Response to Double Entry Diary Instructional Framework

I enjoyed learning what a Double Entry Diary was in another article we read. This framework helped me to see an example of a diary for a book we actually read. This was very helpful and allows me to see how it is laid out and what to look for in regards the kinds of connections I would want my students to make. I like the idea of breaking the book into sections and giving students things to focus on while they are reading.

Response to Power Point on I Poetry

I agree that doing I Poems helps students to delve deeper into a character’s life. It gives them a sense of what the character believes and how they feel. It is important for students to be immersed in information about a character or topic before writing one of these poems to help aid them with their construction of the poem. Images are also a great way to illustrate the poem. There is no better way to learn about somone or something than to take on their particular role whatever it may be.

Response to Share Readings

Modeling is a great way to show students what kinds of things they should be thinking about as they read a text. The 25 teachers in this study modeled thier own thinking in shared reading. They did not ask students specific questions. Students did particiapte though by talking with a partner, writing a reflection, indicating agreement with certain statements or asking questions. I especially liked the section on vocabulary and the three strategies students can use to figure out a word they don’t know instead of asking the teacher. The first one is inside-the-word strategies which means looking at word parts such as prefixes and suffixes and thinking about what they mean. The second is outside-the-word strategies including looking at context clues or other parts of the sentence to deduce the meaning. And finally there are outside resoures such as peers, the dictionary or the internet. I also found it useful to realize that you need to figure out a purpose for the piece of reading you are modeling whether it be focusing on comprehension, vocabulary, text structures, or text features. It may include a combination and sticky notes can be useful here.

Response to Piratical Internet Workshop

This workshop helped me to see exactly what pirates did. I found out various names for pirates including buccaneers, sea robbers, and ruthless robbers. I found the sea robbers to be very selfish as they were not loyal to any government and set out to capture riches only for themselves. The ruthless robbers were very careless and didn’t care if they killed to get what they wanted. I also learned about privateers and that they were actually granted permission by the government to go and attack foreign enemy ships, keeping any riches they found as payment.

Response to Internet Workshop and Blog Publishing

One thing I really find useful about blogs is that students post their work not only for the teacher to see, but for other students to read and possibly parents or others as well. Students are encouraged to write with a purpose and an authentic voice for their now wider audience. I have never used Google Earth before for geography. I will have to check this out. I learned from an interview I did with a lady from Germany how important it is for kids to learn geography and history in Elementary school. Learning this content in school really helped her when she moved to the United States.

Response to Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas

I believe the double entry diaries are a wonderful idea. I have often had trouble comprehending text as I read it and this is a way to monitor your own comprehension as you write words from the book on one side of the paper and what it means to you on the other. Also this is the second time I have read the term pieces-of-eight. I have never heard of this, but I’m sure I will find out what it means in one of our pirate books. The wanted posters are a fun way to learn about someone. I remember our class making wanted posters of ourselves in the fifth grade.

Response to Pirates in Historical Fiction and Non-Fiction

I never really thought about using pirates to connect with history. I believe this would be an exciting way to engage children because when I think of pirates I imagine adventure, exploration and danger. I picture the fictional pirates from Peter Pan, but pirates were actually real people. When reading how the “Pirate Diary” is very historically accurate, this reminded me of the book “Blue” we read in Social Studies. Even though a book is fiction it may contain elements of truth in it. I believe combining fiction and nonfiction is a great idea. This would allow children to learn facts as well as engage them in an exciting story. Students could discuss any true or untrue elements they find in the story with the class.

Response to SS Trade Books Article

I have often noticed that teachers usually select the same book for the whole class to read. I didn’t really realize what a problem this could pose. So, would it be a better idea to pick 3 or so books of varying difficulty to assign to students? Wouldn’t this make it harder for discussion with the whole class? What would be a good way to assess or monitor comprehension of books of varying difficulty? I found it very helpful in one of my literature classes to have discussions with the class, which helped me to reach a deeper level of understanding of the books we read.

I am a bit apprehensive about social studies in general because this has never been one of my strong subjects. I will be very glad to have these resources to come back to when I begin teaching.

Poetry Response

When I think of poetry I think of rhyming and the names Robert Frost and Shel Silverstein. I memorized “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost when I was in the 7^th grade along with “Annabel Lee” and “Twas The Night Before Christmas.” I recited these in front of class along with a few others that I do not recall now. I also received a book by Shel Silverstein entitled “Where the Sidewalk Ends” when I was younger. This book is full of great poems for children. Poetry may be silly or serious, expressive and/or descriptive. I learned that poetry is not a puzzle to be solved and that you do not have to understand all poetry. Just enjoy the experience. : )

Love That Poetry

In reading, I noticed that some find it difficult to make things rhyme when trying to write poetry. I used to memorize poetry as a child and it used to come pretty easy to me to make up rhyming poetry. I don’t know about now though. I think it may be a good idea to get all of your thoughts out first and then work on the rhyming part if you wish.

I found the poem done by the fifth grader to be very sophisticated. When reading the section on concrete poems I remembered the apple poem and the dog poem from “Love that Dog.”