EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

To the students in EDRG 3321 M&W 11:00-12:20, 

Hello everyone, or should I say goodbye.  :(  The semester is ending and this will be my last blog to turn in my author profile binder.  I had a great time in this class.  All of you taught me so much valuable information.  I can't wait to start my career as a teacher.  Hopefully I will see you around and maybe someday we will teach at the same school!  That will be exciting!  Well good luck in everything and thanks again for sharing your views of becoming a teacher.  I know you will be a great one.  :)  

-Kelsie Lorraine  

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

 AUTHOR PROFILE 

PICTURE BOOKS

  

A Color of His Own

Author: Leo Lionni

Audience: K-2

This book will teach the students about acceptance.  It also gives them descriptions on other animals.  They will learn a lot from this picture book and the journey of the chameleon.  

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/book.jsp?id=1876

  An Egg is Queit

Author: Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long

Audience: 4 - up

This book tells all about eggs in a way interesting to all ages.  It is a great book for classroom discussions.  The kids will enjoy the pictures and message from this book.

www.cynthialeitichsmith.com

EDED 4310 Tues. Zunker

WK 15 DISCUSSION

Compare the features and instructional applications of GIS and GPS tools. How can educators use GIS and GPS tools to enhance student learning?

These information systems are great for teaching science and social studies in the classroom.  They give locations and a lot more engaging information.  The GIS is a computer system that is able to store in a database a variety of information about geographic locations.  The GPS is a worldwide radio-navigation system made possible by a bank of 24 satellites and their ground stations.  When it is connected to mapping software the possibilities are even greater.  There are many different lessons that can use each of these systems as a method in teaching.  They provide the student with information that can only be seen through these programs.  

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

PRESENTATIONS

Whitney, Courtney, Kolbe, April, and I did our project on spiders.  We gave our presentation on Wednesday.  We started off a little slow because of the lost video.  I think this taught us a valuable lesson.  These kind of things will happen in our own classroom someday and we need to be prepared.  Our group had fun with the assignment and I hope the class enjoyed it too.  I learned a lot from this project.  Thank you for being there to share our presentation.  The other presentation will be completed on Monday.  I look forward to seeing the ending.  Overall I have enjoyed all of them.  Keep up the good work!  :)

www.monroe.lib.in.us

FANTASY FICTION BOOKS

My life with the wave

Author: Cowan, Catherine

This is a fantasy book about a child who becomes friends with a wave at the seashore and it brings her home at the end.  Great for kids building up their creativeness and imagination.

The new kid at school

Author: McMullan, Kate

This fantasy book is about a young boy who goes off to Dragon Slayers' Academy and shares his first day of class.  Be careful with these books.  Check with staff and parents.  

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

GENRE PRESENTATIONS

THE PRESENTATIONS WERE GREAT!  GOOD JOB EVERYONE!  :)  I GOT A LOT OF GOOD IDEAS FOR MY LESSON PLANS FROM BOTH GROUPS.  THIS ASSIGNMENT WAS VERY ENGAGING AND I THINK THAT IT WILL BE VERY USEFUL TO ALL OF US.  I CAN'T WAIT TO HAVE MY OWN CLASSROOM SO THAT I CAN GIVE THE STUDENTS A CHANCE TO LEARN BY HAVING FUN WITH EACH LESSON.  EVERYONE HAD A GOOD TIME IN CLASS ON MONDAY DURING THE PRESENTATIONS.  THAT IS WHAT WE NEED FOR OUR STUDENTS!!!!  :)  THANKS AGAIN!!  I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE REST.  

EDED 4310 Tues. Zunker

WK 13 Discussion

Some people say drill and practice is really "drill and kill." What can teachers do to make 
sure this kind of use doesn't happen and drill and practice can serve a useful function?

I think that the first step is making sure the students in your classroom are comfortable with this form of software.  It can be misused and the teacher has to make sure and follow procedure.  The benefits of drill and practice are great.  The students provide immediate feedback, they are motivated, and it allows time for the teacher to address other needs that are important to cover.  Repetition is a mean of learning and drill and practice will help the students retain the information.  The key is to select the right type of drill and practice for the appropriate lesson.  

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

For my author profile this week I would like to list some of the websites that I visited to find these wonderful books of different genres.  I will also give some more examples of good books and authors to add to my collection.  :) 

www.simonandschuster.com   This is a great website!

http://childrenspicturebooks.info/index.htm

www.abebooks.com  Fiction books!

www.publishersweekly.com

Author: Carolyn Keene

Ages: 6-9

Author: Jonah Winter

Ages: 4-8

Author: Jackie Urbanovic

This picture book is humorous and the children will love it!  It can teach them a lesson of independence.  The story is about a duck who wants to make his very own soup and needs to find the perfect final ingredient to make it special.  

Author: Elisha Cooper

This book would go perfect with a lesson about oceans!  I am doing one right now over the oceans and this would help the children get involved because this book lets them spend a day at the beach.  It explains all of the fun you will have and the children will want to hear all about it.  :)

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

Author Profile Books

The Christmas Sweater

Author: Glenn Beck

Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas

Author: Jane O'Connor

Where the Wild Things Are

Author: Maurice Sendak

The Polar Express

Author: Chris Van Allsburg

SOME BOOKS ON GUIDING AND SHARED READING:

These books discuss shared and guided reading.  They are very helpful and will guide the teacher in preparing for a great lesson.  :)

Teaching First Grade: A Practical Guide

Author: Min Hong

Balancing reading & language learning

Author: Mary Cappellini

Teaching for deep comprehension: a reading workshop approach

Author: Linda J. Dorn 

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

Websites for a guided/shared reading lesson

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/guided_reading.html

http://www.four-blocks.com/greading.htm

These websites give great examples and provide us with tips on how to use guided reading in the classroom.  They show different ages and the appropriateness of each lesson.  They even have links to lesson plans that will help guide a new teacher in the right direction.

http://www.lilteacher.com/guidedandsharedreading.html

This website is provided for students, teachers, and the parents.  It is a great resource to have when using guided and shared reading in the classroom.  It is important to get a lot of  new ideas so that you can create your own strategies on a well developed lesson of guided or shared reading.  It defines guided and shared reading and tells us how to use both.  

Modeling Guided Reading FAQ

youtube.com

I found a lot of helpful videos on guided reading.  This video was good because it was an interview with an actual teacher and she gave examples by telling the viewer exactly what she does in her classroom.  She uses cards and does many activities with her students so that she can see exactly what their reading levels are and where they need to improve.  I liked her strategies and I look forward to coming up with my own when I have a classroom full of students.   :) 

EDED 4310 Tues. Zunker

WK 11 DISCUSSION 

There are many statistics that prove that technology is improving lessons.  Research backs up some of these programs and the correct usage in the classroom.  We want what is best for our kids.  The distance technologies are improving for the better.  There will always be problems in the use of technology because of the different opinions.  We discussed the bad websites and all of the wrong ways to use different types of technology.  The future is what we are continuing to improve on so the technology should only benefit our students.  We just have to make sure they are keeping up with the correct ways to apply technology to their projects/assignments.  People can argue about technology and how it is used because it is and will always be an issue.  We have to watch out for the bad and make adjustments to the new.  Improvement is the key issue here.  No matter how advanced technology gets, the world is using it everywhere and our students have to know all about it.  The teachers/educators must keep up with the new.  This does not mean throw out the old.  A good teacher can manage both.  :)  

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

READ ALOUD WITH JENNIFER MYERS

The read aloud with Ms. Myers was very engaging for the students.  I liked that she sat in a rocking chair and had the children sit on the mats below her.  The entire class seemed comfortable.  All of the children paid attention and were able to follow along and see the book.  She began by telling them who the author was and that is a very important step.  I liked it when Ms. Myers had them use a "shoulder partner".  This made the children pay attention so that they had something to share with the other classmate.  She brought them back to the story just by simply counting down from five.  This showed me that she has great management skills as a teacher.  The student respect her and know how she runs the classroom.  This makes each lesson easier.  She made many facial expressions and her voice was nice to listen to.  I think that she stopped at all of the right times so that the students could answer questions and make connections.  She discussed vocabulary and told the students the characteristics of a good reader.  This will help the children improve while they read a book by themselves.  She let the class make predictions, see the problem of the story, and figure out the solution.  She covered a lot of material with one short picture book.  It was interesting to be able to see and hear the students response to the story.  I learned a lot from this video and I plan to use these methods in my own classroom.   

EDRG 3344 Harris M&W

WRITE TO INFORM

Topic: The Ocean

Audience: First Graders

EXPOSITORY WRITING

The Water Cycle

Step 1:  EVAPORATION

Step 2:  CONDENSATION

Step 3:  PRECIPITATION

Step 4:  COLLECTION

I plan to use a poster board and illustrate the water cycle.  

The steps of the cycle will be described throughout the performance.  

I will inform the students by providing them all of the steps of the cycle so that they understand the purpose of water on earth and how it is used.  

Oooh! picasso

Author:Mil Niepold and Jeanyves Verdu

Ages: 3-5

Here is an example of a Non fiction picture book.  This book has actual sculptures done by Picasso himself!  :)  It shows 5 of his sculptures and it teaches the children the difference of images viewed close up or far away.  

http://www.lookingglassreview.com/

Alfred Nobel: The Man behind the peace prize

Author:  Kathy-Jo Wargin

Non-Fiction Picture Book

Ages: 6-10

This story talks about inventions and being creative.  The children can get a lot from the pictures that are illustrated in this book.  Alfred Nobel's invention of dynamite was meant for reasons other than what most think.  He was heart broken to find that people saw his invention as something that injures people.  

J is for Jack O' Lantern: A Halloween Alphabet

Author: Denise Brennan-Nelson

Non-Fiction Picture Book

Ages: 5-11

This books describes autumn and the celebrations that come with it.  It can be told to the children for Halloween!  The older ones can learn other lessons from this book.  It tells us who was the first to dress up on October 31st.  Wow!  This will be entertaining for everyone.  :)

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

Nonfiction

Nonfiction books are very important to me.  They will also be important to my students when I have a class of my own.  :)  I will use them in lessons so that the children can engage in what is actually happening throughout these stories.   The pictures will keep them interested.  I agreed with Mrs. Pickett when she talked about "The REPORT".  :(  The kids will not remember what they did if the teacher uses a method like this one.  The use of the nonfiction  books will make the student excited about each lesson.  These books can take the place and make each lesson memorable.  Of course there are some nonfiction books that will be boring, but I will only take the important information from those.  I am really excited about all of the different techniques that we can use to improve each lesson.  This chapter gives us a lot of information and resources to use when we become teachers.  When I see the word NONFICTION, I imagine a world of possibilities.  I see truthful results that will come from the nonfiction books and I plan to make them entertaining for all of the students.  

ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY

Author: Viorst, Judith

There will be those days when everything seems to go wrong.  The children in the classroom will feel like this a lot.  This book can let them relate their day to Alexanders and see that they are not alone and everything will be just fine.

                                                               

CLICK, CLACK, MOO: COWS THAT TYPE

Author: Cronin, Doreen

This book is about cows that find a typewriter in the barn and start making demands to the farmer.  This book has great pictures and is humorous.  The children will love it!  :)  There is also repetition  and sound effects.  

EDED 4310 Tues. Zunker

WK 9 Discussion 

Describe issues related to training special education teachers to use technology.    
 Give examples of no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech solutions for special students.

The Education for Handicapped Children Act was designed for those with disabilities in 1975 so that they could have equal education rights.  Technology was being introduced and the actual programs for the disabled came out much later.  They were always behind and this makes it extremely difficult for both the child and the teacher to keep up with the techniques in using technology.  The teachers must understand everything about these programs.  There are different policies that they have to know about, and the legal issues related to the usage of technology in the classroom.  There are so many obstacles to overcome to improve our students ability to learn through technology.  The key is to figure them out and make them benefit the learner.  

No technology for special students lets them realize how to do things individually.  They can get exercise and do hands on material so they learn through actual visuals.

Low technology helps them because it is fast and useful.  It is easier to use and manage.  This helps the teacher as well.

High technology is everywhere.  It is important to get across to all of our students because it is rapidly growing around the entire world.  This type of technology has so much to offer.  It is required in most circumstances to make a situation actually work.  

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

Horton Hears A Who!

Author:  Dr. Seuss'

Horton Hears A Who is a great picture book for children.  It is about Horton the elephant finding a city on a flower.  No one else believes him, but he determined to find the flower a safe home.  A child can learn responsibility and so much more from a story like this one.  The colors and pictures will guide the children.

My Many Colored Days

Author:  Dr. Seuss'

This book brings out poetry and basics to the children.  Dr. Seuss' books are wonderful in improving a child's imagination.  This book covers all kinds of colors and it can be used as a math lesson too.

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

Chapter 7
Picture Books

I love picture books! This chapter is so important to all of us. A picture book is a form, not a genre. There are many different ways to portray a picture book, (poetry, fantasy, narratives, fiction, etc...). The book goes over the media used in the illustrations of picture books. It shows different ways to illustrate the books and what they do for the reader. Picture books have characters, settings, plots, and themes. They are detailed so that the reader can gain a lot of information from the message. Visuals are extremely important in teaching the children to be literate. These books help them in so many ways. The chapter lets us know that their are awards for writing these picture books. The award that is important to me is the lesson that the book teaches our children. These books can go with many lessons to make it more engaging for the learner. We talked about how important these books are to children in Middle School and High School as well. They capture the students in the higher levels too. I am interested in picture books and I learn from them too. They give so much motivation and desire to become a success in reading and learning valuable information. There are picture books without words. They teach the child about their imagination. They let the child tell their own stories and be creative. The pictures displayed in any book help the learner follow the whole story. It provides them with a thought to make more of the story that is being told.

Kelsie Lorraine

EDED 3344 M&W Harris

My Narrative
Kelsie Lorraine
First Grade Picture Book

Tommy the Blue Whale:
The Journey to find Supper

Beginning:
1s: Tommy, the blue whale, is very hungry.
2s: What do blue whales eat? (the hook)

Middle:
-Blue whales eat krill
-Tommy goes on a journey to find krill for supper
-Tommy has to reach surface for a breath b/c whales cannot breathe underwater
-Tommy meets up with his friend Sarah (the jellyfish)
-Tommy plays around in the ocean
-Tommy finds the krill while he is playing around
-Tommy eats supper
-Tommy plays and visits with his friends

End:
It was a long day for Tommy, but he found his supper. He completed his journey! Tommy will have to eat again so he will go on another journey soon. He better take a nap.

EDRG 3344 M&W Harris

What is a narative?

A narrative is a piece of writing that a person puts thier own thoughts into. It's purpose is to tell a story. A narrative can be a story or it can even be a poem. The basic requirements for this type of writing is that it must have a beginning, middle, and an end. The story must be very detailed so that the reader understands the plot. A narrative has plots, characters, themes, conflict, and resolution. The story needs to make sense. It should have a first sentence that tells the reader what the story is all about. It should have a second sentence that hooks the reader into wanting more information. The rest of the story will be the body which contains detail and engaging material. The final part of a narrative would be the conclusion. Each story ends and the writer needs to stay on topic and complete the story with success. An example of a narrative writing would be a book. The book Little Red Riding Hood is a good example because the beginning hooks us, the middle is full of detail (What big eyes you have...), and the ending is on topic and complete. A narrative story serves the purpose of engaging the reader and following a story line that is easy to comprehend because it flows. The topic is never lost and the details make it interesting to read. Narratives should be fun and entertaining. They make reading easy! :)

-Kelsie Lorraine

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

Wag!

Author: Patrick McDonnell

Age range: 4 to 8

This book is great for the little ones!  :)  It shows how the puppy wags his tail at everything.  He wags his tail at flowers, long walks, and belly rubs.  Soon the dogs best friend realizes that he wags his tail at everything that he loves. 

 

What was I Scared of?

Author:  Dr. Seuss

Age range: 6 to 9

This book would be wonderful for Halloween!  Children are scared of a lot of things in this world and this book lets them know that they are not alone.  Parents, grandparents, cousins, teachers, principals, and friends are scared too.  Everyone is afraid of something.  They will be able to relate to this book in so many ways.  There are many activities to do with a book like this one.  

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

CHAPTER 6 BLOG

TRADITIONAL LITERATURE

Traditional literature is the written form of stories that are a part of the oral tradition of culture.
In Chapter six we discussed the plot, the setting, the characterization, the style, and the theme. These are all the literacy elements of traditional literature. They are also found in the fiction literature, but they portray a unique message in each type of literature. The book gives us many different books that explain what traditional literature is all about. This chapter shows us how to use this literature in the classrooms. Children enjoy the different types such as jokes, riddles, folk songs, folk tales and nursery rhymes. It will make any lesson more interesting. The children will get involved and they will have fun.
I love how this book gives so many helpful tips and useful resources. The guidlines that chapter six gives are there to make sure that we are selecting the best quality and making a difference in the child. Literature can only be effective if you take all the right steps to make it that way. We have to use all differnt types of genres for our own classroom library. The books you choose will influence each child. There will be plenty of kids so there needs to be plenty of different genres in the book selection.

-Kelsie Lorraine

EDED 4310 Tues. Zunker

"History Wars" / Technology

There are a lot of issues in dealing with these "history wars". Since we are asked to teach to the test, it leaves out other areas that are important to a child and their education. Other subjects tend to become more important. Our job is to make sure that we make each subject a major concern. There are many ways in which we can make this happen. Technology has so many resourses. We have access to things like webquest, youtube, and virtual feild trips that will help improve our lessons. A child will actually be able to see places for themselves. This is a great opportunity to work outside the box. A lot of teachers do not use these sites. It is our job to keep up with the new technologies and use them in our own curriculum whatever the subject might be.
We must be prepared for all of the information on the internet that can be a major concern to the teacher/student. Not all of these resourses are appropriate. There will be discussions that a teacher may want to address, but it is important that we take the right steps in following through with our lesson. Parents, Principals, school board members, and even the students might not agree. We have to get permission. It is important to be aware of all of these dilemmas, but it's also important not to dwell on them. There are plenty of ways to make each lesson meaningful. Technology provides us with these options. We have to teach all of the subjects and we can do so by combining them so that we can accomplish more.

-Kelsie Lorraine

EDRG 3344 Harris M&W

Wow, it was wonderful to get to know all of you!  :)  You are all great people and you have wonderful memories.  Thank you for sharing them.  I missed class on Monday so I thought that I would share all of my moments too. 

Something that makes me feel warm would be my associates degree.  I was so happy when i received it from Palo Alto College.  I was very proud of myself.  I can't wait to get my certificate to teach!  That will definitely make me feel warm inside too.  :)

Something that makes me cry would be a picture of one of my best friends.  His name is Aaron.  He was a year older than me and he passed away in a car accident.  It was the year we had that horrible freezing weather.  The roads were very icy.  He did not know how to drive in these conditions.  I can't believe that he went to work that morning.  He had so many best friends.  That is the type of guy he was because he loved life and everyone in it.  I miss him so much!  I think about him all of the time.  He asked me one day, while we were both attending Palo Alto College, if I would miss him when he joined in the military.  I told him that he would be missed by everyone.  I didn't even want him to go, but I never told him that.  He said that school was not for him and he needed to figure out what he was going to do for the rest of his life.  I backed him up on his decision and I wish I could have seen him join, but he passed before.  I will never forget him.  It is hard to loose such a wonderful person.  He is remembered by the entire town of Devine and his family.  We are all better because of him.  Thanks Aaron, for everything.  I decided to elaborate on this memory because it has been a while since I have expressed my feelings about him.   

Something that is from a long time ago would be a rock.  This rock is very old.  My great grandmother gave it to me when I was very young.  I can't believe that I remember her giving it to me.  My mom didn't even know that she gave it to me.  I was talking about it years later and she almost started to cry.  This rock has the Virgin Mary holding Jesus in her arms.  Every time that I feel that I need to talk to someone or I just need someone there I turn to this rock.  It means so much to me.  :)  

Something that makes me laugh would be all of my old letters that I kept from Middle School.  I only kept the ones that meant something to me, but it is so funny to see an old friend and show them what they wrote.  They love it as much as I do.  lol

Something that is precious as gold in my life would be my niece and nephew.  Well my entire family falls under this category too.  I love spending time with them.  They make each day count.  They are my motivation, my heart, my passion, my memories, my everything.  I love them all very much.  :)    

 

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

Sorry for missing class everyone.   I felt horrible.  :(   I know that we were supposed to bring some poetry books to class and I am sorry I couldn't make it.   

I saw that a few people were posting about poetry books for children so I figured that I could share a few books with the class too.

                                           

Oh Theodore!

Author- Susan Katz

ISBN- 0168702229

This book is full of poems that share the value of a pet.  Theodore is a wonderful pet with a great personality.  This book is fun and would be even better if you had your own guinea pig as a classroom pet.  The children can learn so much as far as responsibility, nurture, nature, and how to take care of certain pets.    

This Is Just to Say

Author- Joyce Sidman

ISBN-0618616802

This book is about forgiveness and apologies.  This lesson is hard for children to learn sometimes.  Poetry is not for everyone, but some kids love it and it is important that we use poems in our classrooms.  It is just as important as the diversity of literature that should be in the classroom as well.  

I HOPE YOU ENJOY THESE BOOKS!  :)

EDRG 3321 Pickett M&W

Chapter 4 Blog

Responding to Literature

I think that some important information in this chapter would be the tips that it gives in becoming great at responding to the children's literature. If we don't respond they will feel that the book was not even worth the effort they put into reading the material. We must keep a lot of books in our classrooms. They need to be books of all types of genres and topics. It is so important to cover the material so that they understand. We have to summarize and explain exactly what is going on. They will want to know all about each piece of literature because they are curious and ready to learn. :) We need to be aware of the different developmental characteristics that each child comes with. This chapter gives so many different activities that develop good literacy in each child. A child will continue to enjoy literature through the depth of how it is being taught to them. Get ready teachers we have an important job. Lets make the best of each day. :)

-Kelsie Lorraine

EDRG 3321 Pickett M&W

The Big Red Barn introduces all of the different animals that live in the barn. This is a great book for the children. It is fun and it allows them to see a variety of animals. Some kids don't get to see farm animals and this book shows them all kinds. They will love it! :)

Author- Brown, Margaret Wise

This book is perfect for the first day of school. Kindergarten is the first step towards an education for most of the students. We need to make them feel welcome. They will be scared to leave their parents and it is our job to make them trust us and be able to stay.

Author- Carlson, Nancy L.

Every child wants to make friends. It's what they do and this book tells a story of a boy in Kindergarten that is worried about finding a friend at school. As a teacher I will make sure that they are definitely all a friend of mine. :)

EDRG 3344 Harris M&W

The Student

A lifelong student is who I am

I label myself a learner with a plan

I have hopes and dreams of becoming a teacher

 My students and I will make the world wiser

I will teach some day but continue to learn

A student will raise their hand and my head will turn

They will ask a question that I may not know

I will learn from them and together we'll grow

A student will always be a title of mine

A lifelong learner with a dream to let my kids shine

-Kelsie Lorraine

 

EDED 4310 Tues. Zunker

WK 5 Discussion - Chapter 9

Many educators believe that with the growth of media and information technology, media literacy is just as important as - or even more important than - print literacy.

What is your position on the relative importance of the two "literacy's"?

What information from this chapter helps support your position?

First I would like to define the two types of literacy's.  The media literacy is a process of analyzing, evaluating, and creating messages in a wide variety of media modes, genres, and forms.  Print literacy is the basics.  It is learning to be literate through reading and writing.  Its the fundamental skills for a literate person.  The book tells us that as teachers we need to learn how to expand our definition of literacy because there is more to it than just reading and writing down information.  We have to be able to teach the students to learn the whole meaning from their assignments.  I agree with the book because times have changed and the world is rapidly becoming more advanced.  The children today are keeping up with the new technology and the basics are boring to them.  I have gone over the chapter and gained a lot of valuable information that has made me realize that literacy needs to be expanded.  There are many ways that we can develop literate students through new techniques that will make them understand the entire lesson.  I have also learned about this change in some of my other education courses.  It is great to see that they are teaching us the new techniques to use in the classrooms.  The important part is to make sure that our teachers are actually taking this information in and doing something with it.  It is time to make a difference in our children by providing them with the proper tools and knowledge to understand the material.  

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

CHAPTER 3  

UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE READ: COMPREHENSION, VOCABULARY, AND DISCUSSION

Chapter 3 tells us that in our classroom we need to let a child read what the want to read.  They need to take in the entire book.  A child that enjoys reading the material will get a lot more use out of the assignment.  As teachers we need to support comprehension, vocabulary, and discussion in our readings. We have to make sure that the students are understanding the whole story.  Chapter 3 also introduces us different ways to encourage a child to comprehend the entire book. There are story maps which let the children compare notes and thoughts in groups.  There are comic strips which helps motivate the child in comprehension.  There are sketch-to-sketch strategies.  These allow the child to become creative by drawing what they believe the story is about.  The book provides us with many different techniques to improve our students reading. It is important to use these methods.  The children will benefit from them.   

  Author: Shel Silverstein

The Giving Tree is about a little boy who develops a relationship with a tree.  This tree gives the young boy a place to play, food, and shelter.  It gives everything it can to the boy in which in loves so much.  The tree even gives itself so that the boy can make a boat to sail.  This book can teach the students about the rewards of giving. The reward is a lifelong friendship.  The boy and the tree are bonded together.  The tree has done so much for the boy and  he is very thankful.  When the boy gets older he comes back to just a stump.  The tree feels that it can't give anymore, but the old man lets the tree know that it is still giving.  This story shares friendship, love, and the passion to help out another person.  A child needs to understand this act of kindness.  

 Author: Marc Simont

The Stray Dog is a book that teaches a child about acceptance.  It is about a stray dog that spends the afternoon with a couple of kids.  They fall in love and have to leave him all alone.  They realize that they want to adopt the dog.  The story helps a child see how important acceptance is and how it makes a difference.  The dog finds a new home and does not go to the pound.  It is accepted and can now live a happy life.  

EDRG 3344 Harris M&W

If I Won....

There are a lot of things in this world that I could win. I am going to stick with the first

thing that came to mind. Of course, it’s the lottery! Winning the lottery is a dream come true. I

would continue to go to school and work. Money is not everything. Winning the lottery would

give me the opportunity to do so much more with my choices in life. Money could help improve

my goals and intentions. I would spend most of the money on my family and the community.

Then I would buy one thing that I have always wanted.

The first thing that I would do give my parents anything they wanted. They are helping

me get through college and it has not been easy. They have been there for all of my financial

needs and would do anything to make sure that their family comes first. I would love to see

them take a vacation of a lifetime or just buy a nice house where they can sit back and watch all

of their grandchildren can play. I would spoil them and it would feel great. They deserve time to

themselves. I would give my sisters some too. They are the best sisters in the world. I want

them to feel comfortable and have no worries. My niece and nephew mean the world to me and

they would definitely benefit from my winnings. I would give my sisters some money to put

away for them so they can further their education.

I would then move on to helping the community. I would put a lot of money into the

schools. I want to see improvements in the way we teach our children. I would want them to

spend the money on new technology or better books. These adjustments would help the children

in so many different ways. After that I would put some money into the golf course that I have

worked at for six years. They need some minor improvements. My fellow employees are like a

second family. They enjoy the course so much. An eighteen hole golf course can be very

expensive to maintain. With a little extra help they can bring in more business.

The one thing that I have always wanted is a convertible car. I don’t even want a very

expensive one. I do want a brand new one because I bought my first car used and it is not doing

so good. I love being outdoors and this dream car fits my personality. My parents have always

made me pay for my own car, cell phone, and insurance. I have had to work in order to enjoy the

material things in life. I thought those things were so important when I was younger and now I

know better. I see them as a reward for a job well done and if I win the lottery and take care of

everything that I have listed than I will have my dream car. I can take a trip to the beach and

celebrate.

Wow there are so many things that I could do with the money. This would give me a

chance to finally give back. On the other side of all the excitement there are always pros and

cons to everything. I know money can change a person and that is a scary thought. I have

always told myself to stay by my beliefs and follow through with my plans. I have seen what

money can do to a person and I feel that they were being very selfish. If you have to much

money than you need to put some use to it and fix things that need to be fixed. I don’t really

need to win the lottery. I have a huge family that takes care of each other. I have wonderful

friends that would do anything to make me smile. I have wonderful teachers that believe in me

and encourage me to make a difference. I have a roof over my head and food in my stomach. I

have the opportunity to change the world and it doesn’t involve the lottery. Happiness comes

from hard work and dedication.

I am sorry, but I sent this to Dr. Harris through email.  I was not sure if she wanted this sent as a blog.  

-Kelsie Lorraine

EDRG 3344 Harris M&W

Describe what writing is - a PROCESS.  :)

Writing is a process.  We learned in class that we must never forget that statement.  It is very important to remember because most people do not take writing in a serious manner.  There are five steps to this process.  

The first one tells the writer to pre-write.  Pre-writing organizes all of your thoughts.  This is where you make a graphic organizer and put everything you want to write about on paper.  You can find examples of graphic organizers online.  The purpose of these organizers are to make sure that you are thinking about all the main ideas and details you will be writing about.   A lot of us just start writing without any preparation.  If you leave this step out than your paper will have a lot of information left out too.  

The second step is drafting.  Drafting is pretty much your rough draft.  Although I think I like the term sloppy copy better.  :)  This is where you play around with your thoughts.  After you organize your material than you have to try and move things in the right place.  This takes a while because you are trying to make since of all of your creative thoughts.  Some things will stay while others will be thrown out.  A draft allows these mistakes because it is not the final copy.  We still have a few more steps until then.  REMEMBER WRITING IS A PROCESS.  :)

The third step is revising.  Revising is where you must change, add, or remove your mistakes.  There are many people around that you can ask to help you revise your sloppy copy. :)  Dr. Harris made it clear to us that we should use no less than three people.  She also suggested a workshop conference.  We need this outside input for errors we made and for ideas.  The person revising your paper does not have the right to change your thoughts, but they can help improve them.

The fourth step is editing.  Editing focuses more on one thing at a time.  This is where you work in groups to check spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.  A good writer can miss spell.  A good writer can forget to capitalize.  A good writer can forget a comma.  These are all common mistakes.  The importance of learning from this mistake is the reason of becoming an educated individual.  Editing helps reach that level of perfection.  A paper means so much more after you have put all of this work and effort into your assignment.

The fifth and final step is to publish your work.  How exciting!  :)  After all of your hard work you can show it off.  Let your audience know that you are very proud of your hard work.  It should always be a good paper if you have followed the WRITING PROCESS.     

-Kelsie Lorraine

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

Chapter 2 

Culturally Responsive Classrooms

Chapter two covers culture.  The book is makes a point to let us know that culture can be defined in many ways.  The importance of multiple cultures in the classroom is the message that teachers need to take in from this chapter.  Our students deserve to be educated in their own beliefs.  As teachers we have our own cultures and they need to stay outside of the classroom. The students come first and it is important to know where they come from.  The first week of school is very important.  We need to get to know our students and parents on a personal level.  They all come from different backgrounds.  If we want to teach to our best ability than we need to understand each one of our students and know where they come from.  Our text prepares us with situations that will arise.  Books are full of different cultures and books are a key assessment in educating our children.  Once we get to know our students than we can make sure to let them all feel comfortable when it comes to introducing literature.  Parents can become a concern in a teachers choice of literature that will be brought to the classroom.  We must be careful about what books we bring into the classroom.  The difference in culture shapes us into who we are today.  I will be aware of the differences and move forward with my goal of a successful year in my multicultural classroom.  :)

-Kelsie Lorraine

EDRG 3321 M&W Pickett

Author: Barbara Park

Here are three books that caught my attention.  I would love to teach first grade!  These books are about the talented first grader, Junie B., and her adventures.  The first one is about her vacation and how everything went.  It would be a great book to read to the children before breaks at school.  I could have the students write something related to Junie B.'s experiences.   The second book is about holiday celebrations and what comes along with the different opinions of each student in the classroom.  There will be many different opinions in the classroom and the teachers and students must be prepared for the diversities.  The third book explains the consequences of cheating.  It helps the children see that it is wrong to cheat on anything.  These books would be great lessons for the first graders.  Especially because Junie B. is a first grader just like the students that will be reading these books.  :)

  Author: Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

  This book is humorous.  It tells a story about a young boy named Jeff.  Jeff gets 

  to go on a trip with his uncle to the Sahara desert to search for dinosaur fossils.   This will get the children excited to see what will be discovered.  This is a once     in a lifetime experience and Jeff can take them along on the journey.  There are so many lessons that can be taught from this book.   

EDED 4310 Tues. Zunker

Wk 3 Disscussion

1.  I think that this lesson would be very helpful to the students.  They should be able to be trusted and left alone, but I would never leave them unsupervised in a computer lab.  They can get so much information from browsing the net.  There are good and bad paths that they will come across.  It is safe to have an adult there in case of an emergency.  

2.  I think that the e-mail is asking to much information.  Students do not need to place all of their personal info on the web.  The teacher can get it somewhere else.  The students do need to understand how to use the different web sites, but to much detail can get them into trouble.   The last thing I would ever want is for my student to be in a harmful situation.  

3.  I would change the lesson by providing my own examples.  I would show them some extra web sites that I found useful.  The students could provide me with ones that they found as well.  I would write all of our information on the board and we would go from there.  The students know so much about technology and it can be scary at times.  I would make sure that we are using the computer in a professional manner.  They will learn a great deal from the new technologies, but we have to be safe as we use it from day to day.

-Kelsie Lorraine

EDRG 3344 Harris M&W

What is a circular story?  

It is a story that finishes where it began.  They make reading easier to teach.  The stories that we have gone over are so cute and I am excited about reading them to my future students.  There are so many lessons that a child can learn from circular stories.  I could teach them grammar, social skills, repetition, reading, writing, and many more.  All it takes is a little time and creativity to come up with different techniques.  For example, I could have them talk to each other about what might happen.  I could have them draw pictures.  We could go over vocabulary words. I could even have them summarize the story.  There are so many ways to apply learning with one simple story.  A child has to be excited about learning in order to pay attention.  A teacher should always be coming up with different ideas that will make more out of each lesson that is taught.    

Describe ways to make reading fun.

A teacher can take any book and make it fun to read for children.  A popular way is by using hands on materials.  A great example of this would be what we saw in class today.  We got to see actual objects that were going to be used in the book.  It made me very interested in the story.  I could do similar things in my class.  I heard about bringing a box full of these objects so that they can not see the items.  I could pull out each one and ask them to predict what will happen in the story.  I could also dress up like one of the characters to make things humorous.  I want to have fun in my classroom too!  :)  Reading is so important to the children.  I want them to have as much fun as possible with each lesson that I teach.  I can find different methods in math, science, english, or music.  Combining all of the subjects together and making it fun will be a challenge. I look forward to each challenge I face because it will only make me a better teacher.  Fun learning = more learning!  :)

EDED 4310 Zunker Tues. 5:30-6:50

Why Use Technology?

1.  The coordinator is looking for a way to provide technology to make it easier for the foreign language learners.  The technology is different from others and it is important to have so that each student receives the right to education.  This website suggest longitudinal research.  These programs focus on the cognitive tools.  To much research does not include the specific details of the idea itself.  We must remember that we need this information, but hard research can possibly take away from our motivation.

2. I am sure that this act is the reason for requiring "hard research" in chapter one.  The No Child Left Behind Act refers to "hard research" as an importance in all kinds of theories.  

-Kelsie Lorraine

EDRG 3321 Pickett M&W 11:00-12:20

When I looked up "Children's literature authors" I found the following link extremely helpful.  (http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/child_lit/authors/)

I like how everything is organized.  The information is easy to follow.  It provides many different authors and it tells you a lot of information.  They have contact information and other websites that can help you too.  They have a link where you can look up lesson plans which caught my attention right away.  This would be a good place to go and get valuable ideas on how to use there books in your classroom.

Another website that I found helpful is (http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai.html).  

This website lets you meet the authors and illustrators.  It gives you reviews on the specific writer.  It is nice that there is a variety to choose from.

Believing In Living Literature - Chapter 1

This chapter explains what it means to live literature and how important that should be to us.  We are future teachers and the books we choose play a major role in educating our children.  It gives us examples and tells us how to believe in the children believing in literacy.  A teacher should be just as excited about the literature as the child.  As a teacher we need to find ways to use these books with the curriculum.

-Kelsie Lorraine 

EDRG 3344.351- M&W 12:30-1:50 Harris

How do I learn?

I think that I learned from all of my past experiences.  Whether it be things that happen in front of a stranger, or something that happens in front of a best friend/family member.  I believe that everything happens for a reason.  I have taken in the information that means the most to me.  I will continue to learn from my past and make the best out of each lesson.  

Discuss motivation.

There are two types of motivation that we discussed in class.  1. Extrinsic  2. Intrinsic

I think that I fall under both.  It just depends on the situation.  Motivation is the reason why a person behaves in a particular way.  It takes a great teacher to figure each child's level of motivation so that the classroom can be manageable. 

-Kelsie Lorraine

3321/m&W

This blog is just an example.