Multigenre Project Presentations April 8, 2009

Wow! Words can not describe how awesome the projects were tonight.  I am so excited about these projects.  It was so awesome to see what each person created in the entire class.  It reminded me of when I crop with my fellow scrapbooking friends.  When I scrapbook with friends we often pause and walk around to view each others creations. In my writing  circle we each took an opportunity to share several of the artifacts from our multigenre projects.  There were five projects shared in our writing circle. 

Lydia focused on sea turtles.  Her genres were put together in a scrapbook.  She gave many interesting facts about sea turtles.  She explained to our group that sea turtles are endanger from FP that comes from our sewers.  My favorite genre that Lydia created was the sea turtle X-ray. 

Sara focused on butterflies.  I really liked how that she included her defenses for each genre in her table of contents page.  I wish that I had of thought of doing that.  I really liked Sara’s creativity with her scrapbook.  She created a page with an acrostic poem between each stage that the butterfly goes through.

Kim created a scrapbook about Earth Day.  My favorite genre from Kim was her sarcastic brochure focusing on the earth and areas of the earth that are endanger.  I would like to share the brochure with others on earth day.  The brocure would leave a lasting impression with anyone.  It really did with me.

Crystal created a “CD” case in honor of Celine Dion.  I thought this was an awesome idea.  I loved how that Crystal created a label for a “bottle of wine” in honor of the restaurant that Celine Dion and her husband opened.  It was awesome to see how much passion Crystal has about a great performer.

It empowered me as an educator to see how much effort my classmates put into their projects.  I look forward to completing this type of projects with my class this year or next year.

Owly a Graphic Novel April 7, 2009

I truly enjoyed reading Owly.  When I first looked at the book I remember thinking well that won’t take long to read.  Whew! was I wrong.  The story took just as long as a regular novel.  Graphic Novels such as Owly force children to come up with the words in their head themselves using only the pictures as clues.  I have several students who struggle with language issues not because they are ESL but just because they need to retell things more and explain what they see.  Like Meredith I would like to copy several pages of the book and ask these children to tell me what they see happening.  I would also like to complete a whole group writing assignment using sections from Owly.  I would love to see how creative some of my students could be.

Story Development Using Wordless Picture Books by Colleen Reese April 7, 2009

In first grade we teach children to read from left to right.  We teach them different strategies to read.  One of those strategies is called taking a picture walk.  I would like to take a set of wordless picture books at the beginning of the year and really allow students to tune in and pay attention to the pictures telling about the pictures before giving them books with text.  I can see how that this activitiy would really strengthen the skill of paying attention to the pictures and connecting those pictures with the words in the text.

 

I really liked how the article suggested that teachers begin with the entire class by allowing the children to take part in the writing process.  Mrs. Reese allowed her students to work through 8 picture books as a class before allowing them to stem out individually.  I thought it was a great idea how that she typed their books and put them together for them to share with each other and to read to the principal.  I hope that I can get my hands on 24 different copies of wordless picture books to provide my students with as much choice in their individual projects as Mrs. Reese did. 

 

The second article at the bottom of the page suggested that students write while listening to music.  I have found this to be very successful.  I allow my students to write while listening to classical music daily.  I have done this now for 3 years and my students love it! The room becomes silent and students are working away while I conference with them.

Wordless Picture Books/ Graphic Novels for (Really) Young Readers/ Why Should Kids Read Comics? April 7, 2009

After reading the articles about wordless picture books I am excited and enlightened.  I never thought about using wordless picture books in my classroom.  As I read the articles I began seeing endless possibiblities.  I have several struggling readers that would love to use books such as the Red book or Pancakes.  I also have several boys that are not interested in reading.  I look forward to finding them some comics and presenting these for them to read.  I can see how that teachers and parents would disagree with wordless picture books and comics as not being an appropriate book for school.  However, like the author of Graphic Novels teachers and parents who disagree with such texts should be handed a graphic novel themselves such as Owly and asked to read it. Owly was difficult for me to read and was not an easy slow process.  Graphic Novels really allow children to use higher level thinking skills such as synthesis and evaluation.  Readers are forced to create the story themselves with their own intepretation.  I loved how the child stated that when she looked at the pictures she thought about the words the characters were saying and then visualized the words in her head. 

I have several wordless picture books but would like to purchase multiple copies of Pancakes and the Redbook for my students for next year.  I would love to provide students with a copy of the book and allow them to create the story line.  I really like how one teacher asked the student to tape record as he read the wordless picture book and then the teacher typed what he said so that he could create his own book.  What a great idea.  My kids would love to do this.  I have already begun ordering these books.  I just need multiple copies.