Peter and the Starcatchers

Summary (pg 1-95)

So far this book is so good! I enjoy it because it is similar to the story Peter Pan, however it is very different. I have become attached to all of the characters. Right now I am so curious as to whose green eyes those were in the hidden room. This book keeps me interested and I don’t want to put it down. One of my favorite parts was when Molly was talking to the dolphins. I found that part to be so interesting. This story widens my imagination, and I feel that is why I love reading this book so much. I also really enjoy how the story jumps from different stories. There is part of the story that takes place on the ship Never Land, then there is part of the story that deals with Black Stache. Overall, this book is such a good book. I cannot wait to read more. I KNOW that children would love reading this book. In fact, I told my brother who is in the second grade that I will read this book to him over summer break.

Character Sketcher 1

You are invited to learn more about Peter. Please take notes on how Peter acts and looks.

v To begin, reread the following passages, determine “descriptive words” that capture Peter’s personality and explain why the words describe Peter.

v Reread page 18 and the first two paragraphs on page 19. Which words describe Peter? Daring, adventurous, bold and courageous

v  He acts : courious

v because: he is wondering what is in the chest.

Focus on page 19 paragraphs one and two.

v Reread page 22 paragraph two. Which words describe Peter?_ stubborn, curious

v  He acts: stubborn

v because: he is pushing James away from him, and not listening to James

v Reread page 24 paragraph one. Which words describe Peter? Grateful, relieved

v  He acts: Grateful

v because: Molly warns him and convinces him not to leave.

Vocabulary Articles

Vocabulary & Morphology

I found this article to be so helpful in teaching me more about how children learn. I now realize how much students break down words to try to get a greater meaning for them. Students “attack” a word to find a part in the word that they know. I did not know that students start to do this at such a young age. This article was filled with informative facts on how to teach children ways to break down a word to learn a meaning.

There are many effective strategies that are used for learning new words. You can breakdown words into meaningful parts. You can look for the root of the words, which are more commonly known. Also, knowing different forms of language can help a student derive meaning of a word. It has been proven that children in lower income neighborhoods tend to have smaller vocabularies. This fact really upsets me. I find it hard to understand why children growing up in harder conditions have such a lower vocabulary knowledge. Reading this fact made me want to read more about ways to help students from lower income families.

Vocabulary and reading comprehension have a hand-in-hand relationship. It makes sense that if a child has a great vocabulary knowledge they will know more about what they are reading. If you compare the vocabulary knowledge of  a child who reads a lot, as opposed to a child who hardly reads, the child who reads a lot will have a greater vocabulary knowledge. That child is exposed to more vocabulary words and has seen more vocabulary in text, therefore they will have a greater vocabulary knowledge. Some people do believe that a wide range of free reading is the most important factor to develop a good vocabulary knowledge.

This article also talked about morphemes, which is the smallest unit of meaning. There are two types of morphemes: bound and unbound. A bound morpheme is when a word cannot stand alone. A unbound morpheme is when a word can stand alone. Reading about morphemes has showed me the importance of teaching children about them. It was proven that students with greater understanding of morphology have higher reading comprehension scores. Students with larger vocabularies have a greater understanding of morphology as well, which makes sense. Morphology strategies should be taught in order to improve vocabulary knowledge and comprehension knowledge.

Overall, this article was so beneficial. It has helped me understand more as to how children break down words and read. I now know the importance of teaching certain things, such as morphology, in order to help improve students vocabulary and comprehension knowledge. Great article!

Other Vocabulary Articles….

Bringing Words to Life

I found this very helpful in that you were given a list of what words children should be expected to learn. You also are told what words are important to teach in your lesson. For example, Tier one, Tier two and Tier three. There are many helpful vocabulary activities that are given to help further your lesson. There are also many helpful assessments given to you to give to students. This was very helpful because the examples were very specific and fun.

Vocabulary Instruction

This articles gave more in-depth descriptions about tier one, two and three. I liked how it had a paragraph dedicated as to what do to for students who do not read outside of school. This article was also filled with helpful activities.

Peter and the Starcatchers Vocabulary List

I liked how this article gave you a list of vocabulary words from the story, along with the page number. That way students can follow along easier and use the vocabulary word in context. It allows creativity when asking students to create their own definition for the words. You are also learning about other comprehension words such as verb, noun, adjective, adverb and more. Great activities that children would have fun doing, and really learn something.

Class 10 Readings

Double Entry Diary

I found the double entry diary article to be a great article with many activities I could use in the classroom. The double entry diary allows students to make connections and come up with questions that can further them in their pirate knowledge. It allows students to find important passages and quotes. It is a time for students to be creative and learn facts at the same time. This article also gives suggested terms for students to use when writing. I found this to be so beneficial in that it widens students vocabulary. Overall, this article was great in so many ways. It gave me specific instructions to activities I could use in the classroom. All activities were interactive and fun for children.

The book ‘Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter’ is a great informational book about pirates. It is about a young boy named Jake who embarks on a journey on a ship. Jake writes in his diary about exactly what happens on the ship. Through his diary you are able to see what the life of a pirate and seaman is like. I found reading this book so interesting. I could not put it down because the stories Jake talked about were stories I had never heard about. The details in Jakes diary were very specific and his journals made you feel like you were actually on the ship with him. This was a great book with great images, and I know children would love reading this book.

In the book ‘What if you met a Pirate?’ you are able to learn many unanswered questions you had about pirates. There are images throughout the book that point out specific details about pirates. From their clothes to their weapons, you are able to learn everything there is about pirates. You learn all about buccaneers and Seadogs. You learn about objects that would have been on the ship. This book is filled with any answered question you may have about pirates. I found this book to be very informative and helpful.

Integrating instructional-level social studies trade books for struggling readers in upper elementary grades.

I found this article to be very helpful in ways to teach social studies. I find it upsetting that social studies is being put on the back burner now a days in schools. Social studies is very important to teach and it is very important to have to right books in your classroom that help promote social studies. I found this article very helpful in that it gave a list of children’s literature at different levels that can be intergraded into social studies. I found this to be a very helpful source to look back on.

Another big topic that is brought up in the classroom deals with struggling readers. If a student is having a hard time reading, this can cause them to have a negative attitude towards reading. It is very important to give struggling readers the appropriate text for their level. It is very important you place upper-elementary readers with instructional level material. Assessments are the best way to determine what reading level a student it on. It is so important to match students to the appropriate reading level, because you need to be teaching them on their reading level.

Overall, it is important to have children reading on their appropriate reading level. It is also important to find ways to bring social studies into your classroom. Having different level reading books is the best when you have such a wide range of different reading levels. If you provide students with good books to read, they will enjoy reading more.

I Poetry

I find I Poetry as being something very important to incorporate into the classroom. I Poetry is written in first person and you have to follow a set of criteria. It allows children to use their imagination and have fun with writing poetry. It deepens students understanding of a specific setting, character or plot. I Poetry has children think about the deeper meanings of certain things. It gives children a specific imagery and descriptive language to use. When I am a teacher I want to publish my students I Poetry poems into a classroom poetry book. I think this is very important, because students love to see their final published work. I liked reading over the I Poetry power point because it gave many examples of actual students work. It was great to see what progress they make over time. Overall, I feel that I Poetry is very important and is something that the students will love to do. I cannot wait to use this in my own classroom.

Shared Reading: Modeling Comprehension, Vocabulary, Text Structures, and Text Features for Older Readers

This was a great article that talked about the importance of modeling reading. It talked about the major benefits that shared reading has on both the students and the teachers. There are many different types of ways to read to your classroom. There is echo reading, which is when the teacher reads a short sentence or passage and the student repeats the same thing. There is choral reading, when students read aloud together as a class or group. There are so many ways to make reading more interesting and fun to your classroom. The article talks about how it has been proven that shared reading positively affects student achievement, I strongly believe in this. It also is there to improve a child’s phonemic awareness. The article goes into great detail about the four components of shared reading: comprehension, vocabulary, text structures and text features. I now have a greater understanding of each level. As I was reading the National Geographic website about Blackbeard I was able to make many connections to this article. I found myself thinking of many ways to make this reading fun. The website gives great detailed readings, and is very informative. I know I could introduce many new vocabulary words and easily use all four components of shared reading when reading from this website. Overall, this article was very interesting and taught me a lot more about the importance of shared reading.

Internet Workshop & Blog Publishing

I found this article very helpful in teaching me about the importance of technology in the classroom. The article talked about how significant technology is for students to achieve academic goals. There are many ways to intergrade technology into the classroom. One of my favorite ways is to use a classroom blog. There are so many benefits to having a classroom blog. First off, classroom blogs allow for a teacher to publish students work online. When students see their own work, on the internet they get so excited. This is also a great way to show parents what their children are doing in the classroom. You are also able to post videos, images, links and audio onto a blog. A blog also allows for students to reflect and share their opinions on the blog. They are able to express themselves however they want to, when posting on a blog. Blogging allows social constructivism among the class.

There can be some negatives of intergrading technology into the classroom. For example, technology can be very limited at some schools. This makes it difficult for teachers to intergrade technology into the classroom when they do not have the proper things. There is also the possability of students coming across inappropriate websites. That is why it is very important to locating many different child-friendly websites and bookmark them.

Overall, this was a great article that taught me a lot about technology. I was able to look at many examples of websites and blogs. It was good to see all of the different ways you can go about bringing technology into your own classroom.

Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas & Twin Text Unit of StudySTwin

Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas…

I really enjoyed reading Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas. I liked all the ideas about incorporating pirates into a classroom. I felt the double-entry diaries are a great idea. This allows children to bring in their own personal reflections and thoughts into their journal, as well as factual information. I think that having Pirate Notebooks is such a great thing to have when teaching about pirates. The students can be as creative as they want with the notebook. I really enjoyed reading about students making a “Wanted” poster for specific pirates. I remember doing this when  was younger, and I remember really having fun. I feel that this is such a great way for children to express their creativity as well as learn about a certain pirate. I definitely want to have my students do a “Wanted” poster when we talk about pirates. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this article because it gave me great ideas to use in the classroom.

Twin Text Unit of Study

This article showed me many activities you can do when introducing pirates into the classroom. I also learned how much social studies is involved when learning about pirates. For example, I never thought about students learning about the American colonies, wars or even locations of major landforms and bodies of water. I really enjoyed reading ways to begin the pirate unit. I loved the idea of playing pirate music while children have a chance to look around the classroom at numerous pirate books, maps and artifacts. I think students would really enjoy this, and “take in” more information. I really enjoyed how this article talked about using numerous types of media to teach the students about pirates. I feel this is very important, and am excited about using different medias in my own classroom. Great article!!

Two Meaningful but Ordinary Items

1. Below is a coffee mug I painted with my sister. It may look like a ordinary mug, but it brings back fun memories I had with my sister that day.

2. A pair of running shoes may seem ordinary, but they have meaning to them. I really enjoy running for many reasons. My mom is a big runner, and for some reason running always reminds me of her. My running shoes are special because they remind me of my mom, and they bring me happiness.

Love That Dog, Brown Angels and All the Small Poems

I enjoyed reading all of the poems from the readings. Love That Dog was a great book on the process of poetry. I felt it was very relatable to all children when Jack did not want his poem published in the beginning. As a child, you may be insecure with your work and not want anybody to know you did it. I remember being very insecure about my schoolwork and not wanting anyone to know it was mine. However, as time went on Jack got more confident in his work. He eventually wanted his poems to be published in the classroom so others could see. I also really liked the part with Mr. Walter Dean Myers coming into the classroom and sharing his poetry with Jacks class. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I felt it gave me a better impression on how children think about poetry. It also gave me good ideas as to how to get children more interested in poetry.

The next book I read was Brown Angels. This was a amazing book to read, not only because of the poetry, but also because of the amazing pictures. It was touching to see all of the old images of African Americans. I felt this book taught a lot about past history. The poems seemed to be very touching and descriptive. I liked this book because it teaches children about our history and about poetry.

The book All the Small Poems is now one of my favorite poetry books. I felt like there was a poem about everything in the book. I really enjoyed the single word titles as well. I felt that all of the topics were relatable to many people. There were poems about all four seasons, to animals to fireworks. There was a wide variety of topics that were covered by the poems. I also really enjoyed how the poems were accompanied by pictures. I feel that children woul really enjoy this.

The last thing I read was a article called Love That Poetry. This was a great article for many reasons. FIrst off, it gave you many ways to get children interested in poetry. It gave you ideas such as asking children what they like and what they don’t like about poetry. The article also talked about many types of poetry, from free verse poetry to concrete poetry. There were many examples of questions given, that you could ask your students to try and get them more involved in poetry. I also really enjoyed reading the examples of poetry written by students.