Book Reflection 15 November 23, 2009

Natasha Wing

The Night Before Thanksgiving

2001

ISBN:  0448425297

3rd-6th grade

If you have ever read the Night Before Christmas, this is similiar except it is about Thanksgiving! The book talks about the “night before Thanksgiving” and how families get ready for it.  It talks about how the food is prepared, people meet with family, thanks is giving, and food is ate!

The teacher can read this book before Thankgiving. The student can write in their journals about what they do on Thanksgiving and share it with the class.

Book Reflection 14 November 23, 2009

Kate Banks

Alphabet Soup  

1988

ISBN#:0-679-86723-6

1st and 2nd grade

This book is about a little boy is not interested in eating the soup he has. His soup had letters in it and  he takes letters from his soup to make words. He keeps doing this to form a story.  He begins to make up a story that comes to life. He eventually uses all the letters and has eaten all of his soup.

This is a good book for younger students who are learning letters and who are learning how to spell. The teacher can give the students different flash cards with letters on them and they can have their own bowl of soup with letters. they can make their own words and share them with their classmates.

Week of Nov. 2- Reflection November 22, 2009

1. The students practiced their reading and roles for the “Breman Town” story for one last time. They were going to have their parents night that same night so they were getting ready for it. The students also go into groups for their spelling words. Each group went over their spelling words together. There are three spellings groups and their words this week focused on the long e sound, changing y to ies and beginning consonant blends. Mrs. Whisnant organizes these groups by level, this way there are different words for children on different levels. Mrs. Whisnant did a read aloud while the children followed along in their books. Then, with each of their spelling lists, they sorted them in alphabetical order. They did this on the floor and we got to go around and make sure they were doing it correctly.

2. On Wednesday, I did the word flash and reading passages with the student I chosen. The students seemed to like this and everyone wanted to try it! My student liked it as well but I could tell when he got a little frustrated when he couldn’t recall a word. We also helped out whenever we were needed by checking answers when students were doing things as a class.

3. I really like how the students have roles in their classroom. Some students wash the lunch tables, turn off the lights, feed the frogs, water the plants, check the weather, and many more duties. I feel like this gives students a feeling of responsibility. This can make them feel like they have a purpose for something and it helps them form a sense of being responsible.

4. How can one 2^nd grader be on a Kindergarten reading level and another be on a 4^th grade reading level? This blew my mind!

Week of Oct. 28-Reflection November 22, 2009

1. The students had their math assessment this day so it was different than a regular school day. Mrs. Whisnant even told us it was going to be different than most and it was going to throw their schedule off! After they finished their math assessment and went to lunch, Mrs. Whisnant had the student gather on the rug and they read a story they had previously been working on. The students were going to present this story and take roles to the characters. They were going to do this on parent night. They practice their roles as their “reading time”.

2. Erin and I gave the students the spelling assessment on Wednesday. So far this week, this is all we “taught” to the class. We plan on assessing each spelling test and finding out what level they are on.

3. It struck my attention to how “close” this school is. Everyone seems to get along very well and they work as a team. I really like how Mrs. Whisnant and Mrs. Vance do team teaching When the student have reading and math, the students switch classes depending on their level. I feel like this lets the teacher teach to each student according to their understanding. I also like how the school has a community setting. Each classroom has its own name. The walls are painted like a community and there is even a population number when you walk in the school. It is a great environment to be in!

4.  Can schools have posters that say “in God we Trust” in every room? I also noticed that there was a fire drill during the students’ math assessment. It was unplanned and the teachers didn’t know about it until it happened. Why would the principal decide to do this during the time of their assessment?

Creating Fluent Readers (Rasinski) November 22, 2009

1.    What are the three dimensions of fluency? How can you assess each dimension?

- Accuracy in Word Decoding— You can assess this by calculating the number of words a child can decode accurately at grade level with few errors 

- Automatic Processing— You can assess this by looking at students reading rates. This includes calculating the number of words a student reads correctly in 60 seconds on a grade level passage. Readers who fall 20-30% below target rate will require additional instruction

-Prosodic Reading—You can assess this by listening to a child read a grade level passage. During this, judge the quality of the reading using a rubric that scores a student on the elements of expression and volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace.

2.    Rasinski refers to fluency as a “bridge” between decoding and comprehension. What does he mean by the “bridge” metaphor?

- This “bridge” means it would be difficult for a child to get to one without the other. This means that there is a process to get from decoding to comprehension. There is no way just to jump from one to the other so fluency is what takes you from one side to the other.

 

3.    What instructional methods does Rasinski suggest for students with difficulties in automatic and prosodic reading?

-Assisted and repeated readings in order to hear what fluent readers sound like and how fluent readers interpret text with their voices. Get with a partner of the same level and orally read passages. Have a more fluent reader read a passage with a less fluent reader. Practice repeated reading (poetry and scripts) that are meant to be read orally. Model prosodic reading in the classroom so students will get a better idea of how they are supposed to read and speak.

 

4.    Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MFS) is used to measure prosodic quality of oral reading. List components of the MFS and describe what each refers to (p. 49).

-Expression and Volume—reads words with fluency and as if they come natural in conversation with expression. When using a quiet voice it doesn’t make it sound like natural language.  Use good expressions and enthusiasm, this varies expression and volume

- Phrasing—student gives attention to expression and reads in segments with good phrasing.

-Smoothness— student reads smoothly and uses self-correction quickly when has difficulty with words but continues on to next word.

-Pace—maintains an appropriate rate as reads throughout passage. The appropriate rate is also normal conversation rate.

 

Book Reflection 12 November 22, 2009

Dr. Seuss

Hop on Pop

1991

0-394-80029-x

Kindergarten- 2nd

This book is about rhyming words using their endings.  It gives two rhyming words at the top of each page and then uses the words in a sentence. There is also good illustrations for each word so the student can visualize.

This is a good book to teach students about rhyming words. The students can explore more words that rhyme with each other and maybe make their own pictures to go with them.

Book Reflection 13 November 22, 2009

Tedd Arnold

1997

Parts

0-439-4292-5     

Grade 1-2

Parts is about a boy that thinks he is physically falling apart. He loses a tooth and thinks his teeth are falling out, he has ear wax and thinks it is part of his brain, and he thinks his eyes and ears are falling off. His parents end up telling him that it is normal and he feel better!

This could be integrated with health and the students can discuss natural things that will happen to them so they don’t feel different. The class can talk about losing teeth and the students can share stories.

Week of Nov. 16 November 22, 2009

1.  The students started off with a new week of spelling words. Some of their words were: bed, dead, sweet, meat. The second groups spelling words were words that you change the y ending to -s,- ies or -ing. Mrs. Whisnant went over these words and talked about them with each group. She then read the Night Before Thanksgiving to the class. Each group did a word sort in their homework notebooks with the weeks spelling words. They then did a picture walk with Nina’s Day and the students read it with the teacher. They has to write about their school day in their journals. They read with partners. Each person read a page out loud to their partner and they read the entire book three times. Mrs. Whisnant also did a read aloud for A Turkey for Thanksgiving.

2. On Monday, Erin and I gave the two students who were absent the first day the spelling test. Later that week I helped a girl read a book, sort her spelling words and write sentences, and do her daily math. This girl always gets behind so I had to supervise her so she would get it done.  

3. Erin and I talked about how we do not really see much Science or Social Studies in the classroom. I feel like every day has math, reading, p.e., and art. I also talk to a boy from India for a while this week. He is in my classroom and he is really sweet! He told me a lot about his culture and his family! It was really interesting!

4. I wonder if they ever do Science or Social Studies. Maybe they will do it later in the year?

Week of Oct. 9-Reflection November 22, 2009

1. The three reading groups got new books to read today. Each three groups had different books. They were Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving, Alexander Who Used to be Rich last Sunday, and If You Bring a Mouse to School. Mrs. Whisnant had each group come to the carpet and she read that groups book to them. she did this with each of the three groups. Then the students went and a poster of their favorite part in the book. They put captions under their pictures to explain it.  

2. I got to help a girl in the class read on Monday. She read a book to me and would talk about the pictures. I would help her with words she didn’t understand. I also got to echo read with another student. We took turns reading pages.  

3. I like how Mrs. Whisnant lets the students use the Smart Board. They seem to really enjoy this! They do a lot of math on the Smart Board and the students get to go show how to do it on the board. This gets them involved and interested!

4.  It is really sad when you find out a child’s home life. You start to understand why some children are the way they are in the classroom. How do you deal with parents that do not want to take responsibility for their children? It is sad!

Book Reflection 11 November 22, 2009

Laura Seeger

2007

First the Egg

ISBN 9781596432727

K-1^st

This book is about the cycles of life. Everything goes through stages and has a beginning, middle, and end. For example, a chicken has to be an egg first, then a chick. It goes through more things that go through cycles and stages.

This book can show children the stages of life. It can be integrated with science and shows that not all “beginnings” are the same.