Thursday, April 2nd

Hey everybody!
Today, we read the book Corduroy, by Don Freeman. Then, we took some time to share our writing territories with our neighbor. We added to our own writing territories if we thought our neighbor had good ideas. Then, we did the "where has this foot been" activity. We traced around our shoe, and wrote all of the places that we have been inside. This activity helped us create a great reference for when we need something to write about. Our homework is to write for 2 hours, and is due next Thursday. Remember: we do not have class next Tuesday, but Thursday our class will last for 2 hours. :-)

Thursday, March 19th

Hello All!

Today in class I read a book called "The Story of the Milky Way, A Cherokee Tale" by Joseph Bruchac, for the nonfiction read aloud. As a class we talked about different lessons that could be based off this book. Some of the ideas we came up with were, having students write their own folklore, acting out the story as a class, and having students research other folklores. After the read aloud we got into our writing groups to silently read over the "Written Language Analysis" assignment. When we were finished in small groups, we gathered as a class to talk about similarities we saw across the different samples. Some of these similarities were that students have a lot of trouble with homophones, students did well with indenting, capitalizing letters and using inventive spelling. No homework over break!!

Have a great Spring Break!

St. Patty's Day!!!

Today in class we discussed our bajillion ways article responses. There were a variety of different responses. I handed out a writing sample from a 2nd grade student. The student did a great job of sounding out words, using adjectives, and capitalizing names. She could work on some spelling, making sentences shorter and quotation marks. She was what I would consider average for a 2nd grader. At the writing sample Betsey and Aubry gave a lesson about adjectives. The class received a letter from a leprechaun and we were given special powder. We got to guess what it was and it turns out it was pudding. After making the pudding we described the changes that occurred after we made it. Then we got to eat some! This was a fun St. Patty's day lesson! A reminder we have out written analysis due on Thursday! Have a great day everyone!

3-12-09

3-12-09
Today in class, we were given a new assignment called Written Language Analysis. This assignment is due March 19th. Get a children's writing sample and use it to do the written assignment. Next, I read aloud a book called King Bidgood's in the bathtub By Audery Wood. I mentioned that this book was good to use for sentence fluency. Then, Caitie and Devin presented a lesson on details and descriptive words. We all sat in a circle and guessed what the first few pages of the book "A Medieval Feast" had said by paying attention to detail and looking at the pictures. Then, we were shown a picture of a carnival scene and asked to describe what we think is going on using details. We were then asked to share and given a Self-Evaluation sheet that we completed in parallel to our work. Finally, we turned in our writing evaluations and class was dismissed.

3-10-09

Today in class, we started with discussing our writing portfolios. We decided that you can either have a separate binder or a section in your idea notebook. For next Thursday, you need to write a reflection including how it is organized, what you have learned, and your views on Juanita's teaching. Next, I presented a poetry writing sample from a second grade boy. We discussed his strengths and how we can help him grow. We then evaluated his work using a 4 point holistic scoring guide. Then, Kelsey and Jenna G. presented a lesson on word choice. We created mad libs and made sentences by rearranging words on note cards.

Organizational Books

Hey guys!

Here is a google "library" that showcases some of the books Marissa and I found! Enjoy!

Annie & Marissa


http://www.google.com/books?uid=13972835705784990967&rview=1

electronic books

This is our groups electronic presentation. It's a website.

missouri.edu/~datwvf

Thursday, March 5 class

On Thursday, Kelly read the book The Keeping Quilt, by Patricia Polacco. This book takes readers through each generation of the writers' family through their use of a family quilt. The words are simple, yet personal, and the pictures are entirely in brown except for the quilt in each picture. Although this book may not seem like a typical "informational" text, it is a nonfictional story and includes culture and history.

Kelly also passed around the Young Explorers book, Human Body. Although it is not a book that Kelly chose to read aloud to the group, it would be a great book to have as a resource, and children would have a blast looking through the pop-up pages.

After the read-aloud, we traveled to the Reflector to work on creating a way to present our groups' 6-traits books by utilizing technology.

Our homework is to finish our 6-traits books' technology, and remember that our next article response is also due on Tuesday!

Idea Trait: Wordle by Devin, Betsy, & Jenna

Rosa by Nikki Giovanni (Devin Erdal)
http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/615416/Rosa

SouperChicken by Mary Jane Auch (Betsy Richmond)
http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/615398/SouperChicken

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Jenna Guarino)
http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/615425/Where_The_Wild_Things_Are

Voice 6+1 Trait

Hello everyone! So we now have a blog for the voice 6+1 Trait, it's my old blog. So the address is caitiegraham.blogspot.com.

Sentence Fluency

Testing Miss Malarkey by: Judy Finchler
She Did It! by: Jennifer A. Ericsson
Move Over Rover! by: Karen Beaumont
King Bidgood's In the Bathtub by: Audrey Wood
The Little Boat by: Kathy Henderson
Can I Bring My Pterodactyl to School Ms Johnson? by: Lois G. Grambling
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by: Dr. Seuss
Snowball Fight! by: Jimmy Fallon

These are examples of sentence fluency because they rhyme, have repetition, various sentence lengths, and have a cadence quality.

My blog

Ok so I jumped on the band wagon and made a blog for my self... it's in the followers category :).

Tuesday, March 3rd :)

Today, I started off the class by sharing two writing samples from my kindergarten class. I decided to bring in two examples because they were short and they were so different from each other. They were really interesting to observe and reflect on! As a class, we talked about what each student did well on and what they could improve on too.

Then we moved on to talk about the Obama speech and discussed the 6+1 traits. We had a class discussion about what made each part that specific trait. One trait that seemed difficult to find was presentation.

Juanita then asked us to think about two important things: how we communicate with friends and family and what kinds of electronic technology we own. After thinking and discussing these questions, we were placed into groups based on the picture book that we brought in for class. (what trait it portrayed) In these groups, we were to think about how to send a list of our books to the class using technology. (she encouraged us to stay away from email!) This basically led us to the end of class time.

Our homework for Thursday: keep thinking about ways we can send our group's list. We will work on it next time!

GREAT CLASS TODAY! :)

Tuesday the 24th

On Tuesday (the 24th) I brought in a writing sample from my 4th grade class. The writer talked about her day at the park with her family. We talked about some of the things she did well in her writing, like her use of quotation marks, and how she wrote like she talked. We also discussed the things that needed some improvement, like her spelling and punctuation. I hope it was good practice for when we will be reviewing our students writing constantly. Later we discussed the "6 trait" articles that we brought to class. Then we split into groups, picked a song that portrayed on of the 6 traits, and came up with a creative way to sing and present it to the rest of the class. It was a fun day! :)

The Debt Machine

The Debt Machine (The Red Wheelbarrow Mimic)
So much depends
Upon
A credit card

Glazed with streaks
from use

Frozen in an iceblock
Next to a bag of peas

I Need Jesus

"I need Jesus"
I am hungry	I am hungry
I need food to eat
	I need Jesus
I am thirsty	I am thirsty
I need water to drink
	I need Jesus
I am cold I am cold
I need shelter to cover me
	I need Jesus
I am sick	I am sick
I need a doctor
	I need Jesus
I am tired	I am tired
I need sleep
	I need Jesus
I am depressed	I am depressed
I need therapy
	I need Jesus
I need Jesus	I need Jesus

Rodney's book read

I chose a non-fiction book about weird happenings in the weather.  In Missouri we have a lot of weird weather and kids take notice of this.  So, I thought in order to get their attention about a weather unit I would read something more weird than what they already know.  Hopefully this would be a good introduction for the unit and would spark their curiosity into what makes the weather happen.  Of course I don't know this for sure, but that's what I was thinking anyway.  I enjoyed reading it to the class and tried to ask questions as I went to help engage people with the book. I noticed some people had no interest in the book and wondered how I might get their attention.   If I did it again I would try to engage more people with questions or try to come up with a way to get everyone to give an answer.  Overall it was a good learning experience.

Last Tuesday

Last Tuesday I presented a writing sample from my third grade field class, along with the honesty train activity. We discussed what the writer did well and what she could have worked on. Kelly and Deidra presented a lesson about writing short stories. We were each given a picture with only a few words on it, and asked to write a short story, or part of a story. A few students shared what they wrote. I remember that Aubry wrote a comical story about a boy at a restaurant. Later in the hour, the whole class participated in shared writing.

The Bread Toaster

The Bread Toaster

So much depends upon a bread toaster
Covered with bread crumbs and sesame seeds
Next to kitchen sink and the automatic can opener

High-heels

High-heels High-heels

Tonight is the night

to come off.

the shelf. the shelf.

I hope it's

not raining

and I won't

get squashed. get squashed.

I'm ready to

make my appearance,

it's party time! it's party time!

Mimicking "Beat It"

Original

“Beat It” by: Michael Jackson

[2nd Verse]
You Better Run, You Better Do What You Can
Don't Wanna See No Blood, Don't Be A Macho Man
You Wanna Be Tough, Better Do What You Can
So Beat It, But You Wanna Be Bad

[Chorus]
Just Beat It, Beat It, Beat It, Beat It
No One Wants To Be Defeated
Showin' How Funky Strong Is Your Fight
It Doesn't Matter Who's Wrong Or Right
Just Beat It, Beat It
Just Beat It, Beat It
Just Beat It, Beat It
Just Beat It, Beat It

Revised

“Whip It” by: Marissa Bartolotta

[2nd Verse]
You Better Bake, You Better Grab the Ingredients
Don't Wanna See No Laziness, Don't Be A Couch Potato
You Wanna Be Energized, Better Do What You Can
So Whip It, But You Wanna Be Good

[Chorus]
Just Whip It, Whip It, Whip It, Whip It
Add 2 Eggs and Water to be Moist

Puree the Batter Until It Is Smooth

It Doesn’t Matter if Chocolate or Vanilla
Just Whip It, Whip It
Just Whip It, Whip It
Just Whip It, Whip It
Just Whip It, Whip It

Sleep

(original)

Though wakefulness my domain

In sleep I remain,

For wakefulness is sleep

One shallow and one deep.

By:Ryan Remole

Though forgetfulness my domain,

Responsible I remain.

For forgetfulness is resonsible,

One accidental, one permanent.

Give a man a fish : original

Give a man a fish to make a dish
And you will feed him for a day
But teach a man how to fish
And help keep his hunger away.

Give a man some food: by Bryan Remole

Give a man some food for a deal
And you will feed him for a day
But teach a man how to cook a meal
And you will keep his pain away.

Sound of the Breeze
By Alanna Baker

If things get real for me up here,
Promise life will be the same as before you left for faraway.
I cannot wait for that day.
If things get real for me up here,
Promise to take my hand and walk by my side.
Like we did before you before you left that day.

And if I listen to the sound of the breeze,
Sometimes I see you laugh, and remember the ease.
Oh if I listen to the sound of the breeze,
Sometimes I hear your voice, and remember the way it used to be.
And if I listen to the sound of the breeze.

If I were in Charge of the World- Brit Klink

If I were in charge of the world
I’d cancel homework, annoying people,
Messy apartments, and being tired.

If I were in charge of the world
There’d be a pet in every household, no mono,
And the temperature everyday would be sixty-five degrees.

If I were in charge of the world
You wouldn’t have fat deposits,
You wouldn’t have hurt.
You wouldn’t have crime.
Or “Better lock your doors”
We wouldn’t even have doors.

If I were in charge of the world,
Perfect days would be endless
Every person would have food to eat
Children would never lose their innocence
And a person who sometimes forgets to love
And sometimes forgets to rise above
Would still be allowed to be
In charge of the world.

Crayons

Crayons: A Rainbow Poem (Original)

By Jane Yolen

This box contains the wash of blue sky,

Spikes of green spring,

A circle of yellow sun,

Triangle flames of orange and red.

It has the lime caterpillar

Inching on a brown branch,

The shadow black in the center

Of a grove of trees.

It holds my pink and your chocolate

And her burnt sienna

And his ivory skin.

In it are all the colors of the world.

Crayons: A Rainbow Poem

By Kelly Lautenschlager

This box contains the tint of a white snow,

Brightness of a red rose,

A circle of a purple grape,

Bright stars of blue and yellow.

It has the vibrance of a rainbow parrot

Flying freely in the crisp blue sky,

The shadow brown down below

On the grainy sand.

It holds my blue and your green

And her glowing hazel

And his brown eyes.

In it are all the colors of the world.

Mimic Poem

The Flower (original)

From a bud in a patch of sand

To a beautiful flower that knows

Right from wrong,

Left from right.

A Flower that has dreams,

And wants to for fill those dreams,

And will let no one stop it.

A Flower that deals with situations,

drama as you might say

A Flower that maybe an inspiration to other flowers,

That will grow and bloom forever.

A Flower that has a future,

A Flower which is me! :)

The Crayon (mimic)

From a single crayon in a school box of supplies

To a desk full of tools that know

Letter from number,

Bright from dull.

A Crayon that has goals,

And wants to fill those goals,

And will let no other crayon stop it.

A Crayon that deals with dirty hands,

Obstacles as you might say

A Crayon that may change the lives of others,

That will help and serve forever,

A Crayon that is going many places,

A Crayon that is me! :)

Color Poem - Red

RED

Red is a ruby ring, a scarf, high heels
Red is the taste of apples and strawberries
Red smells like roses and candles
Red makes me dance
Red is the sound of ribbons and jazz
Red is a T-shirt, a heart, a string of lights
Red is sox, an emblem covered in pine tar
Red is art and laughter, rage and spirit
Red is July
Red is heat, a burning flame
Red is bodies and lips
Red is his tie
Red is spinning and swaying
Red is passion
Red means go.

The Shell

Way below in the sea

Is a tiny shell of mine

Shell where the fish swim

That shell shimmers brightly in the light

It is the shell of beauty for me

It is the shell of life

It is the shell of my dreams

It is the shell that intrigues me

A shell that rests

on the bottom of the sea

A shell that tumbles

among the waves

It is the shell beyond the wake

It is the shell of tranquility

It is the shell of peace

It is the shell that holds it in

It is the one to say my name

It is the one that caught my eye

It is the one I love to see

It is the one I found

In Juanita’s Class

In Juanita’s class the words fly
The desks are set, side be side,
That let us see each face, and in the middle
The teacher, kindly sharing, speaking
Points kindly taken amongst the chatter.

We are the students. Few days to go
Studied, yelled, our minds do grow,
Asked and were asked, and now we sit
In Juanita’s class.

Others have done the teaching task:
Now it is in our hands we have
The knowledge; spread it to many.
We cannot fail those who depend
To hold the honor, of words that fly
In Juanita’s class.


By: Pre-Service Teacher
Rodney Gust (1975- )
College of Education, MU

Mimic Poem

"Teacher's Pet"
Sometime in our classes we all have brats
We all have sorry
But if we are wise we know that there's
Always a teachers pet.

Call on me I have the answer and
I'll get it right
I'll help pass out papers
For it won't be long till you’re gonna give
Me an A plus

Please allow your pencils to be my things
When I need to borrow
For no one can fill those pencil pout needs
The way you do

Call on me I have the answer and
I'll get it right
I'll help pass out papers
For it won't be long till you’re gonna give
Me an A plus

“Lean On Me”- The Temptations

Sometime in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise we know that there's
Always tomorrow

Lean on me when you're not strong and
I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride if I have things
You need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
that you won't let show

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long till 'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Mimic Poem

Original:
Because by the Beatles

Because the world is round it turns me on
Because the world is round
Because the wind is high it blows my mind
Because the wind is high
Love is all, love is new
Love is all, love is you
Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry
Because the sky is blue


Mimic:
Because the world is old, there are many stories to tell
Because the world is old, there are many stories to hear
Because the wind blows strongly, it is hard to keep my feet on the ground
Because the wind blows strongly, it is hard to know where I will go
Love is within everyone
Love is sometimes lost
Because the sky is clear, it gives me hope
Because the sky is clear, it makes me wonder

Mimic Poem

Original- “Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat

Will you count me in?

I've been awake for a while now.

You've got me feeling like a child now.

'Cause every time I see your bubbly face,

I get the tingles in a silly place.

It starts in my toes,

Makes me crinkle my nose.

Wherever it goes I'll always know,

That you make me smile.

Please stay for a while now.

Just take your time,

Wherever you go.


Mimic by Kelsey Henke

Will you be mine?

My hearts beating faster now.
You get me butterflies, oh wow.
‘Cause every time I look in your eyes,
I see a future we’re together in.

Oh marry me now,
And we can stay close.
Wherever you go, I will keep you safe.
The time has come,
And I love you.
You make me so happy,
You are the best.

Mimic:  ‘Twas the Night Before Snow 

By Jenna Krueger

 

Twas the day before snow,

and all through the school,

the students were praying,

For temperatures too cool.

 

Most were quite engaged,

But non touched their pencil leads,

While visions of snowballs,

Danced in their heads.

 

Out on the playground,

There were snow dances,

And hopes that some ice,

Would improve their chances.

 

In my own class,

I had been pacing,

And dreading the lessons,

I might be facing.

 

My classmates were anxious,

Their fingers crossed tight,

And noses to the windows,

They sat ready for a snowball fight.

 

I finished my math,

And started my art,

No longer caring,

That my neighbors fart.

 

I stared at the board,

But my thoughts were muddy,

My eyes went ablur,

I just couldn’t study.

 

“A break might help,”

I said with a shiver,

But indoor recess,

Just didn’t’ deliver.

 

I nearly concluded,

The snow wouldn’t fly,

With temperatures soaring,

And the sun in the sky.

 

When all of a sudden,

A cloud moved above,

And snow began to fall,

As white as a dove.

 

The moral was high,

The traffic was mellow,

We started to bellow.

 

“No school tomorrow,

the roads are a mess,

who would accept,

anything less?”

 

On snow angles!, On sleigh rides!

On extra snow-shoveling cash!

On red noises and cold toes,

And snow sundae mash.

 

The message delivered,

We vanished from sight,

But with books in our desk

We shouted into the night.

 

“The snow is still falling,

Accumulation begun,

Happy snow day to all,

And to all, winter fun.”

Original:  Twas the night before finals 

By:  http://www.usd.edu/~bwjames/humor/finals.html 

Twas the night before finals,
And all through the college,
The students were praying
For last minute knowledge.

Most were quite sleepy,
But none touched their beds,
While visions of essays
Danced in their heads.

Out in the taverns,
A few were still drinking,
And hoping that liquor
Would loosen their thinking.

In my own apartment,
I had been pacing,
And dreading exams
I soon would be facing.

My roommate was speechless,
His nose in his books,
And my comments to him
Drew unfriendly looks.

I drained all the coffee,
And brewed a new pot,
No longer caring
That my nerves were shot.

I stared at my notes,
But my thoughts were muddy,
My eyes went ablur,
I just couldn't study.

"Some pizza might help,"
I said with a shiver,
But each place I called
Refused to deliver.

I'd nearly concluded
That life was too cruel,
With futures depending
On grades had in school.

When all of the sudden,
Our door opened wide,
And Patron Saint Put-It-Off
Ambled inside.

His spirit was careless,
His manner was mellow,
He looked all around and
He started to bellow.

"What kind of student
Would make such a fuss,
To toss back at teachers
What they tossed at us?"

"On Cliffs Notes! On Crib Notes!
On Last Year's Exams!
On Wingit and Slingit,
And Last Minute Crams!"

His message delivered,
He vanished from sight,
But we heard him exclaiming
Outside in the night.

"Your teachers have pegged you,
So just do your best,
Happy Finals to All,
And to all, a good test."

Original – “The Crystal Gazer” by Sara Teasdale

I shall gather myself into my self again,
I shall take my scattered selves and make them one.
I shall fuse them into a polished crystal ball
Where I can see the moon and the flashing sun.
I Shall sit like a sibyl, hour after hour intent.
Watching the future come and the present go -
And the little shifting pictures of people rushing
In tiny self-importance to and fro.

Mimic
I shall gather roses in my hand again,
I shall take them carefully one by one.
I shall fuse them into a glass crystal vase
Where I can see the brilliant colors
I shall sit to watch them, hour after hour intent.
Watching the buds come and the pedals go –
And the picture of death slowing
Into each stem, until there is no more.

Mimic of "Bear in There" by Shel Silverstein

"Skunk In a Trunk" by Diane Edwards

There’s a skunk
In our old trunk –
He likes it ‘cause it’s full of junk.
With his tail on a whale
And his back on a jack
And his black and white fur
Inside a backpack,
He’s covered with paper clips,
He’s under the rocks,
He’s climbing through photos,
He’s found my lost sock.
And he lets out a stink
If the lid lifts a wink.
And it lets out a funk
Like hundred year old gunk–
That skunk
In our old trunk.

Original - "Bear in There" by Shel Silverstein

There's a Polar Bear
In our Frigidaire--
He likes it 'cause it's cold in there.
With his seat in the meat
And his face in the fish
And his big hairy paws
In the buttery dish,
He's nibbling the noodles,
He's munching the rice,
He's slurping the soda,
He's licking the ice.
And he lets out a roar
If you open the door.
And it gives me a scare
To know he's in there--
That Polary Bear
In our Fridgitydaire.

2nd times a charm

Original

Don't Worry If Your Job is Small

(Author Unknown)

Don't worry if your job is small, 

And your rewards are few.

Remember that the mighty oak, 

Was once a nut like you.

Mimic

Not Always a Child

Adults say you are just a child, 

And tell you to let things be.

You are young like the mustard seed, 

That grew into an enormous tree.

***See mustard tree below:)

Mimic Poem

My 40's

My 40's

leaving all things secure
true adventure is always around us
I just followed this story where it took me
became the thing that kept me going more than anything

the truth comes out by itself
what a small word to mean so much
it thunders, burns into your mind, your soul

language is a dance for me
of laughter and tears
of lost dreams and found joys
rhythms and movements of them
stop the breath and bring life
your hopes and thoughts and songs and breath

still is a wonder to me
who really understood
who really cared
who really wanted to help
allowing me the unending thrill of being a part of this

loops and whorls of the story dance

School Bells- My mimic poem

Mimic Poem:
(to the tune of Jingle Bells)
School Bells by Caitie Graham

Grading all the papers,
In room one twenty,
O'er the pages I go,
Grading all the way,
Students laugh and play,
on this sunny day.
What fun they have to laugh and sing,
On the play ground.

Oh school bells ring, ding ding ding,
Students go to school.
They write and read at lightning speed
And discuss all their views.
Oh school bells ring, ding ding ding,
Students go to school.

Math is new, science is cool,

And Social Studies Rocks.

Day one and two go by.

The next week flies so fast,

I cannot look back.

I'm glad I get to teach,

Because it's my delight,

To teach a few new things

And guide them in their future

One day at a time

Oh school bells ring, ding ding ding,
Students go to school.
They write and read at lightning speed
And discuss all their views.
Oh school bells ring, ding ding ding,
Students go to school.

Math is new, science is cool,

And Social Studies Rocks.

Oh school bells ring, ding ding ding,
Students go to school.
They write and read at lightning speed
And discuss all their views.
Oh school bells ring, ding ding ding,
Students go to school.

Math is new, science is cool,

And Social Studies Rocks.

Thursday Feb. 12, 2009 class

Hello everyone here is your class update.

We started off the day with a read loud by myself, Caitie Graham, I read the book Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch. Then, we read over some poems in two voices and got to make our own poems with two voices. Next, we shared what the orignal song or poem was for our mimic poems. Lastly, though the color poem was on the schedule we did not get around to writing them.

For homework: post one of the poemsyou have written in this class this semester with a picture that describes your poem you chose, post four of your poems including the found poem in the assignments section of blackboard, and do not forget to bring your poems to Art and Music next week.

The next class Jessica will be presenting a writing sample and Kelly and Diedra will present a lesson.

Have a safe and fun weekend!!

- Caitie

Mimic Poem

Original "Do you Remember?"-Jack Johnson

Do you remember when we were kids?

It was warm

When we would play

Outside for hours

You would set up chairs

And we would sell lemonade

Beneath a red, yellow, blue umbrella

Enjoying the sun

We would dart through the sprinkler

Green grass stuck to our feet

Mom wouldn’t let us in

Please dry off first

Drawing designs with the chalk

That would stain our hands

And wash away sometime soon

When soft rain fell

Stood barefoot beneath a gray, wondrous sky

Splashing gleefully together, waiting for a call

To hurry inside, you’ll get sick

And we would go

Inside our childhood home

Quite pleased

Do you remember?

Found Poem (Magazine)

Happiness is
A friendly smile
No worries
Laughs with friends
Fun

Love
Life

Tuesday, February 10

Class started with a discussion about how to turn in our Found Poem response to the Paulsen article.  There was some confusion about submitting it on blackboard.  You should be able to click on the Paulsen link under "Course Documents."  This will lead you to a page similar to a discussion board page where you can either type your response directly into the text box or brows your computer and add it as an attachment.  If you add it as an attachment, make sure it is in a Rich Text Formate (RTF).  Jaunita said you can also e-mail it to her or turn in a hard copy if that works better for you.  The found poem response was due today, so if you have not gotten it in do so soon!

After this discussion, we spent a couple minutes analyzing a second grader's writing sample I brought in.  We talked about the things this student could do (transition from thoughts, correctly use ? marks and ! marks, use some friendly letter formating (dear, love, P.S.), use the right sounds to create words that were very readable despite the incorrect spelling, capitalizing proper nouns, and use big words (allergic, excited, wondering).  We also talked about where we might go from here to help this student.  We said this student could work on using capital letters at the beginning of sentences and breaking up the letter into paragraphs.  

Next, Annie and Jenna K gave a mini lesson entitled "Dear Diary."  This lesson used a diary formate to focus on writing from different perspectives.  During this mini lesson we read portions of Doreen Cronin's books Diary of a Fly and Diary of a Worm.  We then intergrated art by having students make character hats to emphasis becoming that character and writing from that character's perspective.  

After the mini lesson, we used the poem The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams to learn how to mimic a poem.  Juanita then read a section from the book Love that Dog because The Red Wheelbarrow is mentioned in that book.  

Before we left Juanita and Danny read a poem from The Blood Hungry Kidney.  It was an entertaining poem and another great example of writing from a different perspective.  The poem even had some good science-type information about Kidneys.  

Homework for 2/12:  Find a poem or song you want to mimic.  Mimic the poem or song you find and then bring both the original and your mimic version to class.  Reflect on writing a found poem by responding to the e-mail Juanita sent this afternoon.  

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Class began with a read aloud book titled The Bug in the Teacher's Coffee and other poems by Kalli Dakos. The book is a nonfiction collection of poems about school. Next, Juanita read an excerpt from the "Dear Mr. Paulsen" letter. Juanita then used strips of paper with phrases taken from the letter and had members of the class form a poem using them. Then, she read her own poem using the same phrases. After this, the class worked on cutting out words from magazines and put them together to form a poem. Lastly, the class turned in the writing timeline events, which included the rough drafts as well.

During class on Tuesday, February 3, 2009, I introduced a book that I had found called Incredible You! by Dr. Wayne Dyer. The reason that I chose to introduce this book to the class was because it was a self-help book for children with questions in the back to see how they would apply the information in the book to their own lives. Not only did this text have great info, but it also had great illustrations and was rhymy. However, it did mention God a couple of times... so be cautious with reading it to your class! I also lead a discussion about a 2nd grader's writing sample. During this discussion, I asked the class what they thought this child had done well. Some of the things that we agreed were well done was: spacing in between words, punctuation, writing on the lines, and the use of "time" words. We also discussed some things that we thought that the child should work on. We decided that this particular child needed to work on: using the lines effectively, spelling, and possibly concentrating on another topic.
Next, Rahkia and I presented a lesson plan called Veggie Monster. During this lesson plan, I read the book called The Veggie Monster by George McClements. The story line in this book is based around a child that turns into a "veggie monster" whenever he is forced to eat vegetables. After reading the book, we passed out worksheets to the class and crayons as a "warm-up" for them to brainstorm ideas for their writing task. After completing the worksheets, we had the class write a story about anything that the book reminded them of and gave them an opportunity to share their work with the class. There is also a way to incorporate mathematics into the lesson by making bar graphs from the worksheet information. Anyways, I feel as though the lesson went very well and I am posting the lesson plan on blackboard if anyone wants to use it in the future!

On January 29, 2009, Rahkia read a fiction book aloud to the class. The book, Telephone was written by Jamey Gambrell and illustrated byVladimir Radunsky. This "classic Russian nonsense poem" was based on the work of Kornei Chudovsky. Telephone is good to use in the classroom because it is colorful, has fun words, and repetition. For an example, there is a picture of an elephant wearing sunglasses with leopard frames. In addition to the creative pictures, this book talks about problem-solving problems. The different animals are calling the man for solutions to their problems. If you read this book in your classroom, you could ask students to think of different ways that they can solve problems and encourage students to solve their problems on their own. You could ask the students to think of a different ending to the book, because it ended so abruptly. This book has a lot of teaching points.

After Rahkia read the book, the other three groups presented their ideas to the class. After that, we did a writing assignment with partners. We talked about the pros and cons of writing to one another. The homework was to do a rough draft of the personal autobiographies.