Oops Keena did it again…

The series I have been reading is Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix Up. The series is formatted in a first person point of view where the reader gets to read the honest and hilarious thoughts of the main character. Keena is a witty yet kind and spunky girl approaching second grade. This series instantly gave me nostalgia for a few reasons. One being that it reminded me of my childhood reads of Judie B Jones. I had forgotten about the ever so relatable characters and stories that helped guide me through similar school and family/friend scenarios. Secondly, it gave me cringe and warm fuzzy feelings of elementary school that included jealousy, friendship, and bullies. This whole book was very enjoyable and I sincerely liked that Keena was portrayed as girl who had a strong sense of self and who honestly does mean well but makes simple mistakes. Keena’s little white lies take her on moral rollercoasters but her sense of awareness and good intentions are endearing and relatable to young readers. I also enjoyed that this book had modern takes on family and gender roles. This book informed the readers that Keena’s parents were separated and that was something that really resonated with me because often times we read about characters who live in a picture perfect home with a white picket fence and are from a middle to upper class family. Breaking conformist ideas is also presented in this book by the way Keena mentions that she doesn’t like to play with dolls or like the color pink. Often times books highlight specific society accepted gender roles but Melissa Thompson, the author, creates a different style for Keena involving a dread for having tea parties and she also has a male best friend.

Assumptions presented in this book are that children need to behave and be honest. Keena certainly does try her best to maintain an honest life but sometimes it’s hard to own up to a mistake and deny your most precious desires, such as chocolate cake. What her teachers emphasizes instead is that apologizing and being honest go a far way. The model student is an impossible goal but sorry notes and lessons learned are just as meaningful and important. This book could be read by first to second graders or by a teacher to her students. It gives great examples to us future teachers such as: creating a comfortable reading environment and allowing the students to help create rules. I also loved the idea of a homework hut and am currently looking for a place to purchase a bean bag!

From Donalyn Miller’s book, Reading in the Wild: I think that one of a teacher’s biggest fears is that their students won’t like to read. They may worry that the students will struggle with the keeping interest in reading. In this regard, Miller advises ideas on how to create reading habits for life not just for the current classroom. Miller states an interesting point that instilling this lifelong habit leads to students being able to recognize and meet their individual goals. I am excited to have the challenge of instilling reading habits. I have tutored students in reading before and being part of the positive learning rewards is exciting. Watching the growth and seeing how they are cultivating a reading habit is something that we hope will continue to expand and remain in their childhood, adolescent and adult lives. Miller’s book enlightened me on very useful tools that I will certainly incorporate into my future classroom. I thought that the way she described how she handled a “fake reader” was very useful. Making the reading process less of a bore and more of a progression system allows the student to see how they are able to read in different areas of their life and even 5 minutes a day is an accomplishment. I mostly liked that this book showed new ideas of reading. It is a vast difference from the system I had as a child in elementary school; which has been known to have been a failure. Therefore I am happy and excited to see changes being made due to the dedication to the students and education system!