The Talented Clementine by Sara PennyPacker

This book is another one that is great for older elementary school children. I think that elementary children could really relate to her character and it would make them excited about participating in a talent show. Also, it would help them to feel like they can be themselves. Clementine is totally comfortable being her messy self throughout the entire book. I woul love to introduce this as a new chapter book in my future classroom.

Craft Lesson #3

Writing a Halloween Story

Resource Materials:
Book: Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes
Hardback books
Pencil
Crayons
Colored Pencils

Discussion:
Using our imaginations in the classroom is one of the most important things we can do when reading and writing. In Los Gatos Black on Halloween, the vivid illustrations and rhyming poetry throughout the story easily allow children to use their imaginations. Stories like this are wonderful for inspiring creativity.

How to Teach it: (3rd or 4th grade)
The lesson will begin as I read the story to the class around Halloween time in late October. After the story, we will talk about what they liked and did not like about it. I will ask them questions about it. Do they think it is a good Halloween story? Were a few of them possibly even frightened by it? What was their favorite part? They will then compose their own Halloween tale in a hardback book. This lesson will be two to three days long as the students will need time to come up with a story and do the best job that they can. Time will be made for them to work on these books. On the third day, the children will bring one Halloween item from home and a bag of candy to share with their classmates. This will help them to get into the spirit of Halloween. The books will become a special project for each student and a chance for them to use their imagination and creativity as well during this fun holiday.

Craft Lesson #2

What’s in a Name?

Resource Materials:
Book: The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
Blank Paper
Colored Pencils
Pencil
Stickers
Crayons
(Glitter, glue, feathers, macaroni, decorative items….)

Discussion:
Each individual child has a special name that was given to them. Their name may have been given to them for a particular reason and it is important to recognize each child’s name. In The Name Jar, the character struggles with feeling different from her classmates. Feeling different and like an outsider because of their name can be a problem for many children. In this craft lesson each child’s name will be important and special and put on display. Hopefully every student in the classroom will feel that their name is truly unique and special.

How to Teach it: (1st or 2nd grade)
The students will first begin the class by writing down their name and what it means or what they think it means. They will be given time to brainstorm about this and ask questions if they have any. They will be asked these kinds of questions to help them get started: How did you get your name? What do you think your name means? What do you like about your name?
Next, the students will each get a piece of paper. I will instruct them to write their first name down in the most creative way they can think of. They will be able to use any of the materials listed above to make it the best way that they can. After they create their name sign we will hang them all in the classroom in different spots. I will remind the class that any time they feel like they are having a hard day or feel down to look for their name in the classroom and what we talked about. It will make all of the students feel more together as a class I think and also feel included.

Craft Lesson #1

Problem Solving

Resource Materials:
Book: 100th Day Worries by Margery Cuyler
Blank Paper
Pencil
Crayons

Discussion:
Everyone worries at some point about something. This book is about how a little girl worries about bringing enough objects on the 100th day of school. Worrying can cause unneeded stress and troubles for young children. Often times, children worry and are afraid to tell anybody about their problems. Problem solving and thinking through situations are an important part of teachers helping children to stop their worrying.

How to teach it: (K- 1st grade)
Today we are going to talk about worrying. Think of a situation or time that you have worried about something. What was it? How did it make you feel? Write down or draw that situation and picture it in your head.
Now, we are going to think about different things we could do to make that worry go away. What would you do? Play a game? Go outside? Talk to a friend? There are many different options. It is up to us to be problem solvers when we have a worry or a problem to deal with. This lesson may take a couple days as I will have them practice their problem solving when they go home that night. Then the next day we will have discussion and they will talk about how their problem solving technique helped them to feel better and what they did. I will also tell them about my worry situation and what I did to remedy it.

Made You Look by Diane Roberts

I think this book is definitely great for reluctant readers. It is aimed at older children, probably 3rd or 4th graders and is action packed. The way the author writes the story keeps young readers that might get bored interested the entire way through. Her character, Jason, wants to get a chance on a game show called Masquerade Mania. His family tells him that he is going on a camping trip instead and he does everything possible to distract them to get onto the show. He also gets bullied by a student in his class, but in the end learns "Ambie" really wants to be his friend as he competes against him in the show. From a dinosaur head to pink underwear, the reader never has a chance to get bored! I really enjoyed this book.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

This book was one of my favorite books growing up. I loved to look at Eric Carle's wonderful illustrations throughout the book. He is still one of my favorite children's book authors today and I love to go back and reread my favorites! Once again I hope the class enjoyed this read as much as I did.

100th Day Worries by Margery Cuyler

I really enjoyed reading this book to the class for my read aloud! I thought that it was a good one to read because it is so full of different craft lesson and lesson plan ideas to use in the classroom. I also really liked the underlying theme of support from the family throughout the story. Overall just a cute little story. I hope the rest of the class enjoyed this book as much as I did!

Book Review: Los Gatos Black On Halloween by Marisa Montes

My book review is posted on Barnes and Noble.com for this book.

Upside Down and Backwards by Diane Gonzales Bertrand

I think this book would be a fun and adventurous read for children in the upper elementary grades. The stories all had funny little lessons to learn and think about that I think kids would enjoy.

I particularly liked the story "Long Live the Queen". A girl in the class gets teased for coming prepared for her class project. In the end, she gets rewarded for it and the students teasing her feel bad. I think there is a lot more teasing and ridiculing that happens in the classroom that sometimes teachers aren't aware of. It just makes me more aware that that is going to happen and I will have to remember to look out for my students' best interest all the time.

The story "Blue Ribbon" was another one I liked. I liked that it taught about children wanting to please their parents. I think that occurs much more than we think and kids will go out of their way just to gain a little bit of their parents attention. In the end the child learns his lesson about lying to his parents. I think as a teacher I will learn that my students really crave my attention and helping them out and being there for them in the classroom will be a really rewarding experience. Also, teaching will just be that extra bit of attention that kids recieve during their day that could impact them greatly.

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer by Walt Whitman

This book is a poem about a little boy that dreams of becoming a great astronomer one day. After he learns about an astronomer, he begins to dream about what it would be like if he became one as well. This book does not have many words, but the ones that are there really let children use their imagination. I have read other poems by Walt Whitman and I really appreciate them. It is a book about dreaming big and going after those dreams. The illustrations are really neat and take up the entire page. Overall I think that any child or adult could benefit from reading this story as it applies to all ages.

Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes

I really enjoyed that this book was written like a poem. Incorporating spanish with english helps to introduce children to a different language and gets them excited about it. The illustrations are also amazing and I think it really lets kids use their imagination. I will say that I think the younger children might get scared reading this book so it may not be a good idea for kindergarten and 1st grade, but the older children would really enjoy it. I also like that in the end the monsters are scared by the children, it adds a fun twist.

I Love Saturdays y Domingos by Alma Flor Ada

This book has a great multicultural theme. It teaches children to learn to incorporate Spanish with english, which is so important in our school systems today. The book also has a great message about family. The girl in the story looks forward to seeing her grandparents every weekend which gives children a good message about staying close to the ones you love. It is inportant to recognize other cultures in the classroom as well as embrace these cultures. This book gives both the students and the teacher the chance to learn more about the Hispanic culture in general. I enjoyed this positive story.

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

This book is about a little girl from Korea named Unhei that comes to a new school. Her name is different than the other children and they have trouble pronouncing it, so they make a jar full of new names for her to choose from. This hurts her feelings and makes her feel like an outsider compared to everyone else. I liked the way the author described the rain comparing it to Unhei, saying "It's the same rain, but in a different place." Unhei doesn't understand why her name is so hard for the other kids to accept.
I really liked that Unehi's new friend Joey. He made the effort to try and learn Unhei's name. It shows true friendship and consideration for another person's heritage. This was a cute book with a good message and I really enjoyed the illustrations as well.

My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada

I think that the author did a great job describing Maria's emotions and thoughts in this book. It was easy to see the hurt that Maria felt being called by another name. In the story when Maria is called "Mary" by her teacher, she feels a loss of pride in herself and her family. She even acts differently around her new friends because of it. The author made it easy to understand how this character changed each time she was called by her new name at school by her teacher.

However, the ending of the book really was neat because it showed the character of Maria's teacher. She really read Maria's essay and was considerate of her feelings about her name. The fact that she let Maria sing made both Maria and her parents happy and it ended the story on a good note.

Each person's name is important and it is important to recognize and be considerate of that. That is what I learned from reading this book. =)

My first blog!

This is my first blog on this site. I am making a blog for my Language Arts class to share with the class, so here it is! I will post more later.