The Ways Children Reflect

The questions posted on Dr. Chatel's page got me thinking of the real reason teachers always made us right journal entries and letters to people who really didn't even exist.  I remember doing these assignments all through elementary school and know that I am learning why we did what we did then I have realized it was all about reflecting on things that we had done.  I remember writing to characters in books asking them questions about why they did what they did in the book.  This whole process was a different and interesting way for our teachers to see what we took from the book we read.  As a teacher I feel it is an easy way to assess what kind of comprehension our students possess.  Teachers evaluate journals by the evidence the students use from the story and the language that is used.  On Tuesdays there is a group of students that see the reading teacher for 30 minutes, this past week I went with the students and there task for the day was to write a journal entry as if they were in the story and lived the events that happened in the story.  The students got check marks for every detail they used that came from the story they read.  This was a great way to get them motivated because each student wanted the most checks, therefore, they paid close attention to detail and wrote down everything they could.  I think journals and letters are great ways to assess children's understanding as long as you do not ware them out, sometimes teachers can be to tough and mark the journals bad, that is not what they are for in my opinion.  

What Can a Blog Be Used For?

In my children's literature class we discussed the importance of talking about books while you are reading or when you just get done reading them.  Most of the time as adults we do not read a book and then go and make a shoe box diagram of what we just read, rather we go and find someone who we can talk to about the book.  Student's minds think the same way a lot of times and it is important that they have the chance to discuss a book that they have enjoyed, or maybe not enjoyed.  I know we wrote about The Girl with the Brown Crayon in our blogs, but I can in vision an on going blog, all on the same page with the students ideas and thoughts about their own books written in it.  They can share their ideas and thoughts about books read as a class or even about books they are reading at home, this could give other students ideas as to what is out there to read.  I find that having all these different pages can get kind of confusing and it is hard to keep up with all the different topics.  I do not know a lot about technology but I know there are different ways to have a blog, I would find a different way for my class, but this blog that we have started has given many ideas for my future classroom.  

Assessing Students Writing

During my Tuesday Experience I have been able to observe many students doing writing activities and because of this have been able to tie what we have learned in class to what the students are doing in school. I never knew what students were capable of when it comes to writing, but after reading these samples and see them in school students have good things to write about. Sometimes it is hard to look past the errors in writing in order to see how great the ideas really are. In class we have learned to assess the students work both on how well it is writen when it comes to organization, fluency, and word/sentence variety, etc, and their spelling, grammar, and punctuation. We need to look at both aspects of writing when evaluating students work. There are a few students in my class at Whiting Lane who have great ideas but have a hard time organizing them and then writing them down correctly. Now that we all have this knowledge on how to assess the students work, we can then turn and help them become better in all areas of writing.

I was also unaware of the different stages that students go through in writing. I figured there had to be some sort of way to tell where they are in their writing but was not aware that these stages have been made up. I have learned that there are many ways to asses students spelling. All students have different ways of spelling and sometimes it is hard to see how they came up with the words, using the rubric we worked on today we can look at the stages and evaluate their spelling in order to put them in a category. Being able to look closely at something as important as spelling, we as teachers can help develop students weaknesses and also help increase their strengths.

Reading and Writing Connections Made in Tuesday Experience

A lot of what I have seen in Tuesday Experience has been reading and then responding to questions.  The students will read a short excerpt whether it is on a work sheet or in their Time for Kids magazine.  after they have read the passage they resond to questions using evidence from the text and their own ideas from real life to make connections.  This type of work is a way that they are practicing for the CMT's because that is basically all they are doing in the classroom. I like that the teacher has involved other things into her reading and writing time like the Time for Kids, this keeps the students updated on events around the world and important information that they should know about the U.S.  It is also a good practice for the CMT's comprehensive part.  Some of the stories they read in the TFK's are not that easy to understand, but with the prompting questions the teacher comes up with the students are able to relate to the text and find an understanding of it.  

 

So far this The Girl with the Brown Crayon has brought up some real life issues that I do not think people look at every day.  One point is the color we are and what it means to us.  Reeny tries for find a color that fits her skin type while coloring.  I feel this could be a frustrating situation for some people because it should not be that difficult to try and match a skin color.  Reeny is only in kindergarten and already has a lot of understanding, but also has a lot more to understand.  When she read the book by Leo Lioni she comes across a mouse that is the same color as she.  Later on in the book she realizes that the mouse and her have the same skin color but that is not all the identifies her with him.  When I think back to when I was in kindergarten, I do not know how I would have reacted when I discovered that I am different than everyone else.  

The concept of power and wealth over friendship is discovered in the book about Tico.  All he wanted was golden wings to be able to fly far beyond all the other people.  Unfortunately, Tico discovers that he must choose between his friends and his new found power.  This happens in society all the time.  I was watching the View the other day and the ladies on it were talking about how they all lost friends when they became famous.  They were saying it was because the friends thought that they thought they were too good for the friends.  And without talking to them the friends decided they did not want to be friends with celebrities anymore.  This reminded me of their stories and made me make a connection between the story of Tico and the women on the View.  (T-W)  On the other hand sometimes those who do come into power take advantage of it and do forget what is important in life, like friends and family.  When this happens the person often finds himself or herself alone in the world because they let fame and fortune take over.  Reeny is a smart little girl and I feel I can learn a lot from her in the book just like we learn a lot from students in our classes.  

Literature Circles

Literature Circles are when students choose a book from a list the teach provides, then they get into groups and read and respond together about the book.  The teacher takes part in some of the discussion,  but the students come up with the discussion schedule on their own.  The good part about this is the books are available at a variety of reading levels.  Students also have opportunities to work with their classmates which can be very benefitial to their learning.  In my classroom for Tuesday Experience I have not seen any kind of literature circles formed within the class.  This may change in the weeks to come when I get to see different things they do.  It is hard to see everything when I am only there on Tuesdays, this may not be the day they do literature circles.  But I intend to talk with the teacher about the other days of the week and the lessons they do when I am not there.  

Thematic Units

Thematic Units involve science or social studies topics. They incorporate the six language arts elements in activities and demonstrations. The teacher uses the text as just one source of learning for the students. Students use technology to explore and enhance learning of these content areas. Teachers scaffold instruction as students work independently, in small groups, and together as a class. In my Tuesday experience class the students do not seem to have many resources for science and social studies. The teacher spent 45 minutes reading from the text book and then she asked the students questions right from the book. The students were reviewing for a quiz which they would be taking in a few days. Next to the text book the students were given a print out black and white map with some explorers travels on it. I think the teacher could have made the learning more interesting by having the students color the map and trace the course of each explorer. I have not been able to observe a science lesson, but I am excited for when the time comes, I love science and hope that the teacher has some fun activities to do with the students.