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1. Anne Rockwell
2. 2002
4.ISBN: 0064437892
5. K-2
6. This book is an informative book about the history of Thanksgiving and the sequence of events that took place. It describes the Pilgrims, Native Americans, the Mayflower, Squanto, and Samoset. It is a great introductory book because it isn’t too factual, but does provide solid, easy to learn facts. This book can be read aloud or individually read. The students could draw a Thanksgiving timeline after reading the book and write a journal about it.
1. Shel Silverstein
2. 1964
4. ISBN: 0060256664
5. K-2
6. This book is about a little boy who grows up with his favorite tree. The tree gives its branches, limbs, trunk, and apples to suit the boy and at the end of the book, the boy is an old man and the tree has nothing left to give. This book could be read aloud or independently read. I would love to use this book in a science lesson. A teacher could read the book and discuss the parts of the tree that were given to the boy.
1. Maurice Sendak
2. 1988
4. ISBN: 0060254920
5. K-3
6. This is a classic and a favorite childrens book. It is about a boy named Max who gets sent to his room and feels alone. He uses his imagination to enter the world Where the Wild Things Are. Here, he is able to be liked and loved for who he is. He goes on adventures with his monster friends and eventually becomes king of the wild things. When his adventures are over, he comes back home to his room to find a bowl of warm soup waiting for him. This book would be great to read and then have the students do a journal entry describing their wild things and adventures.
1. Judith Viorst
2. 1987
3. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
4. ISBN: 0689711735
5. K-3
6. This book is about Alexander and his horrible day. From the time he wakes up until the end of the day, he is having an awful day. Everything is going wrong for poor Alexander and he must learn how to deal with his bad day. His day ends up getting better by the end of the book. This would be a great read aloud book. After reading it, the students could write a journal about a bad day that they have had and talk about ways to deal with the bad days.
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Today at Forest Hill, I was able to witness a poetry lesson and a group reading lesson. Mrs. Suttles gave the students a Thanksgiving Day poem to write. The students had a lot of trouble understanding what to do with the poem. They finally were able to get their poems written down and the students shared their poems. I was also able to watch and participate in a group reading lesson. We used the SRA Open Court booklets and Mrs. Suttles would read with the class. Finger pointing was strongly encouraged. After the entire class read the books out loud together, each student got a chance to individually read in front of the class. I also read aloud to the class today. I read “Thanksgiving Day” and asked questions about the Mayflower, Squanto, and Plymouth Rock. It amazes me to see how enjoyable reading is to kids!
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Today at Forest Hill, it was an easy day. Katie and I decided to go on a Friday just to watch a science lesson. The students are learning about the human skeleton. Mrs. Suttles taught them the bones through a sing along activity and then the students went back to their desks and made a book on skeletons. I thought that this was a creative way to integrate writing and science. The books were decorated and then the students read their books to the class. The students also finished a math activity about candy bones. This was interesting to me because with so little time in the school day, it is sometimes extremely hard to fit in every subject. Today was an integration of math, reading, science, and writing. I will use this lesson idea in my classroom.
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Today I was able to watch Mrs. Suttles lead an echo reading activity with the open court books. I noticed that some children seemed off task but for the most part, many students were able to read the books well. One thing that I don’t like about the open court is it doesn’t offer variety of difficulty. I also helped in pulling each student out to read a few pages from their baggy books. Many of the students are on level. I was surprised to see how well they would sound out the words if there was a word that they didn’t know. I also helped the students with their journal activities.
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I love Mrs. Suttles and her class! She allows her children to write and read as much as possible. She gives a journal prompt every morning and the students write their own stories to follow the prompt. After they write their journal, she tries to help and teach them how to correct the grammar. The students would then draw a picture to go with the story. After all of the corrections are made, the students gather around and read their stories to each other. She also divides her class based on spelling skills. There are four different groups of spelling words and each group is assigned to the students that are able to accomplish the tasks provided with the words. I really enjoy working with the students and am getting to know them and their abilities.
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1. Marcus Pfister
2. 1995
4. ISBN: 978-1558584419
5. This book is about the most beautiful fish in the ocean. Rainbow fish has beautiful shine scales, but no friends. All of the other fish want a shiny scale, but Rainbow fish will not share. He is sad because he is so lonely so he visits the octopus who is very knowledgeable. The octopus tells Rainbow fish to share his scales. Rainbow fish shares his shiny scales and makes new friends.
6. This book would make a great text talk lesson. It would also be a great lesson on sharing or a science lesson on fish. It is a read aloud.
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1. What are the three dimensions of fluency? How can you assess each dimension?
a. accuracy in word decoding-calculate the percentage of words at instructional level that
a student can decode. Adequate is considered 90-95%
b. automatic processing-reading rate is used to assess automatic processing. The student
reads for 60 seconds and the number of words read correctly determines the rate.
c. prosodic reading-listen to the student read passages at grade level material and use a
rubric.
2. Rasinski refers to fluency as a “bridge” between decoding and comprehension. What does he mean by the “bridge” metaphor?
The bridge metaphor means that decoding and comprehension are connected. One must
be fluent or learn fluency in both areas. Both are required.
3. What instructional methods does Rasinski suggest for students with difficulties in automatic and prosodic reading?
Some instructional methods that help with difficulties in automatic and prosodic reading
include repeated reading and assisted readings. Teachers should also “coach” the students
through readings. The article also suggests pairing fluent readers with troubled readers.
4. Multidimensional Fluency Scale (MFS) is used to measure prosodic quality of oral reading. List components of the MFS and describe what each refers to (p. 49).
A. Expression and Volume-
1)reads in quiet voice, simply lets words out, does not try to make text
sound like normal language.
2) focus on pronouncing words, start to make text sound natural
3) makes text sound natural, rarely expressionless
4) reads with enthusiasm
B. Phrasing-
1) reads word-by-word, monotone
2) reads two and three word phrases, choppy reading
3) reads with mix of run-ons, mid-sentence pausing, and some choppiness
4) good phrasing, mostly clause and sentence units
C. Smoothness-
1) frequent extended pauses, hesitation, false starts, and multiple attempts
2) several “rough spots”
3) occasionally breaks smooth rhythm due to difficulties
4) resolves word and structure difficulties quickly
D. Pace-
1) reads slowly and laboriously
2) reads moderately slow
3) reads with uneven mixture of fast and slow pace
4) reads at conversational pace throughout material
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My first week at Forest Hill was amazing. The first day, I was able to watch a phonics lesson and I gave an “on the spot” text talk lesson. I was amazed to see how excited the students get about reading. I thought getting the children to read would be like pulling teeth, but they want to do it. I noticed a lot of finger pointing and sounding out words. There is a great range of reading levels in the classroom.
The school is beautiful and welcoming. I love how my teacher uses the smart board and has a word wall in the back of the classroom that the students can refer to. The teacher also uses props to help teach the students phonics. The only thing I didn’t like was the basal instruction. The students are eager to learn and I can’t help but smile when I’m around them.
My teacher is amazing. She tries to include us as much as possible and even lets us take control sometimes. She is a recent graduate of Appalachian, so she completely understands what we are going through. She makes us feel comfortable and gets on our level. I honestly do not know what I would do without her. She makes me feel confident in the classroom.
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Author: Ruth Heller
Date: 1988
ISBN: 0-698-11389-6
Title: Kites Sail High
Grades: 1-2
This is a book about verbs. The verbs are listed in bold and all capitals for easy recognition. At the end of the book, past tense verbs and helping verbs are addressed. This book would be great with an integrated writing lesson. A teacher could have the students pick a verb from the book and create a story around the verb, using the verb in a different tense. This book should not be read aloud because students need to see the word and how it is used in a sentence.
Author: Robert Burleigh
Illustrator: Marek Los
Date: 2001
Title: Lookin’ for Bird in the Big City
ISBN: 0-15-202031-4
Grade: K-3
This book is about a young Miles Davis looking for his idol Charlie “Bird” Parker. He goes around town with his trumpet, but he cannot find “Bird.” He hears music in everything around him, but wants to find “Bird.” He asks people where he can find him, but no one knows. Davis finally finds Parker and Parker asks him to play with him. The two play together and a bond is made over music.
This would be a great text talk book for a music class because it incorporates music terms. Poetry is seen throughout the book along with multiculturalism and jazz culture. A great choice for a read aloud book.
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Text Talk:
Book: Circus Caps for Sale
Author: Esphyr Slobodkina
Date: 2002
ISBN: 0-060-29655-0
Grades: K-1
About: This book is about a peddler who sells caps. One day the peddler goes into town to sell his caps and notices that no one is around to buy the caps. He wonders where they are. The peddler walks through town and ends up at the circus. At the circus, the animals, including elephants and monkeys, want to take the caps from the peddler. Throughout the story, he continues to try and sell his hats, but no one wants them. At the end of the story, all of the caps fall off of the peddlers head and the sheriff wonders who can carry all of the caps. The peddler accepts the challenge and seeing that he can fulfill the task, the sheriff puts the peddler and his caps in the circus. When people see his trick, they are intrigued and decide to buy all of the caps, except for his own black and white checkered cap.
This book is a read aloud book offering vocabulary and reading comprehension questions. It is a fun book and the students will love hearing the story of the peddler as well as learn.
Show front cover and ask “what is going on?”
P. 3
What do you think he is going to do with the caps?
P.7
What do you think the word ‘enormous’ means?
P. 8
What do you think is going to happen when the peddler tries to yell again?
P.16
What do you think the elephant will do to the peddler?
P. 18
What do you think ‘delighted’ means?
P. 27
What do you think the peddler will do with the cops?
After the story:
What happened to the caps? How much were they?
