Sendak, Maurice. Where The Wild Things Are. Harper Collins Publishers, 1963.
Plan:
The book I choose to read is “Where The Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak. This was one of my favorite books as a kid and one of the few I remember very specifically. I feel like every child should hear it at least once and is my hopes that they enjoy it as much as I did.
I am going to be reading this to a group of Pre Kindergarteners that I look after in the afternoons. They are a rowdy group of boys so I am hoping they will be able to identify with the main character and the ruckus he causes. This is mainly a book about a child’s wild imagination! I want to show these kids that having an active imagination is great and it is a good way to come up with great ideas. For kids being able to go into a far off land and pretend they are in a world of monsters is amazing and every child should have to opportunity to imagine whatever they can. Great ideas come from an imagination!
Journal:
I brought this book to read to three rowdy boys that I thought would be able to identify with the main character and his mischief. I was definitely right on them being able to relate to Max. They thought this book was hilarious and only one of them had heard of it before. All of them really enjoyed how Max dressed up in his wolf suit when he wanted to create ruckus; and one of them even shared how he has a superman cape that he puts on at his house and makes his baby sister be his sidekick!
I really enjoyed reading this book to these boys. I could see that they really enjoyed it and were anxious for me to turn each page. After I got done with the reading I gave each boy a piece of paper and crayons and told them they could draw whatever they wanted. I did this to see how active their imaginations were. One little boy drew himself on a motorcycle with his pet jellyfish. He drew a dinosaur next to it and had a whole story about how the dinosaur was going to eat them, and his jellyfish would sting it and kill it and save his life.
I obviously didn’t tell them I wanted them to get that having an active imagination is good, but I could tell that they had it. Each boy was so creative and I saw they really liked this book and everything Max imagined he was doing! I personally feel like having an active imagination is good and it is something that should be carried on, not stopped when we get older.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Yum! MmMm! Que Rico! Craft Lesson
Mora, Pat. Yum! MmMm! Que Rico!. Illus. Rafael Lopez. New York: Lee & Low, 2007.
Discussion
I think this is a good book for the older students to start learning the countries of the world a little better. It would be good to group students up and assign each student a different country. This book would help students to learn that so many things we use in our lives originated from a different country.
How To Teach It
I will begin by grouping students into groups of 3 or 4. I feel like any more than that and there won't be enough work for everyone to do. I will hang the map on a blank wall and assign each group a different county. I would like them to do some research on their assigned country. They will need to find out what kind of food they eat, what language the speak, population, how big the county is and anything else they want to add. Each group will write a report, that they will turn in, and then make a presentation to the class on what they found out about their country.
Discussion
I think this is a good book for the older students to start learning the countries of the world a little better. It would be good to group students up and assign each student a different country. This book would help students to learn that so many things we use in our lives originated from a different country.
How To Teach It
I will begin by grouping students into groups of 3 or 4. I feel like any more than that and there won't be enough work for everyone to do. I will hang the map on a blank wall and assign each group a different county. I would like them to do some research on their assigned country. They will need to find out what kind of food they eat, what language the speak, population, how big the county is and anything else they want to add. Each group will write a report, that they will turn in, and then make a presentation to the class on what they found out about their country.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Yumm MMMM Que Rico
Mora, Pat. Yum! MmMm! Que rico!. Illus. Rafael Lopez. Madison Avenue NY: LEE & LOW BOOKS Inc., 2007.
I kind of had mixed feelings about this book. I loved the illustrations and all of the vibrant colors on the pages. I had to read it a couple of times to auctually get my feelings together. At first i did not like the way this book was written. But, as i read it more i started to like it. I started to auctually enjoy the haikus on each page and found them engaging. The informational text on each page was very interesting. I didn't know some of the facts about each food. In my opinion i would probably keep this for upper lever kids. It might fly over the youngers ones heads.
I kind of had mixed feelings about this book. I loved the illustrations and all of the vibrant colors on the pages. I had to read it a couple of times to auctually get my feelings together. At first i did not like the way this book was written. But, as i read it more i started to like it. I started to auctually enjoy the haikus on each page and found them engaging. The informational text on each page was very interesting. I didn't know some of the facts about each food. In my opinion i would probably keep this for upper lever kids. It might fly over the youngers ones heads.
Chapter 12
Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Sadle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.
History! BLAH! That is how i felt about learning history and having to read history textbooks. I was that kid that was not interested in it at all . I would learn it for a test and then immediatly forget it. After all that, i do regret it because now i am not the greatest person to have a conversation with when it comes to history! But, having read this chapter i do see why learning our history is important! I feel like at the earlier ages it would be helpful if i could find fun books that have to do with our history but present it in a way that is not boring to read and that the kids enjoy. At least that way they will be able to start to learn their history but won't despise it like i did!
History! BLAH! That is how i felt about learning history and having to read history textbooks. I was that kid that was not interested in it at all . I would learn it for a test and then immediatly forget it. After all that, i do regret it because now i am not the greatest person to have a conversation with when it comes to history! But, having read this chapter i do see why learning our history is important! I feel like at the earlier ages it would be helpful if i could find fun books that have to do with our history but present it in a way that is not boring to read and that the kids enjoy. At least that way they will be able to start to learn their history but won't despise it like i did!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Children's Literature Autobiography
Reading was always considered something important growing up in my family. My parents were big on the fact that reading would help my brother and me become better individuals. They knew it would strengthen our vocabulary and our communication skills; it would also be an enjoyable pastime for us.
Books were always present in my house, so even from an early age I always knew what they were. One of my earliest memories of reading probably consists of not “reading” at all, but looking at all the pictures instead. Since my brother is older than I he was already reading “big kid” books. I would take those very same books and look at the pictures while making up my own words. I would hold the book upside down, sideways or backwards! It didn’t matter, or ever occur to me that I didn’t know the actual story. When I became old enough to know that books actually do have their own words, my parents and teachers introduced the idea of phonics to me. I had the whole “Hooked On Phonics” set and there was a set time each day when I practiced these lessons with my mother. Having to do this everyday helped me tremendously with my reading skills. It built up my confidence and I became excited when I learned new words in the books I was reading. I guess the saying is true, “hooked on phonics worked for me!”
In early elementary school some of my favorite books included If You Give A Mouse A Cookie and The Bearenstein Bears. These books may not have had very high literary content, but they were so much fun for me to read. My parents didn’t care how many times I brought home the same book to read them, they just thought it was neat that I was reading and enjoying it. As my reading skills grew so did my choice of books. In sixth grade I got into chapter books. I was lucky enough to have a teacher, Mrs. Mardell, who encouraged me to choose the books that I enjoyed reading. She felt that if we enjoyed it, it would make us want to do it that much more. The Hank the Cowdog series was my favorite. My parents bought me every book in that collection, and I guarantee I read all of them! I would even take them to school and read them during our silent reading time and on any break we had. Of course at this age I had to do book reports on these books, but because I enjoyed them it was ok I had to write what they were about. I always loved reading in elementary school. My parents and teachers had such a positive outlook on it that it had rubbed off on me. I was so encouraged to do it, that it just came naturally.
When I entered middle school, this once amazing thing I enjoyed began to change drastically. I couldn’t pick the books I wanted to read; I now had to read the books the teacher felt had high literary merit. These books were not the most enjoyable to read, either. I know I didn’t read these books because I wanted to, I read them because I had to! My high school years were a lot of the same. I didn’t enjoy reading at all. I definitely didn’t get to pick the books I wanted to read, and reading for fun got put on the back burner to friends, dates and weekends. The Illiad, The Odyssey, 1984 and The Great Gatsby were just a few that we had to read in high school. These books may have had high literary content, but no high school student wants to read these, much less because they are being forced to. After finishing one of the books for an assignment we would always have to write the traditional book report and interpret what we thought the book meant. To me, this assignment is not the type of thing that keeps a student interested in reading. I never had a teacher in high school that encouraged me to find what I enjoyed reading and build on it. Thus, that made me not want to read, so I was introduced to Cliffnotes and Sparknotes and began taking the easy way out.
I was very lucky to begin my reading journey with such caring and positive influences. My parents and my elementary school teachers, Mrs. Mardell in particular, really made me see how much fun reading can be! After many years of being off the reading bandwagon I have jumped back on. Reading is an enjoyable pastime, as my parents first taught me, and something that is very crucial. Reading great stories is something that sticks with someone forever. It builds confidence, vocabulary and communication skills and you can’t beat seating down with a good book and being caught up in a great story!
Books were always present in my house, so even from an early age I always knew what they were. One of my earliest memories of reading probably consists of not “reading” at all, but looking at all the pictures instead. Since my brother is older than I he was already reading “big kid” books. I would take those very same books and look at the pictures while making up my own words. I would hold the book upside down, sideways or backwards! It didn’t matter, or ever occur to me that I didn’t know the actual story. When I became old enough to know that books actually do have their own words, my parents and teachers introduced the idea of phonics to me. I had the whole “Hooked On Phonics” set and there was a set time each day when I practiced these lessons with my mother. Having to do this everyday helped me tremendously with my reading skills. It built up my confidence and I became excited when I learned new words in the books I was reading. I guess the saying is true, “hooked on phonics worked for me!”
In early elementary school some of my favorite books included If You Give A Mouse A Cookie and The Bearenstein Bears. These books may not have had very high literary content, but they were so much fun for me to read. My parents didn’t care how many times I brought home the same book to read them, they just thought it was neat that I was reading and enjoying it. As my reading skills grew so did my choice of books. In sixth grade I got into chapter books. I was lucky enough to have a teacher, Mrs. Mardell, who encouraged me to choose the books that I enjoyed reading. She felt that if we enjoyed it, it would make us want to do it that much more. The Hank the Cowdog series was my favorite. My parents bought me every book in that collection, and I guarantee I read all of them! I would even take them to school and read them during our silent reading time and on any break we had. Of course at this age I had to do book reports on these books, but because I enjoyed them it was ok I had to write what they were about. I always loved reading in elementary school. My parents and teachers had such a positive outlook on it that it had rubbed off on me. I was so encouraged to do it, that it just came naturally.
When I entered middle school, this once amazing thing I enjoyed began to change drastically. I couldn’t pick the books I wanted to read; I now had to read the books the teacher felt had high literary merit. These books were not the most enjoyable to read, either. I know I didn’t read these books because I wanted to, I read them because I had to! My high school years were a lot of the same. I didn’t enjoy reading at all. I definitely didn’t get to pick the books I wanted to read, and reading for fun got put on the back burner to friends, dates and weekends. The Illiad, The Odyssey, 1984 and The Great Gatsby were just a few that we had to read in high school. These books may have had high literary content, but no high school student wants to read these, much less because they are being forced to. After finishing one of the books for an assignment we would always have to write the traditional book report and interpret what we thought the book meant. To me, this assignment is not the type of thing that keeps a student interested in reading. I never had a teacher in high school that encouraged me to find what I enjoyed reading and build on it. Thus, that made me not want to read, so I was introduced to Cliffnotes and Sparknotes and began taking the easy way out.
I was very lucky to begin my reading journey with such caring and positive influences. My parents and my elementary school teachers, Mrs. Mardell in particular, really made me see how much fun reading can be! After many years of being off the reading bandwagon I have jumped back on. Reading is an enjoyable pastime, as my parents first taught me, and something that is very crucial. Reading great stories is something that sticks with someone forever. It builds confidence, vocabulary and communication skills and you can’t beat seating down with a good book and being caught up in a great story!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
My Many Colored Days Craft Lesson
Seuss, Dr. My Many Colored Days. Illus. Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. New York: Random House, 1996.
Discussion
I think this is a great book for the younger grades. It goes through emotions that young kids feel but might not know how to express. It is wonderful how the young boy associates his emotions with not only a color, but also an object or an animal.
How to Teach It
I will start this activity by reading the book "My Many Colored Days" aloud to the class. After we finish reading this book, I am going to have the students decide how they feel on each day of the week. I will have them make a book out of construction paper just like "My Many Colored Days". I will get construction paper and staple it to look like a book. Each day the students will decide how they feel and then pick the color they think goes with that feeling. For example, if they are happy they can pick yellow and draw a bright sun! At the end of the week they will have a book just like the Dr. Seuss book to take home and share with their family.
Discussion
I think this is a great book for the younger grades. It goes through emotions that young kids feel but might not know how to express. It is wonderful how the young boy associates his emotions with not only a color, but also an object or an animal.
How to Teach It
I will start this activity by reading the book "My Many Colored Days" aloud to the class. After we finish reading this book, I am going to have the students decide how they feel on each day of the week. I will have them make a book out of construction paper just like "My Many Colored Days". I will get construction paper and staple it to look like a book. Each day the students will decide how they feel and then pick the color they think goes with that feeling. For example, if they are happy they can pick yellow and draw a bright sun! At the end of the week they will have a book just like the Dr. Seuss book to take home and share with their family.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Minn and Jake Craft Lesson
Wong, Janet. Minn and Jake. New York: Farrar, 2003.
I thought Minn and Jake was a great book for fifth graders. It explores how difficult it is for this age group to form solid friendships.This age group could really relate to the characters and the attitudes they portray towards certain events. Being in fifth grade is such an akward time...so I thought to pick something akward out of this book and have fun with it.
Activity
I would like to read this book as a read aloud in class over the course of about one week. After we finish the book the students will draw which animal they see themselves as. It can be whatever they choose! It can even be a made up animal, but, if they choose to do that they have to explain what the animal is and why it suits them. After they have finished drawing they are going to color their animal and write a paragraph on why they see themselves as that animal! I think this would help them identify with how Minn feels and how akward this time can be. This assignment would get their imaginations working and help them in their creative writing!
I thought Minn and Jake was a great book for fifth graders. It explores how difficult it is for this age group to form solid friendships.This age group could really relate to the characters and the attitudes they portray towards certain events. Being in fifth grade is such an akward time...so I thought to pick something akward out of this book and have fun with it.
Activity
I would like to read this book as a read aloud in class over the course of about one week. After we finish the book the students will draw which animal they see themselves as. It can be whatever they choose! It can even be a made up animal, but, if they choose to do that they have to explain what the animal is and why it suits them. After they have finished drawing they are going to color their animal and write a paragraph on why they see themselves as that animal! I think this would help them identify with how Minn feels and how akward this time can be. This assignment would get their imaginations working and help them in their creative writing!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
My Many Colored Days
Seuss, Dr. My Many Colored Days. Illus. Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. New York: Random House, 1996.
This book was about a little boy who uses colors and animals to express how he is feeling each day. This was an interesting book, but of course Dr. Seuss is always interesting. The illustrations in the story were my favorite part. The colors were very vivid and I think kids would like all the colors. I think this book would be good for the pre-k and kindergarten crowds more than the older ones. Children do not always know how to express their emotions and this may help them understand how to do that better. How can any one go wrong with Dr. Seuss!
This book was about a little boy who uses colors and animals to express how he is feeling each day. This was an interesting book, but of course Dr. Seuss is always interesting. The illustrations in the story were my favorite part. The colors were very vivid and I think kids would like all the colors. I think this book would be good for the pre-k and kindergarten crowds more than the older ones. Children do not always know how to express their emotions and this may help them understand how to do that better. How can any one go wrong with Dr. Seuss!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Children's Literature Briefly, Chapter 18
Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature Briefly. 4e. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.
We were assigned to read Tunnell and Jacobs chapter 18. In this chapter I really enjoyed reading the different stories about how people learn. It just shows you that people learn in ALL different ways and the person in each story is very intelligent. I think my favorite was about the little girl Cushla Yeoman who was born with handicaps and her doctors recommended she be put in an institution. Her parents felt otherwise and had seen her respond to books. She eventually overcame this handicap and her doctors pronounced her socially well adjusted. This story just shows the impact reading has on children. Even if the child can not read, when a parent reads to a child it has just as big an impact. The children still see the pictures and hear the words!!!
We were assigned to read Tunnell and Jacobs chapter 18. In this chapter I really enjoyed reading the different stories about how people learn. It just shows you that people learn in ALL different ways and the person in each story is very intelligent. I think my favorite was about the little girl Cushla Yeoman who was born with handicaps and her doctors recommended she be put in an institution. Her parents felt otherwise and had seen her respond to books. She eventually overcame this handicap and her doctors pronounced her socially well adjusted. This story just shows the impact reading has on children. Even if the child can not read, when a parent reads to a child it has just as big an impact. The children still see the pictures and hear the words!!!
Minn & Jake Part 2
Wong, Janet S. Minn and Jake. Illus. Genevieve Cote. New York, NY: Frances Foster Books, 2003.
This book was an awesome read. I really enjoyed the verse writing for this book as opposed to how a regular chapter book would be written. In the beginning of the book Minn says she feels very lizardy and alone and feels like she has no real friends. Once she began to become friends with Jake and let him into her world, she got over this akwardness she used to feel and became happy. She reverted back to this feeling when Jake left for the summer and once again she was all alone! In the beginning of this book Minn did not like Jake at all, but once she let him in her world her perspective changed. This book showed that even if two people are totally opposite they can still become the best of friends.
This book was an awesome read. I really enjoyed the verse writing for this book as opposed to how a regular chapter book would be written. In the beginning of the book Minn says she feels very lizardy and alone and feels like she has no real friends. Once she began to become friends with Jake and let him into her world, she got over this akwardness she used to feel and became happy. She reverted back to this feeling when Jake left for the summer and once again she was all alone! In the beginning of this book Minn did not like Jake at all, but once she let him in her world her perspective changed. This book showed that even if two people are totally opposite they can still become the best of friends.
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