3321 Chap 5 and 14

In reading these chapters I found that having them next to each other in the text book would have been a better idea than having them so far apart. these chapters have helped solidify the ideas stressed in class as well as in text. I think we all benefited from reading these chapters.

3321 M&W 2nd set of presentations

I enjoyed all presentations thus far. I found the Snow White slide show very interesting. I wouldn't mind having the slide show as my screen saver. Overall the presentations are what I expected them to be. Very insightful and attention grabbing. thanks for all the great ideas.

3321 M&W

I've enjoyed my time learning from Anita Pickett. She has opened my eyes to a whole world of children's literary authors. I hoped everyone has been influence by her teachings as I have. Peace out.

3344 Descriptive

POEM


I have two,
But wave only one to say hello.
There are five digits upon each one,
Four that point up,
But one that points to my side.
Usually free of debris,
But when not, I scrub them clean.
Germs are not what I regularly carry,
The times that I do,
I find down right scary.
Washed hands should not cause worry.
Wash your hands boys and girls.

3321 M&W 1st two Presentations

The first presentation on Monday on "Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky" was very creative and entertaining. I enjoyed it immensely and agree with Mrs. Pickett when she said she wanted more. I did too. The story was cool and the delivery even better. Hats off the group one. They set a high bar.
Group 2's presentation was very informative and their use of music and power point slides was way cool and believe when I say I'm probably going to steal some of their ideas.
I am looking forward to seeing more presentations.


Author Profile suggestions

Kevin Henkes

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse

3344 Expository Draft

This my expository piece. Keep in mind that I will add pictures to each of the steps.
HOW TO WASH YOUR HANDS

1. Turn on water to warm and wet hands under flow.
2. Next you lather hand soap well on both sides of hands.
3. Once hands are lathered scrub each finger individually on front, back, and in between.
4. Repeat step 3 with other hand.
5. After hands are properly washed then rinse well.
6. Check for cleanliness. If hands do not appear clean repeat from step 2.
7. Next rinse thoroughly.
8. Finally dry hands with paper towel and dispose of used towel in trash.
9. Now you have clean hands.

3321 M&W Chapter 8 Fiction Family

In reading chapter 8 I never realized how many forms of fictional writing there really are: Contemporary Realistic, Historical, Fantasy, and Science Fiction. I guess I would day that Science fiction is my favorite of the bunch. I've always enjoyed reading sci-fi because it brings to mind the possibility of what could be in store for us in the future. In this sense I can agree with the Madeline L'Engle when she said "fiction is a vehicle of truth". In the realm of science fiction an idea for the future must be formed before it can be created, tangibly. For a great read try Aldous Huxley's "A Brave New World".

Author Profiles Suggestions

Patricia Polacco

Chicken Sunday

3344 M&W What is Narrative?

A narrative is a type of writing that that tells a story consisting of characters, setting, and plenty of details to support the stories plot. A narrative should have a beginning, middle and an end or a conclusion. A childrens book like Jack and the Beanstalk is a narrative. The story of Jack is being told from 3rd persons perspective, meaning that it is being told by someone not in the story. The story goes on to tell of Jacks family being poor and needing food or money for food. A narrative is a good way to tell a story that can teach a lesson or life experience.

3321 M&W Pins and Needles

Although I my self enjoyed the grotesqueries of the Pins and Needle version of Little Red Riding Hood, I would not read or share this with any of my younger students. I was thinking of reading it to my sons (10,9,6) but decided not to after reading how grandmother was eaten by the wolf. No lie, I thought it was cool, but not for kids. To each thier own.

Author Profiles Suggestions

Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillars

3321 M&W Chapter 7

I rather enjoyed chapter 7 on picture books and the lecture that accompanied it. I believe that using picture books to convey a message or idea in illustration form even though it is not expressed in the text is an ingenius strategy. It also helps the students exercise thier inference muscles.


Author Profile Suggestions

Nancy Carlson

Start Saving, Henry!

3344 MGP Narrative

Johnny is fun loving little boy in the first grade. He attends Neighborhood Elementary School in Your Independent School District. Johnny is of average intellect for his age group. He enjoys playing group games whether sports or board games.
He loves to share his toys and school supplies with his friends. He often offers a sip of his drink or bite of his food to his friends and siblings during mealtimes. He is well liked by his friends and teachers. Johnny’s sharing nature is refreshing to see in a child so young. One can’t help to wonder what else he may be sharing with his friends and siblings.
This week Johnny was absent from school twice because of the flu. Johnny had a fever of 102.3 degrees, his body ached, he was vomiting and he felt weak. He went to the doctor where upon diagnosis of the flu he was given medication and also gave him some reading materials (pamphlets) on how to minimize his chances of coming in to contact with germs and viruses that may make him sick. The pamphlets gave all sorts of good advice about how to avoid germs, what foods are healthy, and how important getting exercise and rest is to staying healthy.
Johnny learned that is fine to share thing with his friends and sibling but you could do this without sharing germs. He learned that washing your hand and covering your cough and or sneeze was a good way preventing the spread of germs that cause illness. Johnny also learned that staying away from fatty foods and sugary items along with getting regular exercise and rest would also help in staying healthy.
Johnny still loves to share with his friends and family the things he enjoys, but now he does it wisely, thanks to getting educated on healthy practices.

3321 M&W Ms. Angelou

Watching video on Maya Angelou was inspiring. Seeing someone so excited and passionate about a subject only motivated me to be more open to exploring poetry. Her expressions as she quoted her favorite works are a tribute to the authors she herself was motivated by. Since seeing video I have been intrigued by her passion for the written word. If she writes anything like she speaks I will enjoy reading her, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". Having not read any of her works, I think this would be a great place to start.

3344 Memory Elaboration "Cry"

It had been quite a while since I had thought of many of the memories I shared with the class Wednesday. I found myself thinking about a lot of the bad memories I recalled. Then my mind shifted to all of the good memories. I appreciated all of my memories bad and good because all of these helped make me the man I am today. I am determined to become an educator and involved parent. I learned to appreciate all of the influences in my life, positive and other wise. I learned to embrace the positive and what to avoid in the negative. I learned a lot about myself and a bit more about my loved ones and why they were capable of some things an not so much of other things.

The memory I would like to elaborate more on is the “Cry” memory. The memory that made me cry all over again was the first time my mother ever told me that she loved me. I was eighteen and had just been in an automobile accident. The vehicle was totaled and almost crushed. I was hit by a drunk driver. My mother arrived at the scene after I was transported to the hospital. By the looks of the car she feared that I was actually injured more than I was. I did sustain a broken left femur and a concussion but otherwise I was fine. When she arrived at the hospital she was expecting the worst. She was allowed to enter the ER to see me. She was relieved to only see me in traction from the left leg. I apologized for wrecking the car. She smiled and said not to worry about it. She held me tight and whispered in my ear “I love you, mijo”. “Don’t ever scare me like that again”. I said I was sorry. I didn’t even realize that it was the first time she had ever said she loved me until repeating that story to my fiancé.

Not ever remembering my mother saying those three little words got me thinking. Did she never say it because she never felt it? I do remember her saying it to my other siblings from time to time. I was always a loving, caring and compassionate child to my mother and other family members. I did my best to make my mother proud of me to get acknowledgement. I always worked hard at school and did more than my share of the household chores. What was I not doing right? I know my mother cared about me. She fed me, clothed me, and I always had what I needed, in terms of tangible needs. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong.

Then I began to think of it from my mother’s perspective. Maybe she just couldn’t figure out how to tell me that she loves me. She had no trouble telling my siblings she loved them. Still, I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. So I just asked her, “Mom why did you never tell me you loved me before.”

She told me, “You always seemed so strong and hardly needed to be told what to do.” She also said, “You never needed encouragement to get your work done, you just did it.” She told me that my siblings needed far more encouragement and guidance than I did. She said she was always proud of my drive but didn’t understand where I got it. I then told her that all I ever wanted was for her to be proud of me. She was and I just didn’t know it because she didn’t know how to or if she should tell me.

I’m not taking any chances. I tell my boys every day how much I love them and how proud the make me. I never miss an opportunity to show them affection and guidance. My mother did teach me the importance of showing your children love and encouragement. Thank Mom, I love you too.

3321 M&W Poetry Books

I found a couple of really cool poetry books in an elementary school library. The first is "Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast" written by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. It is a fourth grade level book. It list 12 types of dinosaurs and has a poem for each of them along with the correct way to pronounce them. And yes, I did use the pronunciation helper. I believe this book can be used in a reading and science lesson as it has lots of scientific facts and awesome rhyme scheme along with great illustrations.
The second poetry book I chose is "Mary Had Little Jam (and Other Silly Rhymes)" created by Bruce Lansky and illustrated by Stephen Carpenter. This book is a third grade reading level. The author took lots of old nursery rhyme and added his own spin on them. It was a little reminiscent of my early childhood with a new twist. I found it pretty entertaining.
Give these selections a read, I think you'll like them too. Peace.

Author Profile suggestions

Maurice Sendak

http//en.wikipedia.Where the Wild Things Are

3344 All about Me Personal Writing Exercise

I had a blast making the"All About Me" books in class. It reminded me of when I was a kid in elementary school. All the cutting, pasting, drawing, and especially the fun I had with my fellow students as we shared ideas and made fun of ourselves in construction paper form.
The detail I would like to elaborate on about myself is how I like to fish and Bar-B-Que. I know, how much can someone possibly elaborate on fishing and Bar-B-Queing beyond the mechanics and the science of it? I'm not even gonna touch on the mechanics or science of it all.
The reason I enjoy fishing and bar-b-queing to the level that I do is the how I feel when I fish and Q. The act of fishing by itself is just that fishing. The act of bbqing is just that bbqing. But when you fish and bbq with the people that mean the most to you it gives it a whole new level of appreciation. I get to educate my sons on the art of fishing and bbqing as well as sharing my life experiences while doing so. Sharing this activity with my kids and fiance and her being receptive to it also brings us all closer to one another in ways that can and have brought tears to my eyes. Needless to say I always look forward to fishing and bbqing with my family is always great.

3344 Personal Writings I Use

The forms of personal writings I use are pretty standard. I use blogs for school, text messages for quick reply, letters to my loved ones, emails to classmates and instructors, and all kinds of list to accomplish certain tasks.
Blogs area fairly new to me. I've never blogged before the beginning of this semester. I was a little embarrassed about blogging because I wasn't sure about what to say or how to say it, but look at me now. As soon as I log on the thoughts just flow. It the coolest thing.
Text messaging is a quick way to send the fewest words to some one and get your point across with out the face to face. I use text messages when time is of importance.
The only time I physically write letters on paper is to express how much I love and care for love ones. I write to my fiance and my children all the time. I never want them to forget exactly how much they mean to me.
Emails are just a part communication that is here to stay. We all need to Email either our instructors, our friend across the world, our kids teachers and even our classmates.
I use to do list to remind myself of what needs to get done and when items on the list get crossed off it gives me a sense of accomplishment. I feel like I am moving forward when my list are reduced to refuse.
I never really gave much thought about how much writing I do on a daily basis. This exercise has opened my eyes as to how big a factor writing is to our daily lives.

3321 M&W Chap. 3

I found that the information I read in chapter 3 along with Monday's lecture really hit home with the way I comprehend what I've read. Even though I was taught in my elementary school years to write out words (vocabulary) along with their definitions and using the terms in a sentence I didn't learn them as well as I did when I read them in my reading assignments. I found it easier to gather the meanings of the more difficult words by paying closer attention to what was going on in the reading which in turn increased my comprehension of the material I was reading. In regards to letting students pick the books they want to read, I believe that I was fortunate enough to have had teachers in my elementary school years that exercised the same discipline. I always knew if the book I chose was too advanced or too easy for me. Being able to relate what I was reading to my own experiences also helped me better appreciate the books I've read.
I will carry some of the exercises used in chapter 3 to assess comprehension of what my students read. I can appreciate the Read & Retell of Brown & Cambourne (1978) method, having students retell the story after hearing the teacher read aloud either orally or written. I also liked the exercise of having students retell the story in chronological order one student at a time.
When a child is able to comprehend what he/she has read and convey that back to you along with his/ her ideas then you know that their reading is purposeful.


Author Profiles suggestions

Hans Christian Anderson

The Steadfast Soldiers, and Snow Queen

3344 M&W "If I Won....?"

If I won anything I would like it to involve making my whole family better off. Now, better off, what does that mean? Well it means financially, spiritually, academically, and gaining a sound sense of well being along with having a great set of friends. In others words, happiness. What on earth could possibly be won that would grant all of these blessings. Nothing short of winning the lifetime servitude of a wish granting Genie. But then what of the genie's happiness? Would mine and my family's happiness be worth enslaving a genie and ruining any chance of him/her being happy? I think not. I believe that all it takes to be truly happy is having God in your heart. With God all of these blessing are attainable. In that sense, I HAVE WON. Arms raised to the heavens, Thank You.

!!!3344 M&W WRITING IS A PROCESS!!!

I remember the WRITING PROCESS being introduced to me at an early grade level. I don't really recall which one (maybe 4th), but i do remember it being very helpful in gathering my thoughts and allowing others (peers) to read my work without being embarrassed or afraid. I don't recall if all of the steps introduced when I was a youngster are the same as our refresher lecture. I am certain, however, that the WRITING PROCESS is crucial in producing a good writing piece.

Step 1. Pre-writing - Organize your thoughts using semantic maps like graphic organizers.
I like using the center bubble surrounded with satellite bubbles. When you have your subject in the center bubble you fill out the surrounding bubbles with things you want to include in your piece. Once this is complete you can move on to the next step.

Step 2. Drafting- this step is sometimes referred to as your rough 1st draft copy or sloppy copy.
In this step you put your thoughts gathered in 1st step on paper. It is wiser to actually
write this step in the WRITING PROCESS on actual paper, rather than computer, to focus more on content than grammar or spelling. Now your ready for the next step.

Step 3. Revising- This step of the WRITING PROCESS is where you focus changing or adding
sentences, content or ideas. Using a group of partners (3) to conduct a writers
conference/workshop. Let others in your group read and critique your piece as well as
you theirs. After the revisions you are ready to move on the next step.

Step 4. Editing- In this step of the WRITING PROCESS you check your piece for (conventions)
spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors utilizing your group of 3 with WW/WC.
Having completed this aspect of the WRITING PROCESS you can submit your piece for
the next step.

Step 5. Publishing- In this step of the WRITING PROCESS, your piece is posted on display
for example on wall for recognition and/or social justice.

Having the WRITING PROCESS fresh in my mind and my notes will help me to better write and to better help writers.

3321 M&W Chap. 2

Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom, in my opinion, would help students as well as teachers and parents get to know more about the different cultures to which their children are being exposed. This kind of cultural sharing is crucial in today's students building bridges to cultures other than their own therefor making the world a smaller place especially in the classroom. Nobody wants to be worlds away from their classmates especially while they are just inches away from one another. An idea of making a poster board with information about yourself, family, culture, and daily life is an excellent way to bring people together in similarities and curiosities about each others culture. When teachers get to know as much about their students the child feels important and accepted, which every child needs, in the classroom and in their home life. When aspects of a students culture are understood this could help steer from mistakenly recommending special education services.
Having a culturally responsive classroom would not only be very informative but would also help students understand differences in social and personal behaviors between one another. Thus making a very friendly and accepting environment in which to learn and teach.


Author Profile suggestions

Beatrix Potter

Peter Rabbit

3344 Chapter 4. M&W

Chapter four on emerging literacy was very inspiring. It lent guidance to me in delivering strong and encouraging reading lessons. I agree with interrelating reading and writing in the classroom during instruction. The concept covered in class as well as the text are some that I plan on modeling my reading lessons after. Having environmental print on the wall of my classroom that are easily recognizable is a great way to encourage students to read. All in all I found chapter four to be very informative and I will reference it in the future lesson plans.
Circular stories are very entertaining and are a great tool in catching the attention of young readers. Creating a circular story proved to be a great exercise in imagination and connecting ideas.

3321 M&W Chap.1 and Website Blog

I found chapter 1 particularly useful because I never really liked the basal texts in my reading classes growing up. I was always bored with the briefness of the stories. This chapter reinforced my wanting to use more childrens literature in lesson deliveries. Acquiring books for your class library should be a priority and could prove vital in getting kids hooked on reading, and that is why it would be a good idea to get started as soon as possible. I have always enjoyed reading books to my children as well as in the classrooms I have had the pleasure in being a part of. I found that if you read with an intense conveyance of feeling or acting kids want to read more often than not.

I found a website using Google: Authors!Authors! Children's Book Authors and Illustrators. This site has a ton of authors and illustrators to explore. Finding an author for our Author Profile should prove easy with this site. I would recommend it to everyone. Hope it helps you.

I'm a Learner 3344 M&W

I like to think I'm a bit of both as far as intrinsic or extrinsic learners go. I keep in mind that once I accomplish my goal of becoming a teacher I will feel great for succeeding in attaining a goal I set for myself. I also keep my eye on the prize (Degree) as well as knowing the monetary benefits of becoming an educator. Some people will be quick to say that educators don't make as much money as they deserve. I've got two things to say about that: 1. Being an educator is its own reward and 2. What educators earn is more than I need to survive.

I am a visual and audible learner. I use one to enforce the other. I find that I when introduced to new information in the visual way and audible way I retain more of the material. My motivations keep me driven to succeed in goals I set for myself and that is why I use more than one method of information retention. I'm sure I'm not the only one who implores more than one method by choice. I will learn as much about myself as a learner as I will about the students I teach. That in it self is a gift.

In my MI survey I learned that I have a pretty good grasp on my Interpersonal and Intrapersonal facets of my life. That helps me sleep pretty good at night. I was a little surprised about how low I scored in the verbal section. I considered myself a pretty verbal person. All in all the survey would be an awesome tool to gauge your students learning methods to design a lesson according to results. I will definitely check out some more of these types of surveys, I'm hooked.

3321 M&W 1 down. (week)

One week down. It totally flew by. I'm meeting lots of new people and seeing lots of familiar faces. In both instances I can already tell I am in for a great ride. I would like to give thanks to our lord and savior for all the good people he is connecting me with. Thanks be to him and to you. God Bless. peace.

Author Profile suggestions

Ezra Jack Keats

www.EzraJackKeats.org

3321 M & W Finally Here

First day of any new adventure is always a little unnerving. Today was no different. I met my new instructors. Mrs. Pickett and Dr. Harris. I guess I was expecting them to be less fun and not so entertaining. I'm glad I was so wrong. I'm sure this is going to be a fantastic semester. Hope yours will be too. Peace.


Author Profile suggestions

Robert Munsch

I'll Love You Forever.