SLMS Interview

At our middle school, the library has gone under recent renovations in preparations to make more resources available to our staff. I asked our school librarian about some of the new additions our library would be receiving. The two most interesting additions include a reading resource room organized by Fountas and Pinnell reading levels and ladder texts from National Geographic. We have spent the past school year targeting fluency of all readers who are below grade level with the Fountas and Pinnell Assessment Kits. After administering the fluency and comprehension tests, the students’ results are then given a letter label from A-Z. For example, an incoming 6^th grader who is on grade level in reading would be equivalent to a level U in Fountas and Pinnell. The reading resource room is a collection a book sets, each containing five copies of the same book which would be great to use for literature circles. Our librarian and her assistant have bagged all the book sets and labeled them with a corresponding Fountas and Pinnell level and Lexile level. These kits will be great to use for differentiated reading groups in a classroom.

                The reading resource room also contains a selection of picture books and trade books that can be used for read a-louds or as mentor texts. These books are shelved and organized by content area, making it easier for math, science, and social studies teachers to incorporate reading into their classrooms. This will be helpful for content specific teachers who may have been unsure of how to incorporate reading strategies into the classroom.

The Ladder series from National Geographic is going to be a great resource for address the Informational Text strand of the Common Core Standards. This series takes the same content, and writes four different levels of text. The texts are all bound the same way and include the same pictures and graphics, but the words selected are now adaptable to the individual reader. I think this will be a great resource for my special education students, now they can access the same text at their level without feeling singled out. The Ladder books can be used across multiple content areas, especially in the science classroom.

Aside from the resources we already have, I think these new additions will be a great asset to our teachers. I look forward to using them!

Poetry Book Reflection: The Sign of the Seahorse

Base, G. (1992). The sign of the seahorse. New York: Puffin

One of my favorite books as a child to read was Animalia by Graeme Base. Filled with whimsical alliterations and vivid illustrations about animals, I simply could not get enough of it. I can remember checking out several times at the local library as a child, and I now have my own copy in my classroom. It is because of Animalia that I chose to seek out another book by Graeme Base to serve as my poetry book reflection. I came across another colorful, animal filled story with The Sign of the Seahorse. Right away I was intrigued by the illustrations of large, brightly colored seascapes with multiple fish personified to dress and behave in very human-like ways. In this book, we find it to be a narrative poem, it tells the story of a soldier crab and a pearl trout who fall in love, but their love and very existence is threatened by a greedy groper fish who is poisoning their coral reef home. It's up to the hero soldier crab to put a stop to him in order to save his home and true love  As I began reading, I fell right in sync with its slow rhythm. The poem is actually quite long and each line in the stanza is long and filled with descriptive, multisyllabic words that almost paint a picture in your mind as well as the illustrations. The following is a sample stanza that describes the son of the herione pearl trout in the poem I feel most middle school students could find humorous and could even relate:

"Despite the shock of spiky hair and earrings in his snout,
Young Finneus was really just your normal teenage Trout.
The Catfish Gang looked tough and mean- no manners, no respect.
But deep inside they meant no harm and dressed up for effect."

The same AABB rhyme scheme is used throughout the entire poem. The poem itself is actually quite long, and Grame Base himself chose to publish the book into two acts. When using this in the classroom, I could see this story being spread out of the course of several lessons. I think it would be a good idea to start out this book as a whole group read aloud. Then in the subsequent lessons, you might break the students into pairs and give them each a stanza or two to dissect and even illstrate. Some of the big questions you could ask would include: What word or words indicate the rhyme scheme? What is the meaning of this stanza? How does this stanza contribute to development of the story?

I found this to be a longer, but entertaining picture book to read. I think students would really enjoy looking at the illustrations and would enjoy listening to rhythm of this poem.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.5 Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears- Book Reflection

Aaredema, V., Dillon, L. & Dillon,D. (1975). Why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears. New York: Puffin.

For my traditional book reflection, I chose Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears written by Verna Aaredema and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. A 1976 winner of the Caldecott Medal, this story derives from the African culture featuring a series of animals who's singular actions are misunderstood and creates a snowball effect of disasters. I enjoyed the repetition, the use of animals, and the colorful illustrations. I think this book would be great for younger elementary students, but you could use it in upper elementary and middle school classrooms as well.  Told as cumulative tale, the story follows the same simple plot, and it all comes together as one giant misunderstanding.  The trouble starts with a mosquito, who shares what is percieved as nonsensical information to an iguana. Not wanting to hear any of it, the grumbles and stuffs sticks into his ears. Not being able to hear, he passes the snake, who misinterprets iguana's actions and now thinks iguana is mad at him. The misconceptions continue amongst the animals, resulting in the accidental death of a young owl who causes his grieving mother to forget to summon the sun, which puts everyone in panic. Aside from the cumulative events, this story could also be considered a pourquoi tale, using the owl to wake up the sun as a means to explain an everyday, scientific phenomena.  This book, filled with bright images, would be great to use as a cause and effect lesson. You could cover/omit the text and have your students retell the cause/effect scenarios in their own words with the illustrations. They may even come up with a different cause/effect story altogether! Outside of the reading classroom, this book could be used a read aloud in a social studies in a unit about Africa or African cultures. An art teacher coud also use the vibrant colors and illustrations as part of lesson.

Some big questions that could be asked include:
  Is it practical to blame all the events on the mosquito? Why do you think mosquitoes buzz around your ears, what are they trying to tell you? How could this story be retold in Kentucky, what animals would be involved?

Common Core Standard Suggestion:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).

The City of Ember Book Reflection

DuPrau, J. (2003). The city of ember. New York: Random House.

      Since reading The Hunger Games trilogy a few years back and absolutely loving it, I find myself continually searching for books that are similar, books that describe a futuristic world, especially post apocalyptic scenarios. When I was younger, I loved books from the realistic fiction genre, but now I favor reading modern fantasy mixed in with some science fiction. Stories with these types of settings have also been categorized as futuristic fiction. The idea of a futuristic world very different from our own is what drew me to the The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. The setting, or time period in which this story is told, was very intriguing to me as the characters live in darkness. Forced to live deep underground out of fear  of war and destruction on the Earth's surface, Ember City was constucted to be completely on self sufficient on their electric power and the supplies for 200 years. When we meet the main characters Linna and Doon, we learn that time is running out, as  they have stretched their resources for 241 years. There a multiple power outages and supplies are limited, creating great worry amongst the Community. In very similar fashion to The Giver,  Linna and Doon are assigned jobs, however they do not like the ones they are given so they switch, Linna becomes a messenger and Doon is a pipe worker. When Linna discovers a mysterious message that she is unable to decipher, she and Doon pair up to unlock the mystery of Ember City and hopefully, unlock a solution for the impending permanent darkness.
      DePrau's work does not stop with The City of Ember, she went on to publish three other books to complete the series. Intended to be on a fifth grade reading level, I can see myself using this book in my seventh grade classroom for students who are below grade level in reading. I think this would be a great book to teach and discuss setting. Some of the big questions I would use could be: What do you think Ember City will do to prepare for the final power outage? Do you think they will leave the City? Do you think it was a good idea for Doon and Linna to switch jobs? The City of Ember was also made into a motion picture film, I have not seen it, but this could be a great tie in to the ELA Common Core standard that requires you to compare a literary work using multiple media formats. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It does remind me a lot of The Giver and I remember reading/enjoying while I was in middle school.

Common Core Standard:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.7 Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film).

Tristan Boggs' Blog: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

Tristan Boggs' Blog: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs: Scieszka, J. & Smith, L. (1989). The true story of the 3 little pigs. New York. Puffin Books. This story is twist on the classic tale...

Picture Book Talk- The Widow's Broom

 Allsburg, C.V. (1992). The widow's broom. New York. Scholastic Inc.

What would you do if suddenly the mop or broom in your home came to life and starting cleaning? If you're like Minna Shaw, it would probably shock and frigthen you!

  After allowing an injured witch to stay out her house, Minna Shaw discovers what appears to be an ordinary broom left behind. Soon the broom comes to life and much her surpirse, a terrific help to Minna. Before long, not only could this magic broom sweep, it could be taugh to feed chickens, fetch water, and even chop wood! News of this magic broom spread fast to her neighbors, but not everyone liked the idea of living so close to a bewitched broom and they intend to do something about it. Read The Widows Broom by Chris Van Allsburg to find out what becomes of Minna Shaw and her magic broom. Chris Van Allsburg has written and illsutrated several fantastic stories filled with magic. Many of these stories have been turned into popular movies including Jumanji and The Polar Express. Who knows, maybe The Widow's Broom could be the next book to hit the big screen!

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

Scieszka, J. & Smith, L. (1989). The true story of the 3 little pigs. New York. Puffin Books.

This story is twist on the classic tale of the three little pigs as seen through the wolf's eyes. According to the wolf, we've got the story all wrong. In Scieszka's version, the story is retold with wolf as the unlucky protagonist, meaning he is the main character who is portrayed as the hero. The wolf, merely wanting a cup of sugar, visits the homes of the three little pigs without the intention of eating them. Simply wanting to bake a cake for his grandmother, the wolf accidently destroys the homes and lives of the pigs, who are surprisingly rude, by sneezing. I won't give away the ending of this story but I love how Scieszka stays true to original components of the story while providing a humorous outcome. For example, one of my favorite parts occurs when the wolf visits the pigs home made of sticks. Upon knocking on the door, the second pig refuses to help the wolf because he is busy shaving the hairs on his chinny chin chin.
     Even though this story is a picture book, it has great applications for the classroom setting and can used to teach several different mini lessons at multiple grade levels. The more obvious lesson that can be taught is point of view,  or the perspective from which the story is narrated. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs can be paired with reading The Three Little Pigs and can serve as a compare/contrast activity between the different view points. This could also serve as addtional writing activity for older students in which they have choose which viewpoint they like best and present an arguement for their choice.
     I could definitely see myself using this in a middle school classroom and would reccommend it to other middle school teachers. As a special education teacher who works with students with behavior disorders,  I can also see myself using this a social skills lesson. I could use both versions of this classic story to show my students that things/people aren't always what they seem and that you should not "judge a book by its cover".  Below are some of the middle grade level standards I feel this story could align with:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.7 Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.


I hope you find this post helpful!

A Little About Me

Hello all! I'm very new to blogging, so please bear with me throughout these posts. I just want to share a few things about myself. I am a special education teacher from Mason County. I work at Mason County Middle School, I have been working with sixth grade students for the past three years, but now I will be moving to seventh grade for the upcoming school year. This will be my fifth year of teaching, it's hard to believe how time flies! I graduated from Morehead University in 2009 and I am currently working on my Master's to obtain a degree as a Reading/Writing Specialist.  In my free time from school, I like to read, cook, run, and spend time with my family. I look forward to discussing books with everyone in the upcoming weeks!