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.