Reading Log/Wiki Checklist

Reading Log

Genre / Titles you read (Hit enter after each one and a new number should pop up)

             I.      Non-fiction/Informational (1 chapter book or photo essay book reflection required on blog)

1)      Chameleon, Chameleon by Joy Cowley

          II.      Poetry (1 chapter or picture book reflection required on blog)

1)      Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright

       III.      Modern Fantasy (1 chapter book reflection required on blog)          

1)      I, Jack  by Patricia Finney. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

3)      The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

4)      Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

5)      Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

       IV.      Historical Fiction (1 reflection required on blog –can be a picture book)     

1)      The Teacher’s Funeral by Richard Peck. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

          V.      Multicultural/Traditional (2 reflections required on blog – one can be a picture book)         

1)      Hiroshima: A Novella by Laurence Yep (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema

3)      Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky

4)      The Lion & The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

5)      Stone Soup by Marcia Brown

       VI.      Realistic Fiction (1 chapter book reflection required on blog)

1)      Baby by Patricia MacLachlan. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

    VII.      Picture Books (5 reflections required on blog during the first two weeks of class. There should be a total here of at least six.)

1)      The Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      When I was Young In The Mountains by Cynthia Rylant

3)      Moja Means One - Swahili Counting Book by Muriel Feelings

4)      The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward

5)      Many Moons by James Thurber

6)      Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

7)      The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster

8)      The Polar Express by Charles Van Allsburg

9)      Flotsam by David Wiesner

10)  Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews

Wiki Checklist

____ Social Studies

__x_ Science

__x_ Math

____ Music

__x_ Art

__x_ Reading/Language Arts

____ Physical Education

____ Other

Chameleon, Chameleon

Cowley, J. (2005). Chameleon, chameleon. Scholastic.

What child doesn't like creepy, crawly critters?  This is a wonderful informational read aloud for children ages 4-7.  The story takes on a present tense narration and tells the story of a chameleon who leaves the comfort of his own tree to search for food and a new home.  He meets many other creepy, crawly critters on his journey, some of which are actually really pretty creepy. This awesome story informs readers of the "many colors" of chameleons while offering some of the most beautiful photographs I have seen in a book.

This story is considered an informational picture book (genre) because it informs readers.

Observation Questions

1. How many hours did you complete?

I completed 5 hours of observations for the purposes of this course; although, throughout the duration of the course, I had a practicum student from EKU.  Therefore, I have completed many more hours during the past 8 weeks.

2. In a short paragraph or bulleted list, how did you spend your time?

-I observed a music teacher incorporating the story “Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea” to teach rhythm to her students.

-I implemented a reading/language arts lesson in a kindergarten classroom.

-I observed a 2^nd grade teacher working in a small group reading workshop.  She implemented several different short activities in an hour long re-teaching session.

3. How did the experience help you to strengthen at least one Kentucky Teacher Standard? (be sure to name the standard)

KTS 8: The teacher collaborates with colleagues, parents and others.

This experience really helped strengthen my collaboration skills.  Through all the observations, I worked hand in hand with colleagues and teachers from other schools.  By working with the music teacher, I was able to visualize ways to integrate different subjects, such as music, into daily read-alouds with my students.

4. Talk a little about one thing you learned because of this field experience.

The most beneficial thing that I gain from any field experience is different teaching methods.  I think it is so beneficial to walk into someone else’s classroom and see how they handle daily tasks; my favorite being classroom management.  Some may say that classroom management has nothing to do with reading, but that is not true.  If you don’t have good classroom management, students cannot be actively engaged in their learning.  Therefore, I love to see the various ways teachers work with students to keep them engaged.

Number the Stars

Lowry, L. (1989). Number the stars. New York: Yearling.

Imagine a time when people were faced with losing family and friends based on their ethniticity, or better yet, because of their religion.  Dear Annemarie Johansen and her family lived during this time period; one of the most horrific time periods in history, the Holocaust.

The Johansen's lived a "normal" life in Copenhagen, Denmark when the Nazi's invaded their community and the normality that they knew began crashing around them.  The fathers still worked, the children still attended school, but things that we now consider essentials in our daily life, such as sugar and electricity were rationed. 

This story depicts the true friendship of two little girls and their families and the faith, hope, and strength that they had.  On the eve of the Jewish new year, the Rosen's attend the synagogue to discover that their lives are in grave danger simply because they are Jews.  It is at this point that Annemarie and her mother take on the dangerous task of getting the Rosen's past the Nazi's, and on a boat to Sweden to their safety. 

Book Talk - Dear Mr. Henshaw

Cleary , B. (1983). Dear mr. henshaw. New York, NY: Dell Publishing.

As a child, reading is exciting...reading is fun; an outlet from the rigorous day-to-day responsibilities we may encounter.  It is even better when we have a favorite author in which we can read a variety of works from...Dr. Suess, for example.  There are countless books with endless activities that we can pull from his works.

So, imagine this...you have a favorite author who writes amazing books.  As an assignment for your second grade class, you write to this author, expecting to get nothing in return; then, wah-lah, you get a response.  This is exactly what happens with Leigh Botts Beverly Cleary's realistic fiction, "Dear Mr. Henshaw."

Throughout this story, we see Leigh's different daily battles through his letters to Mr. Henshaw.  We hear about his parents divorce, the mysterious lunch thief, and even his dog who went off to travel with his dad to keep him company on his long hauls.  Then we see a type of friendship formed between a young, 10 year old boy and his favorite author.

"Hate That Cat"

Creech, S. (2008). Hate the cat. New York: Harper Collins.
"Hate That Cat" is a short verse novel about a boy named Jack.  Jack is studying poetry at school and he has composed a journal of his personal poems that discuss some popular poets and their poetry, and how it relates to his life...more specifically, that pesky black cat.

Personally, I didn't really see any true plot in this book, and there wasn't any true character development.  He mainly referred to poets, the black cat, and his dog that he loved.  Therefore, I felt like this book was rather hard to follow.

One thing that I really liked in this book was his use of the different elements of poetry.  On pg. 14, he mentions alliteration (pattern in which initial consonant sounds are heard frequently within a few lines of poetry), and models it through his writing (Purple pickle, polished, pencil, chocolate, chalk).  Then, on pg. 19, he demonstrates an onomatopoeia, a device in which the sound of a words imitates its real world sound (buzz, drip, pop, tinkle, trickle).    

On pg. 76 of Creech's book, she allows the main character/narrator to depict a Concrete Poem.  The poem is called "The Yellow Chair," and Jack writes the poem in the shape that signifies the subject of the poem, the yellow chair.

Honestly, this wasn't one of my favorite books to read, although it was full of different elements of poetry that could truly enhance students learning.

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in Peoples Ears

Aardema, V. (1975). Why mosquitoes buzz in people\'s ears, a west african tale. Puffin.

Mosquitoes, in my opinion are one of the world's most pesky creatures.  Their peskiness is what inspired me to read this tale...I wanted to see why it is that they are so inclined to buzzing in our ears.

Why do mosquitoes buzz in our ears?  This story is one account of why this happens.  Aardema takes us through a series of events to provide an explanation of why mosquitoes ultimately chose humans to tell their secrets to.
   
The rising action in the story is when the mosquito tells an absurd story to the iguana about a farmer digging a yam, bigger than the mosquito.  This makes the iguana place sticks in his ears so he can no longer hear the irrational stories of the mosquito.  The sticks in the iguana's ears then cause an unfortunate series of events that spiral out of control, ultimately leading to the death of an owlet.


The death of the owlet brings us to the climax of the story.  The mother owl is so heartbroken by the death of her baby that she is unable to wake the sun in the morning.

All of the creatures of the animal kingdom become worried following the climax of the story; therefore, the king lion calls for a meeting to find out who is the cause of the sun no longer rising.  The animals discover who is at fault, and then all is good with the owl once the punishment is handed down.  The only problem is...the mosquito was never caught to receive the punishment so now he goes around telling humans of his guilt.

This story would be great to use in almost any classroom to discuss cause and effect relationships!

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