EDRG 3321 T/R Chapter 7 Blog

The chapter was very interesting. I learned so much about picture books and now I view them differently. I never realized how much is inferred when reading a picture book. I went to the library to pick out a book for class I ended up checking out six picture books so I could read them with my four year old. He loves it and thinks they are so funny. When using picture books for students it can be used as a writing exercise and will help promote higher order thinking along with learning about the genre of art. I now look at the inside cover for what type of medium was used to illustrate and I look at the techniques used in the art work. like hatches used to texture.
I admire the authors of these genre because so much is said with little to no words, just expressions and motion on the pages. Wow!

EDRG 3321 T/R Author Profile

Melanie Watt is both an author and illustrator. She has several book for younger children, like a book about Scaredy Squirrel who never leaves his nut tree because it's way too dangerous. He could encounter tarantulas, green Martians or killer bees. But he's well-prepared. Scaredy Squirrel's emergency kit includes antibacterial soap and a parachute.very cute and funny book http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/author/1263/Melanie-Watt.html

Author David Shannon has three books that I like. The first is Duck on a Bike and the second is A Bad Case of Stripes, about a girl who is worried about what others think. Last is The Bunyans
a spin on the Paul Bunyan story and how his family helped create the wonders of our landscape today. http://www.scholastic.com/titles/nodavid/davidshannon.htm

Kevin Henkes has several books and his web page is cute. He is an author of a book that my daughter loved to read, Chrysanthemum, about a mouse who is embarrassed of her name and kids make fun of it. Most of his stories have a mouse as the main character. Check out the website, http://www.kevinhenkes.com/

EDRG 3321 T/R Chapter 6 blog

I am horrified by the original stories of children's fairy tales that we read to our own kids. I wonder how someone could see the original tales of a bloody murder and think, I could change this for kids, like in the story Little Red Riding hood. Freaky!

I did enjoy the fractured fairy tales, it was a fun twist of other stories that we traditionally tell and hear. Like variations of The Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! Also, the story of Cinderella and Cinder Edna. I love how Cinder Edna was so down to earth, she put a dress on layaway then took the bus to and from the ball.

Lastly, I like how chapter 6 has given so many ideas that we can use traditional literature in our classrooms. Also, how we can make it fun and meaningful to our future students, like having puppetry, drama, and ways students can transform a traditional story into a new variation of the original.

Hope y'all have a great weekend. I hope I have a great weekend too, my week has been sleepless with sick little ones.

EDRG 3344 T/R MGP Narrative (revision)

A Place for Sheldon

Once upon a time in a pond far, far, away, there lived a turtle named Sheldon. The animals of the pond called him Shel for short. Shel was awkwardly larger than other turtles his same age. Shel never quite fit in and he was wanting more than anything to be good at some thing, anything. His best friend is a dragonfly, named Drake. Drake had lots of ideas to help Shel find a talent he
was good at.

Drake suggested that Shel could try to be a chef, but Shel's arms were to short. Shel would hold a bowl in one claw and a spoon in the other but the mixture could not be stirred because his arms could not reach across his shell. Drake then said, “Well maybe you could be a singer." So Shel and Drake went to go see the best singer of the pond, Froggy the frog. Froggy had a great singing voice. He performed karaoke every night on a lily pad stage. Shel asked Froggy, "Can you teach me how to sing?" Froggy gave Shel some pointers on how to croak karaoke. Then, Shel decided he was ready to try his singing voice out. When he opened his mouth, a horrible sound came out, Screech!!!! So, Drake said, "Maybe if you climb on the lily pad stage, your voice would sound wonderful." Shel struggled to climbed on the lily pad. But before he was even up on the pad, it sank.

Sheldon was so embarrassed and sad because he still could not find his niche in the pond. He could not find what he was great at. Shel just swam away with his head down. Drake the dragonfly found Shel on his log. He told Shel, " Just be yourself and in time you will find who you are suppose to be."

Just then they heard a "Splash!", it was a fish doing her acrobatic routine. The fish was part of a circus show in the pond. Sheldon had an idea. "I could be an acrobat!!!! Excited, he rushed into the water and dove straight to the bottom. He just knew if he got enough speed he could fly into the air and flip just like the fish. He pushed off the bottom of the pond and swam as fast as he could. Which was not very fast. When Shel reached the surface, only his neck came out of the water. "No flying, no flipping! Aahhh!" growled Sheldon. " I can't do anything."

Drake felt so bad for his friend. "There is something you can be good at. Just be yourself and you will be happy," Drake said. Sheldon agreed and said "Maybe your right. Like they say, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. The two friends called it a day and went home for the night.

The next morning, Shel woke to the sound of birds chipping. He left the log to find breakfast. After breakfast, Shel basted himself out on top of his log to warm up in the sunlight. Hours went by before Drake came over. Drake was so exited he found something for Shel to do. Earlier, Drake came across the pond's water polo team. They told the dragonfly that if he knew any turtles who were big and strong, to send him to the cattails of the pond. Shel heard Drake but he did not feel confident enough to go.

Shel took three days before he finally was convinced by his friend to go try out for the water polo team. Once Shel arrived at the cattails, he noticed that the other turtles were his same large size. They were missing one team mate and needed a new player. Sheldon tried out for the team and they asked Shel, "Will you help our team go to the championship finals?", Shel didn't hesitate, he
accepted. After two months of being on the water polo team, Shel was a strong player. He was a very good player and was voted the most valuable player. Drake was so proud of his friend.

The pond was all a buzz. All the pond animals were preparing for a parade. Their home water polo team won the championship game. Shel was who everyone was waiting to see in the parade. Shel felt like he finally belonged and he had a purpose in the pond. When Shel was on the float he waved to everyone while Drake rode on top of Shel's shell. Shel turned to see Drake and
told him, "Thank you for always believing in me and standing by my side. Your a great friend."

Author Profile EDRG 3321

Author Mo Willems was recommended to me by my mentor teacher. his books are funny. http://www.mowillems.com/ some of his titles are Pigs Make Me Sneeze!, Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus, Elephants Can't Dance.





Actress, Jamie Lee Curtis, also writes childrens books. Jamie Lee Curtis is the author of Big Words for Little People (for empowerment), Is There Really a Human Race? ( self awareness), It's Hard to Be Five (self control), I’m Gonna Like Me (self esteem), Where Do Balloons Go?(imagination and loss), Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day (moods and feeling), Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, and When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old’s Memoir of Her Youth.
http://www.jamieleecurtisbooks.com/meet_jamie.html





Ted Arnold is another good author. Some of his works are Parts, Frogs in Space, Hooray For Fly Guy. http://www.teddarnoldbooks.com/

EDRG 3321 T/Th Maya Angelou Video

I have always loved to listen and read poetry. I don't understand it sometimes, but that is ok with me. The poem is like a song, it can make me feel sad, happy, calm, and some make me feel at peace. One of my favorite poems is by Sylvia Plath called Morning Song. When you read it one may interpret as a baby's death. But when I read into it more, I now see that it is about a mother and a new born and how she wakes in the night to breast feed her baby. It is so beautiful. Maya Angelou too is a wonderful poet. I enjoyed watching the video and was amazed that she memorized and recited so many poems by memory.

Paul Laurence Dunbar is a poet who influenced Maya Angelou. When she recited his poem It brought up feelings that upset me, due to a situation the happened during my field base. A child was being picked on by a teacher every time he moved, she had labeled him like a caged bird. I ended up getting emotional when I shared my feeling of this poem with Ms. Pickett. Here is the poem:

Sympathy

I know what the caged bird feels.
Ah me, when the sun is bright on the upland slopes,
when the wind blows soft through the springing grass
and the river floats like a sheet of glass,
when the first bird sings and the first bud ops,
and the faint perfume from its chalice steals.
I know what the caged bird feels.

I know why the caged bird beats his wing
till its blood is red on the cruel bars,
for he must fly back to his perch and cling
when he fain would be on the bow aswing.
And the blood still throbs in the old, old scars
and they pulse again with a keener sting.
I know why he beats his wing.

I know why the caged bird sings.
Ah, me, when its wings are bruised and its bosom sore.
It beats its bars and would be free.
It's not a carol of joy or glee,
but a prayer that it sends from its heart's deep core,
a plea that upward to heaven it flings.
I know why the caged bird sings.

Because of this situation and this poem, I feel that I know what kind of a teacher I hope to be. I don't what to be putting a child down, I don't want to tell them they are better when they are not in class, or that they are bothers. I want all my students to feel wanted and that I care. I hope that none of you fall into that ugly teacher that speaks badly of your students and gossips with colleagues about them.

EDRG 3344 T/TH Benefits of Talking

Talking is very beneficial in a classroom and helps students academically. Talking promotes higher-level thinking by making students think more about the story , also causes them to reread the text to confirm the question or comment. Furthermore, those questions and comments made help other children, who may be lost, to understand what is going on within a story. Talking also helps build language proficiency, helps gain confidence, and gets the quiet students to participate.

I know that talking benefits me as a student. In school, I was always quite and just sat back to absorb information. When giving an oral report or speech, I would have such anxiety. I hated to speak out. Now, I still shake a little but I am able to perform. I love that in our classes, talking and participation in encouraged. I have been able to learn more about not only the subject but my fellow classmates. In turn, I feel more confident in speaking during class because they are on longer strangers. We are a community.

The debate we had in class, Snickers v. Twix, is a great example. As each side of the classroom argued back and forth, I noticed people who usually don't say anything, speak up to give they ideas toward the debate. Even though the topic was silly it was a great learning experience to be a part of and a tool that we can use in our classrooms. That was so FUN!