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I really enjoyed reading this article!  It was one that I feel like I needed to read to reinforce these ideas into my teaching strategies.  As we discussed in Dr. Trathen’s class, shared reading is extremely important to all grades!  Due to the fact that I wish I was stronger in this area, I really liked the section on vocabulary.  The use of context clues as well as prefixes and suffixes have helped me tremendously!  I was a bit shocked when I finished the article and realized that I agreed on everything these authors stated!  Students may not always have a computer or dictionary to look up a word, they must learn to rely on context clues and word parts.  By using their resources, students should never just ‘skip’ a word!  I’m very pleased that the teachers surveyed agreed.  I believe it was this semester when we discussed in class how many words a poor reader would miss if they just ‘skipped’ it.  The whole meaning would be lost and the student’s frustration level would increase.  This article was very helpful in reassuring my thoughts on shared reading and vocabulary practices as well.

Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas:

I wish our unit study could be this simple to follow!  I like the fact that the students are allowed to relate on a personal level.  This provides with wonderful examples on incorporating several things.  The double entry diary uses reading and writing along with group discussion.  I like how many ideas had some form of discussion in them.  By allowing the students to share their thoughts on a certain aspects of a lesson, someone may mention something that another student hadn’t thought of.  By sharing ideas, the students will be able grow to together as a body of learners. 

My job requires me to help people properly cite their sources.  I particularly like the chart that requires the students to cite their work.  By teaching them during the elementary years, by the time they reach high school and college level, they should be pros!  This requires the students to be responsible for the actions in writing.  The chart also creates an easy format for the students to organize their thoughts.  For me, I have learned that organizing all of my many thoughts is key to the success of writing a well written paper. 

Internet Workshop and Blog Publishing Post:

I found this article provided information that I had forgotten or simply not really thought of.  This article would be a great one to keep on hand to refresh my memory years down the road for a refresher course.  Technology has really become part of our everyday society.  I thought the idea of becoming a good citizen and member of society would go hand and hand with computer use.  While reading this, I couldn’t help but think back to how many arguments between classmates have started over someone posting something inappropriate on Facebook or another type of post online.  With the basics of begin a good citizen study, the students will be reminded of the good character they must try to carry no matter what.

In this article, I love how the authors give not just method but engaging methods for the social studies curriculum concerning pirates.  The use of technology in any curriculum is important due to the fact that everyone in the classroom will not be on the same level.  I particularly like the idea of using a classroom blog instead of jumping right into creating a research paper.  The students will think this is more ‘fun’ and the teacher can still guide the class through the research process.  I was interested in the information on pirates as well.  As I talked with a few of the students in the class I’m interning in, many think that pirates are made up just like a character in a Disney movie.  With the use of the internet, the students have more access to information that a text book could provide.  While students are researching on the internet, the teacher should also provide a mini-lesson on the authenticity of websites.  When these students are faced with questions, majority of them will turn to the internet and not a book.  Students are going to learn technology regardless; I say we teach the correct ways to use this resource at an early age so they will be proficient later.   

I also liked how this article mentioned bookmarking website.  It wasn’t until recently that I started using my ‘favorites’ more.  This does cut down on a significant about of time.  I liked the fact that the authors made note of the search engines made for kids.  I will not only use this in my classroom but also with my own children as well.

Historical Fiction and Non-Fiction:

I like the idea of incorporating both historical fiction and non-fiction.  Many students think that only fiction books can be ‘good’ and don’t bother looking at the non-fiction books.  By using both books in a unit of study, the student who prefers one book over the other will still be able to choose and read what best fits them.  The good thing about using historical fiction books is that the students will still be learning about pirates.  Also, this article talks about guided questions.  They have always helped me stay focused.  I plan on using them in my classroom even if I have to create them myself!

So much depends upon

REMEMBERING

Remember those who have fought

and continue to fight for our freedoms.

Remember those who keep us safein our daily lives,

fighting fires, saving lives, protecting laws.

Remember the one who gave the ultimate gift,

freedom from eternity in Hell.

So much depends upon

the color purple.

Many don’t understand the significance of such a bold color.

Some believe it stand for royalty.

Others believe it stand for wisdom.

But for me and my family,

It stands for life –

I wear purple to support Cystic Fybrosis.

I wear purple proud for my precious baby cousin,

even though he doesn’t yet understand the importance of such a life saving color.

Dr. Frye’s article was very informative and made me reconsider what many teachers still practice today. After reading that some students may need to go back to a lower grade level, I began to wonder how this may help an upper grades child who is reading a second grade leveled book. As Dr. Frye explains, some information obtained is better than getting discouraged and learning nothing at all. If a child is able to read a lower level book, they are not only learning the information the book offers but also improving their reading level. As a teacher, we need to make sure, to the best of our ability, that the books our students are reading meet the criteria of a good book. Not every book will be at a child’s particular grade level. Plus, the books need to be exciting and engaging for the students. I really appreciate the tables 1-4. I think they will be a big help in selecting books for my students. I like the idea of each reader study books from the same topic or similar genre. Group discussions would be wonderful and easy to perform as a teacher. The students would feel knowledgeable as they feel off of each other. By everyone reading about similar subjects, the teacher could easily cross curriculum into other subjects.

Caitlyn is a variant of Caitlin and pronounced KAYT-lin.  Caitlin is the Irish form of Catherine, meaning pure.  There are 6,169 people with the first name Caitlyn in the U.S. and it is currently the 2397^th most popular name.  Over 99 percent of the people with this name are female.  I have only met one other person who spells their name exactly the same way I do.  There are 7,529 people with name Council in U.S.  It is the 4901^st most common last name.  One of my favorite things that I found on researching my name was that there is ‘1 or fewer’ people in the U.S. named Caitlyn Council.  

On my dad’s side of the family, ever male has a name with the initials J.L. so if I was a boy, my name was going to be Joshua Lewis.  This name came off of a soap opera from that year.  The two names that my mother had picked out for girls names were Allison Nicole and Lauren Michelle.  However, my cousin was born just four and half days before I was and my aunt named her Allison Michelle.  Yes, my mother was very upset with her sister but has never said a word about this.  She didn’t want to ruin their relationship.  My mom had shared names with my aunt but my aunt never shared any back; we now know why.  Dad was the first one to mention the name ‘Caitlyn.’  My parents were watching the show Airwolf when he realized the like the character’s, Caitlyn, name.  They then began to talk about middle names and quickly decided on Nicole.  Mom agreed and the question of not only nine months, but also four and a half long days was answered.

This portion of the Notebook Know-How informs the reader of several strategies for beginning a notebook and improving writing fluency.  To begin, they suggest that the writer do just as we have done in class:  write about his like their name history, their likes and dislike, and list writing.  By beginning with something that might interest the students, they will be more egger to write and keep things fresh.  I’m sure many young students do not know the meaning of their name.  I think it is important for the students to know the background and definition of what they are called every day.  It may give importance to some.  I would also hope that this would spike interest and the student may go home to ask their parents why they picked their particular name.  By turning questions into writing, students will always have something to write about and it will give them the chance to learn about what is interesting to them.  I personally don’t like the creating list idea.  This doesn’t help with sentence structure or grammar very much.  To build fluency, the students must practice writing daily.  Mistakes will happy and students need to know that if they make a mistake, it is ok.  I had never heard of the strategy, lifting a line.  I like the idea that one single line could take you into a whole new exciting story!  This lets the students know how important their journal is and that is should be made as personal as they make it!  This book gives so many great resources to encourage young writers and teacher too!

Walter Dean Myers has created beautiful verses and picture collages throughout his book called Brown Angels.  I really enjoyed viewing the pictures on each page.  I liked the fact that the pictures were on the same page as the poem; I thought it seemed interesting how the poem and pictures seem to fit perfectly together.  But when they didn’t I would have to draw my own conclusions as to what the poem was referring too.  I took special liking to this book and I believe that comes from my love of scrapbooking.  I love how we can express ourselves through written words that have specific means not only to us but a reader as well.  I believe it is also important to show our feelings.  I don’t consider myself to be great at expressing my feeling through words but taking photographs one way I share my thoughts.  So much emotion is found throughout this book – I love that!

Love That Dog is a very interesting book.  I will be honest and say that I wasn’t looking forward to reading this particular book.  I thought it would be too random and that I wouldn’t get much out of this book.  However, I really enjoyed watching this young child grow as a writer.  I guess I could see some part of myself in this child.  He also brought up many good points by asking thoughtful questions.  This young writer starts out not understanding poetry and the meaning behind in and he grows into a more confident writer.  I like the fact that this teacher read some poems from famous authors.  I had never even heard of Robert Frost until my junior year of high school.  What a wonderful experience it must be to have been exposed to such wonderful writings.  I also liked how the teacher seemed upbeat in her comments of this young child’s poems.  I think the teacher had a major impact of this child’s confidence in writing freely.  I like the idea of free verse; the freedom it allows helps the creative thoughts come and form written feelings.  Poetry is great for any age but I feel that I appreciate it now more than I did when I was made to read or write on certain topics.  The lesson plan that went along with this book provided a great base to start teaching poetry.  I do intend on using this in my classroom!