Smile was surprisingly amazing. I have never truly been a fan of graphic novels, but this book was so easy to relate to. Especially growing up in the Bay Area it was nice recognizing all the areas she was talking about. Besides just having the story take place in that area the story itself was what many children went through when they needed braces. The impressions they had to take that almost made you throw up every time was my favorite part because I am pretty sure that happened to everyone that had to get them done. I also enjoyed the part where she had to get her braces tightened and could not eat anything real hard for a few days because it was so painful. This part brought me back to when I always had to get that done and how I was living off soup and pudding for about three days. Another part for me that was so easily relatable was the close mother daughter relationship they had. My mom and I are also extremely close and I could imagine my mom yelling at the doctor if he were to put me in that much pain as well. I would recommend this book to any young girl or boy who was going through the braces and transitioning into different schools. I would have this book in my classroom library because it was such an easy read. I would suggest a student who may not be such a fan of reading to give this a try because there are pictures that go all throughout the book. Having a student that may not enjoy reading start this book could be the one thing that makes them fall back in love with reading. As an assignment for this book since many graphic novels are not in AR, I would have this student write his or hers own graphic novel with pictures and everything and place it in my classroom library for other students to read. This activity would let the student be as creative as they want while still practicing reading and writing, plus a little art. I highly recommend every teacher to have this book in his or her classroom.

At first I was really excited to read Brown Girl Dreaming. However, just a few pages into the book I realized this book was not for me. I have a really hard time enjoying this book because it was confusing to me that she was talking in third person. Also, I think I was not use to the structure of book; how each poem sort of connected, but left you wondering what was going on. I did enjoy some parts of the book. I think this book is a little advance for the grades I would enjoy teaching. I would introduce this book into a middle school classroom, because it does go into great topics like segregation and how it affected people from the day they were born. I have not finished this book so I am hoping my views towards it change.

Cento Work:

I am born brown-skinned, black-haired and wide-eyed
Words from the books curl around each other
But on paper, things can live forever, on paper a butterfly never dies
How wonderfully on and on they go
I believe in one day and someday and this perfect moment called NOW.

So Much Depends Upon:

So much depends
upon

The grades you
get

The friends you
have

And the memories you
make

College

–Rachel Chuhak

The series I am reading is, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I have always been interested in seeing what the hype was about these books with students. I learned why so many students love these books. For me it was an easy read I was able to finish the whole book in about an hour and a half. However, there were times where I could see why it might take children a little longer to finish the book if they are really trying to understand the concept of each book. The thing I loved about this book was that it really felt like you were reading his day-to-day life diary. You could imagine yourself being with him inside the classroom or even going through some of the things he went through. I think this is another reason why students fall in love with this book so easily because it is so relatable especially with the cartoon drawings of what was going on. So far I finished my first series book and am excited to start my next one!

For chapter two of Miller’s book I really enjoyed many parts to it. One my favorite parts was when she talked about was the selection reflection. This part was very interesting to me because this is a great tool for teachers to us to see if the students are enjoying the book or if they want to “abandon” it. This tool could also be useful for recommending this book to others students. For example, lets say that two students have the same taste in genres; if one of the students liked a certain book you can recommend it to the second student. This may get students more excited about reading if they enjoy everything they read.

Another thing that Miller suggested that when teachers get a new book they have a raffle drawing to see who gets to read it first. This makes it easier on the teacher because they do not have to pick the student, which shows no favoritism. Also, mostly all kids love competition, so when they are competing in this raffle it gets them even excited to read and be the first at our their classmates to read and review book.

Personally I really enjoyed the first chapter of Miller’s text. I could really relate to her when she talked about the student that was faking to read; sadly this use to be the type of student I was. One of my main goals as a teacher will be wanting kids to be upset that silent reading time is over, not happy like many are today in classrooms. One of my favorite things I learned was the independent reading time observation. You observe the students during silent reading and you can notice if they are fake reading or if they are really reading and comprehending the material. The thing I love about this is that it can help improve student’s behavior not only in reading, but also in many other subjects. This tool will hopefully make more students pay attention to their material and actually get their work done.

Some ideas that I could find challenging is being able to find the “fake” reader during silent reading time. It may be hard to watch every student during their reading time so they do not fake read. One way I could help this challenge is to not tell the students which one I am watching this week so that they never know.

I am very excited to teach reading, but I do have some fears. One thing I am most excited about is to see my students love of reading grow; how excited they are when they finish a book and how willing they are to read in their free time. My biggest fear is that some of my students will not enjoy reading as much as other. They will be the ones “fake” reading during silent reading time and just not want anything to do with reading. This is one of my biggest fears because I had many friends that hated to read and I saw how it effected their academic achievement later on in life.