Week 14 - Literacy Moves Ch. 6-10

I thought it was really neat to see all the students perspective on the Beanie Babies. They were able to do group discussions, draw different diagrams, give their insights, and most of all they were collaborating in groups that showed their opinions. This helped the students organize their thoughts and tell everyone in the group how they felt about the Beanie Babies. The Beanie Babies initially brought out a good discussion on marketing and other tools. This activity gave students the opportunity to respond to important issues, introduce popular culture, and encouraged students to be critical consumers.
In chapter nine they talked about villains and heroes. I think its important for students to get a good taste of fiction and fantasy. This allows the students to see creative writing and different techniques of writing. I did not start reading books until Harry Potter came out. I thought this book was so interesting and I just kept reading. From this book, I started reading more and more because I finally liked reading. I think that Fantasy can do that for children in many ways. It can open their mind and their imagination.

Week 13 Children Reading Stories In Print, Film, and Computer Games

Many people argue whether computer games and media can affect learning negatively or positively. Throughout this chapter the author discusses ways on how computer games can help children in their learning. Some computer games enable students to use critical thinking and problem solving. Although I don't suggest students work on computers all the time, I think there is a time and a place for students to have the opportunity to work on computers and do different games. Students are going to be intrigued if they are able to work on computers. One huge plus to all of this is that students can play games and not even realize they are doing work and learning. It

It is also very important for children to become immersed and engaged in the text. The author states that immersion is being "fully committed to the world inside the text" and engaged means "moving inside and outside the text world." When students are reading they need to have both of these in order to fully understand the text. With immersion the reader can pick a single schema and can interpret all sorts of things in the text. When a reader is engaged they can relate from world and the text and make connections. I feel that this is very important in a student's reading and comprehension.

Week 12

During our class we have been discussing many types of genres. Yesterday we had our fair and had the opportunity to see everyone's genre pieces. I enjoyed it very much. It helps to see different ways of incorporating these ideas into the classroom. There were so many ideas and as a teacher we can give ideas to our students to do the same. This way they can express their views on their topic of their paper and do it in a creative way. Creativity is a component that I always want used in my classroom. I want every student to have the opportunity to show their creative side. Some topics in school can get so repetitive and boring that students just don't have fun with learning. These genre pieces would be a great opportunity to have fun and learn. We also worked with our puppets which was hilarious. I can only imagine how much fun the students would have with these puppets and presenting different books they have read.

The Multigenre Research Paper Ch. 5 Week 11

In this chapter, the author reveals ways to "show, not tell." I have talked about this subject once or twice but I find it so important in the classroom daily. Writing is in everyday life. What better way to enjoy life and school by writing with meaning, clarity, and description. Students often tell things in a story, not show them. There are many ways to write, but the best way of writing is to use description words, story telling methods, and by simply showing emotion through writing. When a writer can do that, the story/paper will be more exciting and intriguing to read. I still have trouble doing that to this day. Kids are going to struggle sometimes with this but once they get the hang of it, it will come easier and easier each time they write. Humor is often a great way to entertain in a story. The story could be even better when its mixed with humor and sadness such as the story mentioned at the beginning of the chapter. Creating characters in the story is one of more important factors. The characters must be introduced in a way that the reader can almost visualize exactly what they are like. If the reader is able to do this, the character description was written well. The list of questions mentioned in this chapter were great. This is a great strategy for students to use to show, not tell, about the character. I think if a teacher would to use these all their students, the students would develop quicker in their writing and eventually do great.

Van Sluys Setting Up Invitations Week 9

In this article, the author talks about making time in the classroom for invitations. The time required for these invitations is 45 minutes to two hours. How can we find time for this? I think it is very important as a school to find time for these. These invitations allow students to communicate with one another, pose problems, read, write, think, and challenge meanings. These factors in learning are vital in a child's learning. Students should have the right to make time for their own learning and learn to take responsibility in their learning. That way, they know their learning strategies and what they need to do as a learner. The article also talks about finding a place for these workshops. If the media center is organized well, then this would be a great space for it. Computer labs are also a great idea. This will enable students to use internet and gather ideas for the problems or issues they may be working out. The folders that the author mentions that will store the invitations and keep things organized was also a very important thing to look at in the classroom. If the students invitations are not neat and are hard to find, then that creates problems. One issue that was brought up in the invitations was the gender roles. This creates a great debate and brings up several issues that the students can talk about. Invitations such as these welcomes all sorts of learners seeking to talk about issues that arise today.

Chapters 10-11

One of the things that I liked about the reading was the page about decorating the student's notebooks. Writing can be such a difficult thing to get into as an elementary student. It's not something that just comes natural and is done well quickly. It takes time and effort. For a student to really want to write, it's up to the teacher to make it interesting. Decorating a notebook might seem small to a teacher or an adult, but I think it can get the student excited about writing. They can have a craft day and do different things to make learning more fun. The writing spot was also really neat. Just like a place to read, there should be a place to write in the classroom. I am 21 years old and I still have trouble finding that special place to sit and write. Writing can be so hard if its not quiet or if I don't feel comfortable. How can we make the students feel comfortable and make sure the place its "just right?" I think the best way is to ask the students where they like to write most, or where they feel most at ease. This will bring up a discussion and then can elaborate to an even deeper discussion on strategies to write. What are some strategies that students could do to brain storm ideas about what to write?

Crafting Writers: Ch. 7-9

One thing I hope to use in my classroom quite a bit is what Elizabeth hale talks about, "Turn and Talk." This is where the teacher gives a prompt or question and then turns to the class for a few minutes while they reflect. They then share their ideas with the class. I think this can be very effective in the classroom but I also think it has its' downfalls. How do you make sure that the students are staying on task and talking about the subject at hand? One way I thought would be a great way would be to pair them up instead of larger groups. That way it's not as easy to get off task. The students can talk to one another and then once they have done that the teacher can bring them together as a whole.
Another great technique I liked was the "Writing Try-Its." This reminds me of when I was younger and made note cards of different facts and ways the teacher was teaching a subject. It made me write it down and read it more and more so that I embedded the concept in my head. What better way to do this then to have the students write down in their writers notebooks the same way the teacher has taught them to. Then they are seeing the importance in the way the teacher is teaching. Once a teacher has a conference with a student she/he can go back to this notebook and look to see what they are having troubles in or if they got the lesson.
One of my biggest fears in teaching is getting the student's to reach their full potential. Sometimes you will get a student who is extremely creative and intelligent and has great writing but like Elizabeth Hale states, every writer can be better. How do you help that student make an even better attempt at their writing when all the mechanics/spelling and so on are correct?

Crafting Writers k-6 Ch. 4 and 5

Chapters 4 and 5 of Crafting Writers had great insight about teaching kids how to make their writing more interesting. Elizabeth Hale takes student's writing and helps them look more into it through their "five senses." This part of chapter 4 is really inspiring as a teacher. Hale talks about ways students tend to write, such as them telling, and not showing what experiences they may have been writing about. Looking back into my elementary years, I think I might have done the exact thing. I told stories by explaining simply what I saw, because that was the easiest part to write about. Hale talks about looking into more things such as smell, taste, sound, and touch. These senses can do a lot for a writer and are more interesting to read as a reader. She talks about how in some cases if the writer is writing about a restaurant they went to it's easier to write about what it smelled or tasted like. In this case, the writer should concentrate more on things the reader might not think about such as the way the food looked, the colors in the restaurant, or what the service was like. This can give a better description to the readers that they may not visualize. I think it's important for a student/writer to think about what the reader might not already know in general. It's also important to reach for better descriptive words. Instead of good, use delicious. This does not always work for every method in writing though. Hale mentions that sometimes teachers will tell the students to look up synonyms to a word but explains that this is not a good way of going about things as a writer. A student may look up synonyms for the word good and come up with delicious, tasty, superior, fine, or excellent. All of these words are not going to work for every situation. Explaining that someone did an excellent job and replacing the word with tasty is not going to fit the subject by any means. I completely agree with Hale when she explains all of this.
In chapter 5 Hale talks more about Punctuations in writing. Again, she does an excellent job explaining this. Kids sometimes manage to miss period after period after period. It occurs everyday in the classroom. This is not to say they don't know that a period SHOULD go there, it's because they simply forget. Periods are meant to show that the thought/sentence has ended. Teachers must explain to students that if periods were not in writing the reader would not know when to stop and may get the thought completely mixed up. She talks about italicizing, exclamation points, and commas. She describes commas as something to add in a sentence to make it more descriptive. "When students know more ways to vary sentence structure, there is more of an opportunity for them to create rhythms that are already a natural part of their speech." Hale makes a great point in this statement. If students know more ways to create sentences, they are more likely going write better, descriptive writings.

Wilde Reading

I have always been a very strong speller. This isn't to say that I did well in English by any means in Elementary. I did well in spelling but always had trouble in writing. This article had great pointers on how to teach spelling in a classroom. The very first part of the article talked about Placeholding spelling. This is exactly what I would do in any situation pertaining to directions or simply writing down a name to look up. I also use this when I'm looking things up on the computer because a lot of times it will ask you if you are looking for something else. For instance, if you type in cactis or something and misspelled it, most likely the computer will say, "Did you mean Cactus?" For the most part, students will pick up the real word and click on that one. I think that Placeholding can be a great way of learning and picking up spelling. Like the article said, it should only be used in certain situations. Another point the article made was to always include different resources in the classroom. It's important to not only include the dictionary but also encyclopedias, and other sources. This way the students have a variety of ways to look up words and their meanings. Once the students have the spelling down, it doesn't always mean they understand the meaning of the word. I hope to return to this article when I'm teaching because it gave such a good description of how spelling should be taught. Another great way the author represents spelling is through using partners or simply grouping kids together to revise papers. This way the students who are stronger spellers can help out the ones who are having troubles. The students who are stronger are also raising their intelligence through helping the younger or less stronger spellers. The author also talks about how important spelling is. I know that as an Elementary student, spelling doesn't seem like the most important thing in writing. I do believe that writing has so much to it and also involves being able to organize your thoughts. Once you can organize your thoughts, spelling is very very important. When finishing an application or simply writing a letter to someone who is important, they are always going to look at the spelling in your writing. If the spelling isnt' correct, the paper looks rushed or not professional by any means. This has to be explained to students to understand the importance of spelling.

Coffee House Observation

During my visit at the coffee house I was told to observe people and their activities. Who is in this place? What do they look like and what are they doing?

In the coffee house I noticed all kinds of diversity. I visit this coffee house many times a week and never have I observed what goes on around me. I was pretty amazed at the diversity that was presented. I look straight ahead of me and I see a man, tattooed all over his face and body who is alone working on his computer. He looks as if he may be working on something but I couldn't quite see what. I then look to my left and there are three college aged girls gossiping away about who knows what. Behind me are two older woman, around the age of 35. They look as if they are taking a break from work and eating some lunch casually talking. I see 2 different men who are much older alone reading the paper. I also see men around the age of 40 who might also be taking a lunch break from work. I am amazed that in such a small area at a coffee shop that there are this many different people in here. They are all leading different lives and talking about completely different things, all in a small coffee house.

Online writing, not boring school writing

After reading this article, I felt that I could relate to the students. I think that writing online and talking out loud about what was written helps me see the subject more and not only in my perspective but in others too. I think blogging provides a way to express how one feels or share thoughts about a topic or novel. At the same time, after writing your own blog, you can then look at others and relate to them. This can give other views on topics and in turn makes the student learn more about that certain topic. I can understand the principals concern when the students are posting their addresses online or simply writing about topics that do not concern school. This can destroy the learning atmosphere and not help a student. This may be the only negative part about it though and can be fixed. Blogging has many positive aspects to it more so than negative. This article shows the students who believe that blogging helped them speak their minds.