Instructional-Level Social Studies Trade Books

First of all, thank you for writing this article and making these tables!  These will be of great use to me if I teach in the upper elementary grades.  I very much enjoyed this article, and agree with it wholeheartedly.  I was talking to Kate about the article and we were discussing how it seemed like common sense to not assign the same level text to everyone in the classroom.  I said that it seems that way to us because we are being taught not to do that, but some teachers do not realize this is not a good teaching method.  I know many of my elementary school teachers did not take this into consideration.  I know from experience in the classes I have worked in that not everyone is on the same reading level.  In Mrs. Wilson’s class they learn about a historical figure but the class is broken into 3 different groups according to reading level, and the students read books at that level.  I am learning SO much in her class, and everything you teach us I see modeled through her teaching.  It breaks my heart to know there are children like Jon out there and teachers like Mrs. Green.  As a teacher I will make every effort possible to reach the needs of all of my children.  This will be hard, but it is imperative in my job.  I am there to teach my children, not to talk to them and hope they are understanding.  There is so much research that proves that children learn the most when they are met at their level, and are challenged, not frustrated.  I also LOVED the quote from Betts.  He is expressing that as teachers we must see our classroom as a group of indiviuals that are unique in their own way.  The problem in schools is that teachers see their classes as a whole and treat them all alike.  I also liked the reference to how the NCLB reinforces this unreasonable assumption that all children learn alike at the same time.  Do not get me started on the NCLB act though because I could talk all day about that!  Anyway, if I do teach in an upper elementary classroom, you better believe I will be using this very helpful article!

Shared Readings: Modeling Comprehension, Vocabulary, Text Structures, and Text Features

The first part of this article was hard to read for me because it was not very interesting at first.  When it got into the actual content of the article though, I was intrigued.  I love reading articles that I will actually take something from into my own classroom.  I learned about shared reading last semester in block one, but I felt like this article helped even more with understanding what shared reading is.  What I liked most about this article was that the authors were not just telling us what to do or what should be done, they were giving actual examples from expert teachers.  The most important concept I got from this article was that in modeling ways of thinking, as teachers we should model multiple ways in each lesson, instead of just focusing on one.  When discussing vocabulary we shouldn’t just give the definitions or ask a student to give us one, we should model how to use “inside” and “ouside” word strategies.  Oustide of the word is when the student uses context clues, and inside the word means that you look at the parts of the word to help you figure out the meaning.  If you model these strategies, students will use them when they are reading and that is what you want them to do.  Skipping a word will not help them understand the text, and if there is no internet or dictionary around, students need to know how to figure out words in a text.  No matter what when you are modeling through shared reading you need to know the purpose in doing so.  When you choose a text you should know what you will be using it for.  This article also expressed that “shared reading should not lengthen the amount of time the students spend in whole-class instruction.”  Make sure you are giving time for small-group instruction.  I also learned that although modeling thinking is critical, it is also difficult.

Spelling in the 2nd grade

I am currently interning in a 4th grade classroom and I see how low these children are when it comes to spelling.  This is something that I think about often and wonder where in their elementary career should teachers focus on spelling.  I thought that this article was very helpful in answering this question.  My reading teacher in block 1 focused on spelling as an elementary teacher.  Learning from her and reading articles such as this one I realize that spelling must be worked on from the beginning, and if children are not at grade level, which many will not be, then they must work on spelling at their level.  Thinking that all children should be on the same level when they get to 4th grade is irresponsible on my part.  All children learn differently and therefore will not all be on the same level.  What this means is that I have to reach all of my students needs and help them get to where they need to be.  I liked how she made 2 groups because this meant that the grade level children could keep at their pace and the lower level children could keep at their pace.  There could be more than 2 groups is there is a need in that class.  I also liked that she didn’t worry about the fact that the lower group would not be at the same pace as the other group, she just wanted to help get them to grade level.  Reading articles like this help me to see how important it is to not force children to try and work at a level they are not ready for.  I have to meet them at their level and help work up.

Pirates!!

Reading about the pirate unit is getting me excited!  I am interning in Kelley Wilson’s class so I have already been talking about this unit and reading some of her books.  They are so fun!  I think it is such a great idea to use a theme that children would really be interested in to help them in reading and language arts and social studies.  If a child is into what they are reading they are going to learn so much more.  I am looking forward to learning more about how to implement this unit in a classroom setting and hopefully be able to take some things from this into my own classroom.  I appreciate Dr. Frye, Dr. Trathen, and Kelley for sharing this artile and unit with us.  The pull-out is very helpful also and gives us specific activities that we could do.  So let’s get started!

all the small poems

I would have to say this isn’t my favorite read so far.  There are some poems I really enjoyed and others that I didn’t really understand or didn’t flow with me.  I would use this book in my classroom though when talking about poetry because there are several great poems in here that children could connect with.  Reading these poems will help them to see that poems do not have to rhyme and they do not have to be 3 pages long.  Poems can also be about anything you want them to be about.  If children understand this then I think that they would be more comfortable about writing poetry.

Brown Angels

I very much enjoyed this book.  I thought it amazing of Walter Dean Myers to take the time to honor the children in this book.  Many people do not take the time to understand how much these children went through. Many also do not realize how important it is that their parents took the time and effort to have these pictures made.  I thought all of the pictures were beautiful, especially the one of the two girls that had been fishing.  My favorite poem would have to be Jeannie Had a Giggle.  It was so sweet and well written.

My Name

My mother acually found my first name in the tag of a sweater.  She thought it was a pretty name and it also went along with hers, my dad’s, and my brother’s.  They are: Mark, Marcia, and Marcus.  Ann came from several of my families middle names.  My mammaw’s middle name is Ann, my mom’s is Dianne, and my dad’s is Anthony. 

I really like my name.  Every part of it.  Ann is somewhat plain, but it goes nicely with Marissa and it symbolizes other people in my family.  I like the name Marissa, one, because not a lot of people have that name, and two, I think it fits me.  I would have to say though that my favorite part of my name is Ireland.  To me there is no better last name!  Although I am very excited about getting married one day I am so sad about giving up my last name.

My nickname throughout high school and one that some people still call me is Rizzo.  I got the name my freshman year from the soccer team.  Marissa is a mouthful to call out on the field so one day we were talking about the movie Grease and thought that name fit because it was similiar to Rissa and easier to say.  I had no idea it would actually stick, but it did and I loved it!  I had to explain to people though that I wasn’t anything like the actual character Rizzo from Grease.

My daddy also nicknamed me Boo Boo and has called me that my entire life.  I love that he calls me that because it makes me feel special.  Even when I am 47 I think he will still be calling me Boo Boo!

Out of the Dust- “Billie Jo”

In “Out of the Dust” a little girl is born into a world that wished she was a boy.  It is evident in the name she was given by her father because it was a boy’s name.  He named her Billie Jo.  This proves that names do not always fit who you actually are.  She is named like a boy but she is obviously not one.  Not only did her father name her like a boy he treated her like one as well and I think he felt this was his only was to ever have a “boy”.  You can tell from this name that it is more of a southern name, so the setting of the story is most likely in a southern place.  It is also one that is not often used now so it is a story that is set in earlier times.  I get the feeling that she doesn’t really like her name.  The author expresses this through talking about all of the boy things her father makes her do and how she doesn’t like them.  Billie Jo also talks about how her mother is expecting and she is hoping that it is a boy.  I’m sure Billie Jo is a little confused about her identity.  She is a girl and wants to be a girl but cannot really act like one, and is definitely not treated like one.  It would be very confusing to me if I were in her situation.  I like how the author is very descriptive and you can picture everything that is being talked about.

Love That Dog

What a cute book!  I loved how it followed a journal of a little boy struggling to find his inner poet.  His exasperation at not understanding any of the poems the teacher is reading is a feeling I am familiar with.  I liked how this book teaches children that poems do not have to rhyme and have a certain meter.  They are from the heart and about things that are important to you.  This book would be one that I would use when introducing poetry to the class.  Many of the children would be able to connect with Jack and begin to understand exactly what poetry is about.  I think my favorite poem he wrote was about when his dog was hit by the car.  You could feel his emotion through it and it made you think about how you would feel if that were your dog and a car hit it and did not even take the time to stop and say I’m sorry.  Many children can connect with losing a pet and knowing how hard that can be.  Easy read and a great book that I will be using in my classroom!

Ordinary but meaningful!

This is my hope chest given to me by my parents.  Inside I store items that I will one day use in my own home!

This is a guitar my daddy made me when I was in elementary school.  I have always kept it.  The guitar symbolizes so many things in my family.