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I am reading Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson and I was so excited to read this book after reading a poem by her in Peter Kittle’s class last semester. This book is even better then I thought it would be and I’m so glad I chose it. I really love how her writing seems effortless and well thought out at the same time. I also really like that the book goes in the order of her life events, it makes you want to know what happens next. The form did change how I read the book and I feel like it is less daunting to look at the pages of this book. I made more pauses and I imagined her telling the stories, because she brings up how much she loves to tell stories out loud throughout the book. There is so many good lessons in this book and I think every school should have it in their curriculum.

It was really cool how she talked about how she was always being compared to her big sister by her teachers because her sister was a faster reader and always had the answers. This is one of the many points that students can relate to, and it shows that things like reading fast and knowing answers doesn’t mean you can’t become a writer. This is also an eye opener to how much influence a teacher has on a student! She has many poems about her teachers. It is also a good text to use as an example from the Civil Rights Movement. Even though I want to be a 2nd or 3rd grade teacher, I would like to read some of her poems out loud to my class. I really love poetry and this book is not difficult to understand, I think younger students will like it too. 

so much depends

upon 

the clock 

on the wall 

ticking 

as each moment passes 

deciding how much time 

we have left 

This is my first time reading one of Sharon Draper’s books and I love the way this novel is written! I chose this chapter book because I am thinking about teaching special education. Ever since I started working as paraprofessional substitute for Chico Unified, I have grown so close with some of the students and classrooms I work in. This novel is about a witty girl named Melody and how she lives with cerebral palsy. I admire how this book gets you to see past Melody’s disability and gives her a voice! I love the way each family member and classmate is described and with every page you want to know more. I had a hard time putting it down. This novel allows you to see things through Melody’s eyes. It gives you perspective on not only her struggles, but everyone around her as well. It is inspiring to me because it shows how much influence teachers can have on a student! Melody talks about how her classes are dumbed down and she doesn’t learn much of anything because her teachers don’t believe she is capable of retaining much information when in actuality she is very smart and learns a lot from television and the people that believe in her. She also has a photographic memory and I love the fact that she talks about every student in her class and what they are good at. This would be a great book to read out loud to students. 

For this weeks  make our group decided to work together. Our make for this week is on the series book of King and Kayla.  King is a dog and Kayla is his owner. King cannot talk but his expressions and gestures make clear of what he is thinking. Kayla  makes dog treats for her friends puppy but a few of them go missing, at first she thinks that King ate them but after smelling his breath she becomes sure it is somebody else and then the mystery begins.

For this make we decided to have our children read the book together in class for three days and then follow it up with a treasure hunt which includes a treat at the end. We thought this would tie well with the story.

-Amreena

 

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