I Am

I am bold and beautiful.
I wonder how many stars shine in the night sky
I hear a bird chirping in the colorful trees
I see me going on a walk with my husband
I want all Krispe Kreme doughnuts to eat
I am bold and beautiful

I pretend to like foods when cooked for me even if I do not
I feel in love with my husband
I touch my head to my pillow and am instantly asleep
I worry about being a perfectionist
I cry when I am overwhelmed
I am bold and beautiful

I understand what it means to be a follower of Christ
I say that Jesus is the only way to Heaven
I dream about my future classroom
I try to be the best wife that I can be
I hope to make God smile
I am bold and beautiful

~~~~~~~~~~
I think that I Poetry is a great way to not only let children express who they are but also to help them really dig deep into whom/what people/characters/animals are and describe them. The powerpoint brought up a lot of great points that statistically the students conceptualized the content more deelpy when done with the I Poems because they are transforming ideas from one form to another. This style of learning for the students helps them to understand deeper knowledge of the character/person/animal because they have to find out what they/it touches, likes, feels, etc.

Any of the objectives listed above would be appropriate for the students learning about seals.

After viewing the three websites and reading on page 42 in Pirate Diary where do you think the location of the Greyhound was on the Ocean?

After reading about the pirates aboard the Greyhound thinking that they saw and heard a mermaid (page 42), what do you think? Do you think they actually saw a mermaid or some sea creature? If not a mermaid then what could they have seen and how do you know this?

Based on the three websites given, what kind of food does the seal eat?

The Discussion Director way of teaching seems more classroom group based. The teacher is the discussion director and is engaging the students to think critically about a certain section of text. It is important for the teacher to be many different roles within this activity such as challenger, defender, clarifier, connector, etc. because in any discussion there will be a difference of opinions where some form of directing is necessary.

I feel that both ways of teacher, reciprocal teaching and discussion director, are great ways to engage students in a section of text however my personal favorite is the reciprocal teaching. I feel that this way of teaching gives the students are clearer layout of what is expected and what jobs they are to do. This way of teaching also makes sure that each student does their work because they not only have the please the teacher but they have to not let down their group members. I could see me personally using the reciprocal teaching technique in my future classroom.

With that said I found reading the article, multi-text vocabulary examples, and vocabulary instruction very beneficial to my future teaching techniques. I feel that because my past teachers neglected to properly teach me reading comprehension and vocabulary decoding skills that I have suffered in my confidence in reading. I was never properly taught how to break down a word. I will never forget in my seventh grade class I pronounced barometer (bar-oh-meter) and the entire class including my teacher laughed at me. That scene scarred me for life resulting in me not ever being confident in my morphology skills. Now that I am a prospective teacher my heart hurts for that situation where my own teacher laughed at my inability to properly pronounce text. I know now that I was not stupid but rather I was inadequately taught by my past teachers.

The article Breaking Down Words to Build Meaning gave many reasons as to why teachers need to help students learn how to break down the meaning of a word using context clues as well as reading comprehension skills. I really like Stahl’s statement that there are many factors involved in learning vocabulary ”Stahl (1999) suggested that knowing a word means not only knowing its literal definition but also knowing its relationship to other words, its connotations in different contexts, and its power of transformation into various other forms.” -this had the lightbulb affect for me! I have only been exposed to vocabulary tests where even if I didn’t study I could still pass because they were so easy to take. I feel that this way of teaching vocabulary is lazy and shows no concern for the students comprehension of the actual word but rather tests to see if the students can memorize the words for a day.

The multi-text unit and how it implements vocabulary is GENIUS! I think that this way of teaching students new words is just what the article I stated above teaches as well. It actively engages the students IN a text while assessing their comprehension of new words. It is not giving the students a list of twenty words to define but rather is uses scenarios to help the students put the vocabulary word into context with themselves to further understand its meaning, it’s genius! Also the students are asked to explain why they felt that way or how something happened therefore making them prove that they know what they are talking about. If only my past teachers would have used such strategies to teach me and my classmates.

In regards to the Vocabulary Instruction handout I was shocked at the statistics it gave the reader. At the very beginning it stated “a student’s vocabulary should increase by 2,000-3,000 words a year.” The article continued to say that at least 400 of those words should be taught. That statistic absolutely blew my mind! At the end it stated that students should also read at least 21 minutes a day outside of school resulting in two million words per year! WOW! Unfortunately I fit into the next statistic which stated that “a student who reads less than a minute per day outside of school reads only 8,000-21,000 words per year”.

My desire as a future teacher is to create a love for reading in my students, one that I never had until college. I feel that if the students can love movies then they can love books because they are merely the script of the movie. My desire is to read as many books before I am a teacher and continue to read them while I am teaching to show students whether through my Notebook entries or my example how important reading is to me! This goal can be achieved with the proper teaching strategies such as the multi-text unit and internet workshops. I think that these are break through strategies that will change the way our future students think about reading. I am hoping that reading will evolve from being a “nerdy habit” to, for lack of a better term, “cool habit”. I definitely look forward to implementing all of the strategies learned so far into my future classrooms and it gets me so excited to be a teacher!!

One way to ensure that all students are being fed the proper books to read is to perform an Informal Reading Inventory to each student of the class. This way of assessing the student will let the teacher know what level of reading comprehension and reading fluency the student is achieving. It takes merely ten minutes to perform the actual assessment of the student reading text at different levels to determine where that student stands. This could be done within the first month of school and again at the beginning of the spring to ensure each student is excelling. Either way this type of assessment is short and valid.

Another way to make sure that all the students reading needs are met is to teach multi text units where the students have the opportunity to read books at different levels. This activity is geared towards the upper elementary grades because of the internet use and responsibility needed from the students themselves. In preparing a multitext unit the teacher chooses a quality novel appropriate for the grade level. Again, when choosing this book the teacher will have to choose a separate book for the below reading level students that still is about the same topic. Next the teacher will choose an information text to accompany the novel chosen. This books serves as either a read aloud book, resource for students to use or one that can be used to launch the unit to the class. The next step is to create an internet workshop (this is why it is geared more towards upper elementary students). The purpose of the internet workshop is for the students to find the answers themselves and learn media literacy online which viewing websites previously chosen by the teacher. It is crucial for the teacher to find sites that are child friendly meaning that the website is written in a language readable to kids or they will get lost in wikipedia or other large browsers. The last step is for the teacher to create an integrated literature packet that addresses the multi texts. This packet should keep the students involved in the text before, during and after they read it through activities such as reading/writing, drama, poetry, art, research, etc. This is also a time where the teacher can integrate other goals and objectives such as math, science and social studies. Vocabulary is essential within this packet as well. Words should be chosen from the text or from sites the students will view during their internet workshop.

By using the above three strategies to keep students involved and engaged in reading it will not only help all students with their comprehension skills but it will also help their confidence in reading therefore giving them a love for books. After all, isn’t it a goal for all teachers to create a love for books within their students? Well, it is for me.

I found it interesting that one of the teachers modeled what they were thinking as they looked at the book, The Red Book. I thought that this was genius in that it teaches students to observe the book during, before or after they read. It is something that I feel we all do whether we realize it or not.

I was surprised that the strategy for struggling readers to “skip it” even exists today. I agree with what one of the teachers said that they’d rather their students actually read something that is on their level than to try and decode a book of words too hard for them. I remember being told to “skip it” when I was in school but thankfully to me I have a Mother who read to me and help me decode those “skipped” words.

Overall I feel that shared reading is a fantastic way to help students comprehend text as well as vocabulary. It is important to teach all of the ways described in the article rather than just one part at a time because our minds don’t think in boxes so why teach that way?

The Swashbuckling article suggested great ideas for students to become more involved with a story such as the double entry diaries (DED). This type of activity would be fun for me and I can imagine students enjoying it as well. I really like how there are resources listed for the students to use. The Google search engine will pull up anything and everything with most searches making it difficult for students to find exactly what they are looking for. Providing resources and links for the learners to use helps them to feel prepared and to know where to start with the questions. I also like the organization of the data retrieval chart. I feel that this whole lesson is very organized and easy to follow making it a perfect lesson in my book!

Internet workshops are wonderful! I personally have never done an internet workshop before but I am certain that my future students will enjoy them. Not only are the students learning about social studies content they are also learning media literacy skills, innovation skills, problem solving skills, responsibility skills and other 21st Century Skills. This way of getting the students involved in a text is so engaging. It does require hard work from the teacher because of the internet sites necessary to be found and placed in a central location, i.e. classroom blog, delicious account, however the hard work is definitely worth it for the students to be working in such a hands on exploring way! I will definitely be doing internet workshops with my future students!

Poetry is an important part of language arts and I want to know how Mrs. Stretchberry taught poetry to make it interesting to Jack. I found that the apple poem was awesome at the end of the book and I think that kids will enjoy such poetry however how do you get students fired up about all poems? I want to read the book Hate That Cat and see how Jack is doing.