After reading chapter 5, I think it solidifies how important it is for us teachers to really have a wide range of books we’ve read so we know what to recommend to our students. I like how series books can get students hooked. I think having different genres of series books could be really beneficial in the classroom. Once a student finds a series that resonates with them, they’ll want to continue reading it until the series is complete. It’s all about getting students hooked on books. As teachers, we’re suppose to spread the magic of reading. I personally love thrillers. I’m not good with other genres, because they usually start off too slow for me. I have to get hooked onto a book at chapter one or the book gets put away. I’m hoping I can acquire a classroom library that has books that’ll hook my students right off the bat. That way they don’t have to wait til chapter eight to finally start liking a book. They’ll just be able to pick a book off the shelf and instantly dive into it.

While reading Reading in the Wild, it has sparked ideas on how I can help manage my students reading levels and goals they’ve made for themselves. I’ve noticed some of the pictures in the book are students reading logs. When I was in elementary school, I didn’t like reading logs. I didn’t like reading in general, because I was always told I was a bad reader. Having to log my time in a reading log, was like another step added onto what I already didn’t like to do. I’ve been playing with the idea of creating bookmarks for students that will have areas for them to write what their favorite books are, books they didn’t like, genre’s they’re into, genre’s they’re not into, and genres they haven’t explored yet. While you can easily do this in a reading log, I like the idea of having it be a bookmark. I think it seems less intimidating being a bookmark. Students can easily look at other students bookmarks and make book recommendations based off what a student has on his or her bookmark.

 

In The Hate U Give, Starr is a sixteen year old girl who lives in “the ghetto” while attending a private school that’s composed of mostly white students. Starr kind of struggles with knowing where she fits in. She lives in an area that has drive by shootings, but doesn’t fit in with the people around there. They all act like Starr thinks she’s better than them just because she goes to the private school. Starr doesn’t think she’s better than them. People in Garden Heights give Starr a hard time because she hangs out with white people. Starr’s friend Khalil gets shot by a white cop right in front of Starr. This sparks a whole new perspective for Starr as she continues to find her way in the mix of living in two different worlds.

 

After exploring the resource guide, I chose to write about the Diamond Bookshelf. I preferred this website because the site was easy to maneuver and had great ideas. I liked how it had lesson plans, book recommendations, and why to use graphic novels in the classroom. I liked how organized the lesson plans were. Once you click the lesson plans tab, it gives you a variety of grade levels to choose from. The overall design of the website made it super easy to find lesson plans and book recommendations quick. I’m not a huge fan on graphic novels, so this website allowed me to find books with fun lesson plans for my students. It helps pave the way for teachers who don’t personally like graphic novels to still have book recommendations and lesson plans for students who do like them.

Roller Girl is about a girl named Astrid who is figuring out who she is and what her interests are. It’s the summer before starting junior high and the pressure of junior high school is intense. Astrid is so use to constantly being with one of her friends Nicole that she doesn’t really do things on her own. After Astrid and Nicole attend a roller derby, Astrid wants to do the roller derby summer camp and Nicole doesn’t. Nicole chooses to do dance camp. Astrid chooses to do roller derby camp. This put strain on their friendship and ultimately forces Astrid to learn a lot about herself. I think the novel does a great job in capturing Astrid’s expressions. I felt like they were very relevant to the emotions described in text and relatable. One way the author captured Astrid’s character traits were when Astrid was apologizing to Nicole. Astrid was walking over to Nicole slumped over, head down, avoiding eye contact, and with her hands in her pockets. In elementary school and middle school, it’s common for children to look like this when they apologize. They’re uncomfortable and don’t like to be vulnerable. I believe the novel captured this expression perfectly.

Grade Level: 

5th grade

 

Common Core:

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

 

What will students do?

Students will write several poems of a life event. They should build off of these poems so all the poems are connected to that one life event. If the student runs out of ideas on poems to write about the event, they can write it from a different perspective (ex: friend, teacher, relative).

After writing each poem about the event, include a vocabulary word. Then write a poem based off that vocabulary word. Define the word in the poem and give examples of its use in context of your life. For examples, use the format of “As in: _____ (vocab word)”. You can tie this into their spelling tests by using the spelling words as the vocabulary words.

 

What part of the school year do you imagine this taking place?

I would imagine this would be done midway through the poetry lesson. With students being aware of poetry already, they can worry less on formatting and more on content.

 

What materials are needed?

The book The Crossover.

 

Goals for the activity?

I’m hoping my students will use the activity to expand their vocabulary while also expressing themselves. I think poetry is a great way for students to express events in their lives without explaining it head on. You can use metaphors that make sense to you and have the reader interpret it the way they’d like. It kind of takes the pressure off of being vulnerable about life events.