field experience reflection

1.      How many hours did you complete?

5        Hours

2.      In a short paragraph or bulleted list, how did you spend your time?

Two of my five hours were spent teaching: one hour in a second grade classroom and the other in a third grade classroom. In each teaching situation I read and discussed a book incorporating new vocabulary and technology activities. The other three hours were spent observing. I was able to observe our school librarian, our reading intervention teacher, as well as a retired first grade teacher in a tutoring situation.

3.      How did the experience help you to strengthen at least one Kentucky Teacher Standard? (be sure to name the standard)

STANDARD 7: “The teacher reflects on and evaluates teaching and learning.” Being able to interact/teach students other than my own gave me the opportunity to adjust my current teaching methods because of the different grade level in one instance and a different learning environment in another. My observation hours were in varied settings and that proved to be very beneficial. I was able to see how each of these teachers quickly adjusted their teaching based on the learning process happening with the students.

4.      Talk a little about one thing you learned because of this field experience.

I learned that although their teaching styles were very different, all three of the teachers that I observed are very effective in what they do. Not only do students have learning style, but teachers have an instruction style that works for them.

 

 

Biography - My Life in Dog Years

Paulsen, G. (2003). My life in dog years. Waterville: Thorndike Press.

 

 

Author Gary Paulsen chronicles his life according to the dogs that he has owned in this heartwarming, biographical book, My Life in Dog Years. Paulsen admits to always having a dog during his life, and at times, many dogs at once. Dogs have played various roles in his life including savior, companion, body guard and parent. There is no question in the reader's mind that the theme, or the main point of the book is to inform his readers of the importance of his dogs and to pay homage to them. We see this in the first chapter which is about Cookie. "Everything that has happened in the last seventeen years.....I owe to Cookie. This book is dedicated to her memory."  Paulsen does not necessarily structure his book sequentially, although some of this is evident, but rather the book is structured by description. Each of the nine dogs are described in detail. Their physical qualities are described, but it is Paulsen's description of each dog's character that is so moving. At the end of each chapter, the reader is left laughing, crying, or in awe because of what each of the dogs have done. In his telling if Ike, we find out that Ike belonged only temporarily to Paulsen because he really belonged to a man who was fighting in the Korean War. The veteran tells Paulsen that when he returned from the war, wounded, "he (Ike) was waiting there and spent the rest of his life by my side." Anyone who has ever loved a dog, should read this biography of Gary Paulsen, as seen through his dogs' eyes.

Reading Log and Wiki List

Genre / Titles you read (Hit enter after each one and a new number should pop up)

             I.      Non-fiction/Informational (1 chapter book or photo essay book reflection required on blog)

1)      Caves and Caverns by Gail Gibbons

2)      Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet

3)      Bugs are Insects by Anne Rockwell

4)      Owen and Mzee by Isabella Hatkoff

5)      My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen

 

 

          II.      Poetry (1 chapter or picture book reflection required on blog)

1)      Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

   

 

       III.      Modern Fantasy (1 chapter book reflection required on blog)          

1)      I, Jack  by Patricia Finney. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      The Giver by Lois Lowry

 

 

       IV.      Historical Fiction (1 reflection required on blog –can be a picture book)     

1)      The Teacher’s Funeral by Richard Peck. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      The Glorious Flight by Alice and Martin Provensen

3)      Flight by Robert Burleigh

4) Horses With Wings by Dennis Haseley

 

          V.      Multicultural/Traditional (2 reflections required on blog – one can be a picture book)         

1)      Hiroshima: A Novella by Laurence Yep (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky

3)      The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families By Susan Roth & Cindy Trumbore

4)      Kunu’s Basket By Lee DeCora Francis

5)      Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

6) Tales of Uncle Remus by Julius Lester

 

       VI.      Realistic Fiction (1 chapter book reflection required on blog)

1)      Baby by Patricia MacLachlan. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      Mysteries in Our National Parks: Running Scared by Gloria Skurzynski

 

    VII.      Picture Books (5 reflections required on blog during the first two weeks of class. There should be a total here of at least six.)

1)      The Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting. (required for discussion – do NOT use on blog)

2)      –Tuesday by David Wiesner

3)      –Flotsam by David Wiesner

4)      –The Three Little Pigs by David Wiesner

5)      –St. Patrick’s Day by Eve Bunting

6)      –The Three Little Wolves and The Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas and Helen Oxenbury

7)      The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!By A. Wolf  by Jon Scieszka

8)      A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka

9)      No, David! By David Shannon

10)  June 29, 1999 By David Wiesner

11)  Wave By Suzy Lee

12)  Art & Max By David Wiesner

13)  The Perfect Pet by Margie Palatine

14)  Two Bad Ants by Chris VanAllsburg

15)  The Garden of Abudul Gasazi by Chris VanAllsburg

 

Wiki Checklist

Instructions: Write the number of entries for each category you posted into on the Course Wiki (requirement is four total posts, in four different categories)

 

____ Social Studies

___1_ Science

____ Math

____ Music

____ Art

__1__ Reading/Language Arts

____ Physical Education

____ Other

 

 

 

Informational Booktalk

Haseley, D. (1993). Horses with wings. Washington, D.C.: Harper Collins Publishers.

 

 

No communication. No way in and no way out. Completely surrounded. That is how the inhabitants of Paris, France found themselves more than 100 years ago. What could be done? If only someone could get through. If only someone could lead the people and come to their aide. Find out how young Leon Gambetta rose to the occasion in Dennis Haseley’s Horses with Wings.

realistic fiction - Running Scared

BOOKTALK

 

                                                                                       

 

Skurzynski, G, & Fergusen, A: (2008). Running scared: a mystery in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.

 

What would it be like to be 8 years old and all alone deep in the bowels of a cave with no light and creepy sounds all around you? That is exactly what happens to stuttering foster child Sam when he runs away from his foster siblings Jack and Ashley Landon after witnessing what he thinks is a drug overdose by a park ranger. Join the Landon family on this adventure that takes place in Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. You will experience bats, thieves, chasms, and what it means to feel lost and truly alone in the dark!

What do you hear in the dark?

 

 

                                  

poetry-Hate That Cat

Creech, S. (2008). Hate that cat. New York: Scholastic.

 



 

Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech is a novel that is written in poem/journal form about a boy named Jack that is studying about poems, various poets, and writing poetry.  During the course of the book Jack gets a cat for a present. Although at the beginning of the book Jack hates cats and particularly a black, fat, mean one that lives in his neighborhood, he learns to love cats, even the black, fat, mean cat.

 

The reader is able to learn about the poets and various poetry forms as the book progresses. The book is written in first person point of view so the reader knows Jack's ideas and his perspectives about poetry and cats. The first stanza, or set of lines grouped together, of the book begins with Jack's thoughts about cats:

 

"I hate that cat

 like a dog hates a rat

 I said I hate that cat

like a dog hates a rat"



 

 





 

 

 

Creech often uses sense imagery in the text of book. For example, when Jack is writing about his deaf mother using sign language, the sense of sight is utilized by writing the text in a waving pattern, giving the feeling of hands moving through the air.

                                                          her hands

                       wav                             air

                       

                             ing                   the

                                       in

 

This book is best read individually, or with everyone having a copy. It is necessary to see the text to fully understand the meaning. It is also easier to understand if read in its entirety in one sitting or in large chunks. Because of the many references to poets and their specific poems, it would be helpful for students to have a little background knowledge of these poets and their styles of writing. Creech has conveniently included these poems at the end of the book. Reading these poems ahead of time would give the reader better understanding to why Jack writes the poems that he does.