Reading Blog List

I.                    Nonfiction/Informational

1.)     Anonymous. (1998). Go ask Alice. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Boroson, M. (2005). 86 years: The legend of the Boston Red Sox. New York: Brown House Books.

2.)    Pelzer, D. (1995). A child called it. Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications.

3.)    Boroson, M. (2005). 86 years: The legend of the Boston Red Sox. New York: Brown House Books.

II.                  Poetry

1.)    Silverstein, S. (1964). The giving tree. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

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

3.)    Silverstein, S. (1974). Where the sidewalk ends. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

4.)    Adshead, P.S. (1993). One odd old owl. Singapore: Discovery Toys, Inc.

5.)    Hesse, K. (2001). Witness. New York: Scholastic.

III.                Modern Fantasy

1.)    Du Prau, J. (2003). The City of Ember. New York: Random House.

2.)    Roth, V. (2012). Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen Books. (ebook copy)

3.)    Riordan, R. (2008). The battle of the labyrinth. New York: Hyperion Books.

4.)    King-Smith, D. (1980). Pigs might fly. New York: Apple.

5.)    Young, E. (1992). Seven blind mice. New York: Scholastic.

IV.                Historical Fiction

1.)    Lasky, K. (1996). A journey to the new world: The diary of Remember Patience Whipple. New York: Scholastic.

2.)    Lowery, L. (2012). Across the wide and lonesome prairie: The diary of Hattie Campbell. New York: Scholastic.

3.)    Polacco, P. (1994). Pink and say. New York: Philomel Books.

V.                  Traditional

1.)    Chase, R. (1943). The jack tales. Massachusetts: Riverside Press.

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

VI.                Realistic Fiction

1.)    Creech, S. (1994). Walk two moons. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

2.)    Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part time Indian. New York: Little Brown and Co.

3.)    Chbosky, S. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower. New York: Pocket Books.

4.)    Hopkins, E. (2007). Burned. New York: Simon Pulse.

5.)    Hopkins, E. (2004). Crank. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.

6.)    Polacco. P. (1998). Thank you Mr. Falker. New York: Philomel Books.

VII.              Picture Books

1.)    Blume, J. (1974). Pain and the great one. New York: Dragonfly Books.

2.)    Allsburg, C.V. (1992). The widow’s broom. New York: Scholastic.

3.)    Allsburg, C.V. (1981). Jumanji. New York: Scholastic.

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

5.)    Wiesner, D. (1991). Tuesday. New York: Clarion Books.

6.)    French, J. & Whately B. (2002). Diary of a wombat. Boston: Sandpiper

7.)    Wise-Brown, M. & Hurd, C. (1942). The runaway bunny. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

 

 

Week 8 Field Experience Reflection

1. How many hours did you complete?
I completed the required five hours doing various activities for field experience.

2. In a short paragraph or bulleted list, how did you spend your time?
-90 minutes were spent interviewing the SLMS at my school of employment to learn about and browse the new materials and books purchased
-60 minutes were spent planning and designing a KTIP lesson
-60 minutes were spent getting to know my new students and implementing the KTIP lesson plan
-60 minutes were dedicated to the analysis and reflection of my teaching and student performance for the KTIP lesson
-30 minutes were allotted to share feedback with the students and to address any misconceptions

3. How did the experience help you to strengthen at least one Kentucky Teacher Standard? (be sure to name the standard)
The standard I personally felt I grew from would be 5.1 Candidates design the physical environment to optimize students use of traditional print, digital, and online resources in reading and writing instruction. After completing the interview with the SLMS, keeping a blog about my book selections, and utilizing ebooks and audio programs to develop book talks I now feel more comfortable incorporating both print and digital reading resources in my instruction.

4. Talk a little about one thing you learned because of this field experience.
I really appreciated the opportunity collaborating and learning from my school librarian. I feel like I got a sneak preview of the new materials and will be able to provide more differentiated resources to my collaborating teachers to help meet the diverse needs of our students.

Informational/ Biography Book Post

Pelzer, D. (1995). A child called it. Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications.

I would like to begin this post with a challenge, I dare anyone out there to read this autobiographical novel without crying. Written as a chilling narrative, David Pelzer describes his childhood, if you could call it that, in which he lived every second in survival mode. David grew up in California and lived with his mother who starved, tortured, and maliciously abused both physically and emotionally until his was 12 years old before finally being rescued. David's mother beat him on a daily basis, she stabbed him, forced him to drink ammonia, and rarely fed him anything except for food scraps that even a dog wouldn't eat. David Pelzer's life is a frightening testament to the strength and willpower of human beings. It is truly a miracle he was able to survive. Pelzer retells his harrowing story as an informational chapter book, dividing the details of his life both before, during, and after the abuse he endured. From a middle school teaching standpoint, I cannot on good conscience recommend this book to my students as the material is just too graphic. I can see the implications of this lesson being taught at the high school level though. Although it is a very mature subject, this book could be used as part of teaching a social science  lesson in understanding and comparing appropriate human relationships. Also given the violent, shocking nature of this novel. I could see this lending some very strongly opinionated writing prompts.

Questions that could be asked include:
If you were in David's shoes, do you think you would have the courage to tell someone? Why or why not?
What do you think would have happened to David if his school had not intervened?
If you could ask David Pelzer a question about survival, what would it be?

Common Core Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.

Historical Fiction Book Talk

Lasky, K. (1996). A journey to a new world: The diary of Remember Patience Whipple. New York: Scholastic.

 Are we there yet? How much longer till we get there? Are we there yet?

       How many times have you asked your family this when going on a trip? Trust me, you're not the only one who's been asking. Those questions have been asked since the year 1620! Twelve year old Remember Patience Whipple, has been asking these questions for 65 days! That's exactly how long her voyage aboard the Mayflower to reach the new world. As she makes this famous pilgrimage, "Mem" records her thoughts and the events in her diary, from the moment they leave England, 2,950 miles later when they arrive at Cape Cod, to meeting and sharing with the Indians! If you would like to get an idea of what life might have been like for the earliest of Colonial settlers, the Pilgirms, then check out A Journey to a New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple. 

Realistic Fiction Book Talk

Creech, S. (1994). Walk two moons. New York: Harper Collins.

Sometimes in order to pique the interest of young readers, we as educators are called upon to pitch a book in similar fashion to the way an advertiser pitches their product. Follow the link below to listen a sample book trailer I created for Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. Enjoy!

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0zIuQT2K18A

Now that school is back in session, I'm sure you've been asked a million times, "What did you do over the summer?" If you're like thirteen year old  Salamanca, you would have gone on a cross country trip with your grandparents for a week. But this is no ordinary vacation. It's more a search and rescue for Salamanca's mother, who has been in Idaho since April. As they embark on their adventure, Salamanca is called upon to tell a story and we soon begin to hear about a mysterious girl named Phoebe Winterbottom, her missing mother, and a "potential lunatic". As the stories and events unfold, Salamanca learns a lot about herself and the importance of family. Will Salamanca be able to bring her mother back? What ever happens to Phoebe and the lunactic? Will Salamanca survive being stuck in a car with her grandparents for a week?
Read Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech to find out!