Shared Reading Article

It  does make a difference when parents or grandparents read to their children. Chilren learn new vocabulary, they learn to make connections just as the article stated "text to self". They may not know how to read when they are 2 and 3 yrs but just by looking at the pictures children learn to identify the pictures. I remember when my son was 3 yrs he was so obsessed with dinosaurs, he could name every single dinosaur, literally. His memory was something else. I bought him books of different dinosaurs and he knew them all, because I read to him and together we named the dinosaurs as we read the book and he memorized them all, people would freak out on how he could remember all the names. Now, it is hard to get him to read about the dinosaurs, since he is into Metallica, and video games, so sometimes we will read magazines together and articles online that will interest him.

Author Profile

I was looking for some good books and I came across these books they are suppose to be "Must-Read Books" they look very interesting, I can't wait to check them out.This one is by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. This book is for kids 6th -8th grade.

William S. and the Great Escape : William S. Baggett is a good kid trapped in a really awful family. William has his running-away money ready to go, he's just been waiting until he's older than twelve to leave. When his big brothers flush his sister's pet guinea pig down the toilet, she insists they leave now. And take the two littlest Baggetts with them. So they head out in the middle of the night, ready to escape to their aunt Fiona's house. Unfortunately the trip doesn't go exactly as planned. It's not so easy traveling with two little kids, and some help from a lonely rich girl makes it even more complicated. Will they ever make it to Aunt Fiona's? And if they do, will she let them stay? This is the story of four children who learn that sometimes you have to run away before you can find your way home. http://www.zksnyder.com/williams.html

This is great to read for the little ones in kinder to 2nd grade, the book is Bad Frogs by Thacher Hurd.

Calling all frog fans! Follow Thacher Hurd’s crew of 170 funny, funky BAD frogs as they slurp, burp, skateboard, parachute, and PLAY their way through the bright, action-packed pages of this rollicking book. A hoot to read aloud, this spirited romp will have kids reciting its froggy words and poring over the details in its froggy artwork from morning till midnight. Celebrate life! BAD FROGS FOREVER!

Another great book by Thacher Hurd is Moo Cow Kaboom.
A cow is kidnapped one night from her field by a space-alien cowboy who wants to ride her in an intergalactic rodeo on his distant home planet. At first, the cow is passive, but after the alien insults her, she dances around, wielding a red scarf like a matador, eventually giving the pesky alien a good kick. Realizing that she is more cow than they can handle, the aliens put her in a spaceship and send her whizzing back to her beloved barnyard.

Read Aloud-Shared Reading

I think shared reading is good for children when the teacher or parent is reading and the children are following along. Whether it is a read aloud or echo reading I think that is good for children to learn to read but one thing that I am totally against is choral reading. The day we did that activity in class I thought choral reading was horrible!  I could not even understand anything I was reading nor what Karen, Natalie, and Norma were reading either, it was a total reading disaster (if you can call it reading)! I see no point in choral reading if one cannot even comprehend what he/she is reading.

Chapter 9 Non-Fiction

I love to read non-fiction books especially about people from long ago. I love to read about their history, especially about Native Americans. Non-fiction books can take you to the time and place where these people were, what they did, their struggles, their accomplishments. It  is amazing, I remember when our group did the "Meeting of the Minds", I read the book on Clara Barton who was the founder of the American Red Cross. It was so interesting, the book didn't have too much information about her personal life, just mainly her most important information about her life that made her "the angel of the battlefield". I wanted to know more about her personal life , I'm nosy when it comes to reading about people of the past and sometimes present.That's one of the reasons why I like to read non-ficton. The other reasons are mainly for knowledge and just information. Nevertheless, non-fiction history is educational.

Multi-Genre Presentations

I just wanted to say that all of the multi-genre presentations were awesome. I got a lot of great ideas to use in my future classroom from several of the presentations. Also every presentation was unique, I liked how one of the groups used the game of Hangman to keep the class engaged in the lesson. I also like the presentation of the different cultural foods, it was a great presentation, especially the food, that is one way to keep the class engaged! Overall, it was fun and interesting, great job, everyone!

Chapter 8

Well, I have to say that I enjoyed reading the books from the "True Blood" series, but since I started school I really have not had a chance to read any of my books. I read one book "Dead in Dixie" by Charlaine Harris and halfway on another book "Dead by Day" also by Charlaine Harris during the last part of my summer (whatever was left), since then "Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton" (characters in the book) have just been sitting there collecting dust! The books are a little different from the TV series,I think they are way better! Dead in Dixie has three stories Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, and Club Dead. It is about vampires and werewolves, a maenad, oh yeah, I almost forgot some of the vampires drink synthetic blood, its crazy, its funny, and its interesting. Bill Compton is Sookie's vampire boyfriend who drinks synthetic blood and Sookie, well she can see people's thoughts in her mind. There is another vampire name Eric who likes Sookie and he wants her for himself. There is a lot of drama in this book. I miss reading those books but I have not found the time to read! Maybe I will have time during Christmas vacation. I ordered my books from Doubleday book club, but they have the books on Amazon here is the link http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Dixie-Southern-Vampire-Mystery/dp/0739434713 

Chapter 7

I enjoy reading picture books because they are not too long and to the point. They are great for young children since kids have such a short attention span. I think that when the pictures in the book are eye-catching, children will be engaged and they will want to listen or read the story. Lately, I have been having fun looking for books at the library, since I have had to look for books for this class. When I read the picture books I feel relaxed. I love to read them to my son, sometimes he thinks he is too big for those cute little stories but when I make him sit down (I have to make him get away from the Guitar Hero) so that I can read to him,  he actually is engaged, his is 11. Overall, picture books are great for kids because they need  to visually see what you are reading to them or what they are reading; it connects them to a visual aspect of the story.

Author's Profile

A cute book I read called, I SPY FLY GUY , by Tedd Arnold is about  a boy named Buzz and his pet fly named Fly Guy. They were playing Hide-and -Seek and Fly Guy went to hide in the trash can when suddenly the garbage truck came and collected the trash and took Fly Guy! Buzz goes to look for him at the town dump but he is in for a shocker, because there are zillions of flies and he totally freaks because they all know his name " Buzzzzzz"! Will he ever find Fly Guy? There are more books from this author and Fly Guy here is the link for more info on the author and his books http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=3166.

Here is another book called "The Last One in Is a Rotton Egg," by Diane deGroat. Gilbert and Lola are excited. Their cousin Wally is coming for a visit - just in time for the Easter egg hunt! But they soon learn how competitive Wally has become. He has to eat the fastest, be first on line, and find the most eggs, no matter who gets hurt. How can Gilbert deal with such relentless rivalry? In this humorous and encouraging story by Diane deGroat, Gilbert - everyone's favorite opossum - teaches Wally who the rotten egg really is!  http://www.dianedegroat.com/Diane_deGroat_2.html

"The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale Of Picky Eating", by A.W. Flaherty

Once upon a time, on a long, slow trip to Scotland, a little girl named Katerina-Elizabeth tossed her oatmeal overboard—again, and again, and again. She was a picky eater, and oatmeal was her least favorite food.

And once upon a time, a small worm, no bigger than a piece of thread, swam alongside an ocean liner bound for Scotland and ate bowl after bowl of tossed oatmeal. He had never tasted anything as wonderful as oatmeal in his whole life. A. W. Flaherty and Scott Magoon unravel the Loch Ness legend in this whimsical picture book for the picky (and not-so-picky) eater in all of us.

Children's Literature for 10/20

These books are from the Magic Tree House Club, they are just in time for Halloween, you can find more info on the author on this link:  http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/authors/results.pperl?authorid=22894
                                            

A Good Night for Ghosts by Mary Pope Osborne



Jack and Annie are on their second mission to find—and inspire—artists to bring happiness to millions. After traveling to New Orleans, Jack and Annie come head to head with some real ghosts, as well as discover the world of jazz when they meet a young Louis Armstrong!

Ghosts by:
Mary Pope Osborne (Author) and
(Author), Natalie Pope Boyce                    Fact and fiction meet--for Halloween!

What are the origins of some of the famous ghost stories in Louisiana? Why do people believe in ghosts? Do most cultures have some kind of ghost stories? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Magic Tree House Research Guide: Ghosts, Jack and Annie's guide to ghost stories from all over the world.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman — a 176-page story about a young girl who discovers another dimension through a mysterious door in her new home. Inside this dimension, she finds a replica of her own house, but with one significantand creepy — difference: instead of her own parents, Coraline finds her “other mother and father” dwelling inside this “other home”. These other parents would resemble her own if not for their black button eyes and long crooked fingers. Coraline soon discovers that her other mother’s devious plan: to steal her real parents and keep Coraline all to herself.

Author Profile

This book "The Three Horrid Little Pigs" by Liz Pichon (who is very nice) is really funny, it is fractured literature of "The Three Little Pigs". These pigs get kicked out of their house by their own mother, because they are so lazy! In this story the wolf is really nice. The three little pigs are the ones who are absolutley horrid! Each pig tries to make their own house to live in but they are so lazy that they can't even do that right! This is a really cute story to read to kids of any age. Here is a site with the some of the author's other books and info: http://www.lizpichon.co.uk/books/books.htm

"Stone Soup" retold by Heather Forest, is one of my favorite books of all. I remember reading this book when I was little. The story is about two hungry travelers who come upon a village and knock on everyone's door in the village asking for some food, but everyone in the village tells them they don't have any food and closes their door on them. The travelers felt so bad that the villagers did not have food for themselves so they end up making "Stone Soup" for the villagers. The villagers came together and helped the travelers. This is a great story of what can happen when people come together. Here is a link about the author and her books: http://www.storyarts.org/heather.html

"Cinderella Latina, La Cenicienta Latina "  by Bobbi Salinas is another version of the original story "Cinderella" but its not all magical, it is pretty realistic. The illustration is very colorful and well detailed. The name of Cinderella Latina  is Serena. Serena's father meets Serena's stepmother at the "pulga" (flea market).\, she ends up losing her "huarache" (mexican leather sandal) instead of a glass slipper, it is funny. In the end Serena gets her medical degree and her love "Emiliano", he becomes a teacher (yay!) I enjoyed this book because of the realisticness and the Tex-Mex language used throughout the story. This book is bilingual, it is written in both Spanish and in English. I could not find a website for this author.

Response to "Path of Needles or Pins: Little Red Riding Hood"

Wow, I couldn't believe how much the story has changed over time. Now, I will never see the story of "Little Red Riding Hood" the same. I remember the story I read when I was little, was that the wolf gobbles up Little Red Riding Hood in the end of the story.
Having read the story "The Path of Needles or Pins: Little Red Riding Hood", I think I liked it most from all the other stories of Little Red Riding Hood, because it has a lot of significance to a young girl becoming a woman. for example, decisions she must make in choosing the right path in life. It also tells that she will always have her "backup" laundresses if she ever gets into a certain situation throughout her journey in life. Her future dude better be good to her if not he better watch out because her  posse "the laundresses" just might drown him too! I was doing a little reasearch and I found some more stories of Red Riding Hood with various authors and different titles. Here is the link: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0333.html#perrault They are pretty interesting.

My Thoughts...

What a woman! Maya Angelou brought out a lot of emotions in me. I was in awe by her words of wisdom, her concern for children, and for humanity. I just loved how she recited the poems and her comments and how she related the poems with different people and situations. She made me think of ways I would be able to connect to children by using poetry. I use to always feel like poetry is not for me, just because I couldn't interpret it in the way that it said it was in in the book or what others thought the poem meant. But what I have concluded is that its not about what the author says it should be or how others interpret it, its about what the reader gets out of the poem, how they related to the poem, and their own feelings, that is what I want to teach my students. Poetry is very powerful when it hits you in the heart, just like the poem Maya Angelou recited Sympathy by Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

Author Profile 9-28-09

These are just a few books by Carol Otis Hurst, you can find more on this website http://www.carolhurst.com/products/products.html .The genre is children’s fiction. All of the books and summaries are from Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site.

Rocks in His Head by Carol Otis Hurst

Some people collect stamps. Other people collect coins. Carol Otis Hurst's father collected rocks. Nobody ever thought his obsession would amount to anything. They said, "You've got rocks in your head"…



Through the Lock by Carol Otis Hurst

 Etta and her brother and sister, wards of the state of Massachusetts in 1840, have been parceled off to separate foster homes. Determined to gather her family back together and create a secure home for herself and her siblings, Etta has run away from the last in a long string of foster homes…

The Wrong One by Carol Otis Hurst

Jesse discovers an old doll hidden up in the barn rafters.

Despite Sookan's cryptic protests that it's the wrong one,

they all hope its sale will bring in some much-needed cash.

But when an eerie blue light appears, odd things begin to happen.









In Plain Sight by Carol Otis Hurst

Gold has been discovered in California.

All over the country people, especially men,

are heading west to make it rich…

These books are by Jon Scieszka:

The Spooky Tire and Truckery Rhymes

You can preview The Spooky Tire on

http://www.amazon.com/Spooky-Tire-Ready-Read-Level/dp/1416941428/ref=pd_sim_b_4

This is Jon Scieszka’s website http://www.jsworldwide.com/

Chapter 4

Reading can be boring if one is not connecting schema with what they are reading. The activity we did in class really opened my eyes as to what NOT to do with my class. I know that I will not give them something to read without getting them to think about making a connection. A person always has to have something to connect to when reading, if not it will be the most boring and most frustrating experience ever.
My son is reading the Harry Potter books, he is always comparing the books to the movies. He will come to me and say,"Mom, this wasn't in the book", and "it didn't happen that way in the movie!" What I like is that he says the movie is wrong because the book has more details and extra information than the movie. I love that he is reading and understanding what he is reading. I would probably use something like that in my class. I would show my class a film, have them read the story, and then compare it by using graphic organizers. By doing this, the students will have some background knowledge while they are reading. It doesn't always have to be a film either,  I would use powerpoints, interactive activities, even field trips are great ideas for students to connect to reading.

Author Profile 3321

I thought this book seemed interesting The Midnight Fox by Betsy Byars. It's about a boy named Tommy who doesn't really want to go live with his aunt and uncle but he does and he ends up becoming very close to a black fox. This was one of the author's first books, she also states that parts of the story come from her own life. There is more insight about this book at http://www.betsybyars.com/midnight.html.

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins, is a book that incorporates math and literature into one kid and teacher friendly book. The book is about a grandma that makes cookies and a bunch of kids keep coming and getting the cookies, then another group of kids comes rings the doorbell, and there are more cookies given out. There are patterns and math computations in this book.There is more about the book and the author at  http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/doorbellrang.html.

I found this cool book for Spanish speakers. It is a bilingual book that is written in both English and in Spanish. It is a great for both English speakers and Spanish speakers to teach the both languages. It is called Antonio's Card, La Tarjeta de Antonio, by Rigoberto González and Illustrated by Cecilia Concepción Alvarez. The book has very colorful pictures and a great story. It can be previewed at http://www.childrensbookpress.org/our-books/latino/antonios-card.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 was interesting, I learned who Louise Rosenblatt was. "The reader, the text, and the poem. Everything just make so much sense. The paragragh in the text "Living Literature" on page 39, states "the reader brings a unique set of experiences...teachers don't control what readers get from the text nor should they try to." I believe it, because when I read, I am imagining  in my own mind a scenery that no one else can picture but me. Therefore, when a child is reading aesthetically, they are picturing their own thoughts and scenery in their mind, the children should be able to imagine and have their own thoughts. I guess the "text" part is like once the author has written it, it is just there, inactive, until, the reader takes hold of it. Every reader will have a different perspective because every reader has a different background. Either way, I thought Rosenblatt's stance was awsome.

The one thing I do like is having the student tell the story from their own perspective (retellings), to make sure they understood the story. Another idea I like is having the students act out the story, it would be fun for them and at the same time the teacher knows that they have grasped the story. 

By the way, I like the word "LEXICON" it sounds so strong, and if you think about it, basically it is because it is all the words your brain knows, that is cool! It sounds like a name from the Transformers movie , "LEXICON"! lol. 

Insight on Chapter 2

Well, I am majoring in Bilingual Ed, so this chapter was very helpful in elaborating about how to deal with such diversity. I really liked the tips in helping English Language learners, one of my favorites was labeling the classroom with English and Spanish words such as "door and puerta" and other objects around the classroom like the windows,desks,walls and etc. Similarily, not only for Spanish speakers, but any other language that a student in the classroom may speak. I believe it is important for students to express their cultural beliefs and traditions. I think it will help a child feel proud and acknowledged by expressing his/her culture. I was looking around for some books for children having to do with bilingualism. I found one called MY SPANISH TOUCH-AND-FEEL BOOK OF COLORS by Rebecca Emberly  Publisher: Little Brown and Company ( September 01, 2009 ) It is important  to have thier views and standards.

Children's Literature Authors

Hi everybody, I googled "children's literature authors" and I found many. The one that I really was looking for was Patricia Polacco. I heard one of her stories in one of my other classes and I really enjoyed it. It was called Thank You, Mr. Falker. This was a great story about a young girl who struggles with reading and is teased by other children, until she meets a wonderful teacher who helped her with her struggles. I googled Patricia Polacco and I came across her site http://www.patriciapolacco.com/author/bio/bio.html, I am definitley going to check out some of her other books because I just loved Thank You, Mr. Falker, I was getting all emotional just listening to the story!

Another book or books rather, that my son and I really enjoyed were, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, by Jeff Kinney. These books are hilarious! They will really get the students to read. My son could not put the book down. The book is based on a fictatious character of a boy named Greg Heffley who writes about his life incidents in this book. I also googled Jeff Kinney and I found his web page http://www.wimpykid.com/. I hope you enjoy these books just as much as we did.

First Time Blogger

Well, I've never blogged before, but it seems so much easier than having to write journal after journal after journal...!!! I don't know what else to say. I'll think of something later.