I will admit that I’ve been “handled” by the media. I feel like my skin is wrinkling as we speak and I need Garnier’s eye lift serum quick. I never really thought about how the old Disney movies are all about the damsel in distress being saved by a prince. The princesses all are beautiful and in perfect proportion. They don’t have much to worry about but being beautiful. It never bothered me when I was little because I didn’t know any better and it still doesn’t really bother me that the main characters are gorgeous, but it’s very sad to know the truth that an ugly character will never be the hero or princess. I have to say I always wanted to look like Jasmine. Mulan would be the exception to the damsel in distress rule and maybe some others that were not just looking for a prince. Most of the movies main characters are white. They just now came up with the first black princess in The Princess and the Frog. I loved it and I cried. It’s about time!
I don’t necessarily agree with this author’s use of material for school literacy. I think kids have enough trouble as it is without knowing what cartoons are really like. I mean I didn’t know when I was little and I’m glad no one told me or I would never like cartoons or myself. I think it may be counterproductive for students although this teacher said she thinks she helped them make a difference. Maybe some did become advocates for equal rights for women and minorities, but I think some sensitive girls or boys may get discouraged. This could only be used with older children and even then I am skeptical. It’s a great way to involve multiple genres of literature like animation, movies, film strips, etc, but the content is serious and could cause complications for some students.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
3 reads...all good
First of all, I want to congratulate everyone who did a MGRP. I truly loved everyone’s presentation and gained so much knowledge from each topic.
Opinion on Evans
I understand where Evans is coming from in her piece, but if we transform our teaching to all digital we will have some serious problems. The Evans article made it sound like all teachers must incorporate technology now, because that’s what interests the children. I believe technology is important, but traditional teaching without any use of technology is just as important. Some students still can’t afford computers let alone internet. So homework online including computer games may not work for students of low-income families. Evans reveals that children play video games and watch TV, rather than have make-believe play outside. I have a problem with this. Too much technology means not moving the body; therefore, leads to health problems including obesity. Also many games are individual, so when does the student learn to work with others? I do believe computer games should be censored first as well as videos and music that will be used in the classroom for certain activities. I plan on using technology in my classroom, but want my children on their own to choose a book rather than a computer game when given a choice on an activity.
Opinions on Hill
I believe that the photostory project could be beneficial to most students in upper elementary grades even though it seems complex. I would have to explore it more on my own first, but it might be a great way to teach multiple genres of literacy. It may be like a digital MGRP!
Opinions on Igoa
The reading was very interesting and sad to me. I never really thought about what it would be like to move to another country and have to learn their language at a young age in a school very different than the one I’m used to. I don’t know how they do it. It’s amazing. The teacher talking about how to work with immigrant children obviously is a phenomenal educator based on the progress these particular children made throughout the school year. This text was more about how to teach immigrants to overcome culture shock and immerse themselves in the American way of literacy. However, I think we were suppose to focus on the film strips since that’s what we will be working on next class. I’ve never made a film strip and don’t know much about it, but Igoa made it clear that film strip making really helps immigrant children open up. I’m looking forward to are introduction to this type of technology.
Opinion on Evans
I understand where Evans is coming from in her piece, but if we transform our teaching to all digital we will have some serious problems. The Evans article made it sound like all teachers must incorporate technology now, because that’s what interests the children. I believe technology is important, but traditional teaching without any use of technology is just as important. Some students still can’t afford computers let alone internet. So homework online including computer games may not work for students of low-income families. Evans reveals that children play video games and watch TV, rather than have make-believe play outside. I have a problem with this. Too much technology means not moving the body; therefore, leads to health problems including obesity. Also many games are individual, so when does the student learn to work with others? I do believe computer games should be censored first as well as videos and music that will be used in the classroom for certain activities. I plan on using technology in my classroom, but want my children on their own to choose a book rather than a computer game when given a choice on an activity.
Opinions on Hill
I believe that the photostory project could be beneficial to most students in upper elementary grades even though it seems complex. I would have to explore it more on my own first, but it might be a great way to teach multiple genres of literacy. It may be like a digital MGRP!
Opinions on Igoa
The reading was very interesting and sad to me. I never really thought about what it would be like to move to another country and have to learn their language at a young age in a school very different than the one I’m used to. I don’t know how they do it. It’s amazing. The teacher talking about how to work with immigrant children obviously is a phenomenal educator based on the progress these particular children made throughout the school year. This text was more about how to teach immigrants to overcome culture shock and immerse themselves in the American way of literacy. However, I think we were suppose to focus on the film strips since that’s what we will be working on next class. I’ve never made a film strip and don’t know much about it, but Igoa made it clear that film strip making really helps immigrant children open up. I’m looking forward to are introduction to this type of technology.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
MGRP Reflection
I learned that writing a paper can be fun when you know you have other options. Having a choice in anything is the best. No one really likes being controlled, or told what to do. I love the freedom that the MGRP gives students. It is especially important to allow children to do what they need to read and write even if they aren't doing the traditional reading from a literature text book. Young students have energy, energy I wish I had. A MGRP allows for this energy to be used in a beneficial manner.
I have to tell you all that I found this task difficult and stressful because there are so many genres to choose from. It's choosing that's hard, but also a blessing, because once I had a plan the rest was smooth sailing. I think in the future there will be some things I will do differently, such as making a list of genres to choose from instead of having too much freedom in a small amount of time. I also think I would like to study the genres more before I use them. I loved that we practiced with poetry and newspaper article writing. That helped me figure out my strengths. However, I didn't learn how to make a comic or explore script writing further before I made my own.
As for future teaching, I will absolutely use the MGRP in my classroom whether it's kindergarten or 6th grade. Can you imagine a kindergarten MGRP. The pieces may include finger painting, clay molding, dressing up, and a drawing. It's a great place to start allowing kids to explore their talents!
I have to tell you all that I found this task difficult and stressful because there are so many genres to choose from. It's choosing that's hard, but also a blessing, because once I had a plan the rest was smooth sailing. I think in the future there will be some things I will do differently, such as making a list of genres to choose from instead of having too much freedom in a small amount of time. I also think I would like to study the genres more before I use them. I loved that we practiced with poetry and newspaper article writing. That helped me figure out my strengths. However, I didn't learn how to make a comic or explore script writing further before I made my own.
As for future teaching, I will absolutely use the MGRP in my classroom whether it's kindergarten or 6th grade. Can you imagine a kindergarten MGRP. The pieces may include finger painting, clay molding, dressing up, and a drawing. It's a great place to start allowing kids to explore their talents!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Reading twice
I don't usually read a book twice, not even Harry Potter or the Twilight Series. I read Seedfolks in 8th grade, but didn't remember it; so I decided to read it again. I do remember liking it, but couldn't even remember what it was about at all. This lack of memory was a blessing in disguise, because I really enjoyed reading it again. It seemed even more enjoyable, because I'm older now. I was able to really appreciate the garden whereas, in 8th grade I obviously didn't take it to heart or I would have remembered it. I've never read another book that had each chapter about a different character. I love how Paul Fleischman connects the characters too. It's very realistic and heart-warming. Every year I sell my books back to TIS, but I've found that the text books this year are so rewarding and informative that I just may have to keep them, including Seedfolks!
Seedfolks tied into the Allen readings we had as well. Initially, I had a hard time seeing the difference between show, don't tell. I had to reread (something I don't do) to investigate further. It seems to mean that writer's should be very descriptive by using action verbs. An example would be "He sat with his head resting on his hand while reading the newspaper." This gives a nice visual and a sense of action that his body is doing. One of the sentences that was a “tell” didn't use an action verb. The writer wrote, "He seemed to be in his own little world." This is more of an opinion. Being in your own little world wasn't described with an action until after the comma when the writer wrote, "not paying attention to anyone walking around or others having a conversation nearby." Allen’s 34 question activity seemed very similar to a character sketch done in theatre. People who are very serious about their acting write answers to similar questions to Allen’s in a notebook. They always develop their character through writing this way they can go back and reread if need be or add more. I’ve done it several times for characters I’ve played and it’s been very helpful. It gives you a voice, especially when your chorus and don’t even have a name. I always make a name for my chorus parts.
As for chapter 7 in Allen, I learned in more detail about other specific genres. Although they all seemed impressive, I’m not sure that any suit my paper. I may need some help in this regard. I thought about doing a poem from a child’s perspective and a newspaper article from a teacher’s perspective, but that’s all so far. I wonder if I can do something that hasn’t been done before…
Seedfolks tied into the Allen readings we had as well. Initially, I had a hard time seeing the difference between show, don't tell. I had to reread (something I don't do) to investigate further. It seems to mean that writer's should be very descriptive by using action verbs. An example would be "He sat with his head resting on his hand while reading the newspaper." This gives a nice visual and a sense of action that his body is doing. One of the sentences that was a “tell” didn't use an action verb. The writer wrote, "He seemed to be in his own little world." This is more of an opinion. Being in your own little world wasn't described with an action until after the comma when the writer wrote, "not paying attention to anyone walking around or others having a conversation nearby." Allen’s 34 question activity seemed very similar to a character sketch done in theatre. People who are very serious about their acting write answers to similar questions to Allen’s in a notebook. They always develop their character through writing this way they can go back and reread if need be or add more. I’ve done it several times for characters I’ve played and it’s been very helpful. It gives you a voice, especially when your chorus and don’t even have a name. I always make a name for my chorus parts.
As for chapter 7 in Allen, I learned in more detail about other specific genres. Although they all seemed impressive, I’m not sure that any suit my paper. I may need some help in this regard. I thought about doing a poem from a child’s perspective and a newspaper article from a teacher’s perspective, but that’s all so far. I wonder if I can do something that hasn’t been done before…
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Orange or Orenge?
I did more writing conferences Wednesday, but they were more difficult than the last two weeks I’ve done them in field study. I’ve not experienced a child correcting me on spelling before. I wasn’t even sure how to handle it. He read his story to me and most of the errors he had were spelling related. I went through each page and picked words that were slightly off to go over. He didn’t really have too many words that were way off (we went over those too though). I came across the word “orenge” and said to the student that it sounds like it’s correct but it’s actually spelled “orange.” He said, “No, it’s with an ‘e.’ I’ve never gotten it wrong before. This is how my sister spells it.” He was so adamant about it, I didn’t want to argue; but I wanted him to learn the correct spelling. I told him that maybe his other teacher missed it and that maybe his sister’s teacher had made a mistake since everyone makes mistakes. He still seemed hesitant, so the only thing I could think of was to put in into the computer and show that spell check underlines it or changes it automatically to “a.” He seemed satisfied with this, but disappointed. I’m not sure if I did the right thing. I didn’t know how to handle it. The next child’s handwriting I couldn’t even read, so that was difficult to deal with too. I didn’t want him to think his handwriting was bad, so I tried my hardest to read what I could. He couldn’t read some of it either. How do I help him fix his penmanship? Is that something I should do, or say something about during the conference?
On a different note, Allen’s chapter on poetry taught me new forms that I never knew about. When I write poetry it usually rhymes. It’s nice to have some examples of other types of poems to reference, especially if I want children to do a multi-genre research paper. I really enjoyed the six-room form. I’ve never read a poem like that before and it made sense to me. It was great for description purposes. Poetry in general is a genre that can be easily appreciated according to Allen. She says,” If you have reluctant writers in your classroom or if you as a teacher are a reluctant writer, poetry is a good place to ease into writing.” She says it’s short and easy to edit. I’m not sure if I will use a poem for my MGRP, but it’s a possibility.
The invitation piece was confusing to me. I looked at the children’s work given and the blank worksheet. I didn’t see how it really related to an invitation. It was more like an observation/inference and question prompting sheet in my opinion. I’m not sure that invitation is the right word for the activity the author is talking about, but I can see how it would be beneficial to students in regards to literacy.
On a different note, Allen’s chapter on poetry taught me new forms that I never knew about. When I write poetry it usually rhymes. It’s nice to have some examples of other types of poems to reference, especially if I want children to do a multi-genre research paper. I really enjoyed the six-room form. I’ve never read a poem like that before and it made sense to me. It was great for description purposes. Poetry in general is a genre that can be easily appreciated according to Allen. She says,” If you have reluctant writers in your classroom or if you as a teacher are a reluctant writer, poetry is a good place to ease into writing.” She says it’s short and easy to edit. I’m not sure if I will use a poem for my MGRP, but it’s a possibility.
The invitation piece was confusing to me. I looked at the children’s work given and the blank worksheet. I didn’t see how it really related to an invitation. It was more like an observation/inference and question prompting sheet in my opinion. I’m not sure that invitation is the right word for the activity the author is talking about, but I can see how it would be beneficial to students in regards to literacy.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
MGRP Relates to a Donut Shop? You Bet!
I read chapters 1-3, and 6 out of The Multigenre Research Paper text book. It gave me many ideas about the genres I might use for my paper and reiterated the importance of using this type of paper for all ages. Some of the genres used I would have never even thought of such an an obituary. A resume for MLK seemed really neat too. There are so many possibilities, it will be hard to narrow it down for my own topic.
I never thought about how a multi-genre research paper would be part of my own MGRP though, until I read the Powell Davidson article. The kindergarten classroom's story that the authors share is quite remarkable. My topic for the MGRP is how gender affects motivation and understanding of reading and writing and how teachers can incorporate gender into their lesson plans. It just so happens that much of my research suggests using real life literacy in the classroom as opposed to books or at least supplementing the text books. I write about how boys and sometimes girls have trouble concentrating and get bored easily with the same old reading and writing. Taking a field trip, like the kindergarten kids did to the donut shop is probably the best way to show how a school project relates to real life, but some schools can't go on field trips. In that case, my MGRP comes in, with theatre and drama and games. If you can't really play a video game, then make up your own, and if you can't go to a donut shop create your own in the classroom. Those of just snipits of my thoughts, but I guess you'll all have to read my MGRP for more info! Say tuned :)
I never thought about how a multi-genre research paper would be part of my own MGRP though, until I read the Powell Davidson article. The kindergarten classroom's story that the authors share is quite remarkable. My topic for the MGRP is how gender affects motivation and understanding of reading and writing and how teachers can incorporate gender into their lesson plans. It just so happens that much of my research suggests using real life literacy in the classroom as opposed to books or at least supplementing the text books. I write about how boys and sometimes girls have trouble concentrating and get bored easily with the same old reading and writing. Taking a field trip, like the kindergarten kids did to the donut shop is probably the best way to show how a school project relates to real life, but some schools can't go on field trips. In that case, my MGRP comes in, with theatre and drama and games. If you can't really play a video game, then make up your own, and if you can't go to a donut shop create your own in the classroom. Those of just snipits of my thoughts, but I guess you'll all have to read my MGRP for more info! Say tuned :)
Monday, October 11, 2010
conference and MGRP
I’ve come to find that Wednesdays are writing conference days in my field placement classroom. This is a great thing, because I will continually get practice to perfect my conferencing skills. This week I worked with another two students. Both were Asian boys. Both seemed very confident in their reading to me of the story. There handwriting was nice and pictures elaborate. They seem to have written more than the students I had last week. Even though they wrote more and were more descriptive, I still found ways they could improve their pieces. I praised them for what they did do well and then moved on to possible sentences they could include using senses. One seemed eager to add more description and the other seemed reluctant, but did add one insert about how the cold made his legs stiff. I wasn’t sure if I should have pushed him to do more. His story was great and wasn’t in need of gobs more, but I felt I was blowing his confidence by saying much. He seemed to know he was a good writer.
In regards to the multi-genre research paper, I have been quite involved with my sources. Some I’ve found to be a little outside of my topic and I had to find others to supplement the originals. I have focused on what I need from the valuable sources I’ve found and pulled out all that I can to make my paper more accurate and interesting. It has been a pleasure reading many of the journals concerned with my particular topic. I’m looking forward to continue my work to make it the most informative and compelling that it can be.
In regards to the multi-genre research paper, I have been quite involved with my sources. Some I’ve found to be a little outside of my topic and I had to find others to supplement the originals. I have focused on what I need from the valuable sources I’ve found and pulled out all that I can to make my paper more accurate and interesting. It has been a pleasure reading many of the journals concerned with my particular topic. I’m looking forward to continue my work to make it the most informative and compelling that it can be.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
My very first conferences!
I’m so glad I read chapters 10-12 before our field study, because I incorporated my reading into my teaching today.
Hale starts chapter 10 with negative experiences a first year teacher might have, and then she transitions into how to focus on positives first followed by how to improve your weaknesses as a teacher. After the opening, Hale related this personal tidbit on her first day teaching to how to give feedback to young writers in a conference setting starting with the strengths they possess. The first task my teacher had me do today was to have a child read a story to me that they wrote, and I was to edit and publish their story by typing it on the computer. I was able to do two complete conferences of this sort. Both times I let the student read their story in its entirety. I started by conference by complimented them on one or two specific crafts that I saw that they utilized.
My first student wrote, “My sister is really, really, REALLY cute!” I told the student that I loved how she repeated the word really to emphasis how cute her sister is and that she used all capital letters with the last really to make it even stronger. From that point I was able to praise her on her use of adjectives to describe her sister. She said, “My sister has big brown eyes and fluffy brown hair.” I started to read a section that had no periods and asked her what she thought when I read it all together without taking a pause. She said it was too fast. I asked her what type of punctuation I could use to slow it down. She right away wrote two periods in the one, long run on sentence. After her editing, I asked her to tell me what I had just said to reiterate the concept taught like Hale had suggested. She then said that you need to put periods to end sentences to show a pause is needed when reading the story. I was pleased with her answer and knew that she understood. I also asked her why writing the same word more than once is a good writing tool. She also was able to repeat what I had said about making a strong statement. Overall Hale’s tactics proved to be beneficial. I felt the child had learned in a positive manor while also having fun at the same time. I was careful to word my questioning like Hale worded her examples in the book. I said, “I noticed that you used the same word three times in a row. It makes your writing very visual to me and is a good thing to do.” I then asked her if she knew why I might think that.
The next child had different crafts that she did well. She used periods and exclamation marks all correctly, but had many spelling errors. However, the spelling errors were on words that are beyond her grade level, so I knew she was going above and beyond to try new words even if she knew they weren’t always correct. I complimented her on the job well done. I then said that I noticed the word Disney in the title had an “e” in it and I asked her on page one why the Disney on that page looked different. She automatically pointed out the “e”. I followed this question with, “Do you think you need and ‘e’ and why?” She was able to sound the word out and make sense of the vowel. I was very pleased.
My first conferences went well. I tried to incorporate what I learned and by doing so the children proved they learned something new. I did my job as a teacher in respect to this activity. I hope I can continue to build on this experience.
Hale starts chapter 10 with negative experiences a first year teacher might have, and then she transitions into how to focus on positives first followed by how to improve your weaknesses as a teacher. After the opening, Hale related this personal tidbit on her first day teaching to how to give feedback to young writers in a conference setting starting with the strengths they possess. The first task my teacher had me do today was to have a child read a story to me that they wrote, and I was to edit and publish their story by typing it on the computer. I was able to do two complete conferences of this sort. Both times I let the student read their story in its entirety. I started by conference by complimented them on one or two specific crafts that I saw that they utilized.
My first student wrote, “My sister is really, really, REALLY cute!” I told the student that I loved how she repeated the word really to emphasis how cute her sister is and that she used all capital letters with the last really to make it even stronger. From that point I was able to praise her on her use of adjectives to describe her sister. She said, “My sister has big brown eyes and fluffy brown hair.” I started to read a section that had no periods and asked her what she thought when I read it all together without taking a pause. She said it was too fast. I asked her what type of punctuation I could use to slow it down. She right away wrote two periods in the one, long run on sentence. After her editing, I asked her to tell me what I had just said to reiterate the concept taught like Hale had suggested. She then said that you need to put periods to end sentences to show a pause is needed when reading the story. I was pleased with her answer and knew that she understood. I also asked her why writing the same word more than once is a good writing tool. She also was able to repeat what I had said about making a strong statement. Overall Hale’s tactics proved to be beneficial. I felt the child had learned in a positive manor while also having fun at the same time. I was careful to word my questioning like Hale worded her examples in the book. I said, “I noticed that you used the same word three times in a row. It makes your writing very visual to me and is a good thing to do.” I then asked her if she knew why I might think that.
The next child had different crafts that she did well. She used periods and exclamation marks all correctly, but had many spelling errors. However, the spelling errors were on words that are beyond her grade level, so I knew she was going above and beyond to try new words even if she knew they weren’t always correct. I complimented her on the job well done. I then said that I noticed the word Disney in the title had an “e” in it and I asked her on page one why the Disney on that page looked different. She automatically pointed out the “e”. I followed this question with, “Do you think you need and ‘e’ and why?” She was able to sound the word out and make sense of the vowel. I was very pleased.
My first conferences went well. I tried to incorporate what I learned and by doing so the children proved they learned something new. I did my job as a teacher in respect to this activity. I hope I can continue to build on this experience.
Friday, September 24, 2010
more wows about our book
Several aspects of the chapters we read really stood out to me. First being the benefits to a mini-lesson. I feel the attention span of younger children only allows for about 7-10 minutes of focusing on one topic, which is the time frame Hale sets for this type of lesson. She included a useful table about the four categories of mini-lessons that one can incorporate into their own classroom. I was thinking about concentrating on one aspect each school day and have a free write integrating all of the categories on Friday to review. What do you think about this idea? I’m quite pleased with the idea that 10 minutes on one small concept and reviewing it a few days after will allow what was taught to be absorbed and retained.
Hale also makes a point of saying that if you use literature that is well known, the students can concentrate on the concept you’re teaching rather than the comprehension of the story (100). She even said just pinpointing a few sentences that cover your topic being taught or just a simple paragraph is sufficient for some lessons. From my experience with writing, I don’t recall being so familiar with a text that I was able to dissect different sections of it and relate it to a new concept. We frequently switched texts so our focus was mostly comprehension rather than crafts, mechanics, etc. The “try its” are amazing ways to make sure students are learning. Discussion always leaves room for alterations and understanding, while writing a little bit gets the mind flowing with ideas and uses for mechanics. Allowing students to share their work on the overhead or with small groups gives the student a sense of power and pride (101). I know I feel a since of pride when I share just about anything that’s exciting to me; being praised with words of affirmation makes me want to open up even more with others. It may be the same for students according to Hale.
As for conferences with children, I’m all about it. Each child has different needs and one on one conversation can tell me where a child is and where they need to be. I would like to have conferences with parents frequently too, even if it’s just a short period of conversation over the phone. I will of course begin telling either the student or parent of the strengths the child exudes. After the praises will come how to get more praises by practicing new tactics. Fear sticks in me when I think of how to transition from strengths to weaknesses without hurting someone’s feelings or making them feel stupid. I don’t know how many times I felt stupid when a teacher was talking to me one on one and was telling me the things I did wrong. Any advice on how to discuss what needs work in a positive way?
Hale also makes a point of saying that if you use literature that is well known, the students can concentrate on the concept you’re teaching rather than the comprehension of the story (100). She even said just pinpointing a few sentences that cover your topic being taught or just a simple paragraph is sufficient for some lessons. From my experience with writing, I don’t recall being so familiar with a text that I was able to dissect different sections of it and relate it to a new concept. We frequently switched texts so our focus was mostly comprehension rather than crafts, mechanics, etc. The “try its” are amazing ways to make sure students are learning. Discussion always leaves room for alterations and understanding, while writing a little bit gets the mind flowing with ideas and uses for mechanics. Allowing students to share their work on the overhead or with small groups gives the student a sense of power and pride (101). I know I feel a since of pride when I share just about anything that’s exciting to me; being praised with words of affirmation makes me want to open up even more with others. It may be the same for students according to Hale.
As for conferences with children, I’m all about it. Each child has different needs and one on one conversation can tell me where a child is and where they need to be. I would like to have conferences with parents frequently too, even if it’s just a short period of conversation over the phone. I will of course begin telling either the student or parent of the strengths the child exudes. After the praises will come how to get more praises by practicing new tactics. Fear sticks in me when I think of how to transition from strengths to weaknesses without hurting someone’s feelings or making them feel stupid. I don’t know how many times I felt stupid when a teacher was talking to me one on one and was telling me the things I did wrong. Any advice on how to discuss what needs work in a positive way?
Monday, September 20, 2010
Crafting Writers 1-6
How can a person critique someone else's piece of writing when they are a poor writer their self? In high school we peer edited each other’s writing. I always found a few grammatical errors, but nothing more in a peer’s work. I wasn’t capable of finding anything else at the time. Once my paper was returned to me, all I could see was red pen. Punctuation wasn’t my problem, for the red marks were in the margins stating that I lacked content and clarity. I always wanted to pour my heart out into my writing, but never got into a groove where everything flowed together nicely. I lacked detail and even when I tried to use some strong vocabulary, other aspects of my writing would suffer. I couldn’t seem to reach a balance. Crafting Writers is a blessing because if I had read this book in high school I wouldn’t even k now what red pen looks like. The book is laid out well with many tables of useful information. Much of it was review from writing tactics I learned at IU in undergraduate classes; However, I found the organization of the concepts easy to comprehend and apply to my own knowledge. I feel that I have better insight to how to write than ever before. I’m actually excited to apply these crafts to my writing. Improving my skills will make me better able to teach children how to write well. Although chapters 1-6 were lengthy, I felt them to be so engaging that it went rather quickly. Sometimes I find myself victim to skimming; consequently, I was sucked in from the beginning and didn’t miss one detail. The writing samples in the book were precious to me. There’s so much to look forward to in grading papers written by children. Their imaginations are so vivid and soar with creativity. I’m hoping their ideas will rub off on me!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sound Systems initial response
From the beginning, I had a good feeling about this book simply because it started off talking about the Gingerbread Man. That was my favorite book when I was five! After reading the it to my neighbors kids last summer, I didn't go back and have them listen to rhyming words like Ms. Chandler did, nor did I have them divide words by syllables. It was just for entertainment purposes. I've never worked with very young kids who lack knowledge of letter sounds and how to spell basic words. I find it to be challenging based off of the readings in Sound Systems so far. I hope I am able to dive in and teach these kids what they need to know.
The bulk of the reading was about going back to basics of phonics. I don't really recall learning these concepts, but I know that I did or couldn't write this right now. The statement "The more real words children already knew how to read, the more knowledge they had about the pronunciation of predictable letter patterns, and consequently, the more made-up words they could sound out," made me think that the parents have a lot to do with the basics and that elementary teachers must fine tune what has already been taught. However, some parents don't know what to do or how to teach, and we have to step in and take the plunge. One of our colleagues wrote about how she made parent packets with information on how to help their child progress in the classroom. I'm very pleased with this idea and hopefully will incorporate it into my classroom someday. Having all aspects of community and family working together towards the same goal of preparing children for the real world will most likely keep the child in a constant learning state where they will excel beyond the average student.
The chart on linguistic concepts summarizes the basic tools for speaking, reading, and writing. It’s very precise and is a great way to organize what needs to be taught to young children. Phonics curriculum, according to the book, is outlined by grade level and stage of development. The authors break down the concepts by grade in another chart. It seems to be gradual and also cumulative. Everything at the beginning is just being built upon. Chapter 4 starts talking about writing. The writings must be built on the linguistic concepts. When reading a sample of a child’s writing, I had much difficulty in deciphering what was being said. It was scary to think I will not be able to grade papers. But after further investigation and a little more time put in, I was able to understand where the child was coming from. It was nicely laid out in that the children’s stories started from kindergarten and moved gradually to second grade with thorough investigation of how to analyze and critique the work.
There were just so many concepts, I was overwhelmed. I hope over time I will master them and add my own concepts to them.
The bulk of the reading was about going back to basics of phonics. I don't really recall learning these concepts, but I know that I did or couldn't write this right now. The statement "The more real words children already knew how to read, the more knowledge they had about the pronunciation of predictable letter patterns, and consequently, the more made-up words they could sound out," made me think that the parents have a lot to do with the basics and that elementary teachers must fine tune what has already been taught. However, some parents don't know what to do or how to teach, and we have to step in and take the plunge. One of our colleagues wrote about how she made parent packets with information on how to help their child progress in the classroom. I'm very pleased with this idea and hopefully will incorporate it into my classroom someday. Having all aspects of community and family working together towards the same goal of preparing children for the real world will most likely keep the child in a constant learning state where they will excel beyond the average student.
The chart on linguistic concepts summarizes the basic tools for speaking, reading, and writing. It’s very precise and is a great way to organize what needs to be taught to young children. Phonics curriculum, according to the book, is outlined by grade level and stage of development. The authors break down the concepts by grade in another chart. It seems to be gradual and also cumulative. Everything at the beginning is just being built upon. Chapter 4 starts talking about writing. The writings must be built on the linguistic concepts. When reading a sample of a child’s writing, I had much difficulty in deciphering what was being said. It was scary to think I will not be able to grade papers. But after further investigation and a little more time put in, I was able to understand where the child was coming from. It was nicely laid out in that the children’s stories started from kindergarten and moved gradually to second grade with thorough investigation of how to analyze and critique the work.
There were just so many concepts, I was overwhelmed. I hope over time I will master them and add my own concepts to them.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Literacy Dig
Our group met today at 5:30 at the mall food court. My main focus was what reading and writing knowledge people need in order to fit in to this particular environment and what type of vocabulary was used in customer conversations. I tried to get a basic visual of the layout of the food court as well as what people were there, why they were there, and what they were talking about.
The first thing I noticed about the location was the large signs above each food vendor's counter. There was Stir Fry, Little Tokyo, Chick-fil-A, Luca Pizza, and Sweet City where there were over 20 candy dispensers of different types, each one labeled with the name of the candy inside. I also saw the sign for the restrooms and 3 big department stores: Dick's, Target, and Macy's. Some of the written words were less noticeable in this place because of the sizes of the fonts and placement below most adults’ eye level. There was a hand sanitizer station below eye level that said, "Protect your shopping hands." I also saw small signs about what credit cards the vendor's accepted on glass panes above the counter tops. The menus were large and very legible. The prices were easy to decipher as well. An interesting aspect of the menus was the various pictures that were beside the names of each meal. Pictures would help foreigners know where they can get food and clarify what they want to order even if they didn’t speak English.
Next, I observed that the people in the food court varied in ages from babies to an elderly couple. There were a few students, most likely college level, and some Asian people as well. Many of the workers were of different races. Some spoke different languages. Many vendors were working alone, so there were no spoken words other than those with the customers at the counter. Walking around, I heard a baby say, “gah gah gah” and I also heard a small portion of a conversation in Chinese. A young man my age ran into someone he knew and he said, “What have you been up to?” I heard someone at a counter ask their friend for 6 cents to help with the bill. I watched a mother read math homework story-problems aloud to her son while he wrote down answers. At one point, I stood in front of a vendor’s counter and looked at the menu. She automatically said, “What can I get for you.” It was interesting to see that just looking at the menu meant I was hungry or was planning on eating to the vendor. A group of girls were talking about how people get away with shop lifting. The conversation made sense especially since we were in a location where shop lifting is prevalent. I also heard about an evaluation given to a secret shopper. Once again the word shop was incorporated into a conversation.
In order to be comfortable in a mall food court one doesn’t have to know even how to speak English, although it would be a big help. Pictures conveyed the main message that food is sold here. However, if someone who didn’t speak English had a question about what comes with a meal or if they have to get their own tray, they may have some trouble. Literacy would aid those who have questions about how to pay, or help in making sure that receipts are correct, or even if what they ordered is correct. Literacy at the mall is a big help because if you’re a smart shopper you want the best deals. The only way to know what the specials are is if you can read the signs!
The first thing I noticed about the location was the large signs above each food vendor's counter. There was Stir Fry, Little Tokyo, Chick-fil-A, Luca Pizza, and Sweet City where there were over 20 candy dispensers of different types, each one labeled with the name of the candy inside. I also saw the sign for the restrooms and 3 big department stores: Dick's, Target, and Macy's. Some of the written words were less noticeable in this place because of the sizes of the fonts and placement below most adults’ eye level. There was a hand sanitizer station below eye level that said, "Protect your shopping hands." I also saw small signs about what credit cards the vendor's accepted on glass panes above the counter tops. The menus were large and very legible. The prices were easy to decipher as well. An interesting aspect of the menus was the various pictures that were beside the names of each meal. Pictures would help foreigners know where they can get food and clarify what they want to order even if they didn’t speak English.
Next, I observed that the people in the food court varied in ages from babies to an elderly couple. There were a few students, most likely college level, and some Asian people as well. Many of the workers were of different races. Some spoke different languages. Many vendors were working alone, so there were no spoken words other than those with the customers at the counter. Walking around, I heard a baby say, “gah gah gah” and I also heard a small portion of a conversation in Chinese. A young man my age ran into someone he knew and he said, “What have you been up to?” I heard someone at a counter ask their friend for 6 cents to help with the bill. I watched a mother read math homework story-problems aloud to her son while he wrote down answers. At one point, I stood in front of a vendor’s counter and looked at the menu. She automatically said, “What can I get for you.” It was interesting to see that just looking at the menu meant I was hungry or was planning on eating to the vendor. A group of girls were talking about how people get away with shop lifting. The conversation made sense especially since we were in a location where shop lifting is prevalent. I also heard about an evaluation given to a secret shopper. Once again the word shop was incorporated into a conversation.
In order to be comfortable in a mall food court one doesn’t have to know even how to speak English, although it would be a big help. Pictures conveyed the main message that food is sold here. However, if someone who didn’t speak English had a question about what comes with a meal or if they have to get their own tray, they may have some trouble. Literacy would aid those who have questions about how to pay, or help in making sure that receipts are correct, or even if what they ordered is correct. Literacy at the mall is a big help because if you’re a smart shopper you want the best deals. The only way to know what the specials are is if you can read the signs!
Monday, August 30, 2010
first blog ever
I thought blogs were online journals, so I never wrote one since I like my privacy. I never thought of it as a learning tool. I'm looking forward to the new knowlege I will gain by blogging. It seems to be an effective tool for interacting with students in a classroom setting. The students are communicating, typing, getting more net savvy, and hopefully having a bit of fun too! If I can get a child to be excited about writing by simply allowing them to blog then it's well worth it.
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