genre presentations day 2

Today in class two groups presented their genre. The first group that went first did really well. I mostly enjoyed the powerpoint with the vocals at the end of the presentation. The powerpoint was very powerful. They are correct when they said that everyone has been afforded grace. I agree with what Ms. Pickett when she said that we should think about others especially during the holidays.

The second group that presented did thier genre on fantasy. They gave a lot of useful information. I didn't even know there was different types of fantasy, I just thought all fantasy was the same. The powerpoint with all the fantasy pictures was really good along with the music. The book they read was really good. It was cute how they bought in props for their chair and share what was behind it.

Both groups did a really good job today. It seems like they had a good time working on the project, and were able to work together. These presentations are so much better than having the students do a book report. It's so much more fun for the children to do something like this.

genre presentations day 1

The first group that presented on Thursday did such an excellent job. The genre they picked was Multicultural Literature. During their presentation, they stated that literature comes from all over the world, and it is such a learning tool for the children to learn about other cultures that they may not be exploited to. A lot of multicultural literature have such good morals that we should know. I really enjoyed the video the group did. They retold the story using stick puppets, and the music that was added was great. At the end of the video, they had a few bloopers which were funny. We got to see how much fun the group had with the project. They did a great job with the genre presentation.

author profile 10

For one of my Field Based assignments during my first semester here at A&M, I had to do a read aloud with my third grade students. I had a great time doing this lesson, and so did the kids. After the kids tested all week, it was good to do an assignment that would have been fun for the kids. The book I chose for the read aloud was The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. I had the students do sequence. After that easy assignment, I had put the kids into groups, and they were to come up with something scary that maybe the little old lady might be scared of. The students were involve with the story, they would join in and read the book with me. The kids had a great time. This website has a lot of great lessons that can go with the book. http://www.nancypolette.com/LitGuidesText/LittleOldLadyWhoWasNotAfraidOfAnything.htm

This book is great for any grade. You can do sequence, sounds, imagination, new vocabulary, senses, research, higher order thinking, writing, and singing. It's a great book, especially for the fall season, and Halloween.

chapter 10

Read Alouds are so much fun and important to do for kids of all ages. Even for the older kids, read alouds can be fun and important. For kids of all ages you can do read alouds because you will need to check if the children can comprehend what they have just listened. Listening comprehesion is important for every grade level. After you do read alouds, you can always do a fun lesson afterwards. I believe read alouds are very effective if the teacher does it the right way. The teacher would have to animated and enthuisatic. I really enjoyed the video that Ms. Pickett showed of what not do to for a read aloud. That was a good example of a non-effective read aloud. She didn't involve the kids and it looked like she didn't want to be there or read the book. The other video Ms. Pickett showed was a great example. Jennifer Myer, the teacher in the video, she did a great job. She involved her students. During the read aloud, she asked the kids what they thought certain words meant, and have the students share thier thoughts with their elbow partner. Jennifer Myer has some good videos on her website. It shows what you should do for the read aloud, and guided reading lessons. For my previous last two semesters of field based, my mentor teachers never did a read aloud. The only time the students saw a read aloud was during thier library time. The librarian would do the read aloud. Instead of the librarian doing the read alouds, the general education teacher should be doing the read alouds, and check if their students can comprehend what is going on. Read alouds should be fun for the teacher and the students.

author profile 9

An author I looked up for nonfiction is Patricia Lauber. She has written over 65 nonfiction books for young readers. Her books are based on Science. She has written books about dinosaurs, bats, dolphins, dogs, volcanoes, earthquakes, the solar system, the earthworm, and many more. She has stated that she loves to write nonfiction books, because this is what interest her and she gets to learn more information about them. Patricia Lauber has also stated that when she discovers something really interesting, she must share it with others. Not only does she write nonfiction books, she also writes children books.

Here is a lesson plan for one of her books: Be a Friend to Trees. You could use it for Arbor Day. http://sftrc.cas.psu.edu/LessonPlans/Forestry/UsesTree.html.

Here's a lesson plan that goes along with another one of her books: Seeds: Pop, Stick, Glide. It's to show the children the life cycle of a plant. http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ScienceArtMDYarnIllustrationsOfTheLifeCycleOfFloweringPlants34.htm

chapter 9

As I was in Elementary, Nonfiction to me meant anything that was going to be boring. It was basically the Encyclopedia's and long biographies that was filled with nothing but text and only a few of pictures. But as I got older, learned that nonfiction can mean so much more and have a lasting meaning to the everyone. After taking Wilson's EDRG 4304 class, I now know that there are nonfiction books out there that can have a meaning to the children. Biographies can be so much fun now. Instead of looking through Encyclopedia to learn about that person, there is so much more. Even the youngest children can learn about them. For assignments that include nonfiction, there is a lot to do. You could do the graphic organizers, read alouds, and meeting of the minds. I didn't know about the meeting of the minds until Ms. Pickett explained what it was. It sounds like such a good idea to do with the class. Let them become professionals on a certain famous person.

chapter 8 favorite fiction

My favorite type of fiction is romance and love stories. My favorite author that writes excellent books is Nicholas Sparks. Mr. Sparks has written 16 books relating to love. Four of his books has been inspired into a movie, and they are: Message In a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, and Nights in Rodanthe. The Last Song is currently being filmed. If you love the movies that have aleady been made, then you will fall in love with the books. Each of his books do relate to love, but in a different way.

It'll be hard for me to write about what a few of his books are about in just a few sentences, so I'm going to put what is on his website.

http://www.nicholassparks.com/

The Rescue

When confronted by raging fires or deadly accidents, volunteer fireman Taylor McAden feels compelled to take terrifying risks to save lives. But there is one leap of faith Taylor can't bring himself to make: he can't fall in love. For all his adult years, Taylor has sought out women who need to be rescued, women he leaves as soon as their crisis is over and the relationship starts to become truly intimate. When a raging storm hits his small Southern town, single mother Denise Holton’s car skids off the road. The young mom is with her four-year-old son Kyle, a boy with severe learning disabilities and for whom she has sacrificed everything. Taylor McAden finds her unconscious and bleeding, but does not find Kyle. When Denise wakes, the chilling truth becomes clear to both of them: Kyle is gone. During the search for Kyle, the connection between Taylor and Denise takes root. Taylor doesn't know that this rescue will be different from all the others, demanding far more than raw physical courage. It will lead him to the possibility of his own rescue from a life lived without love and will require him to open doors to his past that were slammed shut by pain. This rescue will dare him to live life to the fullest by daring to love.

The Wedding

After thirty years of marriage, Wilson Lewis, son-in-law of Allie and Noah Calhoun (of The Notebook), is forced to admit that the romance has gone out of his marriage. Desperate to win back his wife, Jane's, heart, he must figure out how to make her fall in love with him... again. Despite the shining example of Allie and Noah's marriage, Wilson is himself a man unable to easily express his emotions. A successful estate attorney, he has provided well for his family, but now, with his daughter's upcoming wedding, he is forced to face the fact that he and Jane have grown apart and he wonders if she even loves him anymore. Wilson is sure of one thing--his love for his wife has only deepened and intensified over the years. Now, with the memories of his in-laws' magnificent fifty-year love affair as his guide, Wilson struggles to find his way back into the heart of the woman he adores.

True Believer

Jeremy Marsh is the ultimate New Yorker: handsome, almost always dressed in black, and part of the media elite. An expert on debunking the supernatural with a regular column in "Scientific American," he's just made his first appearance on national TV. When he receives a letter from the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, about ghostly lights that appear in a legend-shrouded cemetery, he can't resist driving down to investigate. Here, in this tightly knit community, Lexie Darnell runs the town's library, just as her mother did before the accident that left Lexie an orphan. Disappointed by past relationships, including one that lured her away from home, she is sure of one thing: her future is in Boone Creek, close to her grandmother and all the other people she loves. Jeremy expects to spend a quick week in "the sticks" before speeding back to the city. But from the moment he sets eyes on Lexie, he is intrigued and attracted to this beautiful woman who speaks with a soft drawl and confounding honesty. And Lexie, while hesitating to trust this outsider, finds herself thinking of Jeremy more than she cares to admit. Now, if they are to be together, Jeremy Marsh must make a difficult choice: return to the life he knows, or do something he's never done before--take a giant leap of faith. A story about taking chances and following your heart, True Believer will make you, too, believe in the miracle of love