REOL 536 Questions

REOL 536 Questions

How many hours did you complete?

I completed a total of 5 hours and 30 minutes for this course.

In a short paragraph or bulleted list, tell me how you spent your time.

During this course I spent my time observing other reading teachers, reading many great books that I hadn’t read before, and teaching in a classroom at a different grade level than mine. 

How did your experiences help strengthen you as a teacher in at least one Kentucky Standard? 

I feel that my experiences helped me become a stronger colleague.  The Kentucky Standard that I’m focusing on is Standard 8; the teacher collaborates with colleagues, parents and others. If I didn’t have this course I probably wouldn’t have had the many discussions with my librarian.  Therefore, I feel that I’ve grown with collaborating with my colleagues. 

 

What did you learn in this course that you didn’t know before, or had forgotten?

I’ve learned many things in this course, but the two things that I’m ecstatic about are book talks and book trailers.  I’ve already told my students about them, and that will be their projects for their current books.  For the book talks, I will have them record each other using the Ipads.  I really loved this course!  J

Reading Log and Wiki Checklist

Reading Log

Genre / Titles you read

             I.      Non-fiction/Informational (1 chapter book or photo essay book reflection required on blog)

1)      Years of dust: The story of the Dust Bowl by A Marrin

2)      My Life in Dog Years By Gary Paulsen

3)      A Child Called It  by Dave Pelzer

4)      Little Rock Girl 1957 by Shelly Tougas

5)      We’ve Got a Job by Cynthia Levinson

 

          II.      Poetry (1 chapter or picture book reflection required on blog)

1)      Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech.

2)  No More Homework, No more Test by Bruce Lansky

 

       III.      Modern Fantasy (1 chapter book reflection required on blog)          

1)      The City of Ember-by Jeanne DuPrau

 

       IV.      Historical Fiction (1 reflection required on blog –can be a picture book)     

1)      The Teacher’s Funeral by Richard Peck. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

3)      The Watson’s Go to Birmingham -1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

4)      Rosa by Nikki Giovanni

 

          V.      Multicultural/Traditional        

1)      Hiroshima: A Novella by Laurence Yep

2)      Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson

3)      Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say

4)      Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco

5)      More than Anything Else  Marie Bradby

6)      The Color of Us by Karen Katz

7)      Coming on Home Soon by Jacqueline Woodson (Creators of The Other Side, I love that book!)

8)      The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith 

 

       VI.      Realistic Fiction (1 chapter book reflection required on blog)

1)      Baby by Patricia MacLachlan.

2)      Holes by Louis Sachar

3)      Flat Broke by Gary Paulsen

4)      Liar, Liar by Gary Paulsen

5)      Sounder by William Armstrong

 

    VII.      Picture Books

1)      The Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting.

2)      Duck for President by Doreen Cronin

3)      A Taste of Colored Water by Matt Faulkner

4)      Something About Hensley’s by Patricia Polacco

5)      Thundercake by Patricia Polacco

6)      The Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco

Wiki Checklist

Instructions: Write the number of entries for each category you posted into on the Course Wiki (requirement is two total posts, in two different categories)

 

__1_ Social Studies

____ Science

____ Math

____ Music

____ Art

__1__ Reading/Language Arts

____ Physical Education

____ Other

 

 

My Life in Dog Years

Paulsen, G. (1998).  My life in dog years.  New York:  Yearling

If you love dogs, then you will absolutely love this autobiography of Gary Paulsen. An autobiography is when an author writes factual informational about their own life.  Therefore, I feel this book would be a great fit for the genre of the week.  He tells adventurous stories of times with his dogs from childhood to adulthood. Therefore, this book is told in chronological order.  Each chapter is about a different dog at a different time in his life.  For example, the fist dog he writes about is the very first dog he ever had named “Cookie,” and the final chapter is the  dog he still had at the time the book was published, named “Josh.” In my opinion, Josh was the best dog in the book, but I may be a little bias because I have the same kind of dog!    Being a dog lover myself, I made many wonderful connections with this book, and it also brought back many memories of the dog I just lost in December.  My dog Ozzie and his dog Josh acted a lot alike.  You should read this book to learn about the many companions that Gary has had in his life, as well as hear the story of the time that he almost died if it hadn’t been for his dog.   Just think, if it weren’t for a dog, we wouldn’t be able to read the wonderful books written by "one of the greatest authors alive," Gary Paulsen. 

Rosa

Giovanni, N. (2004).  Rosa.  New York:  Henry Holt and Company, LLC.   

Many people are aware of Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycott, but can you imagine what it was like on the bus at that moment when Rosa didn’t give up her seat?  Well, you should read the book Rosa by Nikki Giovanni.  Rosa was a great seamstress, however, one day Rosa was told to go home early because her employers knew that she would be very busy in a few days.  That’s when Rosa got onto the bus and noticed that all of the “colored” section was full, so she went to the “neutral” section instead.  She was sitting with another African American gentleman when all of a sudden the bus driver came back and yelled at them to get up.  As she was being arrested, memories about how she and her family had been treated came flooding back to Rosa. Once news spread of Rosa’s arrest, twenty five women came together to begin another significant moment in our history.  You’ll need to read this delightful book to see what these women began.  

 

 

 

Because of Winn Dixie

DiCamillo, K. (2001). Because of winn dixie.  New York:  Candlewick Press.

Imagine your life at the age of ten without a mother, and you recently moved to a new state where you didn’t know anyone or have any friends.  Well this is exactly how Opal Bologna’s life was. She was a ten year old girl that lived with her dad, the preacher, in Naomi, Florida.  Her mother left them when she was little, and her dad never talked about her.  Opal didn’t know anyone, nor have any friends until she went to the Winn Dixie grocery store.

One day Opal went to the store for a box of macaroni and cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes when all of a sudden she was faced with an enormous decision.  Let me ask you this, have you ever made a decision when you knew that it was morally wrong?  Unfortunately, that is exactly what Opal did, but it turned out to be what was best for her in the end.  When she went into the store there was an ugly stray dog with matted hair, and yellow teeth running around like a wild animal. When the store manager asked whose dog that was, Opal said it was hers.  She said his name was “Winn Dixie.” She grew to have a wonderful connection with him.  However, because of Winn Dixie, she also makes friends with many diverse people such as a criminal, a librarian, two little bald headed bullies, a pinched face girl, and a witch. Throughout that summer Opal shared many memories, and she learned more about her mother and Winn Dixie too. During a friendship party someone left the door open during a thunderstorm and Winn Dixie was nowhere to be found.  If you want to learn what happened after that you’ll have to read this Newberry Honor book written by Kate DiCamillo.  I promise you’ll love it! 

No More Homework! No More Tests!

Lansky, B. (1997).  No more homework! No more tests!. New York:  Meadowbrook Press.

No More Homework! No More Tests! by Bruce Lansky is a children’s poetry book that is full of many hilarious poems.  This book definitely is fitting for this week’s genre, poetry, because it contains many lyrics, quatrains, cinquains, and narrative poems that is full of rhythm and rhyme.  Bruce Lansky selected a list of outstanding poets and their wonderful poems and placed them inside this book.  The authors range from Bruce Lansky, Max Fatchen, Bill Dodds, Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, some anonymous authors as well, and many more. 

As I was reading this book, I found many poems that I plan on using in my classroom.  One of my absolute favorites was a cinquain called English Is a Pain! (Pane?) It is a five stanza poem with five lines per stanza written by Shirlee Curlee Bingham.  I plan on using this poem to teach homophones and rhyme scheme.  It has an aabca rhyme scheme because lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme. 

Another poem that I really appreciated and made a connection with was a narrative called My Dog Chewed Up My Homework by Bruce Lansky. This poem is full of rhythm and rhyme.  The second and fourth lines rhymed because they had the same consonant sounds such as night and sight.  The connection that I made with this poem isn’t as a child but as an adult educator.  I was grading my students’ tests and my very mischievous puppy decided that she needed something to chew on, so she chewed on the corner of one of their papers.  My student really enjoyed the story! 

 

Finally, another poem that I would like to share is titled Gloria because it is full of hyperboles.  A hyperbole is an exaggeration or to point out ridicoulousness.  Some hyperbole examples found within this poem are, "She had at least a million friends" and "Got a king-sized zit". 

 

If you choose to check out this book, I hope you enjoy as much as I have! I think this book would inspire many children to reach into their imagination and create poetry as well as these great authors.  It makes me wonder, where did these authors get their inspiration? 

 

 

The Watson's Go To Birmingham-1963

Curtis, C (1995). The watson’s go to Birmingham-1963.  New York: Delacorte Press.

This novel is a Newberry Honor award winner.  It is about a family living in Flint, Michigan in the 1960’s.  When Byron becomes too troublesome to hand they decide to take a road trip to Birmingham so he can stay with a very strict grandmother.  While in Birmingham, many things happen.  For example, a church was bombed that killed many children and this really traumatized Kenny.  You’ll have to read the book to learn who helped Kenny during this serious event.  I’m sure you will be astonished! This book is told in first person point of view because it is told from Kenny’s perspective. We know exactly how Kenny is feeling when Byron treats him terribly, which is pretty much all the time. 

When I read about the church bombing, that brought back a text to text connection, as I have read an interview from the Junior Scholastic Magazine by Carolyn McKinstry, who was one of the children that joined the Children’s Crusade and was in the church at the time of the bombing. 

As we all know of the segregation laws and issues that happened back in the 1960’s, if this were told with a setting of 1980’s in New York, it would have a totally different meaning and would change the story completely. Therefore, I feel that the setting of this story was an integral part of the story!  

This book had many humorous events in it as well as the tragic ones.  The event in the story that I found to be comical was when Byron got his tongue stuck to the mirror on the car.  This brought back a text to world connection because I had watched a movie where a little boy had his tongue stuck to a metal pole.

I would recommend teaching this novel as a literature circle activity. However, due to the slow moving plot, I feel that some students may have difficulties understanding or enjoying the book.