Invitations, Invitations, Invitations

Yesterday in my X-460 class we were given the details to a new assignment that we have coming up for our last class. Guess what is part of this assignment? To design an invitation. I feel as if I have learned about invitations maybe 12 times now all together this semester. Luckily, because we are doing the invitation assignment for our field experience I am able to use that lay out for my X-460 class, so I guess it pays off having our classes intertwine like that...sometimes.

Writing Samples

After obtaining a writing sample for my student at University, I was able to actually take a closer look at the child I have been observing. This certain child has creative and slightly random thoughts, but when I received the writing sample I was surprised to find that although his thoughts may seem to be all over the place when talking to him in person, his writing was pretty organized. He grouped was he was thankful for (which is what the writing piece was about) by first talking about family and friends, and then transitioning into more superficial things such as every fast food restaurant in Bloomington. Although his points may not have been the deepest, they were clearly organized and thought out. It was also interesting to see that his spelling ability is pretty good, although his handwriting is kind of all over the place. This just goes to show you can't judge off of neatness.

MGRP Fair

I thought that being able to walk around and learn a little about each person's topic during our MGRP "fair" was a good experience in both seeing ways other people incorporated the genres into their projects as well as getting to know what other people's interests were. Topics ranged from Hugh Hefner to the Galapagos Islands, and all of them had very interesting facts. I noticed that even if I thought that I was already knowledgeable on a certain topic, I was able to still learn something new about each topic. The only thing I would have changed about the way the presentations were set up would be allowing everyone to view video clips that people brought in. Because of the noise level in the classroom and the constant moving from one person to the next, it was hard to stop and view full clips that people brought in.

Voices in the Park

This past class, we used the book "Voices in the Park" to do an activity based around exploring the different perspectives that were discussed in the book. I liked the idea of using this book because we had previously gotten to read it in X-460, but the approach taken on it in that class was completely different. We basically just read the book aloud, and we didn't really grasp the full understanding of it. We concentrated more on the illustrations and why the author chose the characters he did. In E-339 we were able to pick apart the feelings of the characters and predict what they might say next, which I found very helpful in getting a deeper understanding of the meaning behind the text.

Poetry Invitations

During our last class we were able to explore several different types of poetry genres that we could use for our Multigenre Paper. One of the poetry tables I visited was the table for the "I am From" poem. I completed the poem for myself instead of my MGRP topic because I was unsure how to structure the poem if I were to use my topic of Asperger's. I think that this type of poem could be used for someone with a more specific topic such as a certain event or famous person. For example, Brent was at my table and used Lindsey Lohan with this type of poem, and it turned out great. I think with something like the topic of Asperger's I would be better off possibly doing an art oriented project incorporating feelings or emotions into it like the example that was shown to the class.

Multigenre Research Paper Round 2

After seeing the many examples of other genres we can use to go along with our research paper, I finally have a complete understanding of what this project will entail. I really enjoyed seeing what everyone came up with, even if it was only for a couple of minutes per person. I chose to do an example of an interview, which I actually think I will end up using for one of my genres because it seemed to fit well with the fact that I was already planning to incorporate an author of a book dealing with my topic. Brent's Fall Fashion Faux Pas really appealed to me in the fact that it was entertaining and humorous but also could be informative when paired with his topic of Lindsey Lohan. I also really enjoyed Rachel's Dear Abby column because it used her creativity mixed with actual real-life situations that could be addressed. Today's class definitely gave me a few more ideas to work with..

Writer's Workshop

Tomorrow is our Writer's Workshop demonstration at University, and I'm looking forward to finally getting to see this technique we have learned so much about in action. My placement teacher, Mrs. Mori is in charge of this Writer's Workshop so I think it will give us a good opportunity to see what other types of things she does in her classroom since us students in the 4th grade level normally only have 45 minutes of regular classroom time. I also think it will be interesting to see if the Writer's Workshop methods she uses are similar or different from what we have read about or discussed in class. So far, we have only gotten to see the student's journals from a distance so this will really give us a chance to dig deeper into the content.

Multigenre Research Paper

Ever since last week's class, I have been pondering what I will do my research paper on. Since tomorrow is the day we are supposed to have our topic chosen, I have it narrowed down to two possibilities. The choice that i'm leaning towards is doing my paper on Asperger's Syndrome. I became interested in this topic last year when a child in my field experience class was being tested for the disorder. I thought he was such a neat kid, and I immediately wanted to know more about it so I watched the movie "Adam", which is about a grown man who suffers from Asperger's. As soon as I saw it, it was as if I was watching the little boy in the movie. He had all the same traits as Adam in the movie. I also have a book called Look Me In the Eyes, which is a memoir about a man who grew up with the syndrome. I think with all the extras we get to add to this paper it will be pretty interesting to see what everyone else chooses!

Eats Shoots and Leaves.

After reading a charming little book that I had never seen in my life, it was apparent that there are so many different approaches you can take to teaching kids something as simple as punctuation. This book took a light hearted and humorous approach, as well as adding in illustrations that made the different changes in punctuation among the sentences more apparent. I also liked that when reading these different sentences, changing the emotion or inflection in your voice was a must to get the point across when there was no picture visible. It made me really accentuate what I was saying and add more expression to my reading. After doing an activity with my field experience students where they were to read different passages to me with an assigned emotion, I really think a book like this would also help to get students to change their voice patterns when reading...while also paying attention to punctuation. It's a win win.

Welcome to University Elementary School

As the first day of field experience at University School was wrapping up, I realized I had already learned so much in a short amount of time. I was placed in Mrs. Mori's 4th grade classroom with two other classmates. Since the 4th graders go to specials during the first hour that we are there, all of the IU students placed in the 4th grade were able to take part in the 4th grade teacher's meeting to discuss reading standards and skills. This meeting gave me a much better understanding on things such as the RTI model. Mrs. Mori takes the remediation group into her classroom after specials to work on skills that the students have not yet mastered. Although the time in the classroom is cut short by specials, I really hope to further understand the process the 4th grade uses to assess literacy skills and standards.

A New Outlook on Spelling

How could anyone ever guess that teaching kids to spell had so many different methods and approaches? In an everyday classroom spelling when one is observing, it may seem somewhat simple or less abstract. But, in today's class we learned different. I had no idea there were so many approaches that ranged from sound strategies to visual strategies. When I was in Elementary school learning spelling, I admit it did come pretty easily to me. It was one subject that I did not have many troubles with, but I know that many students do so these methods are crucial in order for these students to succeed. I was quite unsure what the hen to fox method consisted of, but when I fully understood it, I felt that it was a great way for children to learn multiple words while learning their spellings as well. I think that if I went back in time, one of my teachers could have very well used this method...

Let's Get it Started

As the first class meeting for E-339 came to a close, I began brainstorming what I would post on this new blog of mine. I went home and began reading the assigned text, A Writer's Notebook. The first page had me quite confused, wondering why I was reading about creatures being stuck in a ditch. By the second page, I already had a better understanding of what exactly a writer's notebook is from the excerpt: "A writer's notebook is like that ditch-an empty space you dig in your busy life, a space that will fill up with all sorts of fascinating little creatures. If you dig it, they will come. You'll be amazed by what you catch there." As I continued reading, it also became clear the main difference that I could not differentiate between earlier in class- the writer's notebook vs the diary/journal. It's almost as if anything that pops into your head, random or not can be recorded in this writer's notebook. Being prone to liking unstructured ways of life and freedom, this made the idea of the little notebook thing a bit more intriguing. I must say I'm curious as to what the end product will look like, and well.....I might like this after all.