Reflections Collections -- 2/15/11

What a busy few weeks! Some activities listed below will be discussed in this blog post, some in other blog posts. Watch for the links. (Check back in few days for some items that are not yet posted. I will edit this page by adding links when these are posted.)

Alien ©julien tromeur - Fotolia.com
Licensed for use only by Valerie Coskrey

• A committee is working on setting up the newly incorporated RFF, Inc. Mission, goals, bylaws, projects, officers--all must be finalized. Look for an official report on all this activity soon when the Board of Directors authorizes a press release.
• Dave Anderson took part in a couple of book give-aways to young readers. In one, he gave 40 books to a kindergarten class, commenting that it was hard to find this many quality books of speculative fiction for this age group. All in all, he has recently donated 119 books to 3 kindergarten classes. He claimed to have learned that a ratio of just slightly more than 2:1 books per child seems to work best.
• Links to lessons using science fiction are in the first post of the new series "Teaching with Science Fiction." To introduce the series, Andy Love sent links to his educational essays;  Michael Kingsley sent a link to a short paper on Steppenwolf, the Rogue Planet; and Dave Anderson instructs us in what not to ask during a lesson.
• Several conversations at the rff Yahoo! Group, called Talking RFF, produced additional information of interest, including a booklist, opinions on what to call science fiction, how to decide what to recommend to youth, and personal opinions on numerous books. Read about them in the linked individual blog posts.
• A friend sent in a book review on The Grandmother's' Hive, a book suitable for youth written by new member Donna Barr.
• A new series of blog posts called "To Share or Not to Share" continues the search for a rubric began last month.
• David Brin sent an excerpt from his new non-fiction book in a topic called "Skeptical Environmentalist".
• Facebook links were highly informative, as always. Read the FB Reports for 2/3/11 and 2/18/11.
• Review the stats for this blog and the RFF Facebook page.
• Finally, there are additional snippets of historical information contributed by Dave Anderson and by Andy Love and others.

Snippets of History

Dave Describes the Past and Present of RFF

Reading for the Future enters our sixteenth year. RFF, Inc is meeting on line working on bylaws and nonprofit status. RFF, Inc is made up of the old guard and the young turks.

In 1995, Dave Brin, Greg Bear and Gregory Benford were the Killer Bs or young turks who wanted kids to read science fiction. I joined RFF in 1997 when Dave was CONduit's writer guest of honor who asked us what were we doing to get science fiction to the kids. CONduit is Utah's spring sf convention.

RFF will always be a grassroots organization with a common mission. I am giving a Kindergarten 40 pass-it-along books Monday..Friday I gave two Earthsea books to a sixth grader. Not all books are sf. The first word in RFF is reading. So if a kid reads Ender's Game that I passed it along to him -- success. Will he read more sf? Chances are good.

David-Glenn Anderson

Andy Asks for another Hugo Award Category

Andy Love sent a copy of a letter sent to WorldCon a while back. He provided Talking RFF with a copy of the letter during a recent discussion.

Andy Love

Who was Hal Clement, Really?

Some of our members of Talking RFF attended sci fi conventions with Hal Clement, author of numerous SF books suitable for youth; some worked with him on convention projects; some know him personally. Some of these RFFers provided us with this information.

Hal [Clement] used a different name for his teaching life, his writing life and his art life.

Hal was once LGoH, FGoH, & AGoH at the same con using his different names. :-)

Hal's real name was Harry Stubbs.

George Richard was his name as an artist.

One of the organizations with which RFF works closely is the Golden Duck Awards committee of the organization Duckon. Along with the Golden Duck Awards presented annually by Duckon is the annual Hal Clement Award for YA science fiction.

In a message to the RFF member who is also active in Duckon, Dave Anderson offered this snippet of history:

"I presented the Golden Ducks at Conucopia, the 1999 NASFiC on Friday,Aug 27. [http://www.99.nasfic.org] The two real Golden Ducks advocates were at Aussicon Three, Mebourne Australia. Attendance at the presentation included Hal Clement."

Thanks to Dave, Jim, and others.

Stats

Reflections Collections Stats for 2/10/11

Pageviews for last month, January 1011: 160
Pageviews since creation, October, 2010: 889.
Most Popular Post: Wake, Far-Seer and their author Robert J. Sawyer (December 2010)
Second Most Popular Post: Reflections Collections -- 11/7/10 (November 2010)
Third Most Popular Post: Krysia Anderson, A YA herself, Writer and Poet... (November 2010)

Reading For the Future page on Facebook Stats for 2/11/11

214 monthly active users; 20 since last week
325 people like this; 7 since last week
20 wall posts or comments this week; 20 since last week
90 visits this week; 40 since last week

'Til next time~Valerie C.

Teaching with Science Fiction: Physics Lessons and More

Image courtesy of NASA

Andy, Michael, and Dave, three members of the rff Yahoo! Group, which is called Talking RFF, have contributed links to lessons this month.

From Andrew E. Love, Jr.

RFFer Andy Love, a fan of Larry Niven's Ringworld, has posted lessons on the net in several places. His main topics of interest is physics.

On Larry Niven's website, Andy has these 2 lessons posted:

• The Physics in Science Fiction, which is described as "A 'slides and notes' version of a talk, written and presented to the Johns Hopkins University Society of Physics Students by Andrew E. Love Jr, a long-standing subscriber, and frequent contributor, to the Larry Niven mail list."
  
• Teaching Physics with Niven, which is described as "... a 'slides and notes' version of a talk, written by Andrew E. Love Jr, a long-standing subscriber, and frequent contributor, to the Larry Niven mail list, and presented by him as part of the 2007 Balticon science program."
  
• Also look for Lessons by Andy Love on the AboutSF original site or its new Univ. of Kansas site.
  

From Michael Kingsley

RFFer Michael Kingsley told us about "Rogue Planets and 'the Steppenwolf: A Proposal for a habitable planet in interstellar space."

A rogue planet is one that has escaped the gravitational pull of its host star and is moving freely through interstellar space (such as the ones featured in WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE by Philip Wylie & Edwin Balmer). Evidence is mounting that such unattached worlds are common.

Rogue planets are a common theme in science fiction. A recent paper from scientists at the University of Chicago investigates the possibility that a rogue planet could maintain a liquid ocean under layers of thermally-insulating water ice and frozen atmosphere as a result of geothermal heat flux. The German name Steppenwolf comes from the lonesome wolf of the steppes, and the name is applied to this hypothetical planet.

The short 4-page paper is available at http://arxiv.org/pdf/1102.1108v1.

From Dave Anderson

Dave, who is a Trustee for RFF, Inc., suggested that "The science fiction magazines are good for science classes."

Ever wonder which questions are best not to use with books? Dave provided this anecdote:

"Motheread, an adult literacy program developed in a woman's prison where mom reads with kids and involves them in the process, uses Where the Wild Things Are with the first lesson. One facilitator asked a tenth grade alternative high school class of young mother What was the wildest thing you ever did? She no longer asks that question."

More Lesson Resources

In the Resources page of this blog, there are links to sites with lessons, booklists, and more. Look for additional pages with more specific information in the future.

Finally, the rff Yahoo! Group site frequently maintains sets of lessons in its Files. These sets are often associated with current workshops that members of RFF are presenting somewhere. And there is often ideas for lessons on the Reading For the Future page on Facebook and the main Reading for the Future website. (See links in left panel.)

~Valerie

Reflections Collections -- 11/22/10

Topics covered:

• Reading for the Future is Official!
• Reporting on Facebook and the Reflections
• A Hobby for Speculative Fiction Readers
• Historical Snippet
• On the Web: Science Fiction Awards Watch and other Awards Lists

Reading for the Future is Official!

Reading for the Future is now officially incorporated in the state of Utah.

Dave sent the word out this past Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, writing these words to the rff Talking RFF Yahoo! Group as well as the other RFF groups,

"Articles of Incorporation for Reading for the Future (RFF) were accepted by the State of Utah.  We have a post office box and a bank account.  Next step is 501(c)(3)

Thanks for the support, Dave Anderson"

For months the paperwork has been submitted but there was a request to redo parts. That resulted in a few major decisions that required the Board of Directors, Trustees, and a few committees to discuss, agree on, and describe in terms acceptable to Utah. Finally, all is done.

Dave and others have worked diligently to accomplish this incorporation, fulfilling a dream spawned in the early 1990's, furthered in 1999 with the creation of the various rff Yahoo! Groups. (There were regional and working committee groups in addition to the rff group.) Additionally, most of the fees for incorporation were paid by a few members out-of-pocket (or as sponsors or private donations if you prefer those terms).

In a 10/10/10 email to the group, David Glenn Anderson stated that, "RFF started in 1996 at LACon III as a grassroots organization at the
same time as the first Goldenducks [Awards; see website]."

Reporting on Facebook and the Reflections

Facebook activity is reported in the 2 weekly FB Reports: 11/16/10 and 11/21/10.  In the latest FB report are links to 2 sites useful for teaching with science fiction.

According to Facebook Stats, the Reading For the Future page on Facebook has been viewed daily 623 times and boasts 155 active users.

According to the Blogger Stats, The Reflections blog has been viewed 360 plus times to date, with about half of the visits occurring in November. The most popular page to date is the Krysia Anderson page.

A Hobby for Speculative Fiction Readers

I do not take the best photos. Hence I use photo effects to add interest to images. Then I imagine the world in a fictional universe where the image would match reality. This is a hobby easily taught to children who read books on fantasy and science fiction. Take the children on a photo safari to look for images that match the worlds in the books they are reading. Then let them alter the photos in the weirdest ways. Ask the child to relate the picture to a passage in the fictional book he/she is reading.

Historical Snippet

The second email to the rff Talking RFF Yahoo! Group was from physicist and educator, science fiction fan, and author of the Physics in Science Fiction presentation, Andrew E. Love, Jr. He talked about finding the book Yanked and a series called Last on Earth that he suspected would be YA. The series was a story about 25 teens who found themselves alone on Earth. He also reported, in 1999 mind you, an article from the Washington Post that recommended science fiction for youth:

"4) Science fiction. Start with Robert Heinlein juveniles (e.g. The Star Beast), move up to Jules Verne and a classic anthology such as Adventures in Time and Space, then take the jump to light-speed with some of the great swashbuckling classics, such as Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination, William Gibson's Neuromancer, Leigh Brackett's The Sword of Rhiannon, and Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness."

per Andy Love,"Summer reading suggestions from Washington Post
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/04/080l-070499-idx.html (Sunday July 4, 1999 - probably a link that won't last forever"

Andy Love is another person that helped shape the RFF group of volunteers into the active body of worker bees and sci fi fans that they are. He often asked provocative questions that got the group discussing favorite books, value of science fiction, what makes good sci fi good, etc. He frequently added to the list of YA and suitable books. He has been an active sci fi con participant. And he is still asking and adding, and presenting.

On the Web: Science Fiction Awards Watch and other Awards Lists

I have visited several sites on the web lately that offer awards to authors and illustrators of children's books. Of interest to RFF are those that deal with speculative fiction. Hence, I was excited to find this site that lists awards given to science fiction literature: Science Fiction Awards Watch, http://www.sfawardswatch.com.

In the right panel of the site and its pages is a list of the awards currently listed. Information for the award is submitted by people associated with the award; so if your award is not listed, do contact the site.

Books listed for children and YA on the site that are in a book list appear here: http://www.sfawardswatch.com/?page_id=100 in a list I suspect is incomplete.

SFAW has a page devoted to the Golden Duck Awards that was posted in 2007 and modified in 2009. The 3 different awards presented as Golden Duck Awards are not listed separately in the list of awards in the right panel, but only under the Golden Duck name. (Please note that the SFAW has the Eleanor Cameron Award misspelled.)

In RFF, member Linda Stuckey is active with the Golden Duck Awards, DucKon, and Super-Con-Duck-Tivity. The latter two are organization, convention and major fund raiser for the Golden Duck Awards, which include stipends.

Also not mentioned are the two awards/listings given to children's literature by Cynthia Leitich Smith, http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/ and by Cybils, http://www.cybils.com/2010-nominations-fantasyscience-fiction.html.

C.L. Smith and her husband write fantasy novels. Her husband writes specifically for children. Cynthia also critiques novels for children, especially those of the speculative genre, and posts these critiques on her blog.

Cybils Awards are given annually to children's fiction authors as judged by bloggers who volunteer to judge, including youth. This site, too, posts critiques of children's books, especially YA fiction. Cybils is the acronym for Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards.

In researching this post, I came across 2 other awards sites. I promptly posted a link to each on the Reading For the Future page on Facebook. Visit them from there or check out next week's FB Report for the links. Bye for now.