Shared Readings: Modeling Comprehension, Vocabulary, Text Structures, and Text Features for Older Readers

I liked this article, I think that most teachers know that they need to be a proper model for students, at times I don’t think that all teachers realize how to do this proper modeling for certain subjects in their classroom.  I think that this article would be beneficial for those times where teachers feel that they are having trouble modeling the proper technique. I love how the article showed that the teachers didn’t just give the student the answer, they told them how to find answers using their context clues, word parts, and resources. Students have come to think that if they ask questions the teacher will just give them answer and this really hurts the student because if they are only given the answer every time they ask for it they will never build up the courage and skill to find an answer on their own.

iPoem Powerpoint

This powerpoint was very interesting. I especially love how it shows the before and after sections of students work. This in itself shows the importance of building and understanding vocabulary. The powerpoint talks about using I poems to do this. The students will do research on certain topics; Blackbeard, Pirates, deserts, countries, etc. and will gather information about the assigned topic.  Once they have become experts on their topic they will use this knowledge that they built and create an I poem. I poems are beneficial because it takes students and people out of their comfort zone and allows that student to take a risk. The student puts themselves in the topic, they become that topic! The research combined with an I poem will be lasting experience, and this is something that will help the students retain the information needed to do well in class and in future situations.

Internet Workshop and Blog Publishing: Meeting Student (and Teacher) Learning Needs to Achieve Best Practice in the 21st Century Social Studies Classroom

I found this article to be very helpful and insightful. I love using technology and can see myself using different forms of technology in my classroom. The effective integration tips on page 3 are very useful Technology enables learning that a) is extended beyond that achieved without technology, b) is focused on social studies content and skills and not the technology, c) clarifies relationships among science, technology, and society, d) enhances the skills, knowledge, and values of good citizenship. I think that this is important because growing up there have been so many times that these integrations did not go so smoothly. Just like (b) states the assignment or the assessment should not be focused on the technology portion. I used to think that as far as technology goes the only technology that would be used in the classroom would be powerpoint, word, or excel. I don’t think I ever thought of classroom websites or classroom blogs, but amazingly enough now I cannot see my classroom without a website or blog. I think with a website or blog you are breaking down communication barriers and really giving people/parents a greater opportunity to be involved in their children’s school career.

Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas: Classroom Activities for a Unit on Pirates

This article and the handouts were very helpful. The idea of having a double-entry diary for the student to use and do was great! I love how through out this article the teacher is a model. If there is no good model present then ideas like the double-entry diary will not happen properly. The fact that what the student is learning and what they feel about what is going on is present on one sheet of paper will be beneficial to the teacher, parent, and student.  I think it is beneficial for assessment on the teachers behalf, and for the parents to see what their child is thinking. Seeing what the student is thinking is a way to break the ice and get them interested in what it is you want them to be interested in. If a teacher shows signs of not caring about what the student likes or dislikes the teacher will loose that student. Either the student will not pay attention and/or they will become disruptive. To me the biggest piece of information that I got out of this article is the teacher needs to be a good if not great model!!

Pirates in Historical Fiction and Nonfiction: A Twin Text Unit of Study

While reading this article I found it useful the books that you can link to Social Studies. I also liked the way the KWL was introduced. I think having the students to come into the classroom and as they walk around fill out the KWL sheet would be very productive and useful.  It is also a way to work on observational skills! I believe that with these observations and the fact that the students will be creating their own dictionary in the back of their notebook this is a great way to keep students on task and a great way to assess students. The dictionary is a great idea to help those students who need visual understandings, and a great idea to help those students who need that extra helping hand when stuck on understanding or knowing a word (that is pertaining to the subject/theme that is presented) The paragraph on page 16: Pairing fiction and nonfiction is an effective method of enhancing students’ reading comprehension, boosting students’ interest and engagement, and expanding their knowledge and imagination. As students read both narrative and expository texts, they become aware of how similar topics or themes are presented through different genres. I like this paragraph because I do feel that some teachers don’t quite grasp that you do have to have different genres in the classroom, that the library in the classroom should not only have nonfiction or fiction there should be a combination of both/all genres.

Integrating Instructional-Level Social Studies Trade Books for Struggling Readers in Upper Elementary Grades

I have seen and been a part of the topic this article covers. I have always loved to read and still love to read, however I was one of these students that was/is not a very fast reader. I don’t remember if I was ever considered to be low level reader but I do remember feeling uncomfortable when everyone else was finished reading and the teacher was only waiting on a handful of us to finish. This feeling really does separate one from the rest of the class and to add on top of that reading aloud is just torture. I regretfully have been in classrooms where the grade-level texts is all that is read and it really does do a disservice to the students who are not on grade level. Not only does it turn these students away from reading I think it turns them away from learning in general. I mean who wants to learn something that is “hard!” As a pre-service teacher I too agree that it is a challenge to find great books to use in the classroom that are interesting and useful toward the topic. I really appreciate the list that was included with this article it will come in very handy.  I found the criteria for a good book helpful and insightful too. A good book: expands awareness, provides an enjoyable read that doesn’t overly teach or moralize, tells the truth, embodies quality, have integrity, and shows originality. (p.6)

Why Jenni? Jennifer?

My actual name is Jennifer, but I go by Jenni for short. My mom named me after her favorite movie character Jennifer Hart who was played by Stefanie Powers. She played Jennifer Hart on “Hart to Hart” a TV show from the 80s. My mom just started calling me Jenny for short. When I was in the 7th grade writing my name on my paper I couldn’t understand why if Jenny is suppose to be short for Jennifer why we have to use a “y” so after discussing this with my mom I changed my nickname to be spelled with an “i”. According to Behind the Name Jennifer is from a Cornish form of the Welsh name Gwenhwfar. The name has only been common outside of Cornwall since the beginning of the 20th century, after it was featured in George Bernard Shaw’s play “The Doctor’s Dilemma” (1906). At the clevelandsenoirs.com website, Jennifer is ranked number 5 (for girls) on the most popular baby names in the 2oth century in the United States.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

These are results for my nickname Jenni with my last name.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

These numbers are for when I looked up my first and last name.

According to HowManyOfMe.com there are 1,437,422 people in the US with the first name “Jennifer” and 6,169 people in the US with the first name “Jenni”.

This picture was taken at the hospital right before we took her home. April 6, 2007

April 6, 2007. Getting ready to go home. Proud Daddy!!

While doing this section of the blog I realized the importance of picking out a name and it reminds me of the moment my husband and I realized what we were going to name our daughter. After thinking since the beginning that I was going to have a boy (my husband thought a girl) finding out I was having a girl was quiet a shock. I mean I had numerous of boy names picked out and no girl names. Despite my family telling me I should name her “Hermione” I knew we had to come up with something. I wanted her name to be unique, I wanted it to be special. When we found out we were having a girl I knew right then that her middle name would be the same as my sister-in-laws (who had passed away a year after my husband I were married). The first name, however, was not easy. One day while discussing our trouble coming up with a name to my Mamaw it hit me; Skye+Tyler=Skyler. I loved the name Skye and my husband was fond of the name Tyler, so it became an even compromise. When I saw my baby girl for the first time I knew we had picked the perfect name for her!! While doing this assignment I was interested in knowing how many Skylers there are in the US and according to How Many of Me there are 4 with her same first and last name and there are 1,542 people with Skyler as their first name.

Love That Dog/All the Small Poems/Brown Angels

I guess I should start by saying that although I did enjoy reading these three poetry books, I am not a fan of free verse. I like how the book “Love That Dog” was laid out. I felt, while reading this book, that it was more in the form of a journal. I did like how you can see the progression of the student through out the book and how you can see the communication between the teacher and the student. I think that this added to the book, although you never physically see what the teacher is telling Jack you get the picture of what it is. I had trouble reading the layout some, I guess because I prefer rhyming poetry when reading and writing. I do think that this book is a good example for a classroom, not only to discuss free verse but to also be used as an introduction to a Writer’s Notebook or journal.

May 28

The bulletin board
looks like it’s
blooming words
with everybody’s poems
up there
on all those
colored sheets of paper
yellow blue pink red green.

And the bookcase
looks like it’s
sprouting books
all of them by
Mr. Walter Dean Myers
lined up
looking back at us
waiting for
Mr. Walter Dean Myers
himself
to come
to our school
right into our classroom

Wow!!
“page 78-79”

Click on image to visit Sharon Creech's website

The next book that I read was “All the Small Poems and Fourteen More”.  Again…I am not a fan of free verse. Some of the poems in this book did have some rhyming but a majority of them did not. I do like that each of her poems were of certain objects and most of the objects are ones that can be found around everyone’s house.  When I have wrote poetry in the past I get my inspiration from the people or objects in my life, so I like this concept of the book. The artwork in this book is great! Another thing that I like about this is that there is only one poem per page. (or in some cases per two pages)

slug

The slug
Slides sly
By night,

To nibble
The new
Green shoot,

To riddle
The weak
White root–

Hated
By all
But the moon,

Who smiles
On his scenes
Of crime,

And silvers
His trails
Of Slime.
“pgs. 112-113”

The final book I read was “Brown Angels”. I enjoyed this book probably more than the other two, I think because of the layout (using real photos) and that it didn’t seem so free verse. This book out of the three was the easiest read for me. In the end I enjoyed all three books and each one have there places in a classroom. I especially like how they are all linked together.

Jeannie Had a Giggle

Jeannie had a giggle just beneath her toes
She gave a little wiggle and up her leg it rose

She tried to grab the giggle as it shimmied past her knees
But it slid right past her fingers with a “scuse me if you please”

It slipped around her middle, it made her jump and shout
Jeannie wanted that giggle in, that giggle wanted out!

Jeannie closed her mouth, but then she heard a funny sound
As out that silly giggle flew and jumped down to the ground

Jeannie caught it with her foot just beneath her toes
She gave a little wiggle and up her leg it rose

Click on image to visit Walter Dean Myers website

images found at google.com

Notebook Know How: Chapters 1 and 2

• What are your overall impressions of the book?

My overall impressions are that I enjoyed reading this book. I can really see how this can work in a classroom. I think with the different ways to get the students to write would help to keep the students interested in their notebook. I also liked how she had her students write from the front of the book and the back of the book. I don’t think I had ever really thought of anything like that.

• What is the purpose of a Writer’s Notebook?

I feel the purpose is so that the author of the writers notebook will always have access to their stories, poems, and memories in one place. It also shows students how good it feels to get their ideas out of their heads and onto paper.

• What might be your goals as a teacher of writing?

Some goals I would have as a teacher of writing would be to come up with ways that the students would not come into writing and reading thinking “Ugh not this again.” I have always enjoyed writing and reading and I really feel like these two subjects have helped build who I am today. I hope that at some point in time my students will feel the same way.

• Launching the Notebook?

I really like how the launching of the notebook took place in the Notebook Know How. This was probably one of my favorite parts. In the book a story was introduced but conveniently stopped at the climax of the story. This pause intrigued the students and each student then had their own story. The notebooks were handed out and each student was told that their stories about whatever they wanted them to be about would go into their own personal notebook.

• Organization of the Notebook?

I like the idea of having the students keep their notes at the back of their notebooks. What a great way to have everything you need at your finger tips. Not only do the students have the notes right there where they are writing but they also have the notes that they need in their minds and memories and writing it in their writers notebook will be something they will continue to have and keep with them.

HOT Blogging

I just finished reading the article HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking by Lisa Zawilinski, and I must say I found the article to be very interesting. Zawilinski follows an Elementary School teacher as she introduces blogs to her class. The reason I enjoyed this article is because Zawilinski not only talks about the blog LeClair (the teacher) is using but Zawilinski also goes into detail about how one can go about choosing the right blog for their classroom and how to go about keeping it running.  Before and after reading this article I can really see myself using blogs in my classroom. I think that blogs are a great way for students to build socially and build on their writing/reading skills. Blogs are not only viewed by the teacher but can give an audience to the students that will help them become more creative and more interested in school. I feel that blogging will help some of those children that apprehensive about writing and allow them to see and show their work. Seeing a published work will give these students a sense of pride and will in turn students will want to continue producing work for their blogs.