Shared Reading

I really liked this article because I have felt that it can be weird to read to older students.  I still love being read to and from being in the class I have seen that elementary students love it as well.  Modeling reading is so important so students see how to sound out words, speed and inflection.  There are students in every grade that are at different levels and need to see reading modeled.  Those students who have trouble probably have not seen reading modeled too much at home.  I will use this in my classroom and I think it will benefit all the students.

Swashbuckling and Pirates

I thought these articles were great resources on how to teach a pirate unit. They also had ideas that could be transferred over to other units of social studies and literacy. I think one of the most important parts is to pique the students curiosity. With some students they might not get into the subject if you just hand them a book and tell them to read it. By listening to music, dressing up, or even showing a video clip you might reach those kids to aren’t as into school. I really like the idea of reading twin texts with a fiction book and a non-fiction book. This way kids can enjoy the books while comparing and contrasting them. It is important to show students what myths are and how they can be used a lot in fiction. This might even make them more discerning readers. I also like the idea of the dictionary because students are learning words in the book that help comprehension of the material. There are many words especially for pirates that kids today would not understand. Instead of just letting them skip them, why not take a little extra time so they can find out what they mean. I can use these ideas not only with pirates, but other things that my students are studying in class.

Instructional Social Studies Books

This is a subject I hadn’t really thought much about. Textbooks are so commonly used and have been for so long that it seems that they are just accepted as appropriate learning tools. Thinking about it now, every class has a large range of reading levels among its students. If students cant read normal books at a fifth grade level, how can we expect them to read a textbook at a fifth grade level. We have to give them materials that are at their reading level so that they understand the concepts being taught. There are many, many books that can be used to teach students about social studies concepts. I think it would be hard to find materials that were on several different reading levels that taught the same concepts unless a textbook company sold them as a packaged deal. Teachers could have the students read their separate texts and then do a project to teach the other students about it. That way all the students can read separate texts, but still get the knowledge from all the texts. I think this is a great way to get students interested in reading about social studies concepts. Textbooks are dry enough to begin with so if a student can even comprehend it, then they are going to hate reading about social studies. If they get a text that is interesting and on their reading level, they might actually enjoy social studies.

Love that Dog and Brown Angels Reflection

I was surprised that I actually enjoyed “Love that Dog”. I thought the book was a great example of how teachers can get students to love poetry. Jack started off not liking reading or writing poetry. He even said that he thought only girls wrote poetry. The teacher only had to encourage him and show him some examples of good poems to get him to start enjoying poetry. She gave him an outlet for his feelings which he was afraid to put into his writing at first. Once he let go and let his emotions and feelings flow into his words, he wrote great poems. I really wish that a teacher had let me have free reign to write what I wanted. I never learned to like poetry or write it because I was never encouraged to write what I wanted. I had to write in a certain format and sometimes on a subject my teacher picked. I always thought that poems had to rhyme or be written a certain way. I loved how all the teacher did was ask questions, and post Jack’s poetry on the wall and it helped him grow. Even when he thought he had done something bad by copying another poem she showed him she was excited that he was writing and that it is perfectly fine to get inspiration from someone else’s work. She did a wonderful job of helping her students to love poetry. I also enjoyed some of the Walter Dean Meyers poems from “Brown Angels”. I didn’t realize he was the author until I read Love that boy. I liked that we read the books together. My favorite poem was Summer. It had a great beat and I could see the people that Walter Dean Meyers is describing. People being lazy, sweating and just enjoying themselves. Reading Love that Boy was a lot more important to me after reading Love that Dog. It meant more to me because I first saw it through Jack’s eyes. I want to try and use what I have learned in these books with my students. I want my students to like poetry even if I don’t always.

Notebook Know How #2

I thought the chapter about launching the notebook was very helpful. I myself am not the best writer so teaching others to write will probably be a challenge. I like all the different ways to start a notebook entry. I liked the idea about making lists because it is a great way to just start thinking about a subject. It can be hard to narrow your ideas down right away so by making a list you can determine which subjects are good and which ones aren’t. I also liked how the teacher gave her students a word and then told them to write for 20 minutes about that word. Depending on the word most students wont have a problem writing about it. My favorite part about the chapter was how she said not to expect your students to be reflective all the time. They should focus on just writing to begin with. I can tell that this book will give a lot of good ideas for helping students write.

HOT Blogging

I thought this was a great article, I had never really thought about creating a class blog before. I never used the web to communicate with classmates before college so it didn’t even cross my mind to use it with elementary students. After reading the article I think it would be a good way for students to share their opinions about books they are reading in class or thoughts about other subjects. It would be very useful because some students feel embarrassed to speak in front of the class, so this would be a way for them to share their opinion in a non-verbal way. I also liked how the article talked about how Stephanie allowed her students to have their own pages and to post about things or subjects unrelated to school. Having a page where students can showcase their work is a fantastic idea. It gives students a place to shine when there might not be any other place they can. It might also allow some of the more reserved students to break out of their shell and post something special that they have created or accomplished. It seems like it helps the class to connect because students can share their interests and would probably be more willing to talk or comment about what the other students are doing. As a teacher it can be very difficult to integrate different subjects, but this is a perfect way to integrate Language Arts and Technology. Instead of just reading a book and talking about it in class students can look up more information about the book. They can delve deeper into why the author wrote it and what the author is trying to say. They can also benefit from their classmates posts and comments. I think as long as the students use the blog responsibly that it would be a great way for a class to discuss a book.

Notebook Know-How 8/31/09

So far I think the book is easy to read and I like the examples that Aimee Buckner puts into her writing. It gives a connection to teachers when they are trying to get their students to write. I like that she said that she made some mistakes like giving students prompts instead of just letting them find their own subject to write about. It may take some students a little while, but they will find something to write about. I like that concept because a subject that a teacher may find interesting is not interesting to a student. They will not want to write about it and start to dislike writing as a result.

The purpose of a writers notebook is to get students writing everyday and not just writing as answers to questions. Students need to be writing even if it means letting them just get out memories of experiences. Aimee Buckner says that a writers notebook maximizes the lessons of writing that she teaches her class everyday. It also helps prepare student for writing examinations they will have in the future instead of only giving them certain prompts to write about.

My goals as a teacher for writing is to actually follow through with having my students write in it everyday even if just for ten or fifteen minutes. I think it is important because it helps every student no matter their writing ability. I think to begin with I would let the students write about whatever they felt like whether it is a feeling, thought or memory. That way they will become used to the notebook. I would then maybe sneak in a starting off point for them to write about every once in a while. I would have them date each page so they could go back to a certain entry and it would be organized by date. I wouldn’t want to limit students on how much they should write, but I still haven’t figured out a way to do that.

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