craft lesson 10

Fleischman, Paul. Time Train. Illus. Clair Ewart. New York, NY: HarperCollins,1991.

This book is about a class who takes a field trip to learn about dinosaurs. When one of the kids tells the conductor that they are taking the train to learn about dinosaurs the conductor puts the children and their teacher on a special train. The children soon learn that they are not on an ordinary train. As the train travels they pass back through time. The pictures in the book suggest what time period the children are passing through. When the exit the train they can't find their lodge so they sleep on the ground. The next morning they see their first dinosaur. The next few days they spend their time studying dinosaurs in their natural habitat.

I liked this book. It was appropriate for pre-k through second grade students. There wasn't much factual information about the time periods the children traveled through, or about dinosaurs. However, it was a good introduction to these topics. After reading this book I think kids might be encouraged to discover more about dinosaurs and different time periods. There are many questions kids might have after reading this book. It was a fun book that excites the imagination. It would be a good book to read before the studying dinosaurs. The illustrations were colorful and enjoyable. I think that after reading this book many students might want to travel back in time to play with dinosaurs themselves.

Craft lesson:

For this craft lesson I would fill the sand table with sand. Then I would bury different types of dinosaurs in the sand. I would invite the student to look in the sand and see what they could find. We would then talk about the different dinosaurs they found. We might talk about the names of the dinosaurs, what they ate, and what type of environment they might have lived in.

craft lesson 9

For this lesson we will be creating our own "zoom" books. First, I will read Zoom to the children. Then, I would like to bring in a microscope and either have a skin cell slide already prepared or collect a skin cell and prepare it for the children to look at. I will also have pictures of a skin cell for every student to look at. I will hand out booklets of five blank pages. This lesson will span over a weeks time. On the first day I will ask them to draw a picture of a skin cell. For the next four days I will ask them to draw another picture zooming out from their previous picture.

chapter 17

Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.


I had all the criteria for a motivated reader except for one. In this chapter it was listed as number four. "Motivated readers do not feel trapped by a book." It says that motivated readers can put the book down without guilt, or when their need are not being met. For some reason I can not put a book down. If I get past the first few pages then I have to read the entire book. I do the dame thing with movies. No matter how bad the movie is I have to keep watching it. It is not that I feel obligated to, but it is something I have to do. I am currently reading a book I do not like. I want it to be over so I can start reading something I enjoy. But, for some strange reason that is not clear to me I have to read it. I skip words, sentences and sometimes even paragraphs, but I never just skip directly to the end. I probably have some weird obsessive, compulsive, neurological disorder that requires me to finish watching or reading crappy books and movies.

Zoom

Banyai, Istvan. Zoom. New York, NY: Puffin Books, 1998.

This is a wonderful wordless picture book. The title is indicative of the book. The first page is a close up of part of a rooster's head. On every page the picture zooms out from this first picture. The book is full of surprises. I thought at first that the girl was playing with her toys, but in turned out to be the cover of a magazine. The author leaves clues throughout the book that leads the reader to guess what they are looking at. An example of this would be the edge of the stamp on the picture of the man watching the television in the desert. I knew that the story had moved to from pictures to real life when the people and dog moved from their original positions. At the end the story zoomed out to some place where the Earth was seen as a tiny speck. Where is the place that the whole book zooms in form. Is it a person, place, alien or perhaps even God, that is the source of origin?

chapter 16

Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.


The first sentence of this chapter bothered me. "Books are dangerous". The author made the statement, but did not sufficiently back it up. It said that they can "undermine morals, fuel revolutions, and indoctrinate our children". No examples were given. I believe that people, and not books are dangerous. A person has to be willing to change their beliefs or morals before a book, movie, or c.d. can do it for them. It is far more dangerous to with hold information. This chapter seems to support this idea. It is far less dangerous for a child to learn about sex from a sex education book than from the child's peers. This especially holds true if the child's parent is unwilling to share information with the child. I think that sex education should be a requirement for all children in school even if their parents disagree. Of course, I say that as a teacher not a parent. I always want the final decision when it comes to my child's education. Over all I know it is best for a parent to have the final decision when it comes to their children. So many different people are offended by so many different things. I am glad I will be teaching at a pre-k level. There is much less controversy concerning books that are appropriate for this age.

chapter 15

Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008

I think that multicultural literature is a good method of exposing children to cultures they may not know much about. They might also find the different ways of story telling interesting, and educational. I thought it was interesting that many people feel that multicultural books should not be written by outsiders of that culture. They feel that outsiders would present a distorted or even prejudice view of that culture. I do not necessarily agree with this view. I think with research and an open mind anyone can write about almost anything. I think that a person who immerses themselves in a culture can accurately write about certain aspects of that culture, or portray a character from that culture. It might be difficult and they might need help from others within that culture, but I think it could be done.

Craft lesson # 8

This craft lesson will be for second grade students. The entire lesson will span over a week. On Monday I will read Babymouse: Our Hero to the class. I will tell them that tomorrow we will create our own superheroes. On Tuesday I will ask them to create their own superhero, draw it, and give it a name. On Wednesday I will ask them to draw another picture of their super hero, and right a sentence describing its powers. On Thursday my students will draw a picture of the heroes nemesis and give it a name. On Friday they will draw another picture and write a sentence explaining the nemesis's powers. Depending on the classes responses to the assignment I might ask them to write a comic story based on their superheroes. The reason I would take my time with this lesson is because I want the kids to have time to go home and possibly think about their super hero before they create it.

Babymouse

Holm, Jennifer & Holm, Matthew. Babymouse: Our Hero. New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 2005.

This story is about an imaginative mouse who does not want to play in the dodge ball game at school. She has managed to get out of playing doge ball in the past. But when the gym teacher tells the class that everyone must participate in the upcoming game, and that it will be part of their grade Babymouse knows she can not avoid it. She is scared of her nemesis Felicia Furrypaws. Felicia is a cat whose special talent is pounding people with dodge balls. Babymouse's best friend Wilson helps her prepare and practice for the dodge ball game. In the end Babymouse wins the dodge ball game and becomes the hero.

I loved this book. It was hilarious. I liked all the imaginations of babymouse. She imagined her school as a prison, and the walk to school as a torturous wagon trail (it was only two blocks). I think the comic book style might attract some boys who would not normally read a pink girl book . It will also attract girls who may not have ever read a comic book. I found Baybymouse's pessimism to be humorous. Even though she was the hero, the book ended with her being stuffed in her locker.

T&J chapter 14

Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.


I found this chapter to be interesting. When I was a child the only reason I read informational books was to do a book report. Number two in the reasons why children do not "flock" to informational books accurately describes my elementary experiences with these types of books. After reading this chapter I want to have some informational books in my classroom library. I never considered that reading these types of books could be fun. I think I will go to the library this weekend I try to check out Color Zoo. This book seems like it will be a good book for the pre-k level. I think my sons will like it too. I also liked the excerpt form the book Alaska Bear Tales. I found it interesting because Nanook is the password for my computer. I think my husband got it from a Frank Zappa song. Now I know a little more about the password.

Craft lesson #7 (Pennypacker)

This craft lesson is aimed at kindergarten students. It will be an exercise in sentence writing.

I will start by reading the first part of Stuart's Cape to the class. I will read "Stuart Makes a Cape" and "Day 1" to the children. I will ask the children to draw a picture. They can chose any animal they want. I will ask them to draw a picture of the animal playing them. Then I will ask the children to write a sentence at the bottom of their picture describing what the animal is doing.

chapter 13

Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.


This chapter was about biographies. Biographies are a good tool to get children interested in history and historical figures. Children who read a few sentences about a historical figure in a textbook will more than likely not remember anything about that person. By reading a biography they will learn that the person was more than a fact or something they need to memorize for a test. Biographies bring people to life. It is important for children to understand that these people had real lives. The information that novels present us with will be remembered because it is interesting. It will not just be memorized and then forgotten in a month. I also liked the idea of children reading the biographies that were listed as other interesting people. There are people today who make a big difference in our world. They are not celebrities or presidents, but seemingly normal people. I think these type of biographies can inspire children and adults.

Stuart's Cape

Pennypacker, Sara. Stuart's Cape. Illus. Martin Matje. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc., 2002.


This book was a bout a little boy who wanted to have an adventure. He had moved to a new town, school had not started yet, he did not have any friends, and all his best stuff had accidentally been thrown away before he had moved. He decided that adventures happened to people who had capes. He made a cape out of neck ties. As soon as he put on his cape adventures started to happen. A horse, gorilla and dinosaur came to his door. The animals played "Stuart" with him for the day. He flew one day. He grew giant toast and invited all the neighbors over for a toast party. All these things happened because of his cape. On the day of school orientation Stuart's parents made him take off his cape. His cat fell asleep on the cape and switched places with the garbage man. Stuart had another adventure and finally got the garbage man and the cat to switch back to normal. Stuart made friend with the garbage man. They both liked to collect things that other people thought was junk.

I think this is a good book for third graders. That is the age Stuart. This book could also work as a read aloud for younger grades. I think 1st and 2nd graders would enjoy this book as a read aloud. I personally did not enjoy this book, but I think younger kids would like it. I read it to my son who is kindergarten and he laughed at some of the things that happened in the book. It was hard to tell which parts of the book was Stuart's imagination. Was Aunt Bubbles real? I think she was because the parents had to buy new tires for the car. The book was too far fetched for my enjoyment. The parents left Stuart at home all by himself. They also let him go to school orientation by himself. I also had a hard time identifying with Stuart. I never worried about anything as a child. I still do not worry much as a adult. However, I think this book would be good for kids with a strong imagination.

craft lesson #6

For this lesson I will assist the students in writing a story. This lesson is for pre-k students.

First we will read the book Sidewalk Circus. Then I will have photocopied pages from the book. I will break the students up into small groups of about 4 students. Throughout the week I will show the different groups the photocopied pages from the book. I will record there words as they tell me what the story should be for the individual pages. We will focus on the little girls facial expressions as we write the story. I will ask them what they think that she might be saying. We will review what we have previously written before adding something new. At the end of the week we will read our books together.

craft lesson #5

For this lesson I will work with the five senses. This is a lesson for kindergarten or pre-kindergarten students.

I will read some of the poems from "Yum! MmMm! Que rico!". I will describe what the five senses are. I will ask the kids what senses we will use most to describe the differnt foods. I bring out some of the foods from the book and have them in individual serving cups. I will ask the kids what the fruit smells, looks, feels, sounds and tastes like.

Sidewalk Circus

Fleischman, Paul. SIDEWALK CIRCUS. Illus. Paul Hawkes. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2004.

This book is about a circus. There’s a sign that says the circus is coming soon. A girl sits on the buss stop bench and watches what is taking place on the side walk. Although the sign says the circus is coming, it seems to the girl that a circus is already here. The window washers are the trapeze swingers. A couple of kids on skate boards are the clowns. A close look at the shadows will tell you what circus performer is on the page. The posters also describe the circus feats being performed by ordinary people on the sidewalk. I liked how the man putting up the posters is the ringleader of the sidewalk circus. After the girl leaves a boy takes his position on the bench and begins to watch the show. Although this was a picture book I think the words in the signs and posters add a lot to the story. The illustrations were packed with information. Even though there are no words you can tell exactly what the little girl was thinking by the expressions on her face. One has to look closely at the book to gain a full appreciation for this book. The more I look at it the more I like it.

read aloud plan #2

Mora, Pat. Yum! MmMm! Que' rico!. Illus. Rafael Lopez. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books Inc., 2007.


For my second read aloud plan I will read the book Yum! MmMm! Que' Rico! by Pat Mora. I will read this book to a small group of pre-Kindergarten students. I will only read the poems to the students. This book is an appropriate length and uses language that is appropriate to the age group. The children will enjoy the pictures as well. I expect the children will comment on the illustrations and colors in the book. I also expect them to comment on the foods that are represented in the poems. I am hoping that my Spanish speaking students will recognize and comment on the Spanish words used in a few of the poems and the title. I expect that they will be proud of themselves for recognizing words that some of the other students may not know.

Read aloud Journal:

Unexpectedly, none of my Spanish speaking children commented on the Spanish words in the text. The children did however comment on the different foods. They said things like "chiles are hot", " I like ice cream", "Tomatoes are yucky, I never eat tomatoes". What the responded to the most were the illustrations in the book. Many of the children wanted to look at the picture for a little longer. I would read a poem, and then turn the page. They would say, "go back I want to look." After reading the book they wanted to hold it and look back through the illustrations. One girl loved to look at the chile page. She wanted to keep going back to it. They seemed to be bored by the text. They would talk out, or interrupt while I read the poem. Usually their interruptions had something to do with the illustrations.

Children's Literature, Breifly ch. 11

Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Sadle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.

Sorry I have to be honest, this chapter completely bored me. I liked the Somerset Maugham quote, it was funny. I read one of his books, "The Razors Edge". I liked it too. I can't think of any thing else to write about this chapter. Will this be chapter be addressed in our exam?

Children's Literature, Briefly ch. 12

Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Sadle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.

Learning history through historical fiction books instead of text books is a wonderful idea. I remember how boring my history text books were in school. When presented with just facts, history can seem flat and lifeless. If I could have seen how different events or conditions effected a character that I may have identified with I would have remembered a lot more. It might have brought history to life and made it seem more "real" to me. Which is kind of funny because the strait facts are more real that the fiction mixed with the facts

Read aloud plan #1 and read aloud journal #1

Suess, Dr. My Many Colored Days. Illus. Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher. New York, NY: Random House Inc., 1996.

The book I chose for my first read aloud was My Many Colored days by Dr. Suess. I plan to read this book to a small group of five year old children. I chose this book because I think the children will enjoy the pictures and they can understand, and possibly relate to the story. The text is short, and filled with emotion. It will hold their attention. I am hoping the children will recognize and comment on the colors in the pictures. I also will ask them what color day they are having. I want them to relate a color in the story with the emotion, or make up their own color and pair it with any emotion they choose.

Read aloud Journal

As I expected the children really liked this book. They loved the pictures. Manny of the children had a favorite picture. After I was done reading the kids started talking about what picture they liked best. They would say things like " I liked the dinosaur," or "can I see the green fish again". The pink flamingos was one little girls favorite picture. Some of the children paired the color with the animal, some of them just talked about the animal and did not refer to the color. No one referred to the emotion. When I asked them how they felt, and what color they felt like today they had all sorts of different answers. One girl said she was red. When I asked her why, she said because she wanted to be a horse. One boy was blue because that was his favorite color. One girl was pink. She said it was her favorite color and she felt happy. I would like to read this book more often to the children and see if they get better at identifying emotions in the book as well as the emotions they are feeling at the time.

Que rico!

Mora, Pat. Yum! MmMm! Que' rico!. Illus. Rafael Lopez. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books Inc., 2007.

This book is a collection of haiku poems about foods that are native to the Americas. There is also a paragraph of facts for each food. The paragraph contains information about the foods history, origins, uses and other fun facts. The poems are fun and filled with imagery. The pictures are wonderful and filled with vibrant colors. My favorite poem was about the chile. What I like most is that any age group can enjoy this book. The younger kids will enjoy the poems and pictures. Older kids can will find the facts to be interesting. The tomatoes is which is often associated with Italian food is actually native to the Americas. I like how the facts relate to children and their interests. Potatoes are grown in outer space and corn kernels are use to make crayons. This would be a good read aloud book for a group of children whose ages vary.

children's literature autobiography

I don't really remember much about reading as a child. In fact I don't remember much of anything about my early childhood. I only have a few bits and pieces that come to mind. My mom told me that my brother an I read all the time, and that she read to us. I do remember my favorite book was Harry and the Terrible Whatsit. The book was about a kid, and a monster who terrorized him. The monster got bigger with the child's fear. Once the child decided he wasn't going to be afraid of the monster, the monster started shrinking. The kid was hitting the monster with a broom and it kept shrinking. Eventually the tiny monster ended up crying on the washing machine. At least that is how I think the story went. I also remember my mom taking us to the city library. I think we had a chart with however many books we read indicated on it. Of all the title on my chart, I really liked this book of scary ghost stories best. The pictures in the book were all black and white. I liked to read, but I liked the duck pond at the library better.When I was in the third grade my parents had me tested for learning disabilities. At the time I didn't realize that I was being tested. I went to some strange office building where I had a piece of candy, got a drink from the water fountain, and did some puzzles. That is all I remember of that experience. Later when I was eighteen years old I overheard my mom tell someone that they had had me tested and that I was mildly dyslexic. Only then did I realize what that strange day had been all about. I asked my mom about it later and she told me that I was in fact dyslexic. They never told me about it before because it was not serious and they did not want me to make excuses for not performing properly in school. I have heard that people with dyslexia have a hard time reading, but I never noticed it when I was reading to myself. However, I hated to read aloud in class. I was a slow reader and occasionally stumbled over the words. Sometimes I read aloud a word that looked similar to the word I was reading, but meant something totally different. It was quite embarrassing. I had no comprehension when I read aloud because I was to busy concentrating on reading the individual words as fast as I possibly could. It all seemed fairly normal to me. Sometimes I think I should have myself tested again. Just so I know. If anything, I think I might have ADD. I can read a whole page sometimes and not know anything about what I just read.In my later elementary and early junior high years I read some of the series books. I remember reading Sweet Valley High and Baby Sitters Club, or something like that. I do not remember being excited about new books. I liked the book Bunicula. It was about a vampire rabbit that sucked vegetables dry untill they were white. The dog was the narrator of the story, and the cat was very suspicious of the rabbit. It was a mystery. The only book I remember reading for school was Where the Red Fern Grows. It made me cry, and I hated the book. I used to go to my mom's first grade classroom when school was out. I would pass the time by lying on the floor and reading all her classroom books. I read Bearenstine Bears and other books like that. I did not necessarily enjoy it. It was just something to do.When I got into high school we started reading more in my English and literature classes. I never read outside of school required reading. I hated Shakespeare. I never understood the imagery or hidden meanings of the books we read. What the book said and what it meant were two different things. It deeply frustrated me. I never liked Dickens or Hemingway either. The language sometimes made these books difficult to read. People today do not talk in the language the books were written in. Especially in the case of Shakespeare. I never read much of the books anyways. I read bits and pieces of the books, listened to the class discussions and the teacher's interpretations of the books. I would use that information for any of the tests we had in class. If I had to write a book report I tried to find the movie, and based my report on that. My English grades weren't great, but they were ok. Mostly B's and the occasional C. One night late in my senior year of high school I picked up my mom's book and started to read it. It was a John Grisham book, The Firm I think. I read it within a few nights. It was easy to read, entertaining and, best of all, I was sure there was no hidden meaning I was supposed to decipher in order to comprehend the story. It was at that point I realized that one could possibly read for the purpose of enjoyment.After I graduated high school I started to read a little more. I read mostly books my parents or brother gave to me. At some point I decided to read some of the classics that I avoided in high school. Dickens wasn't so bad when I took the time to read it. I still didn't touch Shakespeare. Some of Mark Twain's stories made me laugh. I realized I liked books with humor. I once asked my friend if he could recommend a good book for me to read. He suggested A Confederacy of Dunces. It was hilarious. Now it is one of my most recommended books. Books with plenty of comic relief tend to be my favorites. Now I read a little every night before I go to bed. I tend to alternate "good" books with less quality novels. I still like to read novels with low literary qualities and predictable endings. I consider them my television books. I read them for the same reasons people might watch a sitcom on TV. It is thoughtless entertainment. Sometimes it feels good to lay in my bed and read without having to think about anything at all.I have two children. They are five and two years old. Everyday I read to them. They have a book shelf in thier room that is full of books. If I see a book that I liked when I was a child, I get it for them. Their grandparents, aunts and uncles send them books all the time. We have a whole shelf dedicated to Dr. Seuss. They seem to have a favorite book for a month at a time, and then they move on to something else. The books I enjoy the least are the ones based on television cartoons or movies.However,if they bring them to me then I read them. I even try to make the voices of the cartoon characters as I read them. It isn't easy, but they laugh. Sometimes we will read book after book. I always start by asking them to bring me one book each, but somehow I end up reading six books instead of two. Sometimes they want me to read the same book five times in a row. They keep asking me to read it again and again. I never remember doing that as a child, but I hope their reading with me is an enjoyable experience that they will remember when they get older.

HELP!

Can anyone tell me where to find the Que Rico book by Pat Mora. I am having trouble finding it.

Craft lesson #4

This lesson will deal with color recognition, fine motor coordination, and recognizing emotions.

First I will read the book My many colored days, then we will make masks for this lesson. I will have different colored paper plates and tongue depressors for them to hold the plates up to their face. Then I would ask each child to name the color of the plate they chose to work with. I would help them cut eye holes in the plate if they needed help. Then I would have different colored feathers, crayons and shapes the can glue onto the plate. I would go around asking the children what different colors they have put on their masks. I would also ask them what emotion the mask portrayed. Is it a happy, sad or angry mask? I will make a angry mask of my own and show them how I can put on my angry mask, and then take it off and go back to being myself. I would talk to them about how it is ok to feel sad, mad, excited or tired. These emotions will not last forever and eventually we will go back to feeling like ourselves again.

"My Many Colored Days"

Suess, Dr. My Many Colored Days. Illus. Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher. New York, NY: Random House Inc., 1996.

This book was good. It was about a kids different days and different colors he feels on those days. I liked how he compared himself to different animals. He a slow brown bear, and a yellow busy bee. I think the combination of the animals with the colored days helps children understand the emotion better. I love the paintings in this book. My two favorite one were the loud, mad black days, and the pink happy days. I like that it teaches kids that it is ok to feel different ways. It is ok to be mad or sad. At the end of the book it has a mixed up day where the kid does not know how he is feeling, and that is ok too. Even though the child feels all these emotions at the end of the book he goes back to feeling like himself.

Chidren's Literature, Breifly ch.10

Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Sadle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.

I liked this chapter, it was short. Just kidding. Well sort of just kidding. I never thought of fantasy or science fiction as being hard to write. The book talked about how the authors had to come up with a new set of laws and conform to them. It brought to mind the sci-fi conventions that take place. It reminded me of "Trekkies"(is that how you spell it?). I have heard that people learn a new language based on the shows or books. It's crazy. How long would it take for a person to think up these things. The creativity involved is amazing. I liked how the book pointed out that even though a book is fantasy, to be good it has to have real truths about human nature and life in general.

Chidren's

oops

Children's Literature, Breifly ch.18

Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Sadle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.

I think using trade books instead of text books in the classroom is a great idea. If you can get the information across using a trade book rather than a text book then I think you should do it. Personally I would much rather read a trade book than a boring flat text book. You could assign a trade book to a class and through their reading they could be absorbing all sorts of information without even knowing it. There are times when textbooks are necessary, especially in science and math classes that deal with formulas. However, I think children are more likely to read the trade books than text books.

craft lesson #3

Discussion:

In the book "Minn and Jake " Jake compares his classmates to different animals. One boy was tiger, one was a snake, another was a housefly. Minn was a giant squid. This lesson will be an exercise in writing skills and will be aimed at fourth grade students. I would allow the students to be creative with this assignment.

Activity:
Write about what kind of animal you might be in a different life. Explain why you would be the type of animal you have chosen. It can be in style of writing you choose. You can choose any animal for any reason. You may choose to focus on the appearance of an animal, the behaviors of the animal, or even the animals environment.

Minn and Jake

Wong, Janet S. Minn and Jake. Illus. Genevieve Cote. New York, NY: Frances Foster Books, 2003.

I really liked this book. I thought Janet Wong did an excellent job of capturing the elementary feeling. The characters dealt with problems that all elementary kids deal with. Minn felt akward and self-conscious about her height. I think all girls off this age feel that there is somthing about there bodies that is akward or they would like to change. Also Minn was wanting to find a freind and learning what it is to be a friend. Friendship at this age is really important and children crave for a sense of belonging. I also liked the little things that the the different characters did that took me back to how I felt at this age. I liked when Minn talked about a certain girl that began with the letter S and ended in the letter a. I said things like that when I was in elementary school.

craft lessons 1&2

Craft lesson #1
Buzz by J.Wong
Christian Freeman
EDLL 5351-02


This lesson will work on word recognition. This lesson is for Pre-K students.

Read the book Buzz by Janet Wong. Focus on the word buzz while reading the book. Point to the word buzz. Point to the word buzz and see if any of the students can read or recognize the word. Type the word buzz on note cards or paper. Tape them on objects in the classroom that make a buzz sound. If there is a house center tape the word on a blow-dryer with the cord cut off. Tape the word on an airplane. Try to find objects that were mentioned in the book as well as others.


Craft lesson #2
Apple Pie 4th of July by J. Wong
Christian Freeman
EDLL 5351-02

This lesson will focus on different textures and letting the children experience things through their sense of touch.

Read Apple Pie 4th of July. Bring in containers and set them up as station areas. In the containers have different items such as cooked chow mien noodles,
raw chow mien noodles, shoelaces, and other things. Let the children put their hands in the containers, and play with the objects. Ask them questions about what they are feeling with their hands.

Children's Literature, Briefly ch.6-8

I liked the chapter on poetry. I never liked poetry in school because we had to dissect boring poems. Consequently I never have read any poetry since. I do not think that any poetry I read in school was from recent authors. I had fun reading some of the poems in this chapter. I think it is a good idea to put a poems on the board for students reading only and not link them to any assignments or formal discussions.
In chapter 6 (I think) it touches on overly controlled vocabulary, and how it is harder for a kid to learn to read using it. I was reading Hop on Pop with my son. He could sound out the words pup in cup, but every time I asked him to read the whole sentence together he would say pup is in the cup. I could not get him to omit the is and in. Pup in cup just did not sound like a natural sentence to him.

Children's Literature, Briefly ch.5

I found this chapter to be boring. I found myself engaged in unengaged reading throughout most of this chapter. I think that lessons books teach are very important. If a book is not written well but a child learns a valuable lesson,then I think the book still has great value. The trick would be to find a strong book with the same strong lesson.

Children's Literature, Briefly ch.4

I loved the illustrations in this chapter. My favorite illustration was the one from the Mercer Mayer book. You can look at the picture and know exactly how everyone in the car is feeling. No words are needed, the picture says it all. I think illustrations like this are especially useful for children who are having difficulties understanding words and vocabulary.

Children's Literature, Briefly ch.3

Chapter three touched on controlled vocabulary. Children are often taught to read through controlled vocabulary. They learn simple words first, then graduate to larger words. The text books often use word patterns that sound unnatural and are not fluid like everyday speech. The chapter suggests as teachers we should divert from controlled vocabulary to natural text. The book does not give an example of natural text. Do public schools let you choose reading text books? I thought that all grade level classes used the same text books, and followed the same reading curriculum.

Children's Literature, Briefly ch.2

When I read this chapter I kept thinking about my four year old son and a his favorite book. Its title was something like Fables you Shouldn't Pay Any Attention to. The storeys all ended with the character learning an inappropriate lesson, such as; it pays to be greedy, it pays to not take care of your things, it pays to lie. Every night my son wanted to read this book. The writing was not brilliant, the illustrations were bland and the lessons taught were unsavory. He loved it. I think he identified with the characters and their misbehavior. I hid the book and got another book called David Gets in Trouble. This book also had a character that misbehaved, but the books literary qualities were at a higher standard and the illustrations were wonder full. He instantly fell in love with this book as well. Within a few weeks he had memorized the book and was reading it to me. If we know a child's interest we can suggest book titles to them of a higher quality. That way it fits the quality and taste requirements of a good book.

Children's Literature Briefly ch.1

According to this chapter most of the reading I have done for school and college has been unengaged reading. It also suggests that the benefits of unengaged reading are few. I mostly agree with that. According to the book unengaged reading can result from a teachers assigning students to look for and define specific aspects of the book. Thus reducing the child's ability to experience the book on a more personal level. So what are we to do as teachers to ensure our students are engaged readers? As a student I was always thinking about the report that was inevitably due after each book I read. I understand that engaged reading is more fulfilling on a personal level, but unengaged reading seems to be unavoidable in school settings.

Apple Pie 4th of July

Wong, J. (2006). Apple Pie 4th of July. Orlando: Voyager Books.
The main character in this story is a Chinese-American girl. She is sure no one will buy Chinese food from her parents store on such an American holiday as the Fourth of July. Her father reminds her that fireworks are Chinese. All day long there are no costumers buying food. She thinks that her parents don't understand what it is to be American. But, at the end of the day a bunch of people come in for the food. The family ends their night watching fireworks and eating apple pie.
This book explores what it is that makes one American. Is it where you were born? Is it tradition? What are American values? This book can be used to generate discussion about multi-culturalism and diversity in America. Isn't that what America is all about? I think older children in second through forth grades would enjoy it. I love how the story ends with the family watching "Chinese" fireworks and eating "American" apple pie.

Buzz

Wong, J. (2002). Buzz. Orlando: Voyager Books.
This book starts with a young boy hearing hearing a sound. It's a bee outside his window buzzing. Throughout the morning there are various things that make the buzz sound. The alarm clock, daddy shaving, the blender, the boy playing, all make a buzz. Finally, mom leaves the house going buzz just like the busy bee.
This book is a lot of fun. I could feel the busy excitement of this child's morning while I read it. All the different buzz sounds bring the book to life. I think that pre-k through first grade students would really enjoy this book. It has playful feel to it with all the different noises the one "buzz" sound can make.