Jorge Mendez Blake's Project 'The Castle'

As far as selecting picture books for use in a classroom collection, Tuesday by David Wiesner would be an excellent addition. The book itself is a wordless book, with limited text and depends on sequenced illustrations to present the story and carry the narrative. Despite the lack of text, colorful illustrations throughout create interest in the story and make the reading experience an enjoyable one. Looking at evaluation criteria for selecting picture books in a classroom, Tuesday adheres to many of the standards. Tuesday is about a topic that children would find interesting; it avoids all forms of stereotyping in both text and illustration. The figures of frogs flying about on lilypads, is well done, but not so complex that it is not appropriate

One of my learning moments was during our very first day of class. We created a “Gypsy Wagon Book” which is very interesting and unique to me because, this book can be used in a variety of ways for all ages. One way to use this book is that you could have your own students create their own story book, maybe of what they did over the summer, vacations they went on, birthday parties or just different activities that they did with friends and family. This book can be used for sequence of a story that you read to your students. Also this book could be used simply just as a journal for student to right in daily or once a week on how they are feeling.

Genre/organizational demands: Picture books are books that contain many illustrations, especially for children. The illustrations are as important (or, in some cases, even more important than) the words in the story. My students will need to understand that pictures usually add to the text of the story. They will also need to understand that text represents spoken words. Thus, my students need to be able to interpret pictures and be able to recognize one-to-one correspondence between a written word and a spoken word.

So you see, pictures, even in books help minds to develop each time you take a glance at them. You gain that freedom in your mind and can grow and expand to photography, galleries, museums, and even creations of your own personal art... the possibilities seem endless. I would conclude that picture books are helpful to people of all ages, especially the minds of children. Will you ever look at books the same

The book I chose is, If You Take A Mouse To School written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond. If I were to use this book in a second grade classroom and be questioned about it by the principle I would say that I am using it to teach the concept of cause and effect. Concept books are great to use because there are so many benefits that can come out of them. In this book particularly it would be a great simulant of discussion for the students, they can explore the different ideas within the book and talk amongst each other about their own opinions. It is also is a great way to introduce the lesson I am about to teach in a fun way that won’t have the students dreading the assignment from the beginning of class. The students will

Seuss books. The two books I would read to my elementary (K-3rd Grade) class are Yertle the Turtle and The Sneetches. Yertle the Turtle discuss a turtle who wants to be able to see the top of the pond, so he has all his fellow turtles carry him to the top. He never once cares about those at the bottom. The lead turtle is depicted as Hitler and his actions show his thirst for power. I can incorporate this into character education by questioning the students on the Yertle the turtle’s behavior and if it is appropriate. For example, should we want all the power and forget about helping others?, Does the turtle show signs of being a bully? Questions that depict things that can relate to the students personally pertaining to the holocaust in a PG kind of way. The other story I would use is the Sneetches. The Sneetches is about two kinds of race and how the other feels one race is more important than the other. The story depicts anti-Semitism, tolerance and racism. I can incorporate the story with character education by presenting various scenarios. The scenarios will be about how we treat others. The scenarios will lead to a lesson on how we are all the same and should respect everyone in a kind

Each of the concepts in the article, “Books for Young Readers” addresses the goal of student interest and engagement in reading. The section, “Ways of Reading” talks about balancing the personal and pedagogical responses to reading, which is not easy to achieve. Laura Jimenez and Kristin Mcilhagga are refreshingly open and honest in discussing their lesson on children’s historical fiction where they used the graphic novel, Storm in the Barn, by Matt Phelan. The book served their pedagogical objectives, but neither Lisa nor Kristin liked the book themselves and their students noticed. When asked if they liked the book, they had to admit that they did not. Educators must put themselves in their students’ position when seeking interesting and

Children’s books: What did you learn from the collection of children book references? How can you use books to create connections for young children and build their knowledge of new concepts? I learned that children’s books can promote learning without it being the sole purpose of the book. For example, I thought Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss was just a fun book for kids. Until I looked it up and realized it would be a good book to use to help with language development. I can use books to create connections by using it to reinforce my lessons. If I was teaching children about the life cycle of butterflies I could use The Hungry Caterpillar to help teach the children about

Kitty Princess and the Newspaper Dress is a fun take on the Cinderella Fairy Tale (if Cinderella was already a snobby, bratty Princess.) Kitty Princess is going to a ball and demands a new outfit. When her fairy god mouse refuses to help her (because of Kitty Princess’ lack of manners) Kitty Princess sets out to find her own, and finds out that things are not as easy as they seem and a kind word can go really far. My three year old enjoys this book and it has a good message behind it about how you treat others and the way you act are very important. Would be a good book to incorporate into the classroom. Could have the students create their own dress out of images of food, similar to the one Kitty Princess receives, for comparing and contrasting,

Establishing strong reading and writing skills early in life is something that parents and teachers alike strive to do. In Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning by Christina Hass and Linda Flower, they admit that “ Helping students move beyond this simple, information-exchange view to a more complex rhetorical model-in both their reading and their writing-is one of the very real tasks which faces us as teachers.” This much sought after concept of creating and molding critical readers who can identify theories and interject their own ideas into the content of what they are reading is clearly a position that many would find as a desirable skill.

After reviewing the fourth grade DDM data, it was evident that our students struggle with close reading and comprehending texts on a deeper level. They were able to answer a majority of comprehension questions that were stated in the text, however, 89% of students scored 60% or below on inferential and higher order thinking questions. It is because of this data that I propose we implement literature circles into our reading routine. In literature circles, small groups of students gather together to discuss a piece of literature in depth. The discussion is guided by student 's ' response to what they have read. You may hear talk about events and characters in the book, the author 's craft, or personal experiences related to the story. These types of groupings allow for authentic conversations that help deepen a student 's understanding of a text. It also requires students to work within groups and as teams, which is emphasized in our PBIS curriculum. I believe that incorporating literature circles will allow students to work collaboratively in the area of reading while strengthening their comprehension skills.

Emilie Buchwald once said, “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” This quote means to me that children learn reading from their parents. People read every day-- from newspapers, blogs, or Facebook posts, to traffic signs. Most people read for escape, entertainment, and instruction. As I consider my reading experiences, I realize they represent the journey I have traveled, leading me to my current academic path.

Books and stories have a significant impact on teaching children about feelings and emotions. They give an insight on how they can feel in different situations, as well as how other’s can feel. I think it is significant to have books in my future classroom that help my students understand emotions and feelings. Books are a great resource to help children discuss how they should go about different problems and situations. One book that I would have in my classroom is Today I Feel Silly, written by Jamie Lee Curtis. I remember reading this book to the children I babysit and they loved the illustrations and the colors that went along with each mood. The book touches on different moods such as silly, cranky, excited and sad and the illustrations

Research suggests that children’s literature plays a vital role in helping “students develop emotional intelligence and creativity; it nurtures growth and development of the student’s personalities and social skills; and it transmits important literature and themes from one generation to the next” (Crippen, 2012, p. 1). Literacy development begins in the home, as early as age zero; it all starts with caregivers reading to their child. The role of literature then becomes more important as children enter the educational setting, where there is an intentional inclusion of literature. From preschool to third grade, early childhood teachers seek to include literary elements to support the seven developmental domains of young children: gross motor, fine motor, self-help adaptive, social/emotional, language, cognitive, and spiritual/moral. A child’s

Reading comprehension and fluency are explored in chapters three and four. The authors of chapter three review what they feel to be ten essential elements of teaching reading comprehension. It only stands to reason that a child’s knowledge of the world around them greatly affects their comprehension, especially while reading expository text. However, not all students enter the classroom with the same amount of this “world knowledge”. I have had students who have summered in Europe and students who have never left the state all in the same classroom. Teachers must provide differentiation in instruction, as well opportunities to engage in a wide variety of texts to build domain and world knowledge to support reading comprehension. As a STEM lab instructor and lover of children’s literacy, I am intrigued by the, Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading, program referenced in chapter three. I am continuously looking for ways to use literature to introduce my STEM topics.