Happy Halloween

I hope everyone’s having a lovely Halloween.  I decided that yesterday’s festivities at Hardin Park could not go undocumented! Here are a few photos from our “Storybook Character Party.”

They hated having their picture taken. Can’t you tell?

Not one, but two pirates!

They like cupcakes. Imagine that.

Nighty night.

Maggie

Pirates and Pumpkins

I had a lovely little weekend.  I got to spend some time with the main squeeze, David.  We read What If You Met a Pirate? and Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter.  David, a pirate enthusiast, throughly enjoyed both books.  We took turns reading aloud to one another.  David’s authentic “pirate accent” was quite amusing.  I thought the books were great, as well.  I was blown away by how many straight up facts are packed between the covers of those books.  I liked the how one book had the story grammar elements going on, while the other was strictly informational.  The illustrations in both books were amazing.  Long story, short version: fantastic books, totally want to use them in my own classroom, etc, etc.

This weekend I also purchased a wee little pumpkin that’s happily sitting on my desk.  Nothing says “October” like miniature gourds!

Now it’s off to work on my Double Entry Diaries.

Maggie

Check and Check

Oh, yeah.  Stephanie and I had to take this photo-op before our student teaching interviews.

Don’t worry. We totally dominated.

This has been, and continues to be a very stressful and unpleasant week.  Tomorrow’s agenda includes a cookie run to StickBoy to calm the nerves.

Maggie

Modeling Made Easy

Dare I say it?  I’m actually learning something.  These articles are outstanding.  I’ll be honest, it took me a few extra minutes to get to the ‘meat’ of this one, but once I got there, genius.  I loved, I mean loved the quotes, feedback and advice provided by actual teachers.  It was wonderful hearing about how they implement these modeling strategies in their classrooms.

As great as these articles are, I’m also starting to find them a tad bit intimidating.  These people are masterminds.  They raise the most thought provoking questions at the most appropriate times.  Big shoes to fill, you know?  I’m thrilled that such excellent teachers are willing to share their thoughts and techniques with the masses.

I thought the most fascinating part of this article was the vocabulary portion.  I found it extremely helpful to hear specific examples of these teachers modeling the use context clues, word parts and resources to determine what a word means.  It is so vital for children to be capable of using these strategies when they read on their own.  This is particularly awesome:

Now here’s a great word: malodorous. Say this wonderful
word with me: malodorous. I know that the prefix
mal- is bad and that odor has to do with smell and the
suffix -ous means full of or having the characteristic of.
So, putting it together, malodorous is being full of bad
smells. Isn’t that a delicious word? Now, instead of saying
it’s stinky or foul, you can say malodorous. The malodorous
locker room, the malodorous streets filled with
refuse, plants with malodorous bouquets. You try it—
you use the word. [She paused while students talked
together.] Just beautiful!

I hope, hope, hope, I can execute something like this as brilliantly as this teacher some day.

This article just reiterates the fact that children are going to immulate everything we do.  They look up to their teachers.  Thus, we’ve got to make sure that we’re being exceptional role models in every sense of the phrase; both academically and socially.

Maggie

I’ll Second That

Oh, me.  This was a good one.  I’m telling you, these people know what they are talking about.  They’re totally preaching to the choir.  I gotta say, the title of this article is certainly a mouthful: “Integrating Instructional-Level Social Studies Trade Books for Struggling Readers in Upper Elementary Grades.”  Yeah, pretty lengthy.  Anyway, I’m pretty sure I was nodding my head in agreement the entire time I was reading.  I’ll go ahead and reference my favorite quote from the text.

“A significant part of the dilemma in modern education has been brought about by a failure to admit differences - by the treating of all children alike.” – Betts

Uh, yeah. Thanks for that, No Child Left Behind.  Children are unique.  Each and every single one of those kids are going to be on their own level and they should not be punished for it.  I almost got a little angry reading the story about poor little Jon who was forced to read in front of his peers.  Trust me, I’ve been in that boat.  I’ve played many-a-game of “popcorn” waiting in terror as the teacher scans the room hoping to catch someone off guard.  That’s the worst reading activity ever invented.  Reading aloud is great and it’s something all children should be confident doing…EVENTUALLY.  Not when they can barely read silently!

I was delighted that this article provided the criteria for excellent children’s literature.  While you may think it’s common sense, picking out a good book, you really have to put a lot of thought into it.  I get a little queasy thinking about children being forced to ready crappy books.  I know, harsh language, but it’s how I feel.

So, here’s the main thing I gleaned from this little article.  I’ve got to get amazing, level-appropriate, appealing, wonderful, captivating literature into the hands of each and every one of my students.  Get it there and keep it there.  Kids need to love reading.  Reading’s becoming a lost art in this age of technological hoopla.  I want my students to appreciate the joy of reading a book that they are truly interested in.  Oh yeah, and I want them to be able to read that book with fluency, accuracy and confidence too!

I’m going to go jump rope on the patio now.

Farewell!

Maggie

I’m Down with Judy Brown

This article was extremely helpful and informative.  In fact, I’m making a point to put right here on my blog so I can reference it in the future.  These teaching strategies for spelling are excellent.  I’m delighted that the author, Judy Brown, went so in-depth when explaining these teaching methods.  I absolutely needed a refresher course in phonics and this article really did the trick.  She gave numerous examples of student work as well as day by day instructions on how to implement these instructional strategies.  I can’t even begin to list all of the excellent points Brown made throughout her article.  Do I use the word excellent too much? I’ll work on that.  Anyway, I loved the detailed explanations of the spelling games that the students can play throughout the week to reinforce their knowledge of the week’s spelling list.  Some of the games she mentions are totally new to me, so “hooray” for new ideas!  I also found one of the Morris quotes that Brown uses to be especially meaningful:

“The idea of intervening early and intensively has been tried successfully with low-reading first graders. It is probably time that teachers adopt a similar approach with low spellers. The longer the teacher waits, the further these students will fall behind, and it should be obvious that the spelling achievement ‘‘gap’’ will be easiest to close before it starts to widen.”

That just hits the nail on the head.  Nip it in the bud, people.  Don’t perpetuate a child’s poor spelling ability by allowing them to continue to struggle with words they have NO idea how to spell.  The groups are a great idea.  I mean yeah, wouldn’t it be awesome if every child were at the same instructional level and no student ever fell behind or hesitated in understanding anything.  Well, as we all know, that’s not how it is.  It will never be that way, so we as teachers must accomodate to those lower level learners and do our best to get them on the path to success.  Baby steps, folks, baby steps.

Honestly.  I get a little overwhelmed when thinking about how it’s going to be MY responsibility to teach these vital learning skills to children.  I mean this is important stuff, am I right?  Reading, spelling, writing…essentially the basis of communication.  Sheesh.  It’s a daunting task.  I’m fascinated with learning about how children learn these fundamental concepts and I hope I can become even more educated on these processes so I can be an effective teacher.

Sleep well.

Maggie

C’est la Vie

I’m abandoning my school work for the evening and spending a little time with these guys…

In case you’re wondering, yes, that is Dan Brown’s newest novel.  I’m absolutely elated that this book is finally out.  Why, you ask?  Because Dan Brown does not disappoint.  Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code are AMAZING books.  But don’t take my word for it.  Read ‘em.

Oh, yeah. The chocolate’s not too shabby either.

Goodnight, folks.

Maggie

Shiver Me Timbers

I’m super excited about this pirate unit!  I’m not sure what it is exactly that makes piracy such a captivating topic, but I’m totally on board.  I think pirates are fascinating, mysterious, and a little spooky.  The ideal recipe for fun, right?  I cannot wait to get more familiar with the books Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter and What If You Met a Pirate? Just thumbing through the pages of beautifully detailed artwork leads me to believe they’ll be pretty awesome.

I’m in love with the “twin text” unit using both historical fiction and nonfiction texts.  Oh man, when the article described how to kick off the unit by having pirate music playing in the background I became extremely giddy.  Imagine how amazing that would be from a kid’s perspective.  Sheesh, they sure didn’t do things like that when I was in elementary school.

Both the article and the pullout are wonderful resources.  It’s great that I’ll be capable of implementing this in my classroom.  Thanks to the great detail and precision that went into creating these guidelines, of course.  I can only imagine how crazy children are about this unit.  For me, learning about things like pirates doesn’t really feel like learning.  It feels more like exploring.  Like I said before, piracy is an intriguing and seemingly taboo subject.  All the more reason pirates never fail to spark curiosity.

Speaking of pirates…

As I mentioned earlier in the semester, I attended an outstanding pirate exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago this summer.  What a coincidence!  Anyway, we couldn’t take photos in the actual exhibit, but I managed to snap a few here and there.

David, an official pirate, with a fellow crew member.

By the way, a pretty nasty storm is brewing outside.

Happy Hump Day!

Maggie

That’s What I’m Talkin’ About

Okay.  This is big.  No, this is huge.  You have got to look at this. You have got to be a part of this.  I mean really, people.

While at Whole Foods on Saturday, the lady at checkout asked if I wanted to make a contribution to this organization and I had to keep myself from shouting, “DUH!”  I told her how I was on my way to teacherhood and we had a lovely little bashing session on how horrible most school lunch programs are these days.  The garbage they serve children is repulsive and I get pretty furious just thinking about it, actually.  You’ve got to understand, folks.  This is what I’m all about.  We have to get kids on the path to a healthy lifestyle, and I mean PRONTO.  I’m sure this issue steps on a lot of toes, but too bad.  If you don’t support this 100% you’re just plain silly.  Please.  Let’s improve the school systems that we’re about to devote the next 35 years of our lives to.

THREE CHEERS FOR HEALTH!

Maggie

Objects of My Affection

Vitamins. They’re great.

My specs.  Also great.