Why a good book is a secret door

G+ Community

We will share most of our work in a Google+ Community. We can upload images, respond to each other’s ideas, and share links and artifacts here.

Calendar

Course calendar can be found above and HERE.

Author: jspeidel

My first Graphic Novel…dun dun dun dunnnnnn

My first Graphic Novel…dun dun dun dunnnnnn

I have never read a graphic novel before in my life…So this was definitely a new experience for me.  However, when I was little, I loved to read Archie Comics and this kind of reminded me of back when I was obsessed with reading them over and over.  Other than that, I have not really read any kind of graphic novel.  This really changed how you read because it is like watching a movie.  Instead of you imagining what the characters and setting looks like in your head when reading a actual book, a graphic novel has a picture on what it actually looks like through ever scene.  When I think of how we could use in in a classroom, I would let kids create a comic strip or their own graphic novel on how they read a normal book.  That way we can see what they were picturing in their mind when reading a regular book with no pictures.  So pretty much see their imagination come to life.

 

OMG I’M READING POETRY!

OMG I’M READING POETRY!

  1. Write about your verse book

When reading Inside Out and Back Again, I was actually really scared to reading it. Poetry in general just freaks me out, and I have never read a book where they tell a story though poetry. When I started reading the book, I noticed how the book is little poems throughout the book, not just one big one. It kind of reminded me of a diary, where Ha shares her experiences through the Vietnam War and having to flee her home and her trip to safety. She writes these experiences, which feels like day after day and that are what makes it seem like I am reading her diary, just in poem form. It is interesting reading this text with form and structure, because it gives me glimpses of her experiences, really describing them in detail and makes me really think about the feelings and experiences she encounters through out the book. I did notice that this form does make me tend to skim through the pages. Like if the poem is too boring and not that important, I skimmed over it because I wanted to find a better poem and hear more of her story. I could use these books in a classroom because it is making the kid actually read poetry! I can let the kids tell a story of their past using poems, and they can see how not all poems have to rhyme. They have a lot of freedom on how they would write and we can see how students focus on different topics in their poems like feelings compared to events.

 

  1. Playing with Poetry (What we did in class, all quotes from Inside out and Back again)

 

The country divided in half

One cannot justify war unless each side flaunts its own blind conviction.

I think and think and close my eyes again

Every part of the rainbow surrounds me

How peaceful he looks, smiling peacock tails at the corner of his eyes

Soooo about this Wimpy Kid book…

Soooo about this Wimpy Kid book…

The series I am reading is Diary of a Wimpy kid by Jeff Kinney. I hear a lot about this book, and remember seeing a lot of kids get into this series. Now that I am actually reading the books, I think it is really funny and creative especially for the elementary school age group. I love how the format is in a diary form and hearing about this one boy’s life at school and at home. There are parts where I am feeling bad for this kid because of all this crap he has to go though with his family and school. Like how his older brother treats him and always getting away with it. As well as his baby brother, who just gets all the attention from the parents, but then again, it does have some comic relief to it. When I think of who would like this series, I would think maybe like 4th or 5th grade because it is right when they are about to start middle school, with a lot of comic relief. Hopefully the kids will understand that their middle school wont be exactly how it says in the book, but maybe learn some things through this kids stories in his diary. The central characters are of course the narrator, Greg Heffley, Rowley is the best friend, Manny, is his little brother, Rodrick, is the older brother, and of course, Greg’s parents.

When I think of some assumptions about children in this book, I would have to say there are some obstacles when going through junior high. Yes, there will be some bullies. Maybe not bullying you, but someone else. You will also have your embarrassing moments, but that is life! Obviously, this book makes Greg get embarrassed a lot in this book, but it is definitely over exaggerated and would be pretty hard to have the life of Greg at school. When I think about how this series could be used in a classroom, maybe I would let my students keep journals of their life, and draw pictures and such. They can make it their story, or just make it up. I would let them have a lot of freedom with the project. They could decorate their journal the way they want and draw pictures the way they want. Then maybe at the end of the year, I will tell students to pick one day out of their journal/story and then I will make one big journal story with every one of my students day in it to create a brand new story. Then we can see every student’s creativity in one book. I really like this series so far, like I said before, I have heard a lot about these books and already loving every page. I believe a lot of kids would love this series because of its humor and creativity.Diary_of_a_wimpy_kid

Miller reading for Blog 3

Miller reading for Blog 3

I totally agree with everything Miller is saying. I personally don’t really like to read. I remember doing really bad on reading comprehension during tests like the SAT in high school. Miller does talk about how we are so busy that we don’t have time to read. She is a mother and sometimes doesn’t have any time to read because she has a house and family to take care of. I really liked the idea of making the students writing down times when they were bored through out the week where they could be reading. Things I think about are in between classes when I have breaks or when I am waiting in the waiting room for the doctor. I was not much of a wild reader years back. I hated to be forced to read, so I think my attitude made me feel like I could be doing something better with my time. Now that I am older, I know what genres I like to read and I try to read as much as I can. I like how I get into something, then nothing around me matters. It is like I am in my own little world with me and my book. I am excited to teach reading because I want to challenge my kids and make them get that good attitude to read. Obviously not all students will read or not like to read, but I want the to find what their favorite genres are to read and maybe in the future they will realize how important and nice reading actually is. So I guess you can say what I am most afraid of is students not getting anything out of my classroom, but I know I will learn through out my years of teaching with my interactions with different students and their reading habits.