easily able to create a website on a site builder, but students are generally only able to use the school web space.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Weaving and Wrapping...and a bit of Waving, too, I suppose.
Weaving
I've collected a lot of information about the couple of books I've chosen to focus on for the scope of this project. The majority of the information has been for Odd and the Frost Giants, though, and it has become the centerpiece.
I have a pile of books with bookmarks and post-it notes sticking out here and there, so that I can keep track of where important information is. As I was going along, I began to wish I had some note cards to go back and keep track of my information like we did in high school (however, that ended up needing a TON of cards, and I wasn't ready to sort through all those). For websites, I bookmarked relevant pages with Delicious, and highlighted key lines that I could use, and that would be useful for other people looking at my information.
My KEY organization has been keeping the stories separated so that I'm not sending people to information about the Norse when they need to read about a cemetery.
I've also posted some of my most exciting breakthroughs here, and as I think about it, I believe I managed to combine Wiggling and Weaving together. Both deal with working through the information gathered. In The Blue Book, Wiggling is described as looking for ideas in your gathered information and Weaving focuses on organizing those ideas (54).
Wrapping
How can this be used? My best thought is to use this information as a reader's aide, which is why I'm creating the website as a collection of the stories I've found. It will convey my ideas because it will consist of the summaries I write and the stories I've found most relevant to the books themselves. It will provide my interpretation of the myths and Gaiman's work, but also provide ways for readers to explore their own ideas and find even more information about the myths.
Waving
I jumped back and forth with how to create my final product to share with the world. At one point I considered sticking to the blog because I could tag the entries with the key points. This would provide a way for users to see the connections between the myths and stories, but I wouldn't be able to organize things quite the way I wanted to. I finally chose to use Weebly because it let me set up pages the way I wanted, and also gave me ways to include images and other details I feel are important to understanding the novels.
I do think this information will be useful to others. When we read Odd and the Frost Giants for one of my other classes, a lot of questions arose because of the references Gaiman made to the Norse myths without providing any other information. I finally looked up and summarized one of the most vague references he made, but there are still many others that could have used clarification or additional details.
I have posted the link in another entry, however, here it is again, though content is still being added and organized.
Cited:
Callison, Daniel, and Leslie Preddy. The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction, and Literacy. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006. Print.
I've collected a lot of information about the couple of books I've chosen to focus on for the scope of this project. The majority of the information has been for Odd and the Frost Giants, though, and it has become the centerpiece.
I have a pile of books with bookmarks and post-it notes sticking out here and there, so that I can keep track of where important information is. As I was going along, I began to wish I had some note cards to go back and keep track of my information like we did in high school (however, that ended up needing a TON of cards, and I wasn't ready to sort through all those). For websites, I bookmarked relevant pages with Delicious, and highlighted key lines that I could use, and that would be useful for other people looking at my information.
My KEY organization has been keeping the stories separated so that I'm not sending people to information about the Norse when they need to read about a cemetery.
I've also posted some of my most exciting breakthroughs here, and as I think about it, I believe I managed to combine Wiggling and Weaving together. Both deal with working through the information gathered. In The Blue Book, Wiggling is described as looking for ideas in your gathered information and Weaving focuses on organizing those ideas (54).
Wrapping
How can this be used? My best thought is to use this information as a reader's aide, which is why I'm creating the website as a collection of the stories I've found. It will convey my ideas because it will consist of the summaries I write and the stories I've found most relevant to the books themselves. It will provide my interpretation of the myths and Gaiman's work, but also provide ways for readers to explore their own ideas and find even more information about the myths.
Waving
I jumped back and forth with how to create my final product to share with the world. At one point I considered sticking to the blog because I could tag the entries with the key points. This would provide a way for users to see the connections between the myths and stories, but I wouldn't be able to organize things quite the way I wanted to. I finally chose to use Weebly because it let me set up pages the way I wanted, and also gave me ways to include images and other details I feel are important to understanding the novels.
I do think this information will be useful to others. When we read Odd and the Frost Giants for one of my other classes, a lot of questions arose because of the references Gaiman made to the Norse myths without providing any other information. I finally looked up and summarized one of the most vague references he made, but there are still many others that could have used clarification or additional details.
I have posted the link in another entry, however, here it is again, though content is still being added and organized.
Cited:
Callison, Daniel, and Leslie Preddy. The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction, and Literacy. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006. Print.
Technology and Standards
Technology has been woven into this project, since a lot of my research has been web-based, and so is my final product. Here is a summary of what I am using:
The fourth grade English and Language Arts standards are relevant because many of the books I have used are (approximately) at the typical fourth grade reading level, so I will focus on these, even though some other grade-level standards are also relevant. Standard 3, Reading: Literary Response and Analysis states that "at Grade 4, students read a wide variety of fiction, such as classic and contemporary literature, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology, poetry, songs, plays, and other genres." The books I have chosen are both fantasy and mythology, as well as possibly science fiction. Here are some specific standards:
4.3.1: Describe the differences of various imaginative forms of literature, including fantasies, fables, myths, legends, and other tales. (Example: After reading some of the Greek or Norse myths found in such books as Book of Greek Myths or Book of Norse Myths, both by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire, discuss how myths were sometimes used to explain physical phenomena like movement of the sun across the sky or the sound of thunder.)
4.4.4: Use logical organizational structures for providing information in writing, such as chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, and posing and answering a question.
Cited:
"Print Library - Indiana Standards & Resources." Indiana Standards & Resources. Indiana Department of Education. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://dc.doe.in.gov/Standards/AcademicStandards/PrintLibrary/english.shtml>.
- I created a concept map on bubbl.us, which I posted in one of my earlier blog entries.
- I am using social bookmarks to collect and tag useful sites for my project, ones that may prove to be helpful should others want to read more about the stories I am sharing.
- Several of my bookmarked sites have been highlighted with Awesome Highlighter, such as this one, so that I can point out what I felt to be important information.
- My final product is a webpage, created on Weebly.
The fourth grade English and Language Arts standards are relevant because many of the books I have used are (approximately) at the typical fourth grade reading level, so I will focus on these, even though some other grade-level standards are also relevant. Standard 3, Reading: Literary Response and Analysis states that "at Grade 4, students read a wide variety of fiction, such as classic and contemporary literature, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology, poetry, songs, plays, and other genres." The books I have chosen are both fantasy and mythology, as well as possibly science fiction. Here are some specific standards:
4.3.1: Describe the differences of various imaginative forms of literature, including fantasies, fables, myths, legends, and other tales. (Example: After reading some of the Greek or Norse myths found in such books as Book of Greek Myths or Book of Norse Myths, both by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire, discuss how myths were sometimes used to explain physical phenomena like movement of the sun across the sky or the sound of thunder.)
- I have explored the classic myths and compared them with modern-day interpretations of the stories, finding both similarities and differences between the versions.
- I have used the classic myths to help explain how or why characters acted in the ways they did.
- By looking up the myths behind the stories, I gained knowledge about the situation and setting of the story, which help me understand the character's actions.
- Researching the Norse myths helped me understand the attitudes of the gods in Odd and the Frost Giants; for example Loki as a trickster or mischievous character.
4.4.4: Use logical organizational structures for providing information in writing, such as chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, and posing and answering a question.
- My information was organized according to the book it was about, and then I used headers to organize that information by the mythological trait I was discussing.
- I organized information so that it built upon itself, creating a background before adding additional information.
- I used collections of Norse mythology to help identify the stories referenced in Odd, often using the table of contents or index to locate the information I needed.
- I had a variety of books, listed in my references, as well as multiple websites linked on my Delicious account, that helped me find information to write my descriptions of the mythological traits.
- My final product was a webpage, which shows I used keyboarding skills and am familiar with computer usage.
Cited:
"Print Library - Indiana Standards & Resources." Indiana Standards & Resources. Indiana Department of Education. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://dc.doe.in.gov/Standards/AcademicStandards/PrintLibrary/english.shtml>.
Disappointment
I really wanted to include the picture book The Wolves in the Walls, but haven't found any basis in myth or legend, other than the idea of wolves being evil characters like in Little Red Riding Hood or The Three Little Pigs. As far as the origins of the story, Neil Gaiman has said (you'll have to click the tab that says Q&A with Neil, I tried to use Awesome Highlighter, but it wouldn't let me switch tabs) that the idea for the story came from the dreams his daughter, Maddy, had when she was little.
I have found it recommended for teaching philosophy for kids, but the story itself seems to be largely from the very unique mind and imagination of Gaiman, with little mythological influence.
I suppose the wolves have come out of the walls of this post, and it's all over for this search path.
I also seem to be having trouble finding information on the Sleer in The Graveyard Book. Most of the references I find are in relation to Gaiman's novel, however, there are drawings and game-related pages that make me think they are a mythical creature. At this point, I may just have to leave this one open-ended, and hope that I am able to come back to it and find more information. I updated my bookmarks with some of the references I found.
I have found it recommended for teaching philosophy for kids, but the story itself seems to be largely from the very unique mind and imagination of Gaiman, with little mythological influence.
I suppose the wolves have come out of the walls of this post, and it's all over for this search path.
I also seem to be having trouble finding information on the Sleer in The Graveyard Book. Most of the references I find are in relation to Gaiman's novel, however, there are drawings and game-related pages that make me think they are a mythical creature. At this point, I may just have to leave this one open-ended, and hope that I am able to come back to it and find more information. I updated my bookmarks with some of the references I found.
Wiggling Through the Origins of Odd?
I'm excited. I've found a story, in a couple of different books, that sounds amazingly like Odd and the Frost Giants. The book's description says that it was inspired by traditional Norse mythology, and I believe this was the main story it was based on.
In all three versions I've found, Thor wakes to find his hammer, Mjolnir stolen. Loki borrows Freya's falcon skin and discovers that Thrym, King of the Frost Giants has stolen it and is demanding Freya as his bride before he will return it.
This is where it begins to get quite different from Odd. Since they would not give Freya to the Frost Giants, Loki dresses Thor up in a wedding dress and veil and himself as the bridesmaid. Thrym falls for the ruse, and Mjolnir is dropped into his lap, and he promptly kicks the Frost Giants' rear ends.
Which, according to Gaiman, is "how every tale of the Gods and the Frost Giants ends - with Thor killing Giants."
In all three versions I've found, Thor wakes to find his hammer, Mjolnir stolen. Loki borrows Freya's falcon skin and discovers that Thrym, King of the Frost Giants has stolen it and is demanding Freya as his bride before he will return it.
This is where it begins to get quite different from Odd. Since they would not give Freya to the Frost Giants, Loki dresses Thor up in a wedding dress and veil and himself as the bridesmaid. Thrym falls for the ruse, and Mjolnir is dropped into his lap, and he promptly kicks the Frost Giants' rear ends.
Which, according to Gaiman, is "how every tale of the Gods and the Frost Giants ends - with Thor killing Giants."
Saturday, September 24, 2011
And here we go.
I have lost a massive amount of time to illness (I spent most of last weekend asleep, and this week has been largely job 1, nap, job 2, dinner, bed), but now that I am mostly functioning again, it's time to get cracking. I've done a little wandering on the web, but that has mostly been bookmarking sites that will be good resources.
I am now focusing on Gaiman's books for younger readers for two reasons: it will apply to my job interest and I am not yet done with American Gods (no more spoilers, please!). I want to create a resource for students to use to understand the mythic characters in the books, and maybe the setting of the book itself. This is flexible, too, so as I finish more of his works, I can add onto it, expanding in to the adult novels as well.
Callison mentions Yucht's "FLIP IT!" process for searching (Blue Book, 39) for resources finding.With it in mind,
Focus
Keywords.
Odd and the Frost Giants
Odin, Odin's eye, Loki, Thor, Frost Giants, Norse mythology, Norse culture
Coraline
cemeteries, ghosts, Indigo Man, ghouls, Sleer, protection of graveyards, snakestone?
Links
Here are a few so far, more to be added.
http://splinterend.tumblr.com/post/1062372391/the-mythology-of-neil-gaimans-coraline
http://herenistarionnets.blogspot.com/2010/12/call-for-papers-neil-gaiman-collection.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb9gORvONT4&feature=player_embedded
Input
Information needed includes background stories and reasons behind some of the ideas mentioned in the books. In the case of The Graveyard Book, it would be interesting if there were artifacts!
Properties
For the Norse mythology, I am able to find various print resources, however many are children's nonfiction. For some of the others, I am relying on web resources, especially to find out if there is significance behind the phrase "wolves in the wall."
And, coming back to this tab after a day at the library and playing with the website I would like to put together, I find that I hit save instead of publish. Ooops.
Cited:
Callison, Daniel, and Leslie Preddy. The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction, and Literacy. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006. Print.
I am now focusing on Gaiman's books for younger readers for two reasons: it will apply to my job interest and I am not yet done with American Gods (no more spoilers, please!). I want to create a resource for students to use to understand the mythic characters in the books, and maybe the setting of the book itself. This is flexible, too, so as I finish more of his works, I can add onto it, expanding in to the adult novels as well.
Callison mentions Yucht's "FLIP IT!" process for searching (Blue Book, 39) for resources finding.With it in mind,
Focus
Keywords.
Odd and the Frost Giants
Odin, Odin's eye, Loki, Thor, Frost Giants, Norse mythology, Norse culture
Coraline
Spiders, fairies, alternate realities
The Wolves in the Walls"wolves in the walls"
The Graveyard Bookcemeteries, ghosts, Indigo Man, ghouls, Sleer, protection of graveyards, snakestone?
Links
Here are a few so far, more to be added.
http://splinterend.tumblr.com/post/1062372391/the-mythology-of-neil-gaimans-coraline
http://herenistarionnets.blogspot.com/2010/12/call-for-papers-neil-gaiman-collection.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb9gORvONT4&feature=player_embedded
Input
Information needed includes background stories and reasons behind some of the ideas mentioned in the books. In the case of The Graveyard Book, it would be interesting if there were artifacts!
Properties
For the Norse mythology, I am able to find various print resources, however many are children's nonfiction. For some of the others, I am relying on web resources, especially to find out if there is significance behind the phrase "wolves in the wall."
And, coming back to this tab after a day at the library and playing with the website I would like to put together, I find that I hit save instead of publish. Ooops.
Cited:
Callison, Daniel, and Leslie Preddy. The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction, and Literacy. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006. Print.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Exploring the Myths
The second step of ISearch, which seems to match up with our third W, Webbing, has led me to wandering through a few searches related to Neil Gaiman's works.
Of course, I began by laying out which information I wanted to look for by identifying key names and ideas from the books with which I'm most familiar. This resulted in this expanded map on bubbl.us. I have so much I want to look into, and I need to head to the library on Saturday to find as many of the Sandman graphic novels as I can, because the idea of following characters through different cultures is fascinating.
I've discovered, however, that I either need to hurry up and finish American Gods or be extremely careful in how I search. I was looking up Chernobog (who is, apparently, a Slavic deity) in relation to the novel, and accidentally discovered the identity of Mr. Wednesday. I knew he was going to end up being a major deity, but learning the solution outside of the story has spoiled a bit of the fun.
As far as the age level of my project, I placed it into the younger group because of my career focus, however I'm discovering that my project will probably be only partially geared towards that group, with novels like Coraline and Odd and the Frost Giants. Not sure how to proceed...
Cited:
"Virtual Information Inquiry: I-SEARCH." Virtual Information Inquiry: Student Information Scientists and Instructional Specialists in the Learning Laboratory. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. <http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/isearch.htm>.
Lamb, Annette. "Virtual Information Inquiry: 8Ws." Virtual Information Inquiry: Student Information Scientists and Instructional Specialists in the Learning Laboratory. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. <http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/webbing.htm>.
Of course, I began by laying out which information I wanted to look for by identifying key names and ideas from the books with which I'm most familiar. This resulted in this expanded map on bubbl.us. I have so much I want to look into, and I need to head to the library on Saturday to find as many of the Sandman graphic novels as I can, because the idea of following characters through different cultures is fascinating.
I've discovered, however, that I either need to hurry up and finish American Gods or be extremely careful in how I search. I was looking up Chernobog (who is, apparently, a Slavic deity) in relation to the novel, and accidentally discovered the identity of Mr. Wednesday. I knew he was going to end up being a major deity, but learning the solution outside of the story has spoiled a bit of the fun.
As far as the age level of my project, I placed it into the younger group because of my career focus, however I'm discovering that my project will probably be only partially geared towards that group, with novels like Coraline and Odd and the Frost Giants. Not sure how to proceed...
Cited:
"Virtual Information Inquiry: I-SEARCH." Virtual Information Inquiry: Student Information Scientists and Instructional Specialists in the Learning Laboratory. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. <http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/isearch.htm>.
Lamb, Annette. "Virtual Information Inquiry: 8Ws." Virtual Information Inquiry: Student Information Scientists and Instructional Specialists in the Learning Laboratory. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. <http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/webbing.htm>.
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