Changed my childhood

Every fable has a specific moral or lesson to the story. The three little pigs taught me that you have to put your all into whatever you're working on because even if it takes longer or seems impossible, it will always be worth it. Dedicating yourself and taking your time on something will always be worth it in the end. Even today, I use this as a lesson even in my lifetime now. Today, putting all my time in effort into something is needed to get a good grade in my classes. Although classes may seem impossible, the harder you work the more it will pay off in the end. Just like in the three little pigs were the first two houses got destroyed, they did not give up, and it worked out in the end. I feel now in ths point in my life time sometimes things really do feel impossible, like you will never find the light at the end of the tunnel. For many college students, the amount of stress that piled on got the better of them and dropped out of college because they couldn't take the work load. There is no doubt in my mind that every college kid has thought about dropping out of college or trying to find an alternate route around all the work and stress that comes along with college. However, in this world you have to work hard to get what you want. When things get bad, you have to pull yourself up and keep trying. I find it so interesting that I can relate this to such a simple little fable called, "The Three 

Little Pigs."

Favorite Fable: Module 9

My favorite fable growing up was always "The Three little Pigs." For some reason, I was always obsessed with different farm animals including pigs. I had many stuffed animal pigs and would always try to act out the scenes. fables were always so interesting and magical. you are able to use your imagination and the ability to have animals talk like humans was always appealing to me as a child. Fables were always the type of story you would tell to children to get their imaginations rolling (or eventually put them to sleep) Imagination is such an important aspect in a child's lifetime. The fable genre gives us teachers the ability to have students open their minds.

Module 11 Argumentation in texts

After reading the article, "Enhancing the Quality of Argumentation in School Science," by Osborne their were many important takeaways in this article. The article is based on research done in London about the significance of argumentative teaching. Teachers set up a set of materials and strategies to support argumentation in classrooms and analyzing how effective it was by recording videos and collecting data and the end of the teaching days. The biggest takeaway I learned from this article is that students needs guidance when coming up with a good argumentative text. Without a good argument you are unable to persuade your audience about your point of view. "Presenting good examples and facts," is also a big take in developing a good argument. Backing up your proposal or thesis is not significant without the facts to support it. Argumentative texts should never be opinionated. Although it's important to create your own view about the topic you are discussing you must have reliable resources and facts to back your thesis up. This requires a lot of work for students to be able to come up with a good resource.

Historical Fiction for Children by Jacobs, Leland

After reading the article, "historical Fiction for Children," by Jacobs, Leland, my biggest take away from this article was just how significant historical fiction really is. Leland describes in the article how for elementary students it puts kids in a different period of time. The children are able to almost "time travel," by using their imagination and putting themselves back into a important period of time. Not only do children also get to experience what life was like during that time, but they are able to look at the clothes people wore, the adventures that occurred, and what their houses looked like back then. Imagination for kids is important to have. Historical fiction gives kids the satisfying feeling of imagination along with the knowledge about history during certain periods of times. I also took away from this article, how important it is to learn about periods in time that changed our lives for the better today. For example, a book about Christopher Columbus and how he found America is truly significant. Young readers, are able to view what might have happened during 1492, by putting themselves there using their imagination. They are able to view the boat Columbus traveled on, what he wore, and what the land might have looked like when he arrived. Its a genre that teaches students the beauty of imagination and learning about periods of time that gave them a better life. As a future teacher, I feel seeing students being interested in a topic such as history would really put a smile on my face because they are learning each and everyday how a particular event changed their lives for the better.

Module 10 Favorite Historical Fiction Book

Growing up, my favorite historical fiction book was always The First Thanksgiving Day: A Counting Story." I really enjoyed this book growing up because Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. This book tells a story about the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians celebrating their first Thanksgiving feast together. When reading this book to the classroom, I would ask the students how many of them celebrate thanksgiving with their family and friends to show that without the Pilgrams and Wampanoags coming together, we would not have Thanksgiving to this day. I would also have the students do partner talk during reading and describe what they eat on thanksgiving and compare it to what their classmates eat and also what the characters ate in the book. Comparing and contrasting is a great way for students to learn more about their particular topic. I feel reading this book out loud, pausing, and having open group discussions is a great way for students to learn more about their students Thanksgiving plans. As a student in elementary school, I loved hearing about what different families did on different holidays. This particular activity can be targeted from first to even as high up as sixth grade. Celebrating and learning about different holidays are always exciting for young and older individuals.

Picture Book Activity

For my picture book activity I would read to my students the famous picture book called The Snowman," by Raymond Briggs. Growing up, this was always one of my favorite picture books because the illustrations are beautiful and it tells a story about a boy and his magical friendship with a snowman. I feel my student's would really enjoy this book because it lets them use their imagination. For my activity I would first have the students relate to a time where they played in the snow and either made a snowman or made snow angels etc. The students could draw a picture like such as the book or draw a snowman they made. I then would hand out an organized outline for the picture book such as this one below. I would have the students draw their favorite part of the book as best as they can. After drawing their favorite scene, I would have the students write a reflection about why it was their favorite part of the book. This gives students the fun chance to draw and also relate to why it was their favorite part. The student's could write about how much they love winter or how they like to make snowman's like the boy in the book. Templates are a great tool for teachers to use with students. 

 

Module 8 Children's Book

After reading the article, "Children's Books as Models to Teach Writing Skills," there were many important aspects of teaching writing skills in this article. My biggest take away from this article is the importance of teaching children organization skills before and during their reading. As said in the article, "Conventions allow the writer's piece to clearly express a message." Many student's especially kids have a lot to say when talking about a particular topic, especially if its something they are interested in. Organization skills help children to write their ideas clearly and is an easy way for students to create a more organized paper. I feel the article should have mentioned more about organization methods. Such as Venn diagrams or creating outlines before writing. I feel organization is one of the most important parts of writing a good essay or story.

Free write

For my free write blog post I really wanted to talk about how much I enjoyed looking at everyone's different lesson plans on characterization. I feel I am slowly but surely starting to get a feel for how to really structure a class when it comes to creating lesson plans. I never realized how much time and effort it takes for teachers to really make sure they have their students attention. However, this particular module I really enjoyed looking up different lesson plans for characterization. Characterization I feel can be really fun when doing lessons with elementary school kids. When reading, kids are always looking out for their favorite characters. Characterization lets students reflect about why they like certain characters in the book. It gives them the ability to compare how they are similar to the characters they picked. It helps student's even realize a little bit more about themselves. I am really looking forward to creating our own module next!

Guiding Young Students' Response to Literature

I decided to read the article titles, "Guiding Young Students' Response to Literature", by Patricia Kelly. After reading this article, I noticed that I learned a lot different types of responses to literacy just by taking this EDU307 class. In the article, Kelly mentions how she likes to read books to her students that they enjoy so they can act out different scenes of the book. I noticed by the article that it is very important to keep the children interested in what they are reading. However, along with the author, I learned a different approach to children responding to literature. For example, Kelly learned when studying children's literacy, three issues that the students should look for when reading. "(a) what was noticed in the book, (b) how we felt about the book, and (c) how the book was related to 
our own experiences." I feel these steps can relate open a child's interest when discussing the book. When Kelly, tried this prompt on her third grade classroom, she was pleased to find the students reacted extremely well when reading their books. I enjoyed seeing the results of the teachers classroom when learning about different approaches to children's responses to literature. Kelly began to notice after taking part in the Bleich's prompt, the students were very open to their peers. The students shared their reflections about the story "Cinderella," and were commenting on each other's reflections, for example, one student responded to their peer with, "That's what I was going to say." As a future teacher I have no doubt that Kelly, felt accomplished and very excited that not only was her new approach working with responses to literature, but their students were very interested in the topic being discussed. 

Revising

Revising for me is always kind of tricky in a way. When it comes to revising other student's work, I always make sure that I give them HELPFUL feedback. One thing I hate when other students revise my work is when they tell me its good and hand it back without saying anything. One thing about writing is it can always be better. Destructive criticism is always helpful, because if your professor is reading and grading your paper, you want it to be the best it can be. Revising your own paper can be a little tricky. For me, sometimes I don't know whether to keep certain things, get rid of it, or try and change it. However, that's the point of revising. When you get a paper back, you're able to revise it and make your final paper ten times better. I really enjoy in my English class that I'm in now, that my professor reads our first drafts and gives us three tries to revise our papers. He has our peers read and revise our papers, while he also revises it. Then we are able to revise it ourselves for our final draft. Revising is critical in creating your best work and seeing mistakes you might not have seen when you created your first draft.

Drafting

All I have to say is...thank goodness for drafting. As a college student when you have 5 papers, a midterm, and a test, due in one day drafting is your best friend. I always try my best when first doing a paper because the better I do the least I have to really edit. However, I love creating drafts because I know if i mess up I can still always fix it. I am so thankful that rough drafts are due before final drafts because it gives me a chance to really look over what I've written. Also, when I get back a draft I am able to see how I can improve on my writing and what I could have done better.  It's important to have drafts when writing because ALL writers make mistakes. Even some of the best writers mess up with grammar, organization, basically anything. Drafting helps you to see mistakes you might not have seen when you first wrote a paper. I really REALLY am thankful for the drafting process.

Prewriting

Prewriting is a great tool to use to really organize your thoughts in a way that is easiest for you. The easiest for me I find is first creating topic sentences for each of the paragraphs I am going to be writing about. This will help me to create more ideas under the topic sentence. I also find that using diagrams such as a t chart if im writing about the similarities and differences is very helpful. However, as much as I don't want to admit it prewriting is something I don't do very often. For me, writing my thoughts in one try and creating a draft is easier for me. However, I was forced in high school during my English classes to always prewrite which helped me, but since its not really pushed in college I don't use it as much as I should. This doesn't mean I will tell my student's it's not useful because it is. Prewriting can be very helpful for students especially because sometimes elementary school kids struggle with getting their ideas written out on paper. They know what they want to say but have trouble writing about it. Venn diagrams, t charts, and other organizational tools will be stressed for my students to really get their ideas out on paper.

Writing in General

Writing in general has always been one of my strongest subjects throughout my life. During elementary school I loved writing and reflecting about stories I've been reading. However, throughout high school I began to lose how much I really loved writing. I wasn't able to do really "free write" as much as I wanted too. My high school offered many electives however, writing was not very popular in my high school. When I took my SAT's I knew I would score well in writing and reading. My scores looked like two completely different people took the test. I scored very low in math and sky rocketed for reading and writing. I knew after that I had to do something to incorporate my education with writing. I decided to minor in creative writing and so far I have really enjoyed the classes I've been taking to fill my concentration. I've taken three English courses so far varying from fiction and poetry. Now, I used to really enjoy fiction writing over poetry. However, after this semester I realized that analyzing poetry has been really enjoyable for me. I like the idea that there is no right or wrong answer, it's all about how you analyze the poem. I like that there are always so many chances and opportunities with writing. You are able to organize your ideas before hand to really create a good piece of work draft, edit, and revise. Although, I don't think I was really supposed to write about my personal opinion about writing, I find that writing can be very personal to me. When my mom passed in high school, writing was always my get away. It was a way for me to write down all my thoughts, sadness, and anger, in a non physical way.

Writing workshop 3

I chose to write about the writing workshop number 3 about short term goals. I really enjoyed learning about how important it is to set goals with your students, getting your students to enjoy and love writing, establishing a good environment, and creating manageable classroom management. I knew before reading this article I knew these were all really important in a classroom but to the extent I wasn't really sure how you would apply it to your classroom. For example, teachers create a curriculum which is our "long-term goal," but according to the article, it's important to make short term goals with your students. This includes creating goals in the beginning of the year or even shorter the beginning of the week, and then seeing if the student accomplished that goal. I also enjoyed reading about establishing a good atmosphere helps the students write better. I learned a lot from this article that creating a good atmosphere is more than just making sure students are supportive of each other. There is a lot more the teacher can do to create a good environment with the students in a classroom. The article suggests, a very important strategy such as writing with your students. Nothing helps students more than sitting down with them and being a model for them. They are able to learn a lot more from teachers when they are given one on one time to really see how they can better their writing.

Last book meeting

My group and I met tonight and talked a lot about the ending and the over all message of the book. We talked about how we believe the moral of the story is indeed a handbook for a young boy and how to basically get through life. You can really see in this book how much the main character grows and matures from the beginning to the end of the book. Jimmy really learns a lot just by listening to Duke, Cap, and other old guys that hang out at the barber shop. In the beginning of the book you see Jimmy and Kevin also, struggling finding who they really are. For example, showing up late for work and going around with that care free attitude. As the book comes to an end and finishes, Jimmy matures so much. One particular quote in the book said by Duke really shows the message of the book, "Pick your own road in life.."

Literacy Center

I really LOVED watching the literacy centers video. When I thought about my future classroom and readers workshop this is exactly how I wanted it to be like. I loved how engaged all the students were and honestly loved how loud the classroom was during filming. This showed that the students were really talkative and active discussing their books. In the beginning I like how the students were talking about the book "Loser," and comparing what they talk about in the book to what they are actually learning in real life. For example, in the book first graders were learning about large numbers and the students were so surprised that the kids in the book were learning that at such a young age. You can see that the kids were really engaged in the book which makes for a happy teacher. I liked the over all set up of this video. They start off by showing the students reading silently, and then show the students actively talking to one another and "generating questions." Over all great video!

Literacy Circle Reflection

Reciprocal Teaching
What I liked about this video was how descriptive and engaged the teacher was when discussing what the class was going to be reading and working on. The teacher used puppets so when her students were stuck on something while reading they go to a puppet to help them. For example they had Claire the clarified to help the students clarify something they didn't understand in the reading. they also had a puppet that rounded up all the main ideas at the end of the book so students know what the purpose of the reading was. I really enjoyed watching this video however, I do believe it takes a lot of time to reciprocal teach. I noticed that the students sitting on the carpet had a hard time keeping still which is extremely important when teaching because it might mean the students are losing focus in the lesson. however, the teacher did a good job for giving actions to the puppets that the students can copy. For example, Sammy the summerizeir had an action like swinging the rope. This helped the students stay interested in that particular topic because the students were active and moving. Personally, I don;t think reciprocal teaching should be used a lot throughout the school year.

Reflection on Book

Yesterday my group met and talked a little more about "handbook for Boys." We all agreed that this meeting went a lot smoother than the first two because we were able to book mark some things and keep in mind what we wanted to talk about for next time. Our transitioning to the different topics definitely worked out for the better this time around. On page 89, we pointed out the picture of the "offences against the public." This read, "If a white person assemble with negroes for the the purpose of instructing them to read or write, or if he associate  with them, he shall be confined to jail..etc." I found this part particularly interesting because Duke explains to Kevin how he enjoys a person that doesn't read. This particular part you can see Jimmy going against what Duke is explaining. Duke explains that the only good thing that can come through of Jimmy is dropping out of school and joining the NBA. This particular part shows some more racial expression towards African Americans. However, when Duke explains this to Cap, Jimmy responds with "Whatever," going against what Duke is saying. This part shows Jimmy starting to get a good head on his shoulders which is what I believe is the transition throughout the book. It is about Jimmy growing up and maturing as a young adult and finding out who he is in society.

Today my book club met for a second time via hangout. We talked mostly about what the theme of this book is. Although we read at different levels we were still able to discuss what we thought the main topic of the book is. We discussed that on page 56, is where the true meaning of this book comes to play. Duke tells Jimmy that "Life does not work." What he means by this, is that life is what you make out of it. He explains that if you get up and go along with your day blinded, nothing good will come about it. You have to go out and make your life yourself because nobody is going to do it for you. My members of the group and I all agreed that this when we all figured was why they created this handbook.

First group meeting

My group and I met via hangout spots using the google plus app. I really enjoyed using this tool because it's any easy way to contact my group members outside of school. My group members are Bonnie and Alison. While discussing the book, A Handbook for Boys, my group members and I talked mostly about who the main characters were in the book. For me, I was a little overwhelmed in the beginning of the book because I was unsure of who the main character was, or if there was more than one. We talked about how the main character Jimmy is trying to find himself as a young boy. He gets a lot of his knowledge by his older friends at the barber shop. Some of the main characters include Mr. M, Cap, Duke, and Pookie.

Mini-Lesson Write Up

What I will be looking for:

10-15 minute mini lesson

An explicit goal.

A explicit definition of that goal for your peers.

Evidence of modeling the skill, strategy, or goal.

Opportunities for Guided Practice

Explanation of independent Practice

Actual Write-Up

Mini-lesson (bulleted mini-lesson)

Description of reader workshop routine (Grade level, how often, level of student choice) This mini lesson will be designed for a first grade classroom. The students will do readers workshop three times a week with a book of their choice that is in their reading level. I will have a series of books set up in the classroom library sectioned with different reading levels and genres such as non-fiction, fiction, science fiction, etc. After students meet with me and I have seen they progressed, students will be able to move up a level.

Goal	Common Core R1: Pausing and predicting. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences by it.
Explicit Definition	Students will be able to make predictions about the content they are reading. Pausing during reading and thinking about what is going to happen next is expected.
Model	I will start off by explaining to my students what the definition of predicting is. Predicting is the ability to say or estimate what will happen in the future or will be a consequence of something. I will ask the students if anyone has ever heard of predicting or has thought about what is going to happen when reading. I will explain to my students that pausing and thinking about what is happening throughout the book will help make for more knowledgeable predictions.
Guided Practice	I will start off by reading the title of the book to my students, Jason's Bus Ride. I will ask the students how many of them are already thinking about what the book is going to be about. Asking my students a series of questions such as, "where do you think Jason is going?" will get the students thinking. On page 11, I will pause and ask my students why they think the bus stopped? Following up with having the students turn to a student on the carpet and tell them their prediction about why they think the bus stopped. Throughout the book I will pause and ask the students what they think Jason will do about the bus being stopped. Or if he will do anything at all? I will explain to the students that it is okay for their predictions to change.
Independent Practice	After reading the book out loud, I will have the students go back to their seats and begin reading their level books. While reading, I want the students to write before they begin reading about what they think the book will be about. I will also have the students write down their predictions throughout the book. Once they are done reading they will be able to compare their thoughts and predictions at the beginning of the book, to what actually happened in the end.

Readers Journal

Section	Description
Personal Goals	Each student will keep a journal and create personal goals for themselves about what they want to accomplish. For example, a student might have a goal to read without using their finger. Another example could be active reading, which means keeping notes about what they've read. Looking for cause and effect events that happen or looking for descriptive words are examples of active reading.
Reflections	I will have the students write in their journals a small reflection about what they read. This will include a basic summary of the book, or I will put up a question on the board to have students answer. This will show that the students actively read and understand the content. For example, I will have the students write about their favorite scene in the book and why. This will help me see what the level the students are at with active reading as well.
Reading Log	For the reading log portion of readers workshop the students will be assigned to read at home and keep a reading log. I will have the students write down the book they read and how long they read for. It's important that the student's parent or guardian signs off on the paper so I know the students are reading.
Genre Guide	Students will have the opportunity to pick through different genres such as science fiction, non-fiction, fairytale, etc. I will have the students write down which genre they chose for that particular day to make sure the student is switching up the genre. It is important that the students are reading different genre's so they don't get used to reading a certain type of book. Different genre's will also help the student's be more interested in the content they are reading.

2 fictional conferences

Goal: Be able to pause and make predictions	Sarah and Matt

Sarah:  During my conference with Sarah, I got down to eye level to really connect with Sarah. I started off by asking her what she read and what she predicted the book was about. After she told me her prediction, I had her read a few pages in her book to see how fluent her reading was and make sure she was on the right track with her level book. While she was reading I had her pause and tell me what she thought would happen next. Without telling her, she wrote down her first prediction and then continued to read. She still uses her finger to read, however can read at an accurate level. After the book she was able to tell me that her prediction changed and she was not expecting that to happen. I asked her a series of questions such as "Would you recommend this book to one of your friends?" What was your favorite part?"

Matt: During my conference with Matt, he was very excited to tell me about his book. I enjoyed listening to how much he enjoyed reading his book. I first asked him a little summary about his book to show that he actively read. I then asked him if he could tell me a prediction about what the book was going to about? Although he read it before I was able to conference with him, he told me what he first thought the book was going to be about. I observed him write down his prediction and then write down how his prediction changed. While Matt read out loud to me, I had him paused and asked him what he thought was going to happen next. With his quick answer it showed me that he had been thinking about his predictions throughout the book. At the end of the book I asked him if he enjoyed the book and would want to keep reading books such as this one? I then asked him if he could reflect about the book to a friend or relative.

Mini Lessons Discussion Module 3

Ricks Reading Workshop: I really enjoyed watching Rick teach his students in a way that really gets his students engaged actively. By watching this video I can tell that his students are also interested in learning because of his style of teaching. In this video he discusses how important it is for students to have theories when reading. For example, before reading the book "A Wednesday surprise," he asks the students how many of them are already thinking about what it is going to be about. This really gets the students thinking and making predictions. I also enjoyed that he he took the time to have students talk with their peers about what their predictions were. By talking to their partners they are able to compare each other's theories which keeps their imaginations open. 

In the reading mini lesson the teacher in this video is teaching her student's cause and effect. To first get the students attention she uses an example like dropping a vase on the ground causes it to break. This gives an idea to the students about what exactly is cause and effect and helps them use it in their reading. What I like about this video is how the teacher is constantly pausing her reading and asking the students questions about what the cause and effect is on particular pages. This gets the students to constantly be thinking. I however, think this teacher could be a little more excited when reading aloud to the children. Rick in the reading workshop video does an amazing job in having a loud and active voice when reading. I strongly believe that this keeps students engaged during the reading workshop. 

The Joy of Conferring

In The Joy of Conferring video I really enjoyed that the student was the one to call over the teacher to have a conference with her and tell him what he was reading. I noticed that the teacher got down on her knees to get to the students eye level to really connect with him. The student discussed how he was getting back into a book that he put away for awhile. The teacher asked him questions as to what he was interested in and also asked if he could read a little for her. While reading, the student paused him and complemented him on how well he was reading with expression. This clearly showed that he was modeling how his teacher reads for his class. 

Reading Conferences

In the first video reading conferences, I enjoyed the outline of this video it first shows a model student and teacher trying to discuss the book. The teacher starts by asking questions what the book is about and the student does not answer well because he/she did not read it. This was called a conference fail. Towards the end of the video it shows the student who read the book constantly telling the teacher what is happening. By actively reading the student is able to tell the teacher everything that is going on. I enjoyed this video however, I feel as if they should have used real children to help make the video a little more serious. 

Virtual Classroom Tour

For my virtual tour, I watched a first to second grade classroom. In the classroom I noticed how all the children's work was put all over the walls. They also had a section labeled "Learning Goals," which I believe is really important to have in a classroom. It helps students set their own goals for themselves while also encouraging their classmates. I also noticed that the teachers did a fantastic job of making the classroom look exciting. Each side of the classroom had a little "station" almost. There were signs saying homework, silent reading, the menu for lunch etc. I find that labeling around elementary classrooms makes for a lot smoother school day. Students are able to easily find where things are in the classroom, without having to disrupt the class at any time. After watching the video with the teachers, they talked a lot about how they like to work together in the beginning of the year to really put their heads together and create goals. I noticed that a huge part of teaching is accomplishing the goals you create with your kids in the beginning of the year. The teachers also talked about how important it is to discuss their plan in the beginning of the year so it's easier for them to know exactly what they are going to be teaching as the year goes on. Both teachers really work together to create teaching strategies that will really improve the students knowledge as the year goes on. 

My Memory of Language Arts

From what I can remember, language arts in my elementary school was not always the most entertaining part about the school day. I remember reading books and answering vocabulary questions at the end of each section we read. However, I am being honest when I say looking up vocabulary definitions meant skipping the reading and trying to find the "bolded" word. I found myself not very interested in language arts because I felt my teacher did not put enough effort into trying to make the subject enjoyable for us kids. Looking back as a teacher in training now, I will hope and try to make language arts for exciting for my students in the future.